History of English Literature from "Beowulf" to Swinburne Part 1

This part begins with Anglo-Saxon literature and moves through Christian poetry, early prose, the Norman Conquest, Geoffrey of Monmouth, Layamon’s “Brut,” medieval romances, alliterative poems, Chaucer, and “Piers Plowman,” showing how the foundations of English literature were formed. Early English writing grows out of a world shaped by war, faith, heroism, fate, and cultural memory, then gradually expands through Latin learning and French literary influence. By the time of Chaucer, English becomes not only a language of record but a rich literary instrument for portraying human character and society.