The Probert Encyclopaedia of People

ANGLO-SAXONS

Anglo-Saxons is the name commonly given to the nation or people formed by the amalgamation of the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes, who settled in Britain in the fifth and sixth centuries, the Anglo-Saxons being simply the English people of the earlier period of English history. The tribes who were thus the ancestors of the bulk of the English-speaking nationalities came from north Germany, where they inhabited the parts about the mouths of the Elbe and Weser, and the first body of them who gained a footing in Britain are said to have landed in 449, and to have been led by Hengist and Horsa. From the preponderance of the Angles the whole country came to be called Engla-land, that is, the land of the Angles or English.

The whole Anglo-Saxon community was frequently spoken of as consisting of the eorls and the ceorls, or the nobles and common freemen. The former were the men of property and position, the latter were the small landholders, handicraftsmen, etc, who generally placed themselves under the protection of some nobleman, who was hence termed their hlaford or lord. Besides these there was the class of the serfs or slaves (theowas), who might be either born slaves or freemen who had forfeited their liberty by their crimes, or whom poverty or the fortune of war had brought into this position. They served as agricultural labourers on their masters' estates, and were mere chattels, as absolutely the property of their master as his cattle.

The king (cyning, cyng) was at the head of the state; he was the highest of the nobles and the chief magistrate. He was not looked upon as ruling by any divine right, but by the will of the people, as represented by the witan (wise men) or great council of the nation. The new king was not always the direct and nearest heir of the late king, but one of the royal family whose abilities and character recommended him for the office. He had the right of maintaining a standing army of household troops, the duty of calling together the witan, and of laying before them public measures, with certain distinctions of dress, dwelling, etc, all his privileges being possessed and exercised by the advice and consent of the witenagemot or parliament (literally meaning meeting of the wise). Next in rank and dignity to the king were the ealdormen, who were the chief witan or counsellors, and without whose assent laws could not be made, altered, or abrogated. They were at the head of the administration of justice in the shires, possessing both judicial and executive authority, and had as their officers the scir-gerefan or sheriffs. The ealdormen led the fyrd or armed force of the county, and the ealdorman, as such, held possession of certain lands attached to the office, and was entitled to a share of fines and other moneys levied for the king's use and passing through his hands. The whole executive government may be considered as a great aristocratical association, of which the ealdormen were the members, and the king little more than the president. The ealdorman and the king were both surrounded by a number of followers called thegnas or thanes, who were bound by close ties to their superior. The king's thanes were the higher in rank, they possessed a certain quantity of land, smaller in amount than that of an ealdorman, and they filled offices connected with the personal service of the king or with the administration of justice. The scir-gerefa (shire-reeve or sheriff) was also
important functionary. He presided at the county-court along with the ealdorman and bishop, or alone in their absence; and he had to carry out the decisions of the court, levy fines, collect taxes, etc. The shires were divided into hundreds and tithings, the latter consisting of ten heads of families, who were jointly responsible to the state for the good conduct of any member of their body. Eor the trial and settlement of minor causes there was a hundred court held once a month. The place of the modern parliament was held by the witena-gemot. Its members, who were not elected, comprised the gethelings or princes of the blood royal, the bishops and abbots, the ealdormen, the thanes, the sheriffs, etc.

One of the peculiar features of Anglo-Saxon society was the wergyld, which was established for the settling of feuds. A sum, paid either in kind or in money, was placed upon the life of every freeman, according to his rank in the state, his birth, or his office. A corresponding sum was settled for every wound that could be inflicted upon his person; for nearly every injury that could be done to his civil rights, his honour, or his domestic peace, etc. From the operation of this principle no one from king to peasant was exempt.

Agriculture, including especially the raising of cattle, sheep, and swine, was the chief occupation of the Anglo-Saxons. Gardens and orchards are frequently mentioned, and vineyards were common in the southern counties. The forests were extensive, and valuable both from the mast they produced for the swine, and from the beasts of the chase which they harboured. Hunting was a favourite recreation among the higher ranks, both lay and clerical. Fishing was largely carried on, herrings and salmon being the principal fish caught; and the Anglo-Saxon whaling vessels used to go as far as Iceland. The manufactures were naturally of small moment. Iron was made to some extent, and some cloth, and salt works were numerous. In embroidery and working in gold the English were famous over Europe. There was a considerable trade at London, which was frequented by Normans, French, Flemings, and the merchants of the Hanse towns. Our Anglo-Saxon forefathers were notorious for their excess in eating and drinking, and in this respect formed a strong contrast to the Norman conquerors. Ale, mead, and cider were the common beverages, wine being limited to the higher classes. Pork and eels were favourite articles of food. The houses were rude structures, but were often richly furnished and hung with fine tapestry. The dress of the people was loose and flowing, composed chiefly of linen, and often adorned with embroidery. The men wore their hair long and flowing over their shoulders. Christianity was introduced among the Anglo-Saxons in the end of the sixth century by St Augustine, who was sent by Pope Gregory the Great, and became the first Archbishop of Canterbury. Kent, then under King Ethelred, was the first place where it took root, and thence it soon spread over the rest of the country. The Anglo-Saxon Church long remained independent of Rome, notwithstanding the continual efforts of the popes to bring it under their power. It was not until the tenth century that this result was
t about by Dunstan. Many Anglo-Saxon ecclesiastics were distinguished for learning and ability, but the Venerable Bede holds the first place.

The Anglo-Saxon language, which is simply the earliest form of English, claims kinship with Dutch, Icelandic, Danish, Swedish, and German, especially with the Low German dialects (spoken in North Germany). It was not called Anglo-Saxon by those who spoke it, but Englisc (English), and many condemn the former name as a misnomer. The existing remains of Anglo-Saxon literature show different dialects, of which the northern and the southern were the principal. The former was the first to be cultivated as a literary language, but afterwards it was supplanted in this respect by the southern or that of Wessex. It is in the latter that the principal Anglo-Saxon works are written. The Anglo-Saxon alphabet was substantially the same as that which we still use, except that some of the letters were different in form, while it had two characters either of which represented the sounds of th in thy and in thing. Nouns and adjectives are declined much as in German or in Latin. The pronouns of the first and second person had a dual number, 'we tw' or 'us two' and 'you two', besides the plural for more than two. The infinitive of the verb is in -am, the participle in -ende, and there is a gerund somewhat similar in its usage to the Latin gerund. The verb had four moods - indicative, subjunctive, imperative, and infinitive, but only two tenses, the present (often used as a future) and the past. Other tenses and the passive voice were formed by auxiliary verbs. Anglo-Saxon words terminated in a vowel much more frequently than the modern English, and altogether the language is so different that it has to be learned quite like a foreign tongue. Yet notwithstanding the large number of words of Latin or French origin that our language now contains, and the changes it has undergone, its framework, so to speak, is still Anglo-Saxon. Many chapters of the New Testament do not contain more than four per cent of non-Teutonic words, and as a whole it averages perhaps six or seven.

The existing remains of Anglo-Saxon literature include compositions in prose and poetry, some of which must be referred to a very early period, one or two perhaps to a time before the Angles and Saxons emigrated to England. The most important Anglo-Saxon poem is that called Beowulf, after its hero, extending to more than 6000 lines. Beowulf is a Scandinavian prince, who slays a fiendish cannibal, after encountering supernatural perils, and is at last slain in a contest with a frightful dragon. Its scene appears to be laid entirely in Scandinavia. Its date is uncertain; parts of it may have been brought over at the emigration from Germany, though in its present form it is much later than this. The poetical remains include a number of religious poems, or poems on sacred themes; ecclesiastical narratives, as lives of saints and versified chronicles; psalms and hymns; secular lyrics; allegories, gnomes, riddles, etc. The religious class of poems was the largest, and of these Caedmon's (about 660) are the most remarkable. His poems consist of loose versions of considerable portions of the Bible history, and treat of the creation, the temptation, the fall, the exodus of the Israelites, the story of Daniel, the incarnation, and the harrowing of hell, or release of the ransomed souls by Christ. Other most interesting poems are those ascribed to Cynewulf, the Christ, Elene, and Juliana, the subjects respectively being Christ, the finding of the cross by the Empress Helena, and the life of Juliana. Rhyme was little used in Anglo-Saxon poetry, alliteration being employed instead, as in the older northern poetry generally. The style of the poetry is highly elliptical, and it is full of harsh inversions and obscure metaphors.

The Anglo-Saxon prose remains consist of translations of portions of the Bible, homilies, philosophical writings, history, biography, laws, leases, charters, popular treatises on science and medicine, grammars, etc. Many of these were translations from the Latin. The Anglo-Saxon versions of the Gospels, next to the Moeso-Gothic, are the earliest scriptural translations in any modern language. The Psalms are said to have been translated by Bishop Aldhelm (who died in 709), and also under Alfred's direction; and the Gospel of St John by Bede; but it is not known who were the authors of the extant versions. A translation of the first seven books of the Bible is believed to have been the work of Aelfric, who was Abbot of Ensham and lived in the beginning of the eleventh century. We have also eighty homilies from his pen, several theological treatises, a Latin grammar, etc. King Alfred was a diligent author, besides being a translator of Latin works. We have under his name translations of Boethius De Consolatione Philosophise, the Universal History of Orosius, Bede's Ecclesiastical History, the Pastoral Care of Gregory the Great, etc. The most valuable to us of the Anglo-Saxon prose writings is the Saxon Chronicle, as it is called, a collection of annals recording important events in the history of the country, and compiled in different religious houses. The latest text comes down to 1154. A considerable body of laws remains, as well as a large number of charters.
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