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version in other projects wikimedia commons wikibooks wikiquote wikidata item appearance move to sidebar hide from wikipedia the free encyclopedia literature written in the english language not to be confused with british literature literature oral literature folklore ceremonial poetry epics evocation fable fairy tale folk play folksong incantation legend memorate myth proverb urban legend oration performance lyrics spoken word storytelling saying major written forms drama closet drama poetry lyric narrative prose narrative moral nonsense verse ergodic electronic religious long prose fiction anthology serial novel romance medium prose fiction novella novelette short prose fiction short story drabble sketch flash fiction parable wisdom prose genres fiction children s encyclopedic genre action adventure coming of age crime erotic fantasy horror military paranormal romance science fiction supernatural western historical realist speculative non fiction academic history philosophy anecdote epistle essay journalism letter life nature persuasive travelogue poetry genres narrative children epic epyllion dramatic verse novel national lyric ballad elegy epigram ghazal haiku hymn limerick lyrics ode qasida sonnet villanelle dramatic genres comedy libretto play historical moral satire script tragedy tragicomedy history ancient medieval early medieval early modern renaissance 18th 19th 20th contemporary 21st media voice audiobook speech writing book digital electronics ebook manuscript lists and outlines outline glossary books epic folk epics poets writers movements poetry groups cycles literary awards poetry short story collection cycle lost literary work lacuna theory and criticism sociology magazines composition language narrative comparative circle society post literate society peer feud estate workshop circle literature portal v t e this article needs more citations please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources unsourced material may be challenged and removed find sources english literature news newspapers books scholar jstor august 2025 learn how and when to remove this message stained glass at ottawa public library featuring luminaries of english literature english literature is a form of literature written in the english language from the english speaking world the english language has developed over more than 1 400 years 1 the earliest forms of english a set of anglo frisian dialects brought to great britain by anglo saxon settlers in the fifth century are called old english beowulf is the most famous work in old english despite being set in scandinavia it has achieved national epic status in england however following the norman conquest of england in 1066 the written form of the anglo saxon language became less common under the influence of the new aristocracy french became the standard language of courts parliament and polite society 2 the english spoken after the normans came is known as middle english this form of english lasted until the 1470s when the chancery standard late middle english a london based form of english became widespread geoffrey chaucer author of the canterbury tales was a significant figure developing the legitimacy of vernacular middle english at a time when the dominant literary languages in england were still french and latin the invention of the printing press by johannes gutenberg in 1439 also helped to standardise the language as did the king james bible 1611 3 and the great vowel shift 4 poet and playwright william shakespeare is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the english language and one of the world s greatest dramatists 5 6 7 his plays have been translated into every primary living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright 8 in the nineteenth century sir walter scott s historical romances inspired a generation of european painters composers and writers 9 the english language spread throughout the world with the development of the british empire between the late 16th and early 18th centuries at its height it was the largest empire in history 10 by 1913 the british empire held sway over 412 million people 23 of the world population at the time 11 during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries these colonies and the us started to produce their significant literary traditions in english cumulatively from 1907 to the present writers from great britain northern ireland and the republic of ireland the us and former british colonies have received the nobel prize in literature for works in english more than in any other language anglo saxon england old english literature 449 1066 edit see also history of anglo saxon england and old english main article old english literature the first page of beowulf old english literature or anglo saxon literature encompasses the surviving literature written in old english in anglo saxon england in the period after the settlement of the saxons and other germanic tribes in england jutes and the angles c 450 after the withdrawal of the romans and ending soon after the norman conquest in 1066 12 these works include genres such as epic poetry hagiography sermons bible translations legal works chronicles and riddles 13 in all there are about 400 surviving manuscripts from the period 13 widsith which appears in the exeter book of the late 10th century gives a list of kings of tribes ordered according to their popularity and impact on history with attila king of the huns coming first followed by eormanric of the ostrogoths 14 187 it may also be the oldest extant work that tells the battle of the goths and huns which is also told in such later scandinavian works as hervarar s saga and gesta danorum 14 179 lotte hedeager argues that the work is far older however and that it likely dates back to the late 6th or early 7th century citing the author s knowledge of historical details and accuracy as proof of its authenticity 14 184 86 she does note however that some authors such as john niles have argued the work was invented in the 10th century 14 181 84 the anglo saxon chronicle is a collection of annals in old english from the 9th century that chronicles the history of the anglo saxons 15 the poem battle of maldon also deals with history this is a work of uncertain date celebrating the battle of maldon of 991 at which the anglo saxons failed to prevent a viking invasion 16 oral tradition was very strong in early english culture and most literary works were written to be performed 17 18 epic poems were very popular and some including beowulf have survived to the present day beowulf is the most famous work in old english and has achieved national epic status in england despite being set in scandinavia the only surviving manuscript is the nowell codex the precise date of which is debated but most estimates place it close to the year 1000 beowulf is the conventional title 19 and its composition is dated between the 8th 20 21 and the early 11th century 22 nearly all anglo saxon authors are anonymous twelve are known by name from medieval sources but only four of those are known by their vernacular works with any certainty cædmon bede alfred the great and cynewulf cædmon is the earliest english poet whose name is known 23 pages needed and his only known surviving work cædmon s hymn probably dates from the late 7th century the poem is one of the earliest attested examples of old english and is with the runic ruthwell cross and franks casket inscriptions one of three candidates for the earliest attested example of old english poetry it is also one of the earliest recorded examples of sustained poetry in a germanic language the poem the dream of the rood was inscribed upon the ruthwell cross 23 pages needed two old english poems from the late 10th century are the wanderer and the seafarer 24 both have a religious theme and marsden describes the seafarer as an exhortatory and didactic poem in which the miseries of winter seafaring are used as a metaphor for the challenge faced by the committed christian 25 classical antiquity was not forgotten in anglo saxon england and several old english poems are adaptations of late classical philosophical texts the longest is king alfred s 9th century translation of boethius consolation of philosophy 26 in addition the famous ecclesiastical history of the english people latin historia ecclesiastica gentis anglorum written by bede in latin in about ad 731 was translated into old english sometime between the end of the ninth century and about 930 high and late middle ages middle english literature 1066 1485 edit see also england in the high middle ages england in the late middle ages and middle english main article middle english literature after the norman conquest of england in 1066 the written form of the anglo saxon language became less common under the influence of the new aristocracy french became the standard language of courts parliament and polite society as the invaders integrated their language and literature mingled with that of the natives and the norman dialects of the ruling classes became anglo norman from then until the 12th century anglo saxon underwent a gradual transition into middle english political power was no longer in english hands so that the west saxon literary language had no more influence than any other dialect and middle english literature was written in many dialects that corresponded to the region history culture and background of individual writers 2 in this period religious literature continued to enjoy popularity and hagiographies were written adapted and translated for example the life of saint audrey by eadmer 27 during the writing of ormulum c 1150 c 1180 28 the blending of both old english and anglo norman elements in english are highlighted for the first time marking the beginning of the middle english period 29 afterwards layamon in brut adapted the norman french of wace to produce the first english language work to present the legends of king arthur and the knights of the round table 30 it was also the first historiography written in english since the anglo saxon chronicle piers ploughman from a 14th century manuscript middle english bible translations notably wycliffe s bible helped to establish english as a literary language wycliffe s bible is the name now given to a group of bible translations into middle english that were made under the direction of or at the instigation of john wycliffe they appeared between about 1382 and 1395 31 these bible translations were the chief inspiration and cause of the lollard movement a pre reformation movement that rejected many of the teachings of the roman catholic church another literary genre that of romances appears in english from the 13th century with king horn and havelock the dane based on anglo norman originals such as the romance of horn c 1170 32 but it was in the 14th century that major writers in english first appeared these were william langland geoffrey chaucer and the so called pearl poet whose most famous work is sir gawain and the green knight 33 langland s piers plowman written c 1360 1387 or visio willelmi de petro plowman william s vision of piers plowman is a middle english allegorical narrative poem written in unrhymed alliterative verse 34 sir gawain and the green knight is a late 14th century middle english alliterative romance it is one of the better known arthurian stories of an established type known as the beheading game developing from welsh irish and english tradition sir gawain highlights the importance of honour and chivalry preserved in the same manuscript with sir gawayne were three other poems now generally accepted as the work of the same author including an intricate elegiac poem pearl 35 the english dialect of these poems from the midlands is markedly different from that of the london based chaucer and though influenced by french in the scenes at court in sir gawain there are in the poems also many dialect words often of scandinavian origin that belonged to northwest england 35 geoffrey chaucer middle english lasted until the 1470s when the chancery standard a london based form of english became widespread and the printing press started to standardise the language 36 chaucer is best known today for the canterbury tales this is a collection of stories written in middle english mostly in verse although some are in prose that are presented as part of a story telling contest by a group of pilgrims as they travel together from southwark to the shrine of st thomas becket at canterbury cathedral chaucer is a significant figure in the development of the legitimacy of the vernacular middle english at a time when the dominant literary languages in england were still french and latin at this time literature in england was being written in various languages including latin norman french and english the multilingual nature of the audience for literature in the 14th century is illustrated by the example of john gower a contemporary of william langland and a personal friend of chaucer gower is remembered primarily for three major works the mirroir de l omme vox clamantis and confessio amantis three long poems written in anglo norman latin and middle english respectively which are united by common moral and political themes 37 significant religious works were also created in the 14th century including those of julian of norwich and richard rolle julian s revelations of divine love about 1393 is believed to be the first published book written by a woman in the english language 38 a major work from the 15th century is le morte d arthur by sir thomas malory which was printed by caxton in 1485 39 this is a compilation of some french and english arthurian romances and was among the earliest books printed in england it was popular and influential in the later revival of interest in the arthurian legends 40 medieval theatre edit main article medieval theatre in the middle ages drama in the vernacular languages of europe may have emerged from enactments of the liturgy mystery plays were presented in the porches of cathedrals or by strolling players on feast days miracle and mystery plays along with morality plays or interludes later evolved into more elaborate forms of drama such as was seen on the elizabethan stages another form of medieval theatre was the mummers plays a form of early street theatre associated with the morris dance concentrating on themes such as saint george and the dragon and robin hood these were folk tales re telling old stories and the actors travelled from town to town performing these for their audiences in return for money and hospitality 41 mystery plays and miracle plays are among the earliest formally developed plays in medieval europe medieval mystery plays focused on the representation of bible stories in churches as tableaux with accompanying antiphonal song they developed from the 10th to the 16th century reaching the height of their popularity...
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