Literature of Anglo-Saxon Period

(5th - 10th centuries) 

During the first five centuries A.D. and long before that Britain was inhabited by people called Kelts, who lived in tribes.

The British history is considered to begin in the 5th century, when it was invaded from the Continent by the warlike tribes of Angles, Saxons and Jutes. At the very end of the 5th century they settled in Britain and began to call themselves English (after the principal tribe of settlers, called Englisc).

Although we know very little of this period from literature, some poems have nevertheless come down to us.

In those days songs called epics were created in  many countries. The epics tell of the most remarkable events of people's history and deeds of heroic people.

The first masterpiece of English literature, the epic poem The Song of Beowulf, describes the historical past of the land from which the Angles, Saxons and Jutes came. The story of Beowulf tells of the time when king Hrothgar ruled the Danes. The second part of the poem tells of Beowulf's deeds when he was king of Norway. A fiery dragon was destroying his country. Beowulf found the dragon's cave and a lot of treasures in it.

The poem is a classical example of Anglo-Saxon poetry. It has no rhyme, but each line has alliteration, which is a repetition, at close intrvals, of the same consonant in words or syllables.