HISTORY OF ENGLISH LITERATURE

English literature begins with songs and stories of the ancestors of the English people who lived on the borders of the North Sea. Then the tribes of those ancestors-the Jutes, Angles and Saxons conquered Britain during the later part of fifth century and laid the foundation of the English nation. They were mainly warriors and sea rovers, but the men of profound emotions. Their poetry reflects their nature trough subjects, like the sea, the boats, battles, adventure, nostalgia and so on. In the history of English literature, this period of creation is known as "The Anglo-Saxon Period" which produced chiefly the first poetry in Latin, especially great epic poem "Beowulf" , and a few other pieces like "Widsith", Deor's Lament" and "The Seafarer". 

Bede, a historian, and Ca'edmon and Lynewulf, the two great poets, belong to the Northumbrian school of writers between 650 and 850. The beginning of English prose writing is seen under Alfred (848-901) who revised and enlarged the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. 

The Anglo-Norman period began after the conquest of Anglo-Saxon England under William, Duke of Normandy of France. The literature, which they brought to England, is remarkable for its romantic tales of love and adventure. With its influence , the Anglo-Saxon speech simplified itself by dropping many of its Teutonic vocabulary to become the English language. Thus English literature is combination of French and Saxon elements.