Early Middle Ages

How Did English Become English??

In 55 B.C., Julius Caesar invaded Britain due to the British Celts helping Gaul defenses. This brought Britain into the life of Western civilization.
In 43 A.D., Emperor Claudius invaded and occupied Britain. The Romans were constantly attacked by the Picts (north) and the Scots (east). The Romans who lived there brought Latin, Greek, and Christianity to Britain.
Since the Visigoths were attacking Rome, the Romans in Britain were forced to leave and defend their country in 410-449 A.D. The ruler of the Britons (Vortigern) asked the Saxons to help defend them from the Picts and the Scots. The Saxons ended up bringing a language known as Low German to Britain.
In 449, the Roman Empire collapsed due to invasions, politics, and the economy.
Now that Britain wasn't occupied, people from along the coastline of the Northern Sea (Denmark down to the mouth of the Rhine) were constantly invading Britain. The natives, known as the "Britons", spoke Celtic dialacts (Scotts, Gaelic, & Welsh) and were forced to move west.

"Jutes" from Brittany settled in "Angle-Land" (most of the northern and eastern parts of the island), while France settled in the southeast tip of Britain. Germanic Angles and the Saxons were also making a settlement in "Saxony". All of these mixtures of people and languages resulted in a change known as Anglo-Saxon English (Old English).
In 780-800, Danish Vikings raided England's northeast coast from the North Sea and drove the Saxons west. A little bit of Danish was then added to Anglo-Saxon English.
Around 900 A.D., the earliest edition of Beowulf was found in Wessex. It was written in Old English (Anglo-Saxon English).
Finally, in 1066, William the Conqueror invaded Britain from Northern France. This brought Norman French to the island and it intertwined with Anglo-Saxon. This change formed Middle English.

The Anglo-Saxon Folk Epic Poem:

An epic is an extended narrative poem recounting actions, travels, adventures, and heroic episodes and written in high styles (containing rhetorical devices). The main character is heroically larger than life, the deeds of the hero are presented without favoritism, revealing his failings as well as his virtues, and it reveals the more-than-human strength of the hero as they engage in acts of heroism and courage. (source) It also contains a serious tone.

Beowulf is an example of an epic poem because it shows how one man faced many obstacles to protect the people around him. Throughout the poem, there are many rhetorical devices such as alliteration, appositives, fatalism, gory imagery, etc., which is the style of an epic poem. The poem also gives examples about Beowulf's failures and triumphs, and has a serious tone.
My poem "The Noble Gabriel" is an example of an epic poem. It is a serious poem consisting of the same rhetorical devices found in Beowulf. My epic is about a young man named Gabriel who wants to avenge the death of a young woman, who's fate fell into the hands of an evil demon.

Rhetorical Devices Used:

epithet- a phrase substituted for a person's name
foreshadowing- finding out the future before it happens
alliteration- repetition of the same consonant sound

kenning- a compound word

caesura- a natural pause in the middle of a line

appositive- describing someone or something in commas
biblical allusion- a reference to the bible

epic boast- when a character sticks himself/herself into a position he/she cannot get out of

gory image- appeals to the five senses: sight, touch smell, taste, and auditory

litotes- understatement using no or not

fatalism- no matter what you do, you cannot escape death
authorial intrusion- the author states their opinion

Other Examples of Anglo-Saxon Epic Poems:
Kristen wrote "A Blooming Rose," demonstrating a wonderful use of alliteration and caesura, keeping a consistent serious tone.

Vanessa wrote "Icy Wind," consisting of wonderful uses of alliteration and gory imagery.

Late Middle Ages