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The main Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms circa AD 600
First page of Beowulf


Anglo-Saxon migration[change | change source]


More recent archaeological and historical research suggests that most of the people of Anglo-Saxon England were Britons.[4] Instead of being driven off somewhere, the Anglo-Saxons merged with the Britons.[4] The evidence of British names in Anglo-Saxon families and royalty support this theory.[5] Migration may also have been more a function of the ruling class and the people living on the land were often not affected.[6]

Angles, Saxons and Jutes[change | change source]

It was Bede who identified the invaders as Angles, Saxons and Jutes.[7] But he sometimes used the names Angli and Saxones for the same people in different parts of his writings.[8] In Book I, Chapter 15 he said that by invitation of King Vortigern "Angles or Saxons" came to Britain in three longships.[9] Modern authorities confirm that Angles, Saxons, Frisians and some Jutes did come to England during this migration time period.[10] The differences in England between tribes of Angles and Saxons was not significant. Kent was different in culture than other parts of England and was home to Jutes. But Kent had later contact with the regions they had come from in Europe and that could explain some of the differences.[11]

Certain styles of jewellery are recognized by archaeologists as being typical of Anglian, Saxon and Jutish areas in Northern Europe. But why the name England came to be used for the country and English for the language is not clear.[12] In Old English the people call themselves Engle. In Latin it was Angli. Nothing suggests the Angles made up a larger percentage of the Germanic peoples.[12] The name Englaland, which became 'England' was regularly used by the 11th century.[12]

Celtic words for the Anglo-Saxons[change | change source]

The native British people, who wrote in both Latin and Welsh (a Celtic language), referred to these invaders as Saxones or Saeson. The latter name is still used today in the Welsh word for English people, Saeson,[13], the English language, Saesneg, and things related to England, Seisnig. In the Scottish Gaelic language The word for English people is saesonach and in Irish the word is Sasanach.

Art[change | change source]

Anglo-Saxon jewellery
The Pentney hoard: early 9th century silver broaches



Literature[change | change source]



References[change | change source]

  2. "Anglo-Saxons: Invasion and settlement". BBC. Retrieved 14 April 2016.
  3. The Oxford Handbook of Anglo-Saxon Archaeology, eds. Helena Hamerow; David A. Hinton; Sally Crawford (Corby: Oxford University Press 2010), p. 32
  4. 4.0 4.1 Thomas Green, Britons and Anglo-Saxons: Lincolnshire AD 400-650 (Lincoln: History of Lincolnshire Committee, 2012), p. 2
  5. The population of Britain in 400 is unknowable, but was probably substantial. It is thought to be unlikely that such a large population was all together killed or displaced between the 5th century and sixth century. Disease epidemics very much could have reduced the population of Britain. There is recent analysed evidence for multiple events of plague and famine - e.g. Irish Annals, Gildas, and Bede's account of the plague in his youth - which are also known from Mediterranean sources.
  6. J.C. Russell 1958. 'Late ancient and medieval population', Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, New Series, 48, 3, p. 3
  7. Mark Harrison, Anglo-Saxon Thegn AD 449-1066 (London: Osprey, 1993), p. 3
  8. Social Identity in Early Medieval Britain, eds. William O. Frazer; Andrew Tyrell (London; New York: Leicester University Press, 2000), p. 72
  10. 10.0 10.1 Peter Hunter Blair; Simon Keynes, An Introduction to Anglo-Saxon England (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003), p. 10
  11. Frank Stenton, Anglo-Saxon England (Oxford University Press, 1971), p. 10
  12. 12.0 12.1 12.2 Peter Hunter Blair; Simon Keynes, An Introduction to Anglo-Saxon England (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003), p. 11
  13. John Davies, The history of Wales (London; New York: Penguin Books, 1993), p. 57

Other websites[change | change source]