The Effects of Norman Conquest on English Language and Liter

The Effects of Norman Conquest on English Language and

Literature

--the Influence of Foreign Invasion on Early British Culture

English Major 09 Class 5 Qiu Yupeng

As

the

title

reveals,

this

paper

focuses

on

the

Norman

Conquest,

especially

its

effects

on

English

language

and

literature. Generally, this paper can be roughly divided into three

parts: a brief introduction about the background information of

the Middle English Period (1066-1485)

—

the Norman Conquest;

mixture

of

English

and

French

culture

—

the

burst

of

a

new

language; the Romances

—

flowering of English literature after a

standing- still period after the Conquest. Nevertheless,

the third

part will discuss much more in detail.

First,

let

’

s

flick

through

the

background

information

of

the

Middle

English

period.

In

1066,

the

Normans,

who

were

Norseman in origin conquered

England. After their winning in

Normandy,

the

Normans

turned

to

French

culture

and

Latin

civilization. As a result, although they were of the same blood of

the Danes, in all other aspects the Normans were feudal-minded

Frenchmen.

Thus,

after

the

invasion

to

England,

William

the

Conqueror, Duke of Normandy, and his followers brought new

social

organization,

new

laws

and

new

speech

to

the

England

which had great influence on English culture.

Second,

the

Norman

Conquest

shaped

Old

English

in

the

Middle

English

period

and

the

Middle

English

gradually

formed.

In fact, within three hundred years after the Conquest, English

was

only

as

the

language

of

the

illiterate

and

poor

people.

On

the contrary, the King of England and the ruling class spoke and

wrote

only

French.

Consequently,

while

the

basic

part

of

the

language

remained

Old

English,

the

intellectual,

artistic,

and

theological came mostly from French. It still possessed much of

the power of its Teutonic origins, and had acquired a grace and

charm of French. At this time, some French words replaced Old

English

words;

crime

replaced

firen

and

uncle

replaced

eam

.

Other times, French and Old English components combined to

form a new word, as the French

gentle

and the Germanic

man

formed

gentleman.

Other

times,

two

different

words

with

roughly the same meaning survived into modern

English. Take

three sets of words for example:

kingly

,

royal

,

and regal

;

time

,

age

,

and epoch

;

fire

,

flame

and

conflagration

. Though with quite

the same in meaning, their origins differ from each other--

kingly

,

time

,

fire

are

of

native

origin;

royal

,

age

,

flame

are

of

French

origin;

regal

,

epoch

,

conflagration

are

of

Latin

origin.

These

could

be

considered

as

typical

examples

of

the

Norman

Conquest

’

s shaping influence on English Language.

Apart

from

the

introduction

of

a

mass

of

French

and

Latin

words

into

Old

English,

the

Norman

Conquest

also

accounted

for the lost of most Old English inflection during the this Period.

The mixture of the two cultures and the two languages came to

be known as the Middle English. The most famous example of

Middle

English

is

Chaucer

’

s

Canterbury

Tales

(it

will

also

be

mention

as

a

typical

example

of

the

Norman

Conquest

’

s

influence

on

English

Literature

in

the

later

part

of

this

paper).

Different from Old English, Middle English can be read, albeit

with difficulty, by modern English- speaking people.

Third,

having

stood

still

for

about

two

centuries

after

the

Conquest, the Middle English literature, under great influence of

Norman French, burst into fabulous flowers.

From

a

century

and

a

half

after

the

Conquest,

English

literature

almost

stood

still

and

few

English

literatures

were

written at that time. Even if the 12

th

and 13

th

century witnessed a

flowering

of

literature,

those

works

were

written

in

the

two

socially

acceptable

languages

—

Latin

and

French

instead

of

English.

However,

with

the

influences

of

French

narrative

poems and other works following the Conquest, especially in the