THE OLD ENGLISH LITERATURE

THE OLD ENGLISH LITERATURE

1.      The Roman Invasion

The earliest inhabitants of Britain were the Britons. History really begins with the famous Roman conqueror, Julius Caesar who arrived with his legion to this land. Compared with prehistoric times, the early Britons had become more civilized. They fought the Roman very bravely. The Roman empire fell into decay and left the land forever.   

2.      Anglo-Saxon Invasion

The Britons asked the sea-rovers to save them from the Caledonians (a tribe who spread destruction and terror). This sea rovers were known as Angles, Saxon, and Jutes. They were quite willing to come and help the Britons. After having driven out the Caledonian, they stayed in Britain and and invited their friends to come over and stay with them. Their island came to be known as the land of the Angles or England. The people were then called the English.

-          Anglo saxon literature

The first form of literature is poetry. Anglo saxon poetry is full of Teutonic love of battle, boastfulness, pride in glory and blood-thirstiness  and the poet is inspired in describing a sword, a battle scene or the terror of the sea. The old English literature can be divided into two kinds:

1)      The literature that was brought by the Germanic tribes from Europe. The most famous literature from the Anglo Saxon is the epic Beowulf (the long epic containing 3000 lines).

2)      The literature that was created by the Germanic tribes, who has settled in England. The literature was heavily influenced by Christianity. Most of the literature of this time were religious poems. The best known poet was  Caedmon. His works Christ and Satan, consisting of three poems: fall of the Angel, and the temptation of christ. Another well known poet was cynewulf. His works include religious poems such as Christ, His Nativity, Ascension and Last Judgement.

3.      The Danish Invasion

Toward the end of the 8th century, the Danes invaded the Coastal land of England and destroyed the monasteries of learning and works of literature. All the literary activity came to an end. The great hero of the era was King Alfred the Great. It was he who saved the Anglo-Saxon literature from total disappearance and preserved for us Beowulf .

THE OLD ENGLISH SASTRA

1. Roman Invasion

Penghuni awal Inggris adalah warga Inggris. Sejarah benar-benar dimulai dengan penakluk Romawi yang terkenal, Julius Caesar yang tiba dengan pasukannya ke negeri ini. Dibandingkan dengan zaman prasejarah, orang Inggris awal telah menjadi lebih beradab. Mereka berjuang Romawi sangat berani. Kekaisaran Romawi jatuh ke pembusukan dan meninggalkan tanah selamanya.

2. Anglo-Saxon InvasionPara warga Inggris meminta laut-penemu untuk menyelamatkan mereka dari Kaledonia (suku yang menyebarkan kehancuran dan teror). Rovers laut ini dikenal sebagai Angles, Saxon, dan Jutes. Mereka cukup bersedia untuk datang dan membantu warga Inggris. Setelah diusir Caledonian, mereka tinggal di Inggris dan dan mengundang teman-teman mereka untuk datang dan tinggal bersama mereka. Pulau mereka kemudian dikenal sebagai tanah Angles atau Inggris. Orang-orang itu kemudian disebut bahasa Inggris.

- Anglo Saxon literature

Bentuk pertama sastra adalah puisi. Anglo Saxon puisi penuh cinta Teutonik pertempuran, kesombongan, kebanggaan dalam kemuliaan dan darah-kedahagaan dan penyair terinspirasi dalam menggambarkan pedang, adegan pertempuran atau teror laut. Literatur Inggris kuno dapat dibagi menjadi dua macam:

1) Literatur yang dibawa oleh suku-suku Jermanik dari Eropa. Literatur yang paling terkenal dari Anglo Saxon adalah Beowulf epik (epik panjang yang mengandung 3000 baris).

2) Literatur yang telah dibuat oleh suku-suku Jermanik, yang telah menetap di Inggris. Literatur sangat dipengaruhi oleh Kristen. Sebagian besar literatur saat ini adalah puisi religius. Penyair paling dikenal adalah Caedmon. Karya-karyanya Kristus dan Setan, yang terdiri dari tiga puisi: jatuhnya Angel, dan godaan Kristus. Lain penyair terkenal adalah cynewulf. Karya-karyanya meliputi puisi keagamaan seperti Kristus, Nativity Nya, Ascension dan Pengadilan Terakhir.

3. Invasi Denmark

Menjelang akhir abad ke-8, Denmark menginvasi tanah Pesisir Inggris dan menghancurkan biara-biara belajar dan karya sastra. Semua kegiatan sastra berakhir. Pahlawan besar era itu Raja Alfred yang Agung. Dialah yang menyelamatkan literatur Anglo-Saxon dari jumlah penghilangan dan dilestarikan bagi kita Beowulf.

MIDDLE ENGLISH LITERATURE

            The term middle english literature refers to the literature written in the form of the english language known as middle english from the 12th century until the 1470s. There are three categories of middle english literature: religious, courtly love, and arthurian.

1.      Early middle english literature

Towards 1200, the earliest pieces of middle english literature began to appear. These pieces of literature were addresed to the common people and written in a language that was understood by the people. The middle english language was the result of the marriage between the norman frence and the old english (anglo-saxon). The literary pieces were written by monks and the themes were mainly religious. The most important of these are the Ormolum, cursor Mundi and Thomas de Hale’s Love Rune.

Somewhat later than the religious writers, the english secular began to appear. The literary work was inspired by the story of King Arthur. The example of the literature is History of the British kings, Havelock the Dane, Guy of Warwick and sir Bevis of Hampton. The Arthurian legends actually were written by the Frence and later translated into English. The most popular of these is “Sir Gawayne and the green knight. It is beautiful not only for the story but also the language.

The greatest poet of the middle english is Geoffrey Chaucers  (1340-1400). He wrote The Canterbury Tales, a realistic and humorous story about types of people in those days. The Canterbury Tales is his most ambitious work, and always be his most widely read and admired poem.  

2.      Late middle english literature

Besides sir Gawain and the Green Knight, and the writings of Chauser, there are a number of forteenth-century works: the pearl, the vision of piers the plowman and the works of John Gower, and sir thomas Malory.

John Gower was a friend of Chaucer. His important works are Speculum Meditantis (a Frence poem sermonizing on the immorality of the age) and Confessio Amantis (a poem of uneven quality containing a number of stories that ilustrate variuos state of love).

Sir Thomas Malory is the author of Le Morte D’Arthur. He compiled in it most of what has been written about king Arthur and his Knight in the French and English Language. 

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