The Germanic tribes who settled in Britain in the 5th and 6th c. spoke closely related tribal dialects belonging to the West Germanic subgroup.
Kentish A dialect spoken in the area known now as Kent and Surrey and in the Isle of Wight. It had developed from the tongue of the Jutes and Frisians. West Saxon The main dialect of the Saxon group, spoken in the rest of England south of the Thames and the Bristol Channel, except Wales and Cornwall, where Celtic tongues were preserved. Other Saxon dialects in England have not survived in written form and are not known to modern scholars. Mercian A dialect derived from the speech of southern Angles and spoken chiefly in the kingdom of Mercia, that is, in the central region, from the Thames to the Humber. Northumbrian Anglian dialect, spoken from the Humber north to the river Forth (hence the name – North- Humbrian ).
Runic Inscriptions The earliest written records of English are inscriptions on hard material made in a special alphabet known as the runes.
The two best known runic inscriptions in England are the earliest extant OE written records : Franks Casket Ruth-well Cross
The greatest poem of the time was BEOWULF, an epic of the 7th or 8th c. The oldest known English epic poem, the foundation-stone of all British poetry. The earliest samples of continuous prose are the first pages of the ANGLO-SAXON CHRONICLES
Beowulf who is a strong and fearless advocate of freedom and justice, expresses the Anglo- Saxon ideals of personal conduct.
The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle is a collection of annals in Old English chronicling the history of the Anglo-Saxons. The original manuscript of the Chronicle was created late in the 9th century, probably in Wessex, during the reign of Alfred the Great.
Presented by Alexandra Amelina RSSU, Moscow 2015
