such volumes. consequence. THE ANGLO-SAXON PERIOD. 11 There were, as yet, no Saxon books of any The learned missionaries from Rome wrote in Latin, and taught their native pupils to read and write that language; hence all the early works belonging to the literature of this country are Latin books. In the monastery of Wearmouth (Durhamshire) a boy, named BEDE, was educated by the monks. Ere long he became a monk, and proved himself to be cleverer than his masters, for he wrote no fewer than forty-five books. The most of them were theological (about divine things), but there were also histories, grammars, and books of science. His most famous work is the Ecclesiastical History of the Anglo-Saxons, which gives an account of church matters in England. He died in 735, while in the act of dictating the last sentences of a translation of the Gospel of St. John. In the following century we find the great KING ALFRED anxiously trying to spread education among his subjects. He did not begin to learn Latin himself until he was forty years old; but he studied so diligently that he was soon able to translate several works into AngloSaxon, and to add besides many excellent notes of his own. Bede's great History, and religious books for the guidance of the clergy, were among his translations. When it is remembered how the Danes tormented the land during his reign, and how, also, he was himself suffering from a severe disease, the perseverance and energy he exhibits in study can never be sufficiently admired. In the tenth century the great scholar was ELFRIC, Archbishop of Canterbury, who translated the Books of Moses, wrote eight Homilies (plain sermons), and a Latin Grammar. In Anglo-Saxon prose literature, the principal work of any length was the Saxon Chronicle, begun in Alfred's time, and continued till the middle of the twelfth century. It contains a record of all the events of that period, whether important or unimportant. The monks were the writers, and, as they have kept strictly to facts, the chronicle is valuable to historians, although dry and uninteresting to the general reader. THE NORMAN PERIOD. In consequence of the very obstinate resistance of the Saxons, William the Conqueror introduced the Feudal System which the Normans themselves had been compelled to adopt when they settled in France. The result was that the liberty-loving Saxons looked sourly on their foes, and for nearly three hundred years refused to mix with them in any way. The Normans became the aristocracy of the time, and the Saxons the degraded and servile class, the former speaking a dialect of the French language, and the latter holding obstinately by their own expressive tongue. As the servants refused to learn Norman, their masters were under the necessity of acquiring some knowledge of Saxon, that their orders might be understood; so that Anglo-Saxon, though changed in some respects, was to become the real English language of the future. The people of Northern France, where Normandy was situated, had a literature peculiar to themselves. Their writers were called Trouvères, and their works were mostly stories, in great measure inventions of their own. The language in which they wrote was a corruption of Latin- -a Roman dialect; hence the works so written were called Romances. There were also learned men who wrote on learned subjects. They still kept by the Latin tongue. Thus, when William came to England he brought with him writers of two kinds-scholarly Latinists and story-telling Romancers. Of the former, LANFRANC and ANSELM were the most remarkable. They were both churchmen, and they did excellent service to education by causing the establishment of numerous schools throughout the land, and by encouraging scholars to discuss subjects which, though trifling in themselves, were helpful in sharpening their minds and in making them better thinkers than previously they had been. Then there were historians or chroniclers who wrote in Latin. The three most famous were WILLIAM OF MALMESBURY, HENRY OF HUNTINGDON, and GEOFFREY OF MONMOUTH, all of whom wrote about England; but THE NORMAN PERIOD. 13 the last named is more remarkable than the rest, because he wrote the story of Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. Much of Geoffrey's history is known to be false, and hence there are many who doubt if there ever was such a king as Arthur. This story and all the others in connection with it were made the subjects of the Romances of the Norman Trouvères; but they also recorded strange stories about Charlemagne, and Richard the Lion-hearted. They wrote Fables too, in which they made fun of the people they disliked; and Metrical Romances about sea-kings and pirates. Semi-Saxon (1150-1250).-But the language was now undergoing a change. The words were being spelt differently; the nouns were dropping their case-endings; the articles were coming into use; and many words of French origin were introduced. We cannot tell at what date these changes took place, because they were gradual; but, in the reign of Henry III., there was a difference so distinct, that from 1250 till 1350 (Edward III.'s time), the name of Old English is given to the language of the country. Previous to 1250, then, the language was changing. It was not Saxon, neither was it English, but it was something between, called Semi-Saxon. The best example of it is to be found in the Brut, or Chronicle of Britain, by LAYAMON. Here are four lines from it which will show that the words were getting more English-like than in the last quotation: "He gef seolver, he gef gold, His monness the iguende.”± Early or Old English (1250-1350).-The most notable authors during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries were the Rhyming Chroniclers. They have the same stories to tell as the others who came before them, but they write their histories in rhyme. The important names are those of ROBERT OF GLOUCESTER and ROBERT MANNYNG. The latter wrote in this style : * Also. † Men. Satisfied. "Lordynges, that be now here, And in Inglysch has it schewed For tho that in this land wonn, For to have solace and gamen samen. دو Lords, that be now here, And in English has it showed, For those that are in this land For to have solace and delight Even in the small quotations given above, it will be seen that French had little to do with the new language. The speech of the Normans may have had some influence in causing the changes which took place; but it must be remembered that the English language is not merely a mixture of French and Saxon, as some have called it, but is essentially Saxon, with the additional changes that time has made. CHAPTER II. THE AGE OF CHAUCER. A.D. 1350-1400. Amalgamation of Normans and Saxons-Peculiarities of the Language at this time. POETRY.-Piers_Ploughman-Geoffrey Chaucer-the Canterbury Tales-John Gower-John Barbour. PROSE.-Sir John Mandeville-John Wycliffe. MIDDLE ENGLISH. THE Saxons and the Normans, at first so disagreeable to each other, had at length found out that there were many matters of importance which required the attention of both. In this way they began to sympathize with each other; and as the Normans forgot or lost their old French homes, and found England to be more interesting to them than France, they joined with the Saxons, and made, with them, an English people, speaking a common language, though Latin and French were also well known tongues. The language, as written at this time, has several peculiarities which deserve to be noted. French words, which have since become English, had, at that period, more of a French dress. Thus, mischance was spelt mischaunce; pity, pite; doctor, doctour; and reign, regne. Secondly, words ending in the letter e, were pronounced as if the e were a separate syllable. Thus, love would be pronounced lov-é; hope, hop-é, and so on. The rhythms do not always require this pronunciation, but when the line seems to have a syllable too little, it will generally be found that an e has been overlooked. The following line will illustrate this; it should have ten syllables:- "She woldé wepe if that she saw a mouse. Here it will be seen that three words capable of being divided end in e; but the line requires but one of them to be sounded. Which shall it be? This is settled by the rhythm which requires a short syllable first, then a long one, and in that order to the end of the line. Thirdly, the syllable ed at the end of a word is always sounded as in this line, referring to a drunken man— "Thou fallest as it were a stick-ed swine." Lastly, we still find the remains of old German verbs which the Saxons brought with them from the continent. An infinitive of this kind ends in en, and a past participle is preceded by the syllable ge. In Middle English the latter was not retained, but we see traces of it in the У or i often used in its place. Here is an example of the old infinitive "In hope to stand-en in his ladies grace." The participle is illustrated in the line- "His here was by his er-es round y-shorne." With the aid of these explanations, the writings of the authors now to be spoken of will be used with tolerable ease. |
