文档介绍：English Literature
Chapters 1—2
Key Points in Chapter 1
The Old English (Anglo-Saxon) Period
History of Invasion
Anglo-Saxons
Caedmon
Beowulf
King Alfred the Great
Beowulf
significance
Outline of the Story
Medieval Literature: A Brief Introduction
1066—Norman Conquest—Middle English—Feudal Society
The Arthurian Legends
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
Robin Hood
John Wycliffe
The Old English Period
History of Invasions
5th century BC: tribal kingdoms of Celtic people
55 BC: invaded by the Roman Empire (under control for over 400 years)
5th Century: by Germanic people: the Angles and the Saxon
From the late 8th century on: by ferocious Vikings from Scandinavia
1066: by Normans from northern France, descendants of Vikings
The Old English Period
Anglo-Saxons
5th century invaded and defeated the Celts and the Romans
A branch of Germanic tribes
597 AD: began to be converted to Christianity
Basically barren in literary creation
The Old English Period
Caedmon
Second half of the 7th century
The first known poet in English literary history
Beowulf
Significance
The anic whole poem e out of the Anglo-Saxon period
An epic of well over 3,000 lines
Probably the greatest epic ever left by the ancient Germanic tribes
The most ancient ever since the demise of the Greek and Roman literature
Beowulf
Outline of the Story
8th century
Scandinavia, Sweden, Denmark,
King Hrothgar
Sea monsters Grendel and his mother
Fiery dragon
Medieval Literature: A Brief Introduction
1066—Norman Conquest—Middle English—Feudal Society
1066: the French-speaking Normans conquered England
The last Anglo-Saxon King Harold died in the battle of Hastings
Marked the beginning of the Middle English or Anglo-Norman period
Establishment of the Feudal System, 1381 Peasant Rising, pletion of the Domesday Book (土地调查清册,末日审判书) ,the launching of the Crusade, the signing of the Magna Carter (大宪章) in 1215, the war with France or the Hundred Years’ War
Medieval Literature: A Brief Introduction
The Arthurian