Англоязычная литература. Семинар 2.

26-02-2021 Англоязычная литература

Задание для студентов групп 310517 и 310617.

Anglo-Saxon literature (the 7th-11th centuries)

The culture of the early Britons changed greatly under the influence of Christianity. Christianity penetrated into the British Isles in the 3rd century. It was made the Roman national faith in the year 306 when Constantine the Great became emperor over the whole of the Roman Empire. The religion was called the Catholic Church (the word “Church” means “religion”. “Catholic” means “universal”). The Greek and Latin languages became the languages of the Church all over Europe.

At the end of the 4th century, after the fall of the Roman Empire, Britain was conquered by Germanic tribes. They were pagans. They persecuted the British Christians and put many of them to death or drove them away to Wales or Ireland.

At the end of the 6th century monks came from Rome to Britain again with the purpose to convert the Anglo-Saxons to Christianity. It happened in the 7th century.

The part of England where the monks landed was Kent and the first church they built was in the town of Canterbury. Up to this day it is the English religious center. Now that Roman civilization poured into the country again, a second set of Latin words was introduced into the language of the Anglo-Saxons, because the religious books that the Roman monks had brought to England were all written in Latin and Greek. The monasteries where the art of reading and writing was practiced became the centers of almost all the learning and education in the country. No wonder many poets and writers imitated those Latin books about the early Christians, and they also made up many stories of their own about saints. Though the poets were English, they had to write in Latin. Notwithstanding this custom, a poet appeared in the 7th century by the name of Caedmon who wrote in Anglo-Saxon. He was a shepherd, who started singing verses and became a poet. Later monks took him to a monastery where he made up religious poetry. He wrote a poem – The Paraphrase. It tells part of a Bible story.

Another writer of this time was Bede. He described the country and the people of his time in his work The History of the English Church. His work was a fusion of historical truth and fantastic stories. It was the first history of England and Bede is regarded as “the father of English history”.

Another outstanding figure in English history and literature was Alfred the Great (849-901), the king of Wessex. Though he was a soldier he fought no wars except those in order to defend his country. He built a fleet of ships to beat the Danes who had come again to invade Wessex. He also made up a code of law. He tried to develop the culture of his people. He founded the first English public school for young men. He translated the Church-history of Bede from Latin into a language the people cound understand, and a portion of the Bible as well. To him the English owe the famous Anglo-Saxon Chronicle which maybe called the first history of England, the first prose in English literature. It was continued for 250 years after the death of Alfred, till the reign of Henry II in 1154.

The Danish conquest and its influence on the language of the Anglo-Saxons

When King Alfred dies, fighting with the Danes soon began again. They occupied the north and east of England (Scotland and Ireland) and also sailed over the Channel and fought in France.

The land they conquered in the north of France was called Normandy and the people who lived there the Northmen. In the hundred years that were to follow they began to be called Normans.

The Danes who had occupied the north and east of England spoke a language only slightly different from the Anglo-Saxon dialects. The roots of the words were the same while the endings were different. Soon these languages merged with one another as they were spoken by all classes of society. The language of the Anglo-Saxons took many new words from Danish, particularly those regarding state affairs and shipbuilding. Such words as law, ship, fellow, husband, sky, ill are of Scandinavian origin. The Danes were in many ways more civilized than the English. The Danes were accustomed to chairs and benches while the English still sat on the floor. The Danes brought the game of chess to England which originally had come to them from the East.

The Norman period (the 12th-13th centuries)

The Northmen or the Vikings who had settled in North-Western France were called Normans. They had adopted the French civilization and language. They were good soldiers, administrators and lawyers.

In 1066 at the battle of Hastings the Norman Duke William defeated the Saxon King Harold. Again a new invasion took place. Within five years William the Conqueror was complete master of the whole of England. He divided the land of the conquered people among his lords. With the Norman conquest the feudal system was established in England. The English peasants were made to work for the Norman barons, they became their serfs and were oppressed.

William the Conqueror could not speak a word of English. He and his barons spoke Norman-French, not pure French, because the Normans were simply the Danes with a French polish. The English language was neglected by the conquerors.

Norman-French became the official language of the state and remained as such up to the middle of the 14th century. It was the language of the ruling class, of the court and the law, it was spoken by the Norman nobility.

But the common people of the native population kept speaking their mother tongue, Anglo-Saxon. While at the monasteries, at the centers of learning, the clergy used Latin for services and the literary activities.

In the Norman times three languages were spoken in the country. Until the 12th century it was mostly monks who were interested in books and learning. With the development of sciences, such as medicine and law, universities appeared in Europe. Paris became the center of higher education for English students.

In 1168 a group of professors from Paris founded the first university at Oxford. In 1209 the second university was formed at Cambridge. The students were taught Latin, theology, medicine, grammar, rhetoric, logic, arithmetic, geometry, astronomy and music.

By and by the elements of French and Latin penetrated into Anglo-Saxon. They belonged to all spheres of life – words denoting relations, religion, words connected with government and military terms. War, peace, guard, council, tower, wage, comfort, beef, tailor – all these words are of French origin. Sometimes the French words replaced the corresponding English words, sometimes they remained side by side forming synonyms. A well-known example of such differentiation is presented by the names of animals, which were of Anglo-Saxon origin, and the name of the meat of these animals, which was French, such as ox – beef, calf – veal, sheep – mutton, etc. Enriches by French and Latin borrowings, their language still remained basically Anglo-Saxon.

Finally it became the national language (now we call it Middle English). The formation of the national language was completed in the 14th century.

In 1349 English began to be studied in schools. In 1366 it was adopted in the courts of Law.

Literature in the Norman times

The Normans brought to England romances – love stories and lyrical poems about their brave knights and their ladies.

The first English romances were translations from French. But later on in the 12th century, there appeared romances of Arthur, a legendary king of Britain. In the 15th centure Thomas Malory collected and published them under the title Sir Thomas Malory’s Book of King Arthur and of his Noble Knights of the Round Table. The knights gathered in King Arthur’s city of Camelot. Their meetings were held at a round table, hence the title of the book. All the knights were brave and gallant in their struggle against robbers, bad kings and monsters. King Arthur was the wisest and the most honest of them all.

The townsfolk expressed their thoughts in fabliaus (funny stories about townsfolk) and fables (short stories with animals for characters and containing a moral).

Anglo-Saxon was spoken by the common people from the 5th till the 14th century. The songs and ballads about harvest, mowing, spinning and weaving were created by the country-folk, and were learnt by heart, recited and sung accompanied by musical instruments and dancing.

Pre-Renaissance in England

The Norman kings made London their residence. The London dialect was the central (midland) dialect, and it was understood throughout the country. It was the London dialect from which the national language developed.

In the 14th century the English bourgeoisie traded with Flanders (now Belgium). The English sold wool to Flanders and the latter produced the finest cloth. England wanted to become the center of the world market. Flemish weavers were invited to England to teach the English their trade. But feudalism was a serious obstacle to the development of the country. In the first half of the 14th century France threatened the free towns of Flanders wishing to seize them. England was afraid of losing its wool market.

A collision between France and England was inevitable. King Edward III made war with France in 1337. This war is now called the Hundred Years’ War because it lasted over a hundred years. At first England was successful in the war. The English fleet defeated the French fleet in the Channel. Then the English also won battles in land. But the ruin of France and the famine brought about a terrible disease called the “pestilence”. It was brought over to England from France. The English soldiers called it the “Black Death”. By the year 1948 one-third of England’s population had perished. The peasants who had survived were forced to till the land of their lords.

As years went on, the French united against their enemy. As the king needed money for the war, Parliament voted for extra taxes. The increasing feudal oppression, cruel laws and the growth of taxes aroused people’s indignation and revolts broke out all over the country. In 138 there was a great uprising with Wat Tyler at the head. The rebels set fire to the houses, burnt valuable things, killed the king’s judges and officials. They demanded the abolition of serfdom and taxes, higher wages and guarantees against feudal oppression. But the rebellion was suppressed, and Wat Tyler was murdered.

Nothing made the people so angry as the rich foreign bishops of the Catholic Church who did not think about the sufferings of the people. The protest against the Catholic Church and the growth of national feeling during the first years of the Great War found an echo in literature. There appeared poor priests who wandered from one village to another and talked to people. They protested against the rich bishops and also against all churchmen who were ignorant men and did not want to teach the people anything.

Such poor priests were the poet William Langland and John Wycliffe. They urged to fight for their rights. But the greatest writer of the 14th century was Geoffrey Chaucer, who was the writer of the new class, the bourgeoisie. He was the first to clear the way for realism.

Geoffrey Chaucer

The most vivid description of the 14th century England was given by Geoffrey Chaucer. He was the first truly great writer in English literature and is called “the father of English poetry”. Chaucer was born in London, in the family of a wine merchant. His father had connections with the court hoped for the courtier’s career for his son. At seventeen Geoffrey became page to a lady at the court of Edward III. At twenty, Chaucer was in France, serving as an esquire. During 1373 and the next few years Chaucer traveled much and lived a busy life. He went to France, made three journeys to Italy. Italian literature opened to Chaucer a new world of art. Chaucer’s earliest poems were written in imitation of the French romances.

The second period of Chaucer’s literary work was that of the Italian influence. To this perios belong the following poems: The House of Fame, The Parliament of Fowls (a poem satirizing Parliament), The Legend of Good Women and others.

When Chaucer came back to England, he received the post of Controller of the Customs in the port of London. Chaucer held this position for ten years. He devoted his free time to hard study and writing. Later Chaucer was appointed “Knight for the Shire of Kent”, which meant that he sat in Parliament as a representative for Kent.

He often had to go on business to Kent and there he observed the pilgrimages to Canterbury.

The third period of Chaucer’s creative work begins in the year 1384, when he started writing his masterpiece, The Canterbury Tales.

Chaucer died in 1400 and was buried in Westminster Abbey. Chaucer was the last English writer of the Middle Ages and the first of the Renaissance.

The Wars of the Roses

The death of Chaucer was a great blow to English poetry. It took two centuries to produce a poet equal to him. The Hundred Years’ War ended, but another misfortune befell the country: a feudal war broke out between the descendants of Edward III in the 15th century.

When the English were completely driven out of France by 1453, the Yorkists took up arms against the Lancastrians, and in 1455 the Wars of the Roses began.

It was a feudal war between the big barons of the House of Lancaster, wishing to continue the war with France and to seize the lands of other people thus increasing their land possessions and the lesser barons and merchants of the House of York, who wished to give up fighting in France as it was too expensive for them. The Yorkists had a white rose in their coat of arms and the Lancastrians a red one; hence the name of the war.

When the Wars of the Roses ended in 1485 Henry VII was proclaimed King of England. The reign of the Tudors was the beginning of an absolute monarchy in England, and at the same time it helped to do away with feudal fighting once and for all.

Folk songs and ballads

Though there was hardly any written literature in England in the 15th century, folk poetry flourished in England and Scotland. Folk-songs were heard everywhere. Songs were made up for every occasion. There were harvest songs, mowing songs, spinning and weaving songs, etc.

The best of folk poetry were the ballads. A ballad is a short narrative in verse with the refrain following each stanza. The refrain was always one and the same. Ballads were often accompanied by musical instruments and dancing. They became the most popular form of amusement. Some ballads could be performed by several people because they consisted of dialogues.

There were various kinds of ballads: historical, legendary, fantastical, lyrical and humorous. The ballads passed from generation to generation through the centuries – that’s why there are several versions of the same ballads. So about 305 ballads have more than a thousand versions.

The most popular ballads were those about Robin Hood.

The art of printing did not stop the development of folk-songs and ballads. They continued to appear till the 18th century when they were collected and printed. The common people of England expressed their feelings in popular ballads.

The Robin Hood ballads

England’s favorite hero, Robin Hood, is partly a legendary, partly a historical character. The old ballads about the famous outlaw say that he lived in about the second half of the 12th century, in the times of King Henry II and his son Richard the Lion-Heart. Society in those days was mainly divided into lords and peasants. Since the battle of Hastings (1066) the Saxons had been oppressed by the Normans. In those days many of the big castles belonged to robber-barons who ill-treated the people, stole children, took away the cattle. If the country-folk resisted, they were either killed by the barons or driven away, and their homes were destroyed. They had no choice but to go in bands and hide in the woods; then they were declared “outlaws” (outside the protection of the law).

The forest abounded in game of all kinds. The Saxons were good hunters and skilled archers. But in the reign of Henry II the numerous herds of deer were proclaimed “the king’s deer” and the forests “the king’s forests”. Hunting was prohibited. A poor man was cruelly punished for killing one of those royal animals. This was the England of Robin Hood about whom there are some fifty or more ballads.

Robin Hood is a brave outlaw. In Sherwood Forest near Nottingham there was a large band of outlaws led by Robin Hood. He came from a family of Saxon landowners, whose land had been seized by a Norman baron. Robin Hood took with him all his family and went to the forest. The ballads of Robin Hood tell us of his adventures in the forest as an outlaw. Many Saxons joined him there. They were called “the merry men of Robin Hood”.

Robin Hood was strong, brave and clever. He was much cleverer, wittier and nobler than any nobleman. He was the first in all competitions. Robin Hood was portrayed as a tireless enemy of the Norman oppressors, a favorite of the country folk, a real champion of the poor. He was generous and tender-hearted and he was always ready to respond to anybody’s call for help. His worst enemies were the Sheriff of Nottingham, the bishop and greedy monks. He always escaped any trouble and took revenge on his enemies. Robin Hood was a man of a merry joke and kind heart.

The ballads tell us of Robin Hood’s friends – of Little John who was ironically called “little” for being very tall; of the jolly fat Friar Tuck who skillfully used his stick in the battle. Their hatred for the cruel oppressors united them and they led a merry and free life in Sherwood Forest.

The ballads of Robin Hood gained great popularity in the second half of the 14th century when the peasants struggled against their masters and oppressors. The ballads played an important role in the development of English poetry up to the 20th century. They became so popular that the names of their authors were forgotten.

Questions on the topic 2 “English Literature of the Middle Ages"

1. What happened to religion on the British Isles?

2. Where were the centers of education?

3. Who were the first writers and poets in Britain? Name them and their works.

4. Describe the Normans. Who were they, where were they from, what language did they speak, what kind of people were they?

5. What languages and by whom were spoken in Britain in the period of Norman conquest?

6. How did the Battle at Hastings influence the life of native people?

7. Speak about the education in the 12th century.

8. What kinds of genres did the Normans bring to Britain? Give examples.

9. Describe the Pre-Renaissance period in Britain.

10. Who was Geoffrey Chaucer? What was his contribution to literature?

11. Speak on the Wars of the Roses.

12. Speak shortly on the ballads about Robin Hood, their contents and significance.

KING ARTHUR AND THE KNIGHTS OF THE ROUND TABLE

Chapter 1

Arthur and Merlin This very old story begins with Uther, a great king. He was a good man and he was king in the south of Britain. Other places were very dangerous at that time, but people did not fight in Uther’s country. Uther loved a beautiful woman, Igraine, and he wanted to marry her. But she did not love him and he was very sad about that. Merlin was a very clever man and he knew a lot of magic. He could change into an animal or bird. Sometimes, when he used magic, nobody could see him. He also helped people with his magic, and one day he came to King Uther. ‘You can marry Igraine,’ he said. ‘I will help you. But when you have a child, you will have to give the boy to me.’ ‘I will give him to you,’ said the King. He married Igraine and later they had a baby son. They called him Arthur. When Arthur was three days old, a very old man arrived at the door of the King’s house. It was Merlin. King Uther took the child in his arms and gave him to Merlin. Merlin took the child away. He gave the boy, Arthur, to a good knight. His name was Sir* Ector. So Arthur lived with Sir Ector and his son, Kay, and the two boys were brothers. A short time after this happened King Uther was very ill. He did not get better. He called for Merlin because he wanted to talk about the future of his country. Merlin came and listened to the King. ‘I know that I am going to die,’ King Uther said. ‘Who will be king after me?’ ‘Call your knights and great men,’ Merlin told the King. ‘Tell them, "My son, Arthur, will be the next king!”‘ King Uther told his people this before he died. But a lot of people wanted to be king, so the knights and great men began to fight. There was no new king for a long time. When Arthur was a young man. Merlin went to London. He visited the Archbishop, the most important man in the Church. ‘Call the knights to London. Then we will find the new king,’ Merlin told the Archbishop. The knights came to London. They met at a large church, and the Archbishop spoke to them. When they came outside, they saw something strange in front of the church. It was a very large stone with a great sword in it. The sun shone on the sword and it looked very strong. The knights were excited, and started to talk about it.

‘Where did it come from?’ ‘How did it get here?’ ‘Who brought the stone here? We didn’t see anybody. And who put the sword in it?’ On the stone were these words: ONLY THE KING CAN TAKE THE SWORD FROM THE STONE Every knight tried to pull the sword out of the stone. Nobody could do it — the sword did not come out. The knights pulled and pulled. But they could not move the sword. ‘Our king is not here,’ said the Archbishop. ‘But I know that we will find him.’ Ten knights stayed and watched the stone. The Archbishop invited all the great men in the country to London for a big fight. There were many big fights at that time. People fought on horses with swords in their hands. The strongest and best knight always won. ‘Perhaps the new king will come to the fight,’ thought the Archbishop. Sir Ector went to the fight with his two sons, Sir Kay and young Arthur. Arthur was now sixteen years old. The young men wanted to fight with the other knights, but Sir Kay did not have a sword. Arthur was a kind young man. He wanted to help. ‘There is a sword in a stone outside a church. I saw it on the way here. I will get it and fight with it. Then you can have my sword,’ he said to his brother. Arthur left Sir Kay and quickly went to the church. There were no knights outside by the stone because they were at the fight. Arthur climbed down from his horse and went to the stone. He did not read the words on the stone. He took the sword in his hand and pulled. It came out of the stone easily. He ran back to his horse with the sword. Some minutes later he met Sir Kay and Sir Ector again, and he showed them the sword. ‘Where did that sword come from?’ Sir Ector asked. He knew about the words on the stone. They went back to the place outside the church, and Sir Ector put the sword in the stone again. ‘Now pull it out,’ he said to Arthur. Arthur pulled it out. It came out as easily as a knife out of butter. Sir Ector saw this and took Arthur’s hand. ‘You are my king,’ he said. Arthur did not understand. What did his father mean? ‘Arthur,’ Sir Ector said slowly, ‘I love you very much, but I am not really your father. Merlin, the famous man of magic, brought you to me when you were a small child. I took you into my family because he asked me. Now I know that you are the king.’

‘I will try to be a good king,’ said Arthur. ‘And I will listen to your words, because you are my father. Sir Kay, my brother, you will be an important knight and a friend to me.’ Then they went to the Archbishop and told him everything. The knights were angry. They did not think that Arthur was really the king. So the Archbishop called all the knights to the stone. Arthur put the sword back into the stone. Every knight tried again to take it out, but it did not move. Then they watched and Arthur pulled it out easily. Everybody shouted, ‘Arthur is our king! Arthur is our king!’ Many people came to see Arthur. They were all happy because now they had a kind, good king. He was strong and he was not afraid. Merlin told Arthur the story of his parents. ‘Your father was King Uther and your mother was Queen Igraine. When you were a baby, I took you to Avalon, a magic place. You were born with magic in your life. You will be the best knight and you will be the greatest king. You will live for a very long time.’ So King Arthur began a new life. He took his horse and went through the country with his knights. Sometimes they had to fight bad men but they were not afraid. Arthur was a good king, and his knights were brave. His country was a quiet place again.

Chapter 2

The Round Table King Arthur went to the north and the east with his knights and fought the Saxons. Then they came back and stopped in the town of Camelot. Arthur made it the most important town in the country. It was now his home, and the home of his brave knights. One day King Arthur visited his friend, King Leodegraunce. He had a daughter and she was the most beautiful woman in England. The daughter’s name was Guinevere. When he went back to Camelot, Arthur could not stop thinking about her. ‘I love Guinevere and I want to marry her,’ Arthur told Merlin. King Leodegraunce was very happy. Arthur was a good and brave man — a good husband for his lovely daughter. So Arthur and Guinevere went to church and the Archbishop married them. Everybody enjoyed a wonderful party in Camelot. Then Merlin made a large round table for King Arthur’s knights in Camelot. There were 150 places at the great wood and stone table. King Arthur gave his best and bravest knights a place at the Round Table. Each knight had his place at the table, but no chair was better than another chair. Nobody sat at the top of a round table and nobody sat at the bottom. ‘The names of the Knights of the Round Table will be famous!’ cried Merlin. Some knights died and other brave and good knights came to Camelot. One day a new knight, Sir Pellinore, arrived at Camelot, and Arthur gave him a place at the Round Table. For a long time there was one place with no knight. Merlin could see into the future. ‘Only a good knight, your best knight, will sit there,’ Merlin told King Arthur. ‘The place is for your best knight, and he will come to it.’ After many years Sir Galahad came and sat in that place at the Round Table.

Chapter 3

The Sword, Excalibur King Arthur went round the country on his horse. He met his people and helped them. One day he came to a great wood. When evening came, King Arthur was not out of the wood. Then he saw a very big, beautiful castle in front of him. He went nearer, and the great door of the castle opened. A woman came out. ‘King Arthur,’ she said. ‘I am Queen Annoure. Stay in my castle. It is getting dark. I will give you food and a bed for the night.’ Arthur was hungry and thirsty. He was also tired. He looked at the dark sky. ‘Thank you,’ he said, and he went in. The Queen was kind to Arthur. She took his horse and gave it food and water. She took Arthur to the dining-room of her castle and gave him bread, meat and wine. Then one of Queen Annoure’s men took the King to his bedroom, and Arthur went to sleep. The next morning, after breakfast, Queen Annoure wanted to see Arthur. ‘I would like to show you my castle and the beautiful things in it,’ she said. ‘I am the richest person in the world. Look — everything here is mine.’ Arthur looked at her castle. They went from room to room, and each room was richer than the room before that. There were beautiful things everywhere. Queen Annoure knew a lot of magic, so she could make beautiful things. Then they came out on to the top of the castle. ‘Look at those beautiful trees and gardens,’ said the Queen. ‘And look at those woods. They are mine too. This is my country. And can you see that great wall round the castle? Stay with me and be king here! You cannot leave. The door of the castle is shut, and that great wall will stop you. My men are ready. Do not leave, or they will kill you.’ ‘Your magic cannot hurt me, and your men cannot kill me,’ answered King Arthur.

Then, with his sword in his hand and his helmet on his head, Arthur went out of the castle, and through the door in the great wall. Nobody could stop him. Queen Annoure sent one of her men to Sir Pellinore. He lived near her castle, and he had a place at King Arthur’s Round Table. ‘Queen Annoure says that a very bad knight is on his way to her castle. He wants to kill her and take her money. He is very near here, and he will go past your house. Please go out and fight him for my queen,’ the man said to Sir Pellinore. So Pellinore sat on his horse and waited. He did not know that King Arthur was the ‘very bad knight’. Arthur met Pellinore on the road. ‘Sir! Knight!’ cried Arthur. ‘Why are you waiting here? Do you want to fight me?’ ‘Yes!’ shouted Sir Pellinore, and he took his sword in his hand. Pellinore hit the King with his sword and Arthur fell from his horse. He stood up. He was very angry and pulled out his sword. They had a long fight, and then the King’s sword broke. ‘Ha!’ cried Sir Pellinore. ‘That is the end of the fight! I can kill you now!’ Arthur threw down his sword. He ran at Sir Pellinore and threw him on to the ground. The two men were very tired, but they fought for a little longer. Then Arthur put his foot on Pellinore’s head. Arthur took the helmet from his head, so Pellinore could see his face. ‘Shall I kill you? ‘ Arthur said. Pellinore looked up and saw Arthur’s face. ‘My King!’ he cried. ‘I did not know it was you! Queen Annoure wanted me to fight a bad knight on this road.’ ‘I am not that bad knight! But I know you did not want to kill your king,’ said King Arthur. Then the two men were friends again. Sir Pellinore hurt King Arthur in the fight, so Merlin visited Arthur. In three days Arthur was well again. ‘My sword broke in the fight,’ Arthur told Merlin. ‘That sword was not important,’ said Merlin. ‘ Come with me and you will find the best sword in the world. It is a magic sword from Avalon, the place of magic.’ The King went with Merlin through a dark wood. The trees shut out the light from the sun and Arthur could not see the sky. After a long time they came to an open place in the mountains. There were no trees, but Arthur saw a strange lake. The water was very blue and there were flowers next to it. ‘Now go to the lake,’ Merlin told Arthur. So Arthur left his horse with Merlin and walked down to the magic lake. He looked across the quiet blue water - and there, in the centre of the lake, he suddenly saw an arm with a beautiful sword in its hand. ‘Go and take it,’ said Merlin. ‘It is the sword Excalibur. The Lady of the Lake made it for you. She lives in her home in the water of the lake.’ A lovely young woman walked across the water and stood on the ground next to King Arthur. ‘I am the Lady of the Lake. Your sword, Excalibur, is waiting for you.’ There was a boat on the water. King Arthur got into it and went to the middle of the lake. He took the sword, and the arm went into the water. When Arthur came back to Merlin, the Lady of the Lake was not there. The sword was inside a scabbard. It was a very beautiful thing. ‘That is a magic scabbard,’ said Merlin. ‘No man can kill a person with that scabbard. Have it with you always, because an evil woman will try to take the scabbard and the sword away from you.’ King Arthur and Merlin went home again. Arthur’s knights listened happily to the stories of his journey.

ДОМАШНЕЕ ЗАДАНИЕ:

Семинар 3. Выбрать один из пунктов и подготовить доклад по следующим вопросам:

1. Anglo-Saxon Literature. Main Literary Forms of the Period

2. The Venerable Bede

3. Alfred the Great

4. Caedmon

5. Alcuinus

6. Cunewulf

7. Aelfric

8. Anglo-Saxon Epos. The Song of Beowulf

9. Medieval Literature

10. English and Scottish Ballads

11. Medieval Allegoric Poem

12. W. Langland

13. J. Gower

14. English Middle Romance

15. Th. Malory

16. G. Chaucer. “The Canterbury Tales”

1. Seminar. The Dawn of English Literature

Give short answers to the questions on the topic "The Dawn of English Literature". Type them in the field "Место для текста" and push the button "Отправить".

Questions on the topic 1 “The Dawn of English Literature"

1. What people lived on the British Isles before all occupations? What were their language, their way of life and religion?

2. What remained from these people in the modern English language and in modern lifestyle?

3. What did the Romans bring to British people?

4. What remained on the British Isles after the Germanic invasion?

5. What was the influence of the Germanic tribes on the language and literature of native population?

6. What is the significance of Beowulf?

7. Shortly retell the contents of the poem.