Anglo-Saxon poetry,
covering the period from the mid fifth century until the Norman Conquest of 1066, was based on
oral tradition. Poems were meant to be recited aloud, and they emphasized devices that would aid
listeners' memories, including the repetition of names and the use of an appositive style. The
subject matter covered in the poems included songs and myths, and the poems combined both pagan
and early Christian ideas. An example is the epic Beowulf. Beowulf is given
a Christian burial, but the Danes make offerings at pagan shrines to entreat their gods to get
rid of Grendel. These idiosyncrasies are thought to have been introduced by the Christian monks
who transcribed the oral tale.
The rhythm in the poems is provided not
through the use of rhyme or meter but through the use of frequent , or words starting with
similar sounds. Alliteration provides a kind of musical quality to the poems. The poems feature
many metaphors, including kennings, which are compound words that have a metaphorical meaning.
Examples of kennings include "battle-sweat" for blood and "whale-road" for
the ocean.
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