英国文学补充资料1

英国文学补充资料

1

PART ONE: EARLY AND MEDIEVAL ENGLISH LITERATURE

Chapter 1. The Making of England

Ⅰ. The B

ritons:

Before

entering

upon

the

study

of

English

literature,

it

is

necessary

to

know

something

about

the

English

people.

The

English

people are of a mixed blood. The early inhabitants in the island

now we call England were Britons, a tribe of Celts. From the

Britons the island got its name of Britain, the land of Britons.

The

Britons

were

a

primitive

people.

They

were

divided

into

dozens

of

small

tribes,

each

of

which

lived

in

a

clustering

of

huts.

oldest Celtic laws that have come down to our day show the gens

still

in

full

vitality.

(Engels)

The

Britons

lived

in

the

tribal

society.

Ⅱ. The Roman Conquest:

In

55

B.C.,

Britain

was

invaded by

Julius

Caesar,

the

Roman

conqueror, who had then just occupied Gaul. But as soon as the

Romans

landed

on

shore

of

the

island,

the

Britons

fought

like

lions

under

the

leadership

of

their

chieftain.

And

with

the

comings

and

goings

of

many

Roman

generals

within

the

time

of

a

century,

Britain

was not completely subjugated to the Roman Empire until 78 A.D.

With the Roman Conquest the Roman mode of life came across to

Britain

also.

Roman

theatres

and

baths

quickly

rose

in

the

towns.

All these refinements of civilization, however, were for the

enjoyment of the Roman conquerors while the native Britons were

trodden

down

as

slaves.

The

Roman

occupation

lasted

for

about

400

years, during which the Romans, for military purposes, built a

network

of

highways,

later

called

the

Roman

roads,

which

remained

useful for a long time to come. Along these roads grew up scores

of towns, and London, one of them, became an important trading

centre. It was also during the Roman rule that Christianity was

introduced

to

Britain.

But

at

the

beginning

of

the

fifth

century,

the

Roman

Empire

was

in

the

process

of

declining.

And

in

410

A.D.,

all

the

Roman

troops

went

back

to

the

continent

and

never

returned.

Thus ended the Roman occupation in Britain.

Ⅲ. The English Conquest:

At

the

same

time

Britain

was

invaded

by

swarms

of

pirates.

They were three tribes from Northern Europe: the Angles, Saxons

and

Jutes.

These

three tribes

landed on

the British coast,

drove

the

Britons

west

and

north,

and

settled

down

themselves.

The

Jutes

occupied Kent, in the southeastern corner of the island. The

Saxons

took

the

southern

part

and

established

some

small

kingdoms

as Wes-sex, Essex and Sussex. The Angles spread over the east

midland

and

built

the

kingdom

of

the

East

Anglia.

Gradually

seven

such

kingdoms

arose

in

Britain.

And

by

the

7th

century

these

small

kingdoms

were

combined

into

a

united

kingdom

called

England,

or,

the

land

of

Angles.

The

three

tribes

had

mixed

into

a

whole

people

called

English,

the

Angles being

the

most numerous

of

the

three.

And

the

three

dialects

spoken

by

them

naturally

grew

into

a

single

language called Anglo-Saxon, or Old English, which is quite

different from the English that we know today.

Ⅳ. The Social Con

dition of the Anglo- Saxons:

Before

the

Anglo-Saxons

settled

down

in

Britain,

they

still

lived in the tribal society. Each group of families united by

kinship fixed its home in a separate village. There were chiefs

of the war- band, which was composed of young men. The warriors

ate the chief's bread and shared the booty. Though the chief had

power of life and death over his men, he did not keep them at a

distance. He was familiar with them. He would eat and drink with

them,

would

join

their

amusements

and

their

songs.

There

was

then

what

Engels

calls

military

democracy

grown

out

of

the

gens.

After the conquest of Britain, the social constitution of

the Anglo-Saxons went through some rapid changes.

rule over subjugated people is incompatible with the gentile

order… Thus, the organs of the gentile constitution had to be

transformed into organs of state… The first representative of

the conquering people was, however, the military commander. The

internal

and

external

safety

of

the

conquered

territory

demanded

that his power be increased. The moment had arrived for

transforming military leadership into kingship. This was done.

(Engels)

Therefore,

the

Anglo-Saxon

period

witnessed

a

transition

from tribal society to feudalism.

Ⅴ. Anglo

-Saxon Religious Belief and Its Influence:

The Anglo- Saxons were heathen people. They believed in old

mythology

of

Northern

Europe.

That

is

why

the

Northern

mythology

has

left

its

mark

upon

the

English

language.

For

example,

the

days

of the week in English are named after the Northern gods. Odin,

the All Father, gave his name to Wednesday, Thor gave his name

to Thursday, and Frigga, the beautiful goddess to whom prayers

were made by lovers, gave her name to Friday. Tuesday preserves

the memory of Tiu, another Northern god.

The

Anglo-Saxons

were

Christianized

in

the

seventh

century.

Then monasteries were built all over the country. In these

monasteries, at a time when few but monks could read and write,

the earliest English books were written down. But as the monks

hated the heathen books, they managed to tinge them with some

Christian

colour

which

does

not

go

in

with

the

content

of

the

whole

thing.

Chapter 2.

Ⅰ. Anglo

-Saxon Poetry:

English

literature

began

with

the

Anglo-Saxon

settlement

in

England. Of Old English literature, five relics are still

preserved. All of them are poems, or, songs by the Anglo-Saxon

minstrels who sang of the heroic deeds of old time to the chiefs

and warriors in the feasting-hall. Four are short fragments of

long poems. But there is one long poem of over 3,000 lines. It

is

Ⅱ. The Story of

Beowulf

is

the

nephew

of

Hygelac,

King

of

the

Geats,

a

people

in

Jutland,

Denmark.

News

reaches him

that

Hrothgar,

king

of

the

Danes, is in great trouble. Hrothgar has built a great hall. But

a

terrible

monster,

Grendel,

visits

the

hall from

night

to night

and carries the warriors away. So the hall is deserted.

On

hearing

the

news,

Beowulf

sails

for

Denmark

with

fourteen

companions and offers to fight the monster. After a feast of

welcome, Beowulf and his companions lie down in the hall for the

night.

Then

Grendel

appears,

seizes

and

devours

one

of

Beowulf's

men.

He

next

attacks

Beowulf,

who

grapples

with

him

single-handed,

because weapons do not avail against him. After a terrible

hand-to-hand combat,

Grendel

retreats

mortally

wounded,

leaving

one of his arms with Beowulf. Great rejoicing follows and next

night the hall is once more full of joys and songs.

But

Grendel

has

a

mother.

She

comes

to

avenge

her

son's

death

by carrying away the chief counsellor of Hrothgar. Beowulf and

his companions follow the bloody trail to the edge of a lake.

Beowulf plunges into the water, finds the old she-monster and

follows her into a hall under the waves. In the desperate combat

his sword fails to bite. And at first he almost gets the worst

of

it

if

he

does

not

by

chance

seize

a

big

sword

left

by

the

giants

of

old

time.

With

it

he

cuts

off

the

head

of

the

she- monster.

There,

too, he finds the body of Grendel himself and cuts off his head

as

well.

With

these

trophies

he

goes

back

to

the

hall

of

the

Danish

king.

The

triumph

is

celebrated

by

feasting

and

song.

And

Beowulf

sails home to the land of the Geats.

Now, he becomes king and reigns over his people for fifty

years. Then it comes to pass that a fire dragon comes out of its

den and belches forth its fire to burn the people. Beowulf is an

old man now. But he bids farewell to his household and goes to

seek

the

dragon

with

eleven

companions.

He

fights

it

single-handed.

Again

the

sword

fails

to

bite,

and

the

hero

is

enveloped

in

flames.

The dragon is killed at last. But Beowulf is hopelessly wounded

too. The poem ends with the funeral of the hero:

For their hero's passing, his hearth-companions

Quoth that of all the kings of earth,

Of men he was the mildest and most beloved,

To his kin the kindest, keenest to praise.

(In modern translation)

Ⅲ. Analysis of Its Content:

Saxons

from

their

continental

homes.

It

had

been

passed

from

mouth

to mouth for hundreds of years before it was written down in the

tenth century. Its main stories (the fights with monsters) are

evidently

folk

legends

of

primitive

Northern

tribes.

Such

tribes

lived along the northwestern coast of Europe. Back of their

settlements were impenetrable forests. In front of them was the

stormy

northern

ocean.

They

had

to

fight

against

the

beasts.

They

had to struggle against the forces of nature, which remained

mysterious and unknown to them. When they returned from their

exploits

and

voyages,

the

warriors

would

tell

stories

of

strange

monsters that lived beneath the sea, or in the marshes and dark

forests inland. They were brave but superstitious. Such is the

background of the marvellous stories in

Beowulf is a grand hero. He is so, simply by his deeds. He

is faithful to his people. He goes alone, in a strange land, to

rescue

his

people. He

forgets himself

in face

of

death, thinking

only that it profits others. Though the poem was written in the

tenth century, its hero was no doubt mainly the product of a

primitive, tribal society on the continent. It was probably put

together in England on the basis of lays brought from Northern

Europe

by

the

minstrels.

In

his

manuscripts

on

English and Irish

histories, Engels mentioned the historical significance of

ancient times.

Ⅳ. Features of

The most striking feature in its poetical form is the use

of alliteration. In alliterative verse, certain accented words

in

a

line

begin

with

the

same

consonant

sound.

There

are

generally

4 accents in a line, three of which show alliteration, as can be

seen from the above quotation.

Other

features

of

are

the

use

of

metaphors

and

of

understatements.

for

his

attendant

warriors,

bath

or

road

for

sea,

for

ship;

such

metaphors

occur