341The Old English Period & Middle English Period.ppt

Old English

1. 500-1500 C.E.

2. Historical Phases
Old English: Is to be treated like a
foreign language, i.e. it has to be learnt
with grammar books and dictionaries.
Middle English: Phase of transition.
Modern English: It starts as soon as
we can understand a poem or prose
without the help of a grammar book or
dictionary.

3. Old English
Literature

4. Historical Background
From the 1
st
to the 5
th
century, England was a
province of the Roman empire and was named
Britannia after its inhabitants, the Britons.
The Romans brought their language, architects
and engineers who gave Britain towns, villas
with central heating, public baths and theaters.
During the 5
th
century, the Roman Empire fell
and the Romans withdrew. Later people from
Northwest Europe (Germany) settled claiming
the country for themselves. They were called
Angles and Saxons.

5. Cont.
Their language is sometimes called Anglo-
Saxon, but is widely known as Old
English.Old English: Is to be treated like a
foreign language, i.e. it has to be learnt
with grammar books and dictionaries.

6. Old English Literature (500-1100 A.D)
Old English Literature (500-1100 A.D)
also known as Anglo-Saxon was the
earliest form of English.
Old English poems are usually long
narrative epics giving accounts of great
deeds of warriors and heroes.
Epic: a long narrative poem on a great and serious
subject in the grand style, often praising heroic
adventures.
Narrative: the telling of a story. Novels, short stories, etc.
are narratives.

7. Anglo-Saxon Epic
Beowulf : greatest and first Old English
poem (epic) written in the 7
th
century by
an unknown author composed on the
European continent.
Beowulf gives us an interesting picture
of life in those old days.

8. Alegdon tha middes maerne theoden
Haeleth hiofende hlaford leofne
Ongunnon tha on beorge bael-fyra maest
Wigend weccan wudu-rec astah
Sweart ofer swiothhole swogende leg
Wope bewunden
The sorrowing soldiers then laid the glorious prince, their dear
lord, in the middle. Then on the hill the war-men began to light
the greatest of funeral fires. The wood-smoke rose black above
the flames, the noisy fire, mixed with sorrowful cries.

9. In Old English poetry, descriptions of
sad events or cruel situations are
commoner and in better writing than
those of happiness.
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle: A record of the
main happenings of the country. It is the
first history of the Germanic people and
in some ways the first newspaper. It is
the oldest and most interesting prose.

10. Middle English
Literature

11. Middle English Literature
(1100- 1500 A.D)
Middle English: Language used from 1100
1500 A.D. Phase of transition.
The greatest poet of the time was Geoffrey
Chaucer, who was born in 1340.
Chaucer’s major achievement was to create the
English language we know today and to establish
its literary traditions.
Known as father of English poetry because he
speaks to us today with as clear a voice as we
heard in his own age. It is this living quality that
makes him great.

12. The Canterbury Tales
Whan that Aprille with his shoures swote
The droghte of Marche hath perced to the
rote
When April with his sweet showers has struck
to the roots the dryness of March…

13. The Canterbury Tales (17,000 lines poem):
A party of pilgrims tell stories to pass the
time on their pilgrimage from London to
Canterbury. Rhyme has taken place of Old
English Alliteration. Introduced Heroic
Couplets into English poetry.
Rhyme: Two or more words with the same sound.
Alliteration: Repeating a sound or a letter, especially at the
beginning of words.
Heroic Couplets: A pair of lines that rhyme.

14. Prose – mainly religious e.g. The Ancren
Riwle (13
th
century)
First English plays: Miracle/Mystery plays.
Morality Plays: characters are not
people, but virtues and vices (Truth, Honor,
Greed, Revenge).
Interlude: a funny play by two or three
performers.

15. Old English vs. Middle English
Old English Middle English
LANGAUGE The Old English Language
cannot be read now except by
those who have made a
special study of it.
The Middle English Language is
easier to read. It is considered a
bridge between Old and Modern
English. More of the accents of
everyday speech heard in the
varieties of Middle English
Language.
POETRY (1) Poetry was the dominant
genre and epic warlike poetry
was the prevalent theme. (2)
Verse does not rhyme and
each line is joined to the other
by alliteration.
(1) The religious theme in
Chaucer’s poem is shown in the
pilgrimage to Canterbury. (2) In
Chaucer’s verse, rhyme has
taken the place of Old English
alliteration.
PROSE Old English prose was mainly
historical because it was a
record of the main happenings
of the country.
A good deal of Middle English
prose is religious.

16. Cont.
Old English Middle English
DRAMA Did not exist. Beginning of English Drama. The first
English plays told religious stories and
were performed in or near churches.
SpeakerA single aristocratic voice,
grave, decorous, speaking
in terms of high communal
aspirations.
Different voices, addressing
themselves to different audiences –
learned and unlearned, aristocratic
and middle class, male and female,
and frequently to several of these at
the same time.
Tone Laughter is rarely heard.A lighter kind of humor is apt to flash
anywhere, even in the most serious
moralizations.

17. Permission Acknowledgment
My sincere appreciation goes to
Ms. Ashwaq Basnawi
for her generous permission
to use her slides for LANE 341 course.