The Old English Poetry Room

The Old English Poetry Room

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicles

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicles were written by a number of unknown monks and covered events starting with pre-Roman Britain. The Chronicles are seven manuscripts and two fragments. They were compiled sometime in the last decade of the ninth century. Since there were few sources of history open to the monks, it is speculated that they relied heavily on Bede's An Ecclesiastical History of the English People for information on the period between the Roman occupation and 731.

From the first century to sometime in the fifth century, Britain was a colony of the Roman Empire. Settlers came and built villas, baths, libraries and city walls in the Roman tradition. Many of these survived. The ruins were sometimes referred to as the "work of giants" in early literature. This can be seen in The Wanderer, a poem about a man who has lost his lord and is stoicly wandering about lamenting his loss and looking for a new home.

From about 350 A.D., Roman power weakened throughout the empire. After 409, the Romans no longer ruled Britain. Then, in 449, the Anglo-Saxon invasions began. According to The Anglo-Saxon Chronicles , the first group of immigrants most likely came from Germany and the Netherlands. Their leaders were supposedly Hengest and Horsa. It is possible that these are legendary leaders, but it also possible that the Hengest who appears in the epic poem Beowulf is the same individual.

The Chronicles mention three main groups during the period of the invasions: the Saxons, the Angles and the Jutes. In the sixth century, the Anglo-Saxon advance was halted and 50 years of peace followed.

The Venerable Bede (c. 673 - 735) is one of three Christian figures mentioned in The Chronicles. Bede studied and wrote on many subjects, among them classical languages, astronomy and medicine. His An Ecclesiastical History of the English People covers England's history and conversion to Christianity. The first writers of The Chronicles used his year-by-year approach and took much of their information from this work. If you would like to access another website with more information about the Venerable Bede, click here.

It is from Bede's An Ecclesiastical History of the English People that we studied Caedmon's Hymn, a poem about a man who lives to a rather advanced age without ever learning any songs. At feasts, when the harp is passed around for the telling of stories, Caedmon would rather leave the feast than receive the harp to tell a story.