MB UNIUD

The Developement of Literature

Literary Genres:

• - poetry
• - fiction
• - verse
• - drama

Epic Poetry:

Beowulf:

• - narrative epic
• - 3200 lines
• - 1000 a.D.
• - old English
• - deeds of Beowulf a Scandinavian hero
• - history of Germanic tribes
• - oral tradition
• - repetition of fixed phrases
• - stressed and alliterated words

Anglo-Norman Poetry:

• - the dominant languages were French and Latin
• - oral and anonymous
• - cycle of legends dealing with King Arthur and the Round Table
• - alliterative line
• - syllables per line
• - complicated stanza

Poetry in the Age of Chaucer:

• - dialects used in London, Oxford and Cambridge (middle English)
• - narrative-descriptive poem: The Canterbury Tales (1387 - Goeffrey Chaucer)
• - realistic description
• - skilful narration and humour
• - from France the ten-syllable line
• - religious and love lyrics