IN OLD ENGLISH LITERATURE ANGLO-SAXON AGE: (449–1066)

Part 2

Anglo-Saxon culture in comparison to other regions of the world:

In Mesopotamia, city states had come and gone.
Persia has already brought several countries together.
China was a single, strong empire.
In Greece, the onset of democracy had already come and gone.
Britain was a green, dark, peaceful island where civilization and empire had not yet developed, in contrast to other regions of the world.

The literature of the AngloSaxons:

Originally, Anglo-Saxon literature was transmitted orally. Through minstrels, stories, poems, and songs were passed down orally from one generation to the next.
Scriptures for Christians One of the most prominent cultural ideals reflected in AngloSaxon literature was paganism.The most popular genre was poetry. Traditionally, poems lacked rhyme, had a strong beat, and used alliteration.Two poets are identified: CYNEWULF (late eighth or early ninth century) and CAEDMON (670 dc), the earliest English poet to be named. They wrote about religious and biblical subjects.

Language of the Age: Old English (c. 449–1100) is the first of three periods of English.
2. Middle English, about from 1100 to 1500.
3. Contemporary English (c. 15000-).
Anglo-Saxon is another name for Old English.