And when we come to look into that Saxon literature which was subsequently developed, the traces of the heathen period are unexpectedly scanty, and the very remembrance of heathenism though not abolished seems already wonderfully remote. But notwithstanding all this, we cannot treat the subject of Anglo-Saxon literature in any satisfactory manner without some consideration of the heathen period. For, on the one hand, history requires it as a background, and the only appropriate background to our story of the subsequent culture; and, on the other hand, we shall find, by putting the scattered fragments together, that such an impression may be gained as is at least sufficient for a subsidiary purpose.
Among the extant Saxon writings there is one and only one book, in which we detect some possible work of this period. This is in the Chronicles. Between A.D. 450 and 600 we have a sprinkling of curious annals that are naturally calculated to rivet the attention. They are certainly of a very distinct and peculiar cast, and it has been thought that they may possibly represent (through much disguise of transcription) some kind of contemporary records of the heathen period, whether the original shape was that of ballads, or of annals kept in Runes.
These annals are characterised by an occasional touch of poetic fervour, and by several local details which are stimulating to modern curiosity. A few examples may be useful:—
455. Here[41] Hengest and Horsa fought against Wyrtgeorn, the king, in the place that is called Agælesthrep; and his brother Horsa was slain; and after that Hengest took to the kingdom, and Æsc, his son.
457. Here Hengest and Æsc fought against the Brettas in the place that is called Crecganford; and there they slew 4,000 men; and the Brets then abandoned Kentland, and in great terror fled to Londonbury.
473. Here Hengest and Æsc fought against the Walas: and they took countless spoil: and the Walas fled the Engles like fire.
491. Here Ælle and Cissa beset Andredescester, and slew all those that therein dwelt: there was not so much as one Bret remaining.
571. Here Cuthwulf fought with the Bretwalas at Bedcanford, and took four towns: Lygeanburg and Ægelesburg (Aylesbury), Bænesingtun (Bensington) and Egonesham (Ensham).
584. Here Ceawlin and Cutha fought against the Brettas, in the place that is named Fethanleag; and Cutha was slain. And Ceawlin took many towns and countless spoils; and in wrath he returned thence to his own.
There is about these entries something remote and primitive, and something, too, of a contemporaneous form, that penetrates even through the folds of a modern dress.