Anglo-Saxon literature. Christinity. Caedmon “Paraphrase”. Cynewulf “Juliana” and “Helen”. Alfred the Great. Anglo-Saxon Chronicle.

The development of written literary tradition in European literature is closely connected with the spread of Christian religion, which in 306 became the official religion of Rome and was eventually brought to all Roman colonies, Britain including. The Celtic priests – the druids – disappeared, while the number of early Christians grew. Together with their religion they brought the Latin language, the official language of the Church all over Europe.

In the 4^th century the Germanic tribes of the Angles, Saxons and the Jutes came to the British Isles. They were pagans and most of the British Christians were either put to death or driven away to Wales and Ireland. That is why the stories of the Christian martyrs and saints were typical of the literature of that time. The poem “The Dream of the Rood” stands supreme both in vividness and complexity. Unlike other old English poems on biblical terms it describes not the biblical event itself but a vision or dream in which that event, the Crucifixion, is both symbolically represented and narrated by a participant. The function of both symbol and narrator are performed by the rood, Christ’s Cross.

It was not until the end of the 6^th century that Roman monks came to Britain again with the task from the Pope to convert its people to Christianity in order to spread the papal influence over England. The monks landed in Kent and build the first church in Canterbury.

With the coming of Christianity Roman civilization poured into the country again. Latin words once again entered the language of the Anglo-Saxons because the religious books were all in Latin. The monasteries became centres of learning and education. Poets and writers imitated Latin books about the early Christians and saints.

We know the names of two old English poets, Caedmon and Cynewulf. Caedmon lived sometime in the 7^th century, he was a shepherd in Yorkshire. He discovered in himself a gift of poetry when he was no longer young, and that was by devine revelation one night an angel appeared to him in a dream and told him to sing God’s praise. He composed religious poetry, but not in Latin – he created his verse in the Northumbrian dialect. His famous poem is “Paraphrase”. It retells fragments from the Bible in alliterative verse.

Cynewulf, a monk who lived at the end of the 8^th century, almost certainly wrote four poems, of which two – “Juliana” and “Elene” – are notable because they are the first Anglo-Saxon works to introduce female characters.

The earlier writers and chronicles among the Anglo-Saxon churchmen wrote in Latin. The greatest of these was known as the Venerable Bede (673 - 735), the most learned and industrious writer of the whole period, author of the Ecclesiastical History of the English people, an excellent historical authority of his time. As a historian Bede is rightly regarded as “the father of English history”. His book was well-known in France and Italy.

Nearly two centuries later, Alfred the Great (871-901), the ablest and most remarkable of all English kings, not only became the patron of scholars and educators, but turned author and translator himself after delivering his kingdom from the Danes. Rather than use Latin as had been the custom, Alfred promoted written use of the Vernacular: he translated Bede’s “History” from Latin into Anglo-Saxon, as well as a portion of the Bible. Alfred was also responsible for the initiation of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, the first historical record to be kept in English, which was continued for 250 years after Alfred’s death. He formulated a code of law and founded the first English “public schools”. Alfred was a truly great man, ruling and doing much to educate his subjects.