Class Conflict and Linguistic Division in Norman England
Norman Rule and Saxon Degradation
The Irony of Daily Life in Norman England
The whole scene sets up a degradation of the daily life of a Saxon in Norman England, full of ironic humor.
Property, Forests, and the Ranger's Authority
On line 22, Gurth mentions the figure of the Ranger of the Forest. For the Normans, land property was much more important than for the Saxons. When they arrived in England, they reinforced the idea of property by identifying people in relation to their land, which can be appreciated in the names of the nobility (e.g., Simon of Montfort, etc.).
They reinforced private property, and forests were no longer common ground, as they used to be during the Saxon period, but were placed under the administration of Royalty and nobility....