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**Anglo Saxon**

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Introduction
This page will be talking about Anglo Saxon culture, literature, and history. Anglo Saxon is a term that was given to the Germanic tribes which invaded Great Britain in the fifth century A.D. These stories were past down for generations with oral tradition then were later written down by the Catholics when they invaded. The stories were passed down in old english which was the __start__ of,as we know it now, modern english.

Historical Background
The Anglo Saxon time period started from roughly 449-1066 AD. During this time there were three main groups the Angles who came from Angeln or modern Germany. Also the Saxons from lower Saxony or modern Germany. Lastly the Jutes from the Jutland or modern Denmark. The time period lasts from __the end__ of the Roman empire to the __start__ of conquest of the Normans in 1066.

Themes
There are many themes of Anglo Saxon literature. The Anglo Saxons respected the sea and had a love for glory. Anglo Saxons did not believe in life after death, thus why their love for glory was so powerful. According to the stories of glory, glory made the person immortal and the legacy of that person would be told to the many generations after. Other main themes were loyalty and generosity. The thanes protected the land and the Lord would __reward__ the thanes with booty. There was a tradition of fair __rewards__ which is why generosity was such a main theme of Anglo Saxon literature. Another main theme was the democratic spirit, which was the belief of community justice in a society.

Style
Anglo Saxon literature had two different forms of literature. The first one was heroic literature (Beowulf) and the second one was elegaic literature (The Seafarer). Along with those two types are many characteristics of writing. One would be that storytellers would include a caesura (pause) when a story was told. There was a strong beat, heavy rhythm, and four __beats__ per line. Kennings were also added, which are short, condensed, and hyphenated metaphors. The literature, such as poems, never had a rhyme to it.

= Authors = Anglo Saxon and medieval age had plenty of great authors, we though will focus on a few of them:
 * Chaucer,
 * Chaucer wrote a very important poem about a pilgrimage that was full of satire. The poem gave us an __idea__ of who everyone was and made fun of there ideas and why they were wrong. Such as a man selling pig bones as saint bones, to a Women who has married five times.
 * Bede
 * Boccaccio.
 * Boccaccio wrote The Decameron a collection of over 100 tales full of tales of: Love, practical jokes, wit and worldly innovations.

= Poetry = Many Poems were written during this time, many of which were ballads. we will focus on four types:
 * =====Anonymous poetry=====
 * Beowulf
 * =====The Seafarer=====
 * =====The Wife's Lament=====
 * =====Barbara Allen=====
 * =====Get Up and Bar The Door=====
 * =====Riddles=====
 * =====Ballads=====
 * Air to an English ballad