CHRISTIAN WRITERS OF THE ANGLO-SAXON PERIOD

The literature of this period falls naturally into two divisions,-pagan and Christian. The former represents the poetry which the Anglo-Saxons probably brought with them in the form of oral sagas,-the crude material out of which literature was slowly developed on English soil; the latter represents the writings developed under teaching of the monks, after the old pagan religion had vanished, but while it still retained its hold on the life and language of the people. In reading our earliest poetry it is well to remember that all of it was copied by the monks, and seems to have been more or less altered to give it a religious coloring.

The coming of Christianity meant not simply a new life and leader for England; it meant also the wealth of a new language. The scop is now replaced by the literary monk; and that monk, though he lives among common people and speaks with the English tongue, has behind him all the culture and literary resources of the Latin language. The effect is seen instantly in our early prose and poetry.

Northumbrian Literature. In general, two great schools of Christian influence came into England, and speedily put an end to the frightful wars that had waged continually among the various petty kingdoms of the Anglo-Saxons. The first of these, under the leadership of Augustine, came from Rome. It spread in the south and center of England, especially in the kingdom of Essex. It founded schools and partially educated the rough people, but it produced no lasting literature. The other, under the leadership of the saintly Aidan, came from Ireland, which country had been for centuries a center of religion and education for all western Europe. The monks of this school labored chiefly in Northumbria, and to their influence we owe all that is best in Anglo-Saxon literature. It is called the Northumbrian School; its center was the monasteries and abbeys, such as Jarrow and Whitby, and its three greatest names are Bede, Cædmon, and Cynewulf.

BEDE (673-735)

The Venerable Bede, as he is generally called, the first great scholar, wrote almost exclusively in Latin, his last work, the translation of the Gospel of John into Anglo-Saxon, having been unfortunately lost. His works, over forty in number, covered the whole field of human knowledge in his day, and were so admirably written that they were widely copied as text-books, or rather manuscripts, in nearly all the monastery schools of Europe.

The work most important to us is the Ecclesiastical History of the English People. It is a fascinating history to read even now, with its curious combination of accurate scholarship and immense credulity. In all strictly historical matters Bede is a model. Every known authority on the subject, from Pliny to Gildas, was carefully considered; every learned pilgrim to Rome was commissioned by Bede to ransack the archives and to make copies of papal decrees and royal letters; and to these were added the testimony of abbots who could speak from personal knowledge of events or repeat the traditions of their several monasteries.

Side by side with this historical exactness are marvelous stories of saints and missionaries. It was an age of credulity, and miracles were in men's minds continually. The men of whom he wrote lived lives more wonderful than any romance, and their courage and gentleness made a tremendous impression on the rough, warlike people to whom they came with open hands and hearts. It is the natural way of all primitive peoples to magnify the works of their heroes, and so deeds of heroism and kindness, which were part of the daily life of the Irish missionaries, were soon transformed into the miracles of the saints. Bede believed these things, as all other men did, and records them with charming simplicity, just as he received them from bishop or abbot. Notwithstanding its errors, we owe to this work nearly all our knowledge of the eight centuries of our history following the landing of Cæsar in Britain.

There are many other Old English poems. Among them are Genesis A and Genesis B. The second of these, which is short, is concerned with the beginning of the world and the fall of the angels. It is a good piece of writing; the poet has thoroughly enjoyed describing God’s punishment of Satan and the place of punishment for evil in Hell. Most of the long Genesis A, on the other hand, is dull, and little more than old history taken from the Bible and put into poor Old English verse. Other poems taken straight from the Bible are the well-written Exodus, which describes how the Israelites left Egypt, and Daniel. Another poem, Christ and Satan, deals with events in Christ’s life. There is a good deal of repetition in this work.

We know the names of two Old English poets, caedmon and cynewulf. Almost nothing now remains which is certainly Caedmon’s work. He was a poor countryman who used to stay apart when his fellows sang songs to God; for Caedmon was uneducated and could not sing. One night an angel appeared to him in a dream and told him to sing God’s praise. When he woke, he was able to sing, and part of one of his songs remains.

Cynewulf almost certainly wrote four poems, Juliana, The Fates of the Apostles, Christ, and Elene. The last of these seems to have been written just before Cynewulfs death; for he says in it, ‘Now are my days in their appointed time gone away. My life-joys have disappeared, as water runs away.’ Cynewulf’s poems are religious, and were probably written in the second half of the eighth century.

Other Old English poems are Andreas and Guthlac. The second of these is in two parts, and may have been written by two men. Guthlac was a holy man who was tempted in the desert. Another of the better poems is The Dream of the Rood (the rood is Christ’s cross.) This is among the best of all Old English poems.

Another important writer of prose was aelfric. His works, such as the Homilies (990-4) and Lives of Saints (993-6), were mostly religious. He wrote out in Old English the meaning of the first seven books of the Bible. His prose style is the best in Old English, and he uses alliteration to join his sentences together.

Close of the Anglo-Saxon Period. After Alfred's death there is little to record, except the loss of the two supreme objects of his heroic struggle, namely, a national life and a national literature. It was at once the strength and the weakness of the Saxon that he lived apart as a free man and never joined efforts willingly with any large body of his fellows. The tribe was his largest idea of nationality, and, with all our admiration, we must confess as we first meet him that he has not enough sense of unity to make a great nation, nor enough culture to produce a great literature. A few noble political ideals repeated in a score of petty kingdoms, and a few literary ideals copied but never increased,--that is the summary of his literary history. For a full century after Alfred literature was practically at a standstill, having produced the best of which it was capable, and England waited for the national impulse and for the culture necessary for a new and greater art. Both of these came speedily, by way of the sea, in the Norman Conquest.

Date: 2015-02-16; view: 1977