Beowulf credited with being a quintessential piece of epic. An epic is a long and highly stylized narrative poem on a grand scale about the deeds of warriors and heroes. It is a polygonal, ‘heroic’ story incorporating myth, legend, folk tale and history. Epics are often of national significance inContinue Reading
Except for a few scattered poems, most of the Old English poetic material we possess comes to us in four manuscripts. The first manuscript is called the Junius manuscript (also known as the Caedmon manuscript), which is an illustrated poetic anthology. The second manuscript is called the Exeter Book, alsoContinue Reading
Historians normally divide English literature into periods for convenience of discussion. Sometimes the numbers, dates or the names of the periods seem to vary. The following list follows the widespread practice of listing: 450-1066 Old English (Anglo-Saxon) Period1066-1500 Middle English Period1500-1600 The Renaissance (Early Modern) Period1558-1603 Elizabethan Age1603-1625 Jacobean Age1625-1649Continue Reading
Periods Of English Literature – An Overview Old English Literature: c.450 – 1066 Middle English Literature: 1066 – 1500 English Renaissance: 1500 – 1660 Restoration Age: 1660 – 1700 18th Century English Literature Romantic Period: 1798 – 1837 Victorian Literature: 1837 – 1901 Twentieth Century English LiteratureContinue Reading
