Professor Borges - A Course on English Literature

was pronounced. And then English became full of French words as a result of the Norman conquest.
    And now we will discuss that year 1066, the year of the Battle ofHastings. Now, there are English historians who say that the English character was not yet fully developed at the time of the Norman invasion. Others say it was. I think the first are correct. I think that the Norman invasion was very important for the history of England, and naturally that means for the history of the world. I think that if the Normans had not invaded England, England today would be, let us say, another Denmark. That is, it would be a very educated country, and politically admirable, but a provincial country, a country that has exerted no great influence upon world history. The Normans, on the other hand, made possible the British Empire, as well as the spread of the English race all over the world. I think that had there been no Norman invasion, we would not have subsequently had a British Empire. That is, there would have been no Englishmen in Canada, in India, in South Africa, in Australia. Perhaps the United States would also not exist. In other words, world history would have been totally different. Because the Normans had managerial ability, an organizational sense, which the Saxons lacked. And we can see this even in the
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
, written by a Saxon monk—the Saxons were enemies of the Normans. It deals with William theConqueror, the bastard, who was Norman, and when he died, they said there had never been in England a more powerful king than he. 18 Previously, the country had been divided into small kingdoms. It is true, there wasAlfred the Great, but he never grasped the idea that England could be purely Anglo-Saxon or English. 19 Alfred the Great died with the idea that most of England would be a Norse country, and the other part would be Saxon. The Normans arrived, however, and conquered England, that is, they went all the way to the border with Scotland. In addition, they were a very energetic people, people with great organizational ability, with great religious sentiment as well, and they filled England with monasteries—although the Saxons, of course, already had religious sentiment. But let’s take a look at the dramatic events of that year, 1066, in England. There was in England a king namedHarold, son of Godwin. And Harold had a brother named Tostig.
    In the county of Yorkshire, I saw a Saxon church built by the two brothers. I don’t remember the inscription exactly, but I remember that I had it read to me, and I made a good impression because I translated it, which the English gentlemen accompanying me were unable to do, as they had not studied Anglo-Saxon. I have, more or less, but I may have cheated a bit on that church inscription. In England, there must still be about fifty or sixty Saxon churches. This was a small church. They are buildings of gray stone, square, rather meager. The Saxons were not great architects, though they became so later under Norman influence. After that, they had a different understanding of the Gothic style, because Gothic generally tends toward height. York Minster, the cathedral of York, is the longest cathedral in Europe. It has windows called “the York sisters.”Cromwell’s soldiers did not destroy these windows, as they are stained glass windows, with many colors, but predominantly yellow. And the designs are what today we would call abstract, that is, there are no figures. And they were not destroyed by Cromwell’s soldiers, who destroyed all images because they considered them idols. But not the “York sisters,” those precursors of abstract art; they were saved, and this is fortunate because they are really beautiful.
    So, we have King Harold and his brother, Earl Toste or Tostig, depending on the text. Now, the earl believed that he had a right to part of the kingdom, that the king should divide England between them. King Harold did not agree, so Tostig left England and allied himself with the king of Norway, who was namedHarald Hardrada, Harald the Resolute, the Hard. . . . Pity he has almost the same name as Harold, but history cannot be changed. This personage is very interesting, because as is typical of many educated Norsemen, he was not only a warrior but also a poet. And it seems that during his last battle, the Battle ofStamford Bridge, he composed two poems. He composed one, recited it, then said, “It’s not good.” 20 So he composed another,