Old English Literature The early inhabitants of the island of England, the Celts and other tribes, left no written literature. In the 5th century, three Germanic tribes originally from Northern Europe - the Angles, Saxons and Jutes - invaded Britain, and their epic poem "Beowulf" was passed down. The hero Beowulf in the poem kills trolls and fights poisonous dragons, and sacrifices his life for the people in the process of conquering these evil forces of nature. Its background and plot are Nordic, but mixed with Christian elements, showing that the epic has been modified several times and is no longer its original form. According to the version preserved in a 10th-century manuscript, the poem has a complete structure and vivid writing style. The alliteration, accented words and pronouns used reflect the characteristics of Old English poetry. In the second half of the 14th century, Middle English literature reached its peak.
The creative process of Chaucer, an important poet of this period, from early imitation of French and Italian works to later realism of British nature, shows the confidence of British literature...