Trace the Beginning of the Historical Background of Old English Literature.

England is an island nation of the Northern coast of Europe. The cliffs at Dover were the first of Britain seen by early incomers and have become a familiar symbol of England. To quote Arnold-

"The cliffs of England stand

Glimmering and vast, out in the tranquil bay."

 Historical Background of Old English Literature:

England is an island and these cliffs are port of what the Romans from second century had called Saxon shore-south Eastern shores of Britain. The Romans left Britain in 410-after four centuries of occupation in the early fifth century. Later in that century the Angles and Saxons took over the lion share of the island of Britain. By 700 they occupied the parts of Great Britain which Roman had made part of empire. This part became known as England, the land of the Angles and its language was English. Therefore the Old English or Anglo-Saxon literature appears to be the origin of English literature. It seems that the manuscripts of this literature were composed by church men. The people eventually called the English were once separated people-Angles, Saxon and Jutes. The Jutes were invited in 449 to save British kingdom from the Saxons. English poetry proceeded writing by some generations. The first poems in English were the songs that might have been heard from the boats crossing the narrow sea to the Saxon shore to conquer Britannia.

The authorship of most of this literature is unknown. Only one or two names are known. The English poem composed by Caedmon and Bede are the earliest we know of. Their manuscripts were hard to read. Very little were read between middle ages and reign of Queen Victoria. When they were published only then they could take their place in English literary history. Old English is now well understood but it looks so different from the English of today that it cannot be read or made out by a well-educated reader in the way the writings of Shakespeare and Chaucer can. Therefore old English literature is a part of English literature. The Angles, the Saxons and the Jutes were illiterate. Their orally composed verses were not written unless they were formed in runic inscription. However, the English gradually learnt to write after they had been converted to Christianity by missionaries sent from Rome in 597. Strictly there is no old English writing that is not Christian because the only literates were the churchmen.