Major Literary Figures of Old English (In A Brief)

1. (The Venerable) Bede
- Ca. 637-735
- He was also known as Saint Bede, Venerable Bede, and Bede the Venerable
- An English priest and historian; he was a priest at the monastery of St. Peter and its companion monastery of St. Paul in the Kingdom of Northumbria of the Angles
- Considered as the "Father of English History" after his famous work "Ecclesiastical History of the English People"
- The main reason why dating approach using AD (Anno Domini) invented by Dionysius Exiguus is now widely used
- Bede's life and work have been celebrated with the annual Jarrow Lecture held at St. Paul's curch in Jarrow since 1958

2. Alfred the Great
- Ca. 849-899
- The King of Wessex (from 871-866)
- Made an agreement with Vikings known as Danelaw after winning a victory in the Battle of Edington
- He died on 26 October 899 and had buried temporarily in the Old Minster in Winchester for four years before his body was moved to New Minster. Then the New Minster moved to Hyde and the monks were transferred to Hyde Abbey along with Alfred's body, his wife's and his children's as well. Unfortunately the abbey had dissolved and the church had been demolished.

3. Caedmon
- Ca. middle to late 7 AD
- a major poet mentioned in Bede's Historia
- Pioneer of the creation of verses with subjects based on the biblical stories and gospels, despite being (initially) illiterate
-His only known surviving work is 'Caedmon's Hymn'

----------------------

About this notes: the main source of the notes is my English Literature History Lecturer. I wrote it down on my notebook during my class a few years ago, but decided to write it also in my blog to save it and as a trivial information for whoever read my page. Thank you.

xxxLAC

Read More

The Right Destination

I can smell the sea and the faint prickling of the spruces.
They are the reminiscent of the holiday, far-off of home.
The sands glisten from the sunbeam.
The dark blue ocean is the unfathomable vastness.

You and I stand under the waving spruces, wind in our face, your hands wrapping mine.
I catch a glimpse of the serene ocean before staring at you.
Your eyes, a pair of mystifyingly sheening onyx, squint to the remote horizon.
When they find mine, everything around me fades.

Yet you smile, that crooked smile like a grin.
I know.
My long journey has come to an end.
The vessel has anchored.

Then you release your hands to pull me closer.
You crouch, chin on my shoulder, hands embracing me.
You whisper,
"Thank you for always coming back."

My home.
My shelter.
It's you.
It's always been you.

I can feel your warmth.
Your steady heartbeat.
My world stops spinning.
The gravity is no longer put me in place but you.

Everything seems right.
All the yearnings turn into void.
The pains are gone as if they had never been there.
As if I had never been hurt.

Read More