【文章內(nèi)容簡(jiǎn)介】 the 7th century, the first English poet, Caedmon公元 7世紀(jì)盎格魯 撒克遜基督教詩(shī)人 by name, began to sing. The first known religious poet of England, he wrote a poetic paraphrase of the Bible. Beowulf the national epic of the AngloSaxon The main incidents in the poem Beowulf ? Beowulf’s fight with the monster Grendel in Hrothgar’s Hall ? Beowulf’s slaying of Grendel’s mother in her hair. ? Beowulf’s return in glory to his uncle, and his succession to the throne. ? Beowulf’s victory in death, fifty years later, over the fire dragon. Epic, in poetry, refers to a long work dealing with the actions of gods and heroes. Structurally speaking, Beowulf is built around three fights. The first part deals with the fight with between Beowulf and the monster Grendel that has been attacking the great hall of Heorot, built by Hrothgar, the Danish King. The second part involves a battle between Beowulf and Grendal’s mother a watermonster, who takes revenge by carrying off one of the king’s noblemen. The last part is about the fight between Beowulf and a firedrake that ravages Beowulf’s kingdom. Thematically the poem presents a vivid picture of how the primitive people wage heroic struggles against the hostile forces of the natural world under a wise and mighty leader. The poem is an example of the mingling of nature myths and heroic legends. Alliteration means a repetition of the initial sounds of several words in a line or group. Alliteration is a traditional poetic devices in English literature, eg: I have stood still and stopped the sound of feet. Writing Features of Beowulf ?It is not a Christian but a pagan poem of all advanced pagan civilization, presenting an allaround picture of the tribal society. So the poem has a great social significance. The use of the strong stress and the predominance of consonants are very notable in this poem. Each line is divided into two halves, and each half has two heavy stresses ? The use of alliteration is another notable feature and makes the stresses more emphatic. AngloNorman Period ? The Norman Conquest 1066 came the Frenchspeaking Normans under Duke William, who later became the king of England. It was called the . William the conqueror then confiscated沒(méi)收 the lands of the English lords, regarding the whole England as his own, and bestowed large patches of land to his Norman Barons, who in turn divided their lands among their own knights. Thus, he pushed England well on its way to feudalism, and the NC marked the establishment of feudalism in England. The Influence of ? Politically, a feudalist system was established in England ? Religiously, the Romebacked Catholic Church had a much stronger control over the country ? On language, three languages coexisted in England. French became the official language used by the king and the Norman lords。 Latin became the principal tongue of church affairs and in universities。 old English was spoken only by the mon English people. The Medieval English Literature ? With the Norman Conquest starts the medieval period in English literature, which covers about four centuries( from 1066 up to the mid14th century) ? Middle English literature deals with a wider range of subjects, is uttered by more voices and in a greater diversity of styles, tones and genres. ? Popular folk literature also occupies an important place in this period. ? Middle English literature strongly reflects the principles of the medieval Christian doctrine, which were primarily concerned with the issue of personal salvation. Romance ? Romance which used narrative verse or prose to sing knightly adventures or other heroic deeds is a popular literary form in the medieval period. ? Hero: usually the knight, a man of noble birth, skilled in the use of weapons, who sets out on a journey to acplish some goal—to protect the church and the king, to attack infidelity, to rescue a maiden, to meet a challenge, or to obey a knightly mand. ? Romantic love is an important part of the plot in romance. Characterization is standardized. The structure is loose and episodic, the language is simple and straightforward. ? It contains perilous adventures more or less remote from ordinary life, even describes supe