Part I.--Old English Period (_c. 500 to 1066_).

Forces at Work.--The Anglo-Saxon invasion and gradual conquest and settlement. The coming of Christianity and its struggle with the pagan view of life. The inroads of the Danes and the growth of national feeling under Alfred. The subsequent Danish rule and the Gallicising of the court. The Norman Conquest.

Literary Features.--Early literature pagan. The late development of Christian prose and poetry. The preponderance of anonymous works. The lack of originality shown in the large number of translations and imitations. Pagan literature almost wholly descriptive and narrative; the meditative element. Christian literature chiefly religious and didactic. Note the chief surviving texts and their peculiarities; also the characteristics of Anglo-Saxon prosody.

1. PAGAN POETRY.--(a) Descriptive and Narrative:--“Beowulf.” “Widsith.” “Waldhere.” “Finnsburgh.” “Brunanburgh.” “Maldon.” (b) Meditative:--“The Wanderer.” “The Seafarer.” “Deor’s Lament.” “The Wife’s Complaint.” “The Husband’s Message.”

2. CHRISTIAN POETRY. (a) Caedmon and his school. (b) Cynewulf and his followers. (c) Minor works:--“The Riming Poem,” Proverbs, etc.

3. ANGLO-SAXON PROSE.--Alfred. Aelfric. Wulfstan. The Homilists. “The Chronicle.” (Note the character of the works translated, and the influence of Latin).

4. LATIN PROSE.--Bede. Aldhelm. Alcuin.