Hallecks New English Literature | Page 8

witan, or assembly of wise men, the forerunner of the present English parliament, met in 1066 and chose Harold, the last Anglo-Saxon king.
During these six hundred rears, the Anglo-Saxons conquered the British, accepted Christianity, fought the Danes, finally amalgamating with them, brought to England a lasting representative type of government, established the fundamental customs of the race, surpassed all contemporary western European peoples in the production of literature, and were ready to receive fresh impetus from the Normans in 1066.
The Anglo-Saxon Language.--Our oldest English literature is written in the language spoken by the Angles and the Saxons. This at first sight looks like a strange tongue to one conversant with modern English only; but the language that we employ to-day has the framework, the bone and sinew, of the earlier tongue. Modern English is no more unlike Anglo-Saxon than a bearded man is unlike his former childish self. A few examples will show the likeness and the difference. "The noble queen" would in Anglo-Saxon be _s=eo aeeele cw=en_; "the noble queen's," _e=aere aeeelan cw=ene_. _S=eo_ is the nominative feminine singular, _e=aere_ the genitive, of the definite article. The adjective and the noun also change their forms with the varying cases. In its inflections, Anglo-Saxon resembles its sister language, the modern German.
After the first feeling of strangeness has passed away, it is easy to recognize many of the old words. Take, for instance, this from _Beowulf_:--
"...e=y h=e eone f=eond ofercw=om, gehn=aegde helle g=ast."
Here are eight words, apparently strange, but even a novice soon recognizes five of them: _h=e, f=eond_ (fiend), _ofercw=om_ (overcame), helle (hell), _g=ast_ (ghost). The word _eone_, strange as it looks, is merely the article "the."
...therefore he overcame the fiend, Subdued the ghost of hell.
Let us take from the same poem another passage, containing the famous simile:--
"...l=eoht inne st=od, efne sw=a of hefene h=adre sc=inee rodores candel."
Of these eleven words, seven may be recognized: _l=eoht_ (light), inne (in), _st=od_ (stood), of, hefene (heaven),_sc=inee_ (shineth), candel (candle).
...a light stood within, Even so from heaven serenely shineth The firmament's candle.
Some prefer to use "Old English" in place of "Anglo-Saxon" in order to emphasize the continuity of the development of the language. It is, however, sometimes convenient to employ different terms for different periods of development of the same entity. We do not insist on calling a man a "grown boy," although there may be no absolute line of demarcation between boy and man.
Earliest Anglo-Saxon Literature.--As with the Greeks and Romans, so with the Teutons, poetry afforded the first literary outlet for the feelings. The first productions were handed down by memory. Poetry is easily memorized and naturally lends itself to singing and musical accompaniment. Under such circumstances, even prose would speedily fall into metrical form. Poetry is, furthermore, the most suitable vehicle of expression for the emotions. The ancients, unlike modern writers, seldom undertook to make literature unless they felt so deeply that silence was impossible.
The Form of Anglo-Saxon Poetry.--Each line is divided Into two parts by a major pause. Because each of these parts was often printed as a complete line in old texts, Beowulf has sometimes been called a poem of 6368 lines, although it has but 3184.
A striking characteristic of Anglo-Saxon poetry is consonantal alliteration; that is, the repetition of the same consonant at the beginning of words in the same line:--
"Grendel gongan; Godes yrre baer." Grendel going; God's anger bare.
The usual type of Anglo-Saxon poetry has two alliterations in the first half of the line and one in the second. The lines vary considerably in the number of syllables. The line from Beowulf quoted just above has nine syllables. The following line from the same poem has eleven:--
"Flota f=amig-heals, fugle gel=icost." The floater foamy-necked, to a fowl most like.
This line, also from Beowulf has eight syllables:--
"N=ipende niht, and norean wind." Noisome night, and northern wind.
Vowel alliteration is less common. Where this is employed, the vowels are generally different, as is shown in the principal words of the following line:--
"On =ead, on =aeht, on eorcan st=an." On wealth, on goods, on precious stone.
End rime is uncommon, but we must beware of thinking that there is no rhythm, for that is a pronounced characteristic.
Anglo-Saxon verse was intended to be sung, and hence rhythm and accent or stress are important. Stress and the length of the line are varied; but we usually find that the four most important words, two in each half of the line, are stressed on their most important syllable. Alliteration usually shows where to place three stresses. A fourth stress generally falls on a word presenting an emphatic idea near the end of the line.
[Illustration: EXETER CATHEDRAL.]
The Manuscripts that have handed down Anglo-Saxon Literature.--The earliest Anglo-Saxon poetry was transmitted by the memories of men. Finally, with the slow growth of learning, a few acquired the art