Old English/ Anglo Saxon Writing!!

Just as Marc discussed in the previous post, although English uses the Latin alphabet, it is a Western Germanic Language. The form of english that was spoken during the time of the Anglo Saxons (5th-11th centuries) in England was called Old English. Old English started to appear in the Anglo Saxon's records and writing during the early 8th century. The majority of their texts were written in what is called West Saxon: one of the four main dialects. The other dialects were Mercian, Northumbrian and Kentish.

Old English Alphabet:


Old English was first written in what is called "runes" (futhorc), which consist of many symbols that were written on stones and solid objects, but it shifted to a script of the Latin alphabet introduced by Irish Christian missionaries from around the 9th century. This form was replaced by insular script, a cursive and pointed version of the Latin script. Notice how the long vowels are marked with macrons. These originally weren't used in Old English but have been created more recently to distinguish between long and short vowels.The original forms of g and w (yogh and wynn/wen) were based on the letters used at the time of writing Old English. Even today they are still used for g and w in modern translations of Old English. As you can see, the form of Old English has evolved and transformed through the different centuries, mainly from the 5th-11th.

Old English Pronunciation:



Anglo Saxon Futhorc:


This was the runic alphabet used to write Old English before the Latin alphabet was introduced, it was brought to Britain by the Anglo-Saxons and used for writing until about the 11th century. Runic inscriptions are mostly found on jewellery, weapons, stones and other objects. There are very few examples of Runic writing on manuscripts that have survived and are available to see today.

The main theme to focus on in the Anglo-Saxon's progress in their written language is that it was constantly changing with the introduction of new pronunciations and alphabets such as the Latin Alphabet. The way they taught and learned the ever-changing written languages and forms of Old English will be addressed in my next post on Anglo-Saxon schooling and education systems. So tune in for next time to learn about how they actually taught the written languages addressed in this post!

Anglo Saxon Epic Poetry: An Interview with My High School English Teacher!

I know that Apple founder and previous CEO Steve Jobs does not have much to do with my topic today of Epic Poetry. But I would just like to begin my blog with a short tribute to a man who passed away today who I believed revolutionized the way we transmit knowledge in the digital age. 10 years ago he came up with a product that allowed us to listen and buy music digitally through the invention of iTunes and the iPod, the knowledge of millions of musicians was now at our fingertips where we were desperate buying CDs before. He knew what consumers wanted before they even did: a computer that was simple and consumer friendly, an iPad that was easy to use, a phone that could be used for music and business. He was someone who knew how to analyze the best ways we could digitally transmit knowledge and inspired eventual founders of web portals such as Yahoo and Google to help with the communication of knowledge. To segway to my topic for today of the oral tradition of epic poetry, I'd like to mention how Steve Jobs was able to put the world at the end of their seat every time he announce a new product. Steve Jobs was probably most famous for the way in which he orally presented each new product in what is called his "keynote address." He dresses up in a black turtle neck and jeans, and orally communicates how well products have done and the exciting new announcements of products to come. In this way he used oral knowledge as a way of communication to consumers and as a selling point. This was unique to Apple and its CEO, and I believe one of its most valuable marketing tools. I'd like to relate Apple's form of oral tradition back to 1400 years earlier when the Anglo Saxons were also able to pass down knowledge by communicating their Epic poetry. This blog will explore how exactly they were able to do that.

I decided that I would use a digital form of oral communication as a way to interview an expert on the subject of Anglo Saxon Poetry, I called up my high school senior english teacher. She taught IB (International Baccalaureate) English and included a lot of epic poetry in her curriculum, having the students analyze certain poems and then give what IB calls an Oral Commentary on the poem. The oral commentary was the final assessment for the oral component of the IB course in which a student randomly chooses a poem from a stack at the teacher's house and has 20 minutes to annotate it and plan what to say and then must present their thoughts for 15 min, being recorded by the IB teacher. It is a seemingly frightening experience, but really helps the students learn to orally communicate their ideas on poetry. So I knew she would have a lot of stuff to say on the oral tradition of Epic Poetry in the Anglo Saxon germanic tribes. She did not disappoint!
She explained to me that Old English is not simply a uniform language. It consists of many various dialects, but as far as literature goes, we need to treat it as a language. She told me that we receive our syntax from the Anglo-Saxons. They provide us with our context for and greater ease with use of nouns, the ability to condense grammar and shorten up words, and what is called "law of recessive accent" which is when we place the accent over the first syllable and slur over subsequent syllables.

She explained that the Anglo-Saxon gods' names are the basis for the days of the week: Tuesday from Tiw, the dark god, Wednesday from Woden, the war god, Thursday from Thor, the thunder god, Friday from Frigga, goddess of home.


The connection she made to oral knowledge was really exciting! She told me that the majority of Anglo-Saxon poetry emerges from the oral tradition at the time that was meant for entertaining lords and their families at what was called a "mead-hall." There were poet oral performers called Scops (the poets) and Gleemen (harpists) who sung or recited the poetry. These men were considered to be the only historians of that time. The way she told me we know of the oral nature of Anglo Saxon poetry is through the poetic structure, that is based on accent and alliteration, not rhyme and meter. She said that Epithets were used as a tool for alliteration, this way a God could be called a numerous amount of titles such as "Weard" (guardian) or "Meatod" (measurer) or "Drihten" (lord) or "Frea" (master), and so on. A king could be called a "noble lord" or a "ring-giver" or a "righteous guardian." The anglos saxons also loved to insert what were called "ironic understatements", these were another favorite rhetoric of the Anglo-Saxons in which the affirmative is expressed by the negation of its contrary. For example, I found online that an ironic statement could be: "Not easily did I come through it with my life."


I believe a lot of the manner in which the Anglo Saxon's orally passed down and recorded epic poetry connects to my theme from last post of the importance of fame for Anglo Saxon heroes and legends. I am really happy that my IB english teacher was able to help me learn more about the oral traditions and technique of Anglo Saxon poetry. She was even upset that I hadn't let her known earlier as she would of sent me a copy of an original written down form of epic poetry from the Anglo Saxon period to show the class, but she had just sent it to a museum a few days earlier! I know that I don't have a video of myself entertaining others through orally communicating poetry. But I did want to show a couple of films I made for IB history where I believe my group members and I were able to successfully use eloquence and oral communication as a way to teach my classmates about certain important conflicts during the cold war. I present to you UN NEWS!! Enjoy! (Oh and if you want to skip through some of the boring montage parts most of the entertaining stuff is on set with the anchormen and interviews with outside corespondents, the Fidel Castro bit in the third one is I think our best piece of work).

Here is our first production on the US involvement in the Iran Coup of 1953, entertaining highlights: 0:00-3:50. 7:30-8:15


Here is our second production on the Angolan War of Independence,entertaining highlights: 0:00-1:30, 4:40-5:15


Here is our final production on the events of the Cold War in Latin America, starring Fidel Castro! entertaining highlights: 0:00-4:00, 11:00-12:00

From Paganism to Christianity

The Anglo-Saxon use of philosophy and eloquence to effect others was largely changed and affected by the shift from paganism to christianity with the arrival of christian missionaries in the 6th century to the germanic tribes in Britain. The philosophical concepts of "Fame" and "Fate" brought on by heroic traditions were contradicted by christian beliefs and the poetic tradition in germany was losing its value as an oral tradition. To understand the great change this shift had to their oral knowledge and ability to use philosophy and poetry to communicate, we first must analyze the basis for poetry and philosophy in the Anglo Saxon germanic tribes.


After rebelling against the Christian Britons, the Anglo-Saxons set up Germanic kingdoms, thus beginning the The Anglo-Saxon era of England which lasted from approximately 450-1066 A.D. Each kingdom was ruled by a certain lord. In the new Anglo-Saxon society, the closest relationships were between a lord and his kin. The Germanic clan or "Comitatus" consisted of men who followed their lord with strong loyalty and sacrifce. The comitatus held their duty to their lord as their most important task in life and believed it to be the greatest loss to be separated from lord and kin. This sorrow from loss can be seen in the Anglo Saxon poems "The Wanderer" and "The Seafarer". "The Wanderer" describes a man that has been exiled from his lord and clan, and must wander aimlessly. The man speaks of how horrible it is to be separate from his clan and lord, considered to be the worst punishment and dishonor:

"When friendships are no more. His fortune is exile,
Not gifts of fine gold; a heart that is frozen,
Earth’s wisomeness dead. And he dreams of the hall-men,
The dealing of treasure, the days of his youth,
When his lord bade welcome to wassail and feast.
But gone is that gladness, and never again
Shall come the loved counsel of comrade and king."
(II. 27-34)

Similarly the poem "The Seafarer" describes the same horrible loss and misery of a sailor who is isolated at sea, he describes his loneliness as “Wretched and anxious, in the paths of exile/ Lacking dear friends, hung round by icicles.” (II. 14-15) He has truly lost everything, his kin, lord, and duty.


When the Germanic Tribes came to Britain in the fifth century, they brought the language of Old English with them. They also brought this tradition of poetry that was usually mournful, conveying the suffering and loss of the burdened and miserable lives of the people who wrote them. The Anglo-Saxon poems, “The Wanderer,” and "The Seafarer" convey how this tradition of eloquence captures the culture’s philosophical concepts of "Fame" and "Fate" and the importance of a Lord to the Germanic tribes. The Anglo-Saxons did not believe in an afterlife, only the idea that they are assigned a certain fate that could be good or bad depending on the hero's circumstance. If one had the courage to fight his fate and create "Fame" than he would be remembered and spoken of as a hero in poems following his death. This was the goal for peoples of the germanic tribes, as seen in the famous poem Beowulf, the Anglo-Saxon culture saw Fame as a worthy and honorable objective: “So fame/ Comes to the men who mean to win it/ And care about nothing else!”17 (II. 507-509)


Once the Christian missionaries came to Briton in the 6th century, they began converting the Anglo Saxons to christianity. Christianity introduced new concepts such as an afterlife of heaven and hell and the cause and effect pattern of our actions on earth resulting in where we go in the afterlife. This contradicted the pagan beliefs of the Anglo Saxons and their main philosophical foundation of "Fame" and "Fate." This would cause the poems such as "The Wanderer" and "The Seafarer" to lose value and change the oral tradition of using poetry and philosophy to pass down pagan beliefs. The use of eloquence and philosophy in the Anglo Saxon culture would change forever after this point. This shift conveys the importance the pagan beliefs and philosophies of the Anglo Saxons were for their basis of knowledge that could be communicated through their rhetoric to convince others of their view on life.

So why do you think the Anglo Saxons placed such great importance on Fame and Fate? How does their poetic tradition show their ability to use language as a way to communicate philosophical ideals?