Dariusz Pestka

Anglo Saxon (Old English) Literature

1. Beginnings: about 500A.D. the migration of the Germanic tribes was more or less complete. This was also the date of the time of composition of the earliest poetry of the English people.

2. The new language of culture - Latin - took priority over the Anglo-Saxon dialects in culture.

3. Works of the new faith translated from Latin into Anglo-Saxon:

• The Bible

• St. Gregory the Great - Pastoral Care and the Dialogues

• Boethius - Consolation of Philosophy

4. The Benedictine Revival (begun in the sixth century and lasting until 1066) consisted mainly of works of devotion and morality.

5. The Anglo-Saxon Frame of Mind

• Comitatus - the core of the Anglo-Saxon social structure.

• The Teutonic religion: the Wyrd and the „twilight of the Gods.”

• Philosophy of life: courage, loyalty, fatalism and sombreness.