Anglo-Saxon Literature Vs Modern Literature

The Similarities and Differences Between Anglo-Saxon Literature and Modern Literature

As can be expected due to the relative polarity between the two cultures, there are many differences between literature as it was then and as it is now, in its more developed form. In general, areas that have undergone major changes include the use of themes, and of course, language usage, which has improved due to the relatively recent development of literary techniques, some of which did exist in the Anglo-Saxon era.

Old English literature, is an extremely interesting subject to study, particularly poetry, with its renowned oral tradition.  There were a couple of disadvantages to reciting poetry rather than writing it, but they were far outweighed by the benefits of such an intriguing style. In general, oral poets were afforded much more freedom of expression, because the Anglo Saxons didn’t document any rules of poetry, so as far as we know,  they weren’t necessarily confined to the many rigid rules and structures to which modern poetry is bound. Today,the poetry of that time might possibly be referred to as “freestyle”. We also know that sometimes poetry telling could be accompanied by background music. There is no concrete proof, but the instruments used for this purpose may have varied. We are aware that the harp was one instrument, but any others cannot be known for definite.

Alliteration is one of the literary techniques which did exist in Anglo-Saxon literature.  According to Collins English Dictionary, “alliteration” is defined as ‘the use of the same sound at the start of words occurring together’. As I have stated earlier, the use of this literary technique allows a group of words to flow. There are examples of this in both modern literature, and in Old English literature. As a modern example, in the music genre Hip Hop, 2Pac’s song ‘If I die 2nite’ from his album ‘Me Against the World’, is a highly alliterative song, in which the sounds created by the use of broad vowel alliteration in particular gives the song quite an aggressive appearance. “Picture perfection, pursuin’ paper with a passion”is a line which shows this technique very well.

  “Beowulf” is a famous Old English heroic epic poem which has all of the elements of a good oral work of literature. It consists of 3182 alliterative lines in its original form. Seamus Heaney’s poetic translation of this incredible poem does great justice to the way in which it was originally composed. Heaney managed to keep much of the alliterative style of “Beowulf”. The line ‘He put no blame on the blade’s cutting edge’ (line 1811) is an appropriate example of the great job that Heaney did with his translation.

The ballad is another form of Anglo-Saxon poetry, which was typically sung rather than spoken

Due to the poetry’s oral nature, Old English poets needed a very specific skill set in order to be able to cope with the complexity of their task. In general, these poets needed an extremely strong memory; both for holding memories of the past, and for holding the stories that needed to be told. They obviously also needed to be very skillful in the vocal department so they could succeed in storytelling. In addition, they were usually quite boastful of their skills, possibly so that they may come across as intimidating, maybe in order to make it more difficult for new poets to displace them  

In further reference to the genre of Hip Hop in modern music, rappers share many of the same characteristics as Old English poets. Like their Anglo Saxon counterparts, they can be quite boastful. No other rappers however, seem to be quite as boastful as one in particular; Eminem. He certainly makes sure that his confidence can be clearly communicated through many of his songs. For example, the first few lines of his song “’Til I Collapse” are a clear indication of his confidence in his own ability. These particular lyrics say:

 “’Til I collapse i’m spillin’ these raps as long as you feel ‘em, ‘til the day that I drop you’ll never say that i’m not killing ‘em”.

 He is a rapper at the summit of the modern music industry. His incredible lyrical ability has been praised many times, and his vocal ability, which is second to none in the modern age, is perhaps an indication of how similarly talented Old English poets may have been. Even though our knowledge of them is quite bare, there are a couple of Old English poets we are familiar with today. Caedmon is one with whom we are well acquainted, for the reason that “Caedmon’s Hymn”  is one of the very few original Old English poems that we know of. This nine line poem praises “the might of the creator”, and has many other holy connotations. Indeed, this poem gives us a huge insight into how important religion may have been to those who lived in these times. The fact that there are eight different names for “God” within the nine lines of this poem show us how religious thought was at the forefront of Caedmon’s mind. Caedmon and Bede are two of the three Old English poets to have a proper biography on them, Alfred being the other.

I personally love the idea that people who lived in the 14th and 15th centuries can value the same skills as people who live in the 21st. Much has changed during those five or six hundred years, but equally, there are many surprising comparisons. The similarities between modern hip hop and Old English poetry are fascinating. In my opinion, these similarities may provide some insight into the possibility that the modern music industry has in some way been influenced by the incredible oral tradition of Old English poetry.

Despite poetry being quite a prominent form of Anglo-Saxon literature, prose, which consists mostly of stories, was also a very popular, and extremely intricate. In terms of themes, they were strongly dominated by religion. It seems to have been divided into two sections, Christian prose, and Secular prose.  

King Alfred was one of the most well known authors of the Christian theme. He translated mainly from Latin to Old English. ‘The Consolation of Philosophy’  by Boethius is an example of one of the major texts from this theme.

Secular prose is quite the opposite to Christian prose, as the very definition of the word “secularism” is that political or governmental rule is favoured over religious rule. ᴁlfric and Wulfstan were two of the main authors from this end of the spectrum.

Anglo-Saxon literature is majestic both in appearance and content, and it is fascinating to see how wide ranging the differences are between Old and Modern English, yet at the same time, they are quite similar in many aspects.