The English is the most remarkable as well as the most prolific of
modern literatures. Before the Saxons invaded Britain there was a Celtic
literature of a rhythmic character, preserved, in the main, orally by
the Gaelic and Cymric elements of the population. Gaelic literature is
associated with Fionn, Ossian, and the battle of Gabhra, alleged to have
been fought A. D. 284, while Cymric literature finds powerful utterance
in Aneurin’s poem, the _Gododin_, which celebrates the battle of
Cattraeth, fought, according to tradition, in the year 570. During the
fifth and sixth centuries various Teutonic tribes effected a settlement
in Britain, and the island was ultimately subjugated by the Saxons. In
the middle of the eleventh century it again suffered conquest at the
hands of the Normans. The institutions and language of the conquerors
were largely imposed upon the natives, and so great has been the
vitality of the Saxon speech that about two-thirds of the words now
composing the English language are, radically or derivatively, of Saxon
origin.
So, the fabric of English literature is colored with the varying tints
of racial characteristics--the somber imagination of the Celt, the
flaming passion of the Saxon, the golden gaiety of France, and the
prismatic fancy of the South. There have been many influences brought to
bear upon its speech; yet, in this composite texture, the Anglo-Saxon
element is dominant. That is the first outstanding fact of importance.