Episode 57: The Wessex Literary Revival

After the defeat of the Vikings in York, England was permanently unified under Wessex leadership. A period of peace and prosperity followed. Under the supervision of a cleric named Dunstan, the churches and monasteries were re-built and a great literary revival soon followed. In this episode, we explore the events which led to that literary renaissance which produced most of the surviving Old English literature. We also look at some of the Latin words which were borrowed after the Benedictine Reform. And we conclude with the development of the standard West Saxon literary dialect which emerged during this period.

TRANSCRIPT: EPISODE 57