Medieval Literature

Medieval Literature From the fall of Rome to the

Renaissance

English & French Literature Dominated by:

– The epic Beowulf

– The romance Song of Roland (early) Sir Gawain and the

Green Knight (late)– The allegory

The Canterbury Tales The Divine Comedy

– The folk tale – The lyric – The drama

Everyman

EARLY BRITISH MEDIEVAL LITERATURE

499-1066 CE

The Anglo-Saxons: 449–1066

300s B.C.Celts in Britain

55 B.C–A.D.409Roman Occupation

A.D. 449Anglo-Saxon Invasion

A.D. 400–699Spread of Christianity

A.D. 1066Norman Invasion

A.D.878King Alfred against the Danes

A.D.600

A.D.300

A.D. 1

300 B.C.

A.D.900

A.D. 1200

BritainBefore and during the 4th century

B.C.

• Celtic religion a form of animism Stonehenge

• Druids were Celtic priests

• Britain named for one Celtic tribe—the Brythons

• Britain home to several Celtic tribes

The Roman Occupation55 B.C. Hadrian’s Wall

Romans evacuate their troops

• Central government breaks down

Julius Caesar invades Britain

Celts defeated by ClaudiusA.D.43

• Romans build walls, villas, baths, roads

Roman ruins

• Britain left vulnerable to attack

A.D. 409

The Anglo-Saxon Invasion

A.D. 449 The Anglo-Saxons push the Celts into the far west of the country.

AnglesSaxons

Jutes

Celts


Anglo-Saxon Society

• kinship groups led by strong warrior chief

• people farmed, established local governments, produced fine craftwork

• English emerged as a written language

The Anglo-Saxon religion

• offered no hope of an afterlife• valued earthly virtues of bravery, loyalty, generosity, and

friendship

• similar to what we call Norse mythology

ThunorThor

WodenOdin

Day of weekAnglo-Saxon godNorse god

Wednesday

Thursday


• Anglo-Saxons did not believe in afterlife

• warriors gained immortality through songs

Why were the scops important?

The Anglo-Saxon bards• called scops

Anglo-Saxon harp

• strummed harp as they sang• sang of heroic deeds• were often warriors


• Christianity and Anglo-Saxon culture co-exist

The Spread of Christianity

• Christian monks settle in Britain

• British pagan religions replaced by Christianity

Around A.D. 400

By A.D. 699

Early Literature Celtic and

Germanic Tribes– heroic legends

Written down by monks hundreds of years later. – What effect will this

have on pagan epics?

Old, Middle, Modern EnglishOld English 'Fæder ure þuþe eart on

heofonum si þin nama gehalgod tobecume þin rice gewurþe þin willa on eorðan swa swa on heofonum urne gedæghwamlican hlaf syle us to dæg and forgyf us ure gyltas swa swa we forgyfað urum gyltendum and ne gelæd þu us on costnunge ac alys us of yfele soþlice.'

Middle English 'Oure fadir þat art in

heuenes halwid be þi name; þi reume or kyngdom come to be. Be þi wille don in herþe as it is dounin heuene. yeue to us today oure eche dayes bred. And foryeue to us oure dettis þat is oure synnys as we foryeuen to oure dettouris þat is to men þat han synned in us. And lede us not into temptacion but delyuere us from euyl.'

'Our father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debters. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.'

http://bitterscroll.podomatic.com/entry/2006-08-09T16_02_07-07_00

Old English The Germanic Tribe Spoken on the British Isles

– Anglo-Saxons specifically

Beowulf Germanic traditional

epic – Specifically Anglo-

Saxon– Warring culture

3,000 line epic poem First literary

composition in the English Language

Composed sometime between 600-900 C.E. 700 is our best guess.

Written down 200-300 years later.

History of the text Poem exists in one

manuscript only (in British Library)

Survived fire in 18th century

This scare led to the copying, editing, translating of the copy

Now an integral part of the canon. – A group of the most

important literature of any given time period, genre, author, etc.

Beowulf Poem written in England

– Set in Scandinavia Follows the Scandinavian prince, Beowulf. Poem has three major plots

1. Beowulf, a warrior for the Geats, crosses the sea to help the Danes kill the man-eating monster Grendel. He must also kill Grendel’s mother

2. Beowulf returns and rules for fifty years as king. A dragon terrorizes the country and Beowulf must confront it.

3. Beowulf slays the dragon but meets his own death. He enters the legend of his people as a hero.

http://www.beowulftranslations.net/beowulf-map-900.shtml

Beowulf Poem shows life in

the Dark Ages.– Begins with soldiers

in a hall, drinking mead

– Grendel eats them all.

Yum. Grendel is the

spawn of Cain, the murderous brother in the Old Testament.

Chainmail

Beowulf assignment Assignment on page 2 of Medieval Lit

packet– Take a look at this now

Excerpts begin on page 3 Read academically and carefully Take notes or annotate

– Notes can be used on quiz, annotations cannot Due Monday

– If you’re absent Monday (or today, I guess) you will turn in typed answers to these questions upon return.

From Epic to Romance The Epic yielded to

Romance in 11th and 12th centuries

Originally applied to Old French to distinguish from Latin– Eventually, it

referred to any work in French.

Romance Narrative shift

– from warfare – to love.

Courtly love A tradition that idealized women and turned

conventions of human love almost literally into religion.

First developed by troubadours – lyric entertainers– Originally half-facetious– elaborate code to follow

Romance Earlier Romances,

chansons de geste (Songs of Deeds), like Roland, are men-at-war. – The central figure:

Charlemagne and members of his court.

– Basis in historical fact– a towering figure in the

development of Western and Christian culture. However, they have poetic

legend, as, for instance, Charlemagne is in intimate touch with the Angels.

Song of Roland

Background Written in Old French circa

1100– Composed 300 years

earlier– Oral songs sung by

troubadours accompanied by lyres.

Song of Roland – earliest and best known

example of the Song of Deed romance.

History of text (FYI)– Unknown until 1832 when

the first of several manuscripts was discovered.

– The best of these is at Oxford University that is a copy by an Anglo-Norman scribe of an earlier version.

– Many conspiracies and hypotheses about the organ, poet, and facts of Roland

Background Written at the beginning of the Crusades.

– By telling a story of the Great Charlemagne, the hope is to inspire current fighters.

The values of the poem are simply identified. – Exclusively deal with war and religion – Success in battle is vital

personal reasons prove God is on your side

Christians are good, Saracens (Muslims) are evil – although some are great warriors and honorable

Absent are:– philosophical subtleties – inward conflicts

Song of Roland plot Based on the ambush of Charlemagne's

rear guard in 778. Charlemagne’s nephew Roland ambushed

as they returned from an expedition against the Muslims in Spain.

Brings to life aspects of early medieval culture:– naming one's battle gear and weapons,– dependence on cavalry – glorification of blood-and-thunder heroism– and strong sense of companionship between

brothers-at-arms.

Structure of poem Very un-poetic:

– Simple vocabulary & syntax. No Figurative language

– No atmospheric details– Poet is on the side of the Christians, but

he doesn't gush like in Beowulf.

Structure of poem Hyperbolic praise of the past Heroes of old Appearance of prophetic dreams and

omens Intervention at key moments of

supernatural beings Epithets Battles

Courtly LoveHistory of Arthurian Legend and Courtly Love

Courtly Love Extramarital

– very secretive The knight (whom did the

loving) prone to:– fits of weeping – Growing pale – Languishing in his

unrequited love Lady of noble birth

– Knight performed great deeds gain his lady’s admiration from afar

Faithfulness was eternal

Courtly Love (don’t write down)

Chretien de Troyes applied these rules into legendary tales including:– Eric and Enide– The Knight of the Cart– The Knight with the Lion– The Story of the Grail

These stories combined with other romances to form a foundation for courtly love including:– Sir Gawain and the Green Knight– Havelok the Dane

King Arthur

The Arthurian Legend is a compilation of stories and romances– Arthur’s birth – his adventures as knight – adulterous love affair between Lancelot and Guinevere

Epic PoetryCourtly Love or “The Romance”

Arthurian Legend

King Arthur Gains fame in the 1100’s Chretien de Troyes takes the

oral legends he has heard, mixes them with courtly love ideas and writes the first five romances of adventure in the 12th century

Stories culminate in the 15th century

Alfred Loydd Tennyson “Idylls of the of the King”

Mark Twain with “A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court”.

Romance Church began to see Romance,

specifically Courtly Love, as a threat– Sir Gaiwan and the Green Knight– Romance of the Rose

Late Middle Ages The Church took over

power– based on two

propositions: Kingdom of God vs

Kingdom of the Devil

only through the offices of the church

Earth is proving ground for Heaven

The literature reflected this conflict.– Nearly all literature

was religious in theme.

On the Misery of the Human Condition

Sermon written by Pope Innocent III

~1200Book 2 page 96

Medieval Drama In courtyards Layman actors Three types:

– Mystery play Biblical history from fall of Lucifer to Last Judgement

– Miracle play Stories of life of Christ, Mary, or saints

– Morality Play Struggle of good and evil and soul’s afterlife. Allegorical

Everyman

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vM5Zwd427iU&feature=related

Middle English More recognizable to modern reader. Middle Class rises

– Feudalism weakens– Canterbury Tales

The General Prologue Whan that Aprill with his shoures soote

The droghte of March hath perced to the roote,And bathed every veyne in swich licourOf which vertu engendred is the flour;Whan Zephirus eek with his sweete breethInspired hath in every holt and heethThe tendre croppes, and the yonge sonneHath in the Ram his half cours yronne,And smale foweles maken melodye,That slepen al the nyght with open ye(So priketh hem Nature in hir corages),Thanne longen folk to goon on pilgrimages,And palmeres for to seken straunge strondes,To ferne halwes, kowthe in sondry londes;And specially from every shires endeOf Engelond to Caunterbury they wende,The hooly blisful martir for to seke,That hem hath holpen whan that they were seeke.

Bifil that in that seson on a day,In Southwerk at the Tabard as I layRedy to wenden on my pilgrymageTo Caunterbury with ful devout corage,At nyght was come into that hostelryeWel nyne and twenty in a compaignyeOf sondry folk, by aventure yfalleIn felaweshipe, and pilgrimes were they alle,That toward Caunterbury wolden ryde.The chambres and the stables weren wyde,And wel we weren esed atte beste.And shortly, whan the sonne was to reste,So hadde I spoken with hem everichonThat I was of hir felaweshipe anon,And made forward erly for to ryse,To take oure wey ther as I yow devyse.

The Canterbury Tales Take a look at the four following

images. Write down three characteristics the image triggers – think about their role in society as well as your personal, moral beliefs of them.

Basically, generalize

Politician Write down three

characteristics the image triggers – think about their role in society as well as your personal, moral beliefs of them.


Priest Write down three



Rapper Write down three



Businessperson Write down three



Journal In your notebook, choose one of these

people and describe him. Your description should judge him on a moral and social level. You may want to discuss his clothing, items he has with him, physical attributes, etc. A reader who reads your description should be able to get a gist of your feelings toward that person.

NOTE: Don’t describe the photo I just showed you, rather a person in that job/role.

Canterbury Tales Organizational Plan

Chaucer (our narrator) fictitiously watches 29 pilgrims enter the Talbard Inn in the Southwark neighborhood of London – On their way to the shrine of

Thomas a Becket in Canterbury– Becket, murdered in 1170

Use of journey motif as framing device– 4 tales per person: 2

coming; 2 going Actually completed 22

– Began 2 others

Cathedral of Canterbury

The Prologue Sets stage for journey Meeting place the Tabard

Inn in Southwark of 29 pilgrims including:– Knight and his Squire – Yeoman– A Nun (Prioress) – a chaplain,– 3 Priests– A monk and a friar– A merchant – a cleric – a lawyer – a franklin (freeman)– A pardoner – A miller

Tales & Prologues Each pilgrim will tell a tale

– Tales usually have morals or tell us about the teller Some tales have a prologue introducing the tale

– Chaucer telling us a little about the teller of the tale– In a couple he will write a few words after the tale, too.

The whole story had the “General Prologue”– Chaucer describing the scene in the Inn. He describes

the tellers and passes subtle judgment about him/her and his/her status in life

We will look at 2 tales – the Pardoner’s and the Miller’s

The Pardoner’s Tale 3 young men of drunk and riotous

behavior search for Death. An old man whom they insult tells

them that Death lies up the hill under a tree.

They find bags of gold and plot to send the youngest for food and wine and then kill him for the gold.

He returns with poisoned wine and all die.

“The love of money is the root of all evil.”

The Miller’s Tale No need to read the “Prologue

to the Miller’s Tale” Basically:– The Miller is very drunk & likes

bawdy tales Tale of old carpenter (John),

his young wife (Alison), a student and border in John’s home (Nicholas) and a suitor and cleric. (Absalom)

Nicholas & Alison plot to sleep together and trick the husband

Absalom, who also loves Alison, steps into the fray but is rejected

Nicholas plots Noah’s flood scam of John

Tips to reading Understand plot List characters

and their characteristics & relationship to others.

What can this tale tell us of its teller (the Miller)

Nicholas:– Student of

astrology (Astroglobe on his shelf (23))

– “well versed in love” (14) & good looking (15)

–

Medieval Literature

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