YANBU UNIVERSITY COLLEGE

Women’s Campus

THE OLD ENGLISH PERIOD ( 449-1100)

The Anglo-Saxon Invasion 450-650 AD

Yanbu University College

ENGL 214-181
Presenter: Ms. Sahar Deknash

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 The Anglo Saxons

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 The Anglo-Saxons' Original Countries

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 THE ANGLO - SAXON INVASION
• By the year 449 AD, a group of Germanic tribes
began its invasion of Britain. They migrated in
groups from their original homelands and settled
in. These tribes were: The Angles, The Saxons, The
Jutes and The Frisians. They came from different
parts of Germany, Denmark and Netherlands
bringing their closely related dialects with them.

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 THE ANGLO-SAXON INVASION

• At that time, the Romans had completely

abandoned Britain and native Celts had been
enslaved by the invaders. The Angles took over
northern England . The Saxons took over the south.
The Jutes took Isle of Wight, Kent and Hampshire.

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 • The Celts referred to all new comers as the Saxons
and their land became known as Saxonia.
Gradually, the term was changed into Anglia or
Englaland ( The land of the Angles). The Germanic
tribes compromised seven kingdoms in England:
– Jutes: Kent
– Saxons: Wessex, Sussex, Essex
– Angles: East Anglia, Mercia, Northumbria

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 THE SEVEN KINGDOMS

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 Kent became the center of culture and wealth
which was occupied by the Jutes, and the
leadership moved constantly between these
kingdoms.

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 • How did the Anglo-Saxons deal with the Roman's
civilization?
• The Saxons destroyed the Roman's achievements
in Britain, and their towns were burnt or
destroyed.

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 Anglo-Saxon Society

* highly organized tribal units (kingdoms)

* Each tribe ruled by a king chosen by a council of
elders (witan)
* Thanes: the upper class, earls, or free warriors
* Thralls: slaves who did the farming and domestic
work
* Freemen: small group who earned possessions
and special favors

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 *
The Anglo-Saxons farmed, maintained local
governments, and created fine crafts,
especially metalwork.
* Lived close to their animals (to protect
animals and provide warmth)
* Lived in single-family homes surrounding a
communal hall and protected by a wooden
fence

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 Characteristics of the Anglo-Saxons

* Hard fighters and bold sea warriors

* Admired physical strength, bravery, loyalty,
fairness, and honesty
* Great love of personal freedom
* Boastful, reckless, cruel, and bloodthirsty
* Enjoyed conflict, swimming matches, horse
races, banqueting, singing songs, and storytelling
* They enjoyed flyting, a conflict of wits
between two warriors where each praises his
own deeds and belittles the other’s

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 The Dialects of Old English
After the settlement of the Germanic tribes , They
tried to combine their original but closely
related dialects in one language. The new
emerging language was not fully unified, and
each dialect kept some of its specific
characteristics that were distinguished later as
dialects of the new unified language.

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 The new language was known as the Anglo-Saxon
Language or Old Englisc and we can distinguish
four major dialects of OE:
• Northumbrian
• Mercian
• West Saxon
• Kent
Most preserved records and literary works of OE
were kept in West Saxon dialect.
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 Thank You Ladies

Next Topic
General Characteristics of Old English

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