Vocab One

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Alfred the Great

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the king of Wessez in southern England who united neighboring tribes and stoped the advance of the Danes (Vikings). In doing so, he saved England and the English language and is the only English monarch called "the Great". He also started public schools and preserved a lot of literature in English.

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Anglo-Saxon Chronicle

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a history of the early Anglo Saxons started by Alfred that is one of the two most important historic sources for historians about the Anglo-Saxons.

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Anglo-Saxons

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a generic name give to all of the invading tribes who began the conquest of England in the mid 400's. Thought there were many tribe, the Angles and Saxons were the most numerous.

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Augustine

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the monk sent by Pope Gregory to bring Christianity to England. He was called Saint Augustine but is not to be confused with the other Saint Augustine of the early church.

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Venerable Bede

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a church scholar at the northern England monastery of Jarrow who was to become one of the most learned and respected thinkers in Europe. He wrote in Latin but preserved some of the first snippets of Anglo-Saxon literature. He also wrote the Ecclesiastical History of the English People.

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Beowulf

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the single most important piece of Anglo-Saxon literature, this is England's national epic and the first great piece of literature in English.

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Britons

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the generic name for the people who lived in England before the Roman conquest and who were left defenseless after the Roman withdrawal and who were conquered and pushed westward by the Anglo-Saxons.

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Brittany

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the region of Northern France where some of the Britons settled in to avoid the Anglo-Saxons. The people there still speak a language closely related to the language of Wales where most of the remaining Britons settled.

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Caedmon's Hymn

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the first piece of English literature by a named writer. Bede tells of CAedmon whoh was a stable-keeper at a monastery who sang a song about the creation of things.

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Caesure

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a pause in the middle of a line of Anglo-Saxon poetry. The pause is after two heavy beats and then before two more heavy beats.

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Canterbury

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the town in southeast England where Augustine established the first Christian Church in 599. Since then the seat of the English church has always been at Canterbury.

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Ecclesiastical History of the English People

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a Church history by Bede in Latin that tells of the beginnings of Christianity in England up to the 9th century. It is the other important historical source book.

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Epic

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a long narrative poem that involves the exploits of a super hero in a large time frame and geographical setting.

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Ethelbert

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the king of Kent that accepted Chritianity that Augustine brought to England and thus began the beginning of the Chritianization of England.

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Folk Epic

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an epic in which the values and actions of the hero are those identified with a cultural group. Beowulf is a folk epic in that the Anglo-Saxons admired the characteristics of the hero Beowulf.

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Frisians

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one of the four main invading tribes of "Anglo-Saxon" people, the Frisians live on the Frisian Islands off the coast of modern-day Holland and they still speak a unique language very similar to Old English.

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Grendel

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the monster in Beowulf.

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Jarrow

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the monastery in northern England where Bede lived and wrote.

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Jutes

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the first of the main invadin tribes of "Anglo-Saxons," the Jutes, under Hengist, began the invasion of 449.

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Kenning

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a two word huphenated metaphor very popular in Anglo-Saxon literture. A "whale-road" is thus a sea.

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Londinium

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(London) the name given by the Romans to the city they made their capital and which has remained England's capital ever since.

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mead

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an alcoholic drinks made of fermented honey and which was very popular with the Anglo-Saxons.

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National Epic

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an epic poem that is identified with a nation. It comes early in a nation's history. Beowulf is the national epic of England.

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oral tradition

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passing stories and legends down through many generations by word of mouth. It is thought that all Anglo-Saxon literature was pass this way for many years before every being written down.

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Romans

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the great civilization that began the conquest of the original Britons in 55BC under Julius Caesar. The Roman remained in England for about 500 years finally leaving in 410AD.

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Scops

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Scops were the original poets of the Anglo-Saxons. Many were also gleemen who wandered about singing their tales of adventure for perhaps a donation.

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Sutton Hoo

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an archaeological site on the eastern shore of England where many artifacts of the Anglo-Saxons have been found and which reveal that the Anglo-Saxons had a sense of the beauty.

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Welas

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name given by the Anglo-Saxons to the Britons. Oddly, it mean's "foriegner" which the Britons weren't. The name Wales comes from the term because Wales was where most of the Britons escaped to avoid the Anglo-Saxons.

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Whitby

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the monastery where Caedmon was the stable keeper and where he was invited to become a monk after his famous poem.

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Wyrd

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the Anglo-Saxon word for blind fate which they strongly believed in before the coming of Christianity.