英美文学：部分作家的介绍和评论—Anglo-Saxon

　　Historical background

　　1. Anglo-Saxon Conquest

　　From 449 AD, after the Romans withdrew, the Jutes, Angles and Saxons began to invade Britain and finally conquered the British Isles. The Anglo-Saxons brought to England the Germanic language and culture.

　　2. The conversion

　　In 597 the Pope of Rome sent Augustine to England to convert the AS and within a century all England was christianized. The conversion is the second important event because it brought a new life, a new culture and a new civilization to England.

　　The Anglo-Saxon literature

　　Pagan and Christian; the pagan lit refers to the songs, legends which the AS brought from their original home.scops, This kind of poetry is bold and strong, mournful and elegiac in spirit; in alliterative verse; Christian lit refers to the writings developed under the teachings of the monks.

　　Alliteration

　　The Song of Beowulf

　　The national epic of the A_S people.

　　The story: how Beowulf, the Swedish prince, a noble, brave and powerful young man, first helps the Danish king get rid of a terrible sea monster named Grendel, and 50 years later how he saves his own people by fighting a fire dragon and sacrifices his life.

　　The poem presents a vivid picture of how the primitive people wage heroic struggles against the hostile forces of the natural world under a wise and mighty leader. Their life was hard and they had to fight with wild beasts and against the forces of nature. The chief significance is the portrayal of a great national hero in the grand epic style. A true hero, a warrior of great prowess, a king generous with his treasures, a ruler who defends and protects his people at the cost of his own life. Noble qualities are praised: bravery, wisdom, generosity, prowess and selflessness. It reflects a heroic age.

　　Epic (Heroic Peotry): usually a long narrative poem telling about the great deeds of a great hero or the history of a nation; majestic both in theme and style. It usually deals with legendary or historical events of national or universal significance, involving action of broad sweep and grandeur.

　　Alliteration: A repeated initial consonant to successive accented words; (Certain accented words in a line begin with the same consonant sound); The most striking feature of Beowulf in its poetic form is the use of alliteration.

　　Questions:

　　1. Who Christianized the English people?

　　2 . Tell the story of Beowulf

　　3. Say something about the theme and characterization of Beowulf.

　　4. What are the general features of Anglo-Saxon poetry?

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