A very early example of Old English spelling.
Caedmon's hymn, late 7th century.
The following Old English text is a normalized reading of M (mid-8th century; Northumbria), arguably the oldest extant copy.
nu scylun hergan hefaenricaes uardmetudæs maecti end his modgidancuerc uuldurfadur
swe he uundra gihwaeseci dryctin or astelidæhe aerist scop aelda barnumheben til
hrofe haleg scepen. tha middungeard moncynnæs uardeci dryctin æfter tiadæfirum
foldu frea allmectig
Now [we] must honour the guardian of heaven,the might of the architect, and his purpose,the work of the father of gloryas he, the eternal lord, established the beginning of wonders;he first created for the children of menheaven as a roof, the holy creatorThen the guardian of mankind,the eternal lord, afterwards appointed the middle earth,the lands for men, the Lord almighty.
An overbringing from Wikipedia
Anglo-Saxony/England
Engelsaxen/Englelond's eretide takes in thi goings-on from Roomansh Brittenlond's end til thi Onglish ond Saxish kingdooms' setting-up in thi 5th jearhundred untill thi takeover by thi Normons in 1066. From thi 5th jearhundred ond thi 6th jearhundred, knowen as thi “Dark Elddooms”, mickler, self-stondand kingdooms were cummand intu biing, among them thi Seven Kingdooms (the Heptarchy in book idiom). Later thi Wiking incummings et thi 8th jearhundred's end broght monni shifts in Brittenlond's mootish stallwerk, ond its deelings with other Evelondish kingdooms took on weighti bearing right up tu Engelsaxen's end ond thi Normons cumming ond thi taking over of Englelond.
From Ritten Werks
There are sundri ritten deeds from Engelsaxish times stil with us. Thi mein tales are Bede’s English Folk's Chirchli Reckenness ond thi Engelsaxish Cranic. Law deeds goand beck tu Kentish Æthelbert's time ond kingdoom are stil tu be hed, thogh thej bicumm much greater in reckening efter Alfred thi Great's kingship. Deeds bistowand lond rights allso give us another window tu look beck et thi times. Other deeds are about holi men, ritings (often bitween chirchmen, but sumtimes bitween mootish leeders, such as Cherl the Great (Charlemagne) ond Offa, ond scopcreft.
Aside from these deeds are allso sundri t'hreds ond t'hrums of unritten witness. Jear-rimeli kit'hlore hes given us much moer food for t'hoght intu early Middle Elddoomli learning over thi eredeili 50 jears. Moer wel knowen wejs such as fyndand stownames' underlying or heve been brooked tu show kit'hish ond mootish trends in settling, while speechlore, moest tellandli, show thi input from Old English, Old Norse, Brittish ond Old Irish tungs tu thi Werld English we nou speek, givand clews tu wider kit'hish ond folkwej leenings.
Incummings ond the settand-up of kingdooms (400-600)
It is hard tu bild a tru timeline for bitidings from thi time thi Roomwelsh left Brittenlond (Britain), tu thi setting-up of thi Engelsaxish kingdooms. Thi Roomwelsh afaring, as told by Geoffrey of Monmout'h in his Historia regum Brittaniae, is sumwhet untrustwurthi, but as a Middle Elddoomli folktale
Unearthed fyndings tel a tale of thi end-times of Roomansh reeving wit'h a marked falling awej, ond waning of toun ond feeld life. Fee-tokens minted efter 402 are few. So in 407 when Constantine 111 wos made Highkeasar by his fighting men, ond left Brittenlond along wit'h his men, Roomansh Brittenlond had truli cum tu an end. Brittenlond wos left without a shield, ond Constantine shortli efter wos slain in fighting. In 410, Highkeasar Honorius told thi Roombrittish (Romano-Britons) thet thej themselves hed tu fynd their own wejs ond meens of wordand off foes, jet in thi mid 5th jearhundred thi Roombrittish stil felt thet thej cou'd look tu Rome for help agenst unwonted incummers.
Monni tales ond ritings about thi Engelsaxens' cumming staddle themselves upon ritten deeds, others far less so. Four mein ritten deeds give witness. Gildas’ “ The Downfall of Brittenlond” (ritten sumtime in the 540s) is a long-drawn-out doun-mouthing, a wurdful flej chiding thi Brittish kings, moer than a tru tale rinand upon whet hed plejed out. Bede’s English Folk's Chirchli Reckenness thogh taken sumwhet from Gildas' riting, neverthiless brings in other understondings. However it wos not ritten in thi 5th jearhundred, but sum t'hree hundred jears later, in thi 8th jearhundred. Later stil thi riter of thi Engelsaxish Cranic goes tu Bede’s Eretide for input, but allso brings in sum folklore when ritand about thi cumming-intu-biing of thi West Saxish kingdoom.
Knowledge can bi taken allso from other feelds, such as learned nibbings. It is wort'hwhile tu bear in mind allso thet thi Onglish kingdooms of, Bernicia, Deira ond Linsey ond Kent all kept their Brittish names, which would seem tu show a mootish ongoing. On thi other hond, thi moer westerli kingdooms of thi West Saxens ond thi Merchish spred out from their earlier bounds. Unearthed fyndings, following buriing lejouts ond lond hondling let us follow settling by thi Ongels ond Saxens, allthogh it is not unlikeli thet thi Britwelsh were takand up Engelsaxish wejs. From bodies unearthed from an orold gravejard near Abington in Englond, it seems tu show thet Saxish incummers ond homegrown Britwelsh lived side by side. There is much learned mooting as tu whether thi Engelsaxish incummers took over from, or melded wit'h, thi Roombrittish whu lived in southern or eastern Brittenlond. Allreddi from thi 4th jearhundred, Brittons hed fled at'hwars thi "The Narrows" ond begunn tu settle in thi western londship of Armorica, settand up in Brittani. Others mej heve gon tu northern Spain. Thi Brittish afarings tu thi Evelondish meinlond, ond thi Ongels ond Saxens tu Brittenlond, should bi seen in a broader light thon wos first thoght, thet beand t'hrugh the Evelondish folk wonderings ond folk spreddings thrughout Evelond. However sum misgivings, founded upon breakt'hrughs in kyndlore, make mon think further upon thi mickleness of thi Engelsaxens' inflow intu Brittenlond.
Thogh there is no wej tu know fulli about the times, steds or folks therein, it dus seem thet in 495, et thi fight et Badon Fell (mejbe et Badburi rings, Latinish Mons Badonicus, Britwelsh Mynydd Baddon), thi Britwelsh wreked a bloodi loss on thi Saxens. Uneart'hed fynds, together with thi less-than-trustwurthi ritings by Gildas, would leed us tu believe thet thi Engelsaxish inflow intu Brittenlond wos stemmed for a while.
Thi Seven kingdooms ond thi Spred of Cristendoom
Thi spred of Cristendoom thrughout Engelsaxish Englond, begunn around 500, wos shaped ond wielded by Keltish Cristendoom from thi north-west ond thi Roomish Church from thi south-east. Thi first Canterburi High-Bishop, Augustine started his soul-sowing ond riping in 597. In 601, he cristened Kent's Aethelbert, thi first Engelsaxish King tu becumm a Cryst-follower. Thi last heethen Engelsaxish king, thi Merchish Penda died in 655. Thi undertaking by thi Engelsaxish Chirches tu spredding Cristendoom's goodspel on thi Europaeish meinlond begann in thi 8th jearhundred, leedand tu thi Heelond's wurd spreddand t'hrughout allmoest all thi greater Frankish rikedooms by 800. T'hrughout thi 7t'h jearhundred ond thi 8t'h jearhundred might flowed tu ond fro bitween thi mickler kingdooms. Bede's ritings tel us thet Kent, led by Æthelbert, wos thi mightiest kingdoom et thi 6t'h jearhundreds' end, but efterwords leedership seems tu heve shifted northwords tu the Northimbrish kingdoom, which saw Bernica ond Deira melding. King Edwin moest likeli held wield over moest of Brittenlond, thogh Bede’s Northimbrish leenings should here bi kept in mynd. Brekawej uphevings ment thet lordship wos not alwejs long-stondand, thogh Merchlond seems tu heve held wield as a stronger kingdoom under Penda’s leedership. Setbecks in wor, all but ended Northimberlond's over-lordship: firstli thi great fight et Trent in 679 agenst thi Merchish, ond then et Nechtanemere in 685 agenst thi Pects. Thi so-called ”Merchish Overlordship” stood foremoest amongst thi kingdooms during thi 8t'h jearhundred, thogh agenn it wos not alwejs abiding. Aethelbald ond Offa were thi twu kings held in highest rank; indeed Offa wos deemed thi overlord of south Brittenlond by Charlemagne. Thet Offa cou'd fynd thi wejs ond meens tu bild Offa’s Dyke is witness tu his might. However thi rising Westsexe, ond stonds taken by smaller kingdooms, kept Merchlond in hond, ond by thi end of thi eight hundreds thi “Merchish Overlordship”, if there ever wos oan, wos over. This time hes been knowen in book English as “The Heptarchy“, thogh this name hes fallen out of learned riting ond speech. Thi wurd arose on the bilief thet thi seven kingdooms of Northimberlond, Merchlond, Kent, East Engle, Eastsexe, Suthsexe, ond Westsexe were thi mein mootish steering bodies of south Brittenlond. Moer latterly learning has shown thet moer thon a few other kingdooms were allso under wielding thrughout this time, nameli Hwicce, Magosaete, Lindsej, ond Middle Engle, as wel as thi Keltish kingdooms of Strat'hclyde Rheged, ond Devon/Westwales.
The Wiking Cumming ond the Rise of the Westsexe
793 is the date given by the Engelsaxish Cranic for the first Wiking raids in Brittenlond et Lindisfarne bedehouse. However, by then the Wikings were wel set up in Orkney and Shetland, ond it is more than likely that monny other raids unwritten of hed happened before this. Deeds show the first Wiking strike on Hi (Iona) happening in 794. The cumming of the Wikings, moreso their Great Heathen Worband, wos to gravely upset the mootish and folkish make-up of Brittenlond ond Irelond. Alfred the Great’s overcumming of the Wikings et Edington in 878 stemmed their strikes; however, by this time Northimberlond hed split beck into Bernicia, ond Deira (which hed becumm a Wiking kingdoom), Merchlond hed been asundered doun the middle, ond East Engle ond Eastsexe were no longer was wieldingly Engelsaxish. The Wiking raids brought about almost the same outcumm upon the sundry kingdooms of the Irish, Scots (Northern Irish), Pects and (a little lesser so) the Welsh. Indeed in North Brittenlond the Wiking’s foehood wos one of the grounds behind the setting up of the Irish kingdoom of Alba, which in time grew into Scotlond.
Efter the time of reaving ond raiding, the Wikings begann to settle in Englond. A thriving Wiking nub wos York, knowen as Yorvik to the Wikings. Sundry, friendly ties between Danish Yorvik ond the Norweyish Dublin waxed and waned. The folks from the Danish and Norweyish settlings hed enough bearing to leave a meaningful lastingness on the English tung; monny wurds thet make up the bedrock of todey’s English cum from Old Norse, though of the first hundred wurds heard deily in English by far greater are Old English wurds. Much the same, monny stead-names of Brittenlond, Irelond ond English speeking londs throughout the wurld are from Scandinavish, ond cum to us from those early Danish and Norweyish settlings in Englond.
A weighty unfolding in the 9th yearhundred wos the rise of the Kingdoom of the Westsexe. Though it wos sumwhet of an up-ond-doun ride, by the end of Alfred’s lordship (899AJ) the West Saxish kings came to wield their might in all Saxlond (Westsexe, Suthsexe, Estsexe), ond Kent ond Eastengle. Before long, Cornwales (Westwales beyond the Tamar) eke bowed to West Saxish lordship ond a few kings of the more southerly Welsh kingdooms acknowledged Alfred as their overlord, as did Merchlond under Alfred’s sun-in-law Aethelred.
The Make-up of Englond in the 10th yearhundred)
Alfred of Wessex died in 899 and was followed by his son Edward the Elder. Edward, and his brother-in-law Æthelred of (what was left of) Mercia, began steps towards widespread growth, amongst other things building strongholds for warding off foes, and towns in the way Alfred had done. On Æthelred’s death his wife (Edward’s sister) Æthelflæd ruled as “Lady of the Mercians”, and went on building the kingdom. It seems Edward had his son Æthelstan brought up in the Mercian king’s-hall, and on Edward’s death Æthelstan took over the Mercian kingdom and, after some unstableness, Wessex.
Æthelstan went on in the way of his father and aunt building up the framework of his kingdom, and was the first to be king of what we now think of as “England". Indeed the names of worth bestowed upon him in deeds and fee-tokens bring to mind thought of widespread overlordship. The growth of his kingdom bestirred ill-feeling amongst the folk of other kingdoms of Britain and he stood before a fellowship of Scots and Vikings at the fight-out of Brunanburh. His win there, written down by scops in the Anglo-Saxon Tale, was one of the telling steps on the road to England, under one kingdom, coming into being.
However, “England” was not a kingdom fixed and fast, and indeed under Æthelstan’s afterbears Edmund, Eadred and Edwy the kingdom broke up and came back together many times. Nonetheless, Edgar, who in the end overlorded the same landstretch as Æthelstan, seems to have made the kingdom sounder and stronger , and, by the time of the lordship of his son Æthelred, the Unready, England seems to (almost) truly set itself up as a kingdom.
The H10th saw meaningful mootish wends in Western Europe; Carolingish might was waning and by the mid C10th in West Francia (France), fell and in its stead came the weakly House of Capet. In East Francia a Saxon kindred took over leadership, and its kings began bestowing upon themselves the name of Holy Roman Kaiser. It is worthwhile to keep in mind that at this time Anglo-Saxon England was the most thriving of the europish kingdoms; one only has to look at fee-token handling in the timespan to know that C10th Anglo-Saxon kings wielded far greater kingly might than their fellow europish kings.
England under the Danes and the Norman Takeover(978-1066)
The end of the H0th saw an ednewed look by Vikings towards England. Æthelred for long held wield, but in the end lost his kingdom to Sweyn of Denmark, though he won it back following the latter’s death. However, Æthelred’s son Edmund 11 Ironside died shortly afterwards, leaving the way open for Canute, Sweyn’s son, to become king of England, one landbit of a mighty kyserdom stretching beyond the North Sea. It was most likely in this time that the viking wield on English kithship became inbedded.
Lordship over England flowed between the afterbears of Æthelred and Canute for the first half of the C11th. In the end the outcome was the well-known setting of 1066AJ, where indeed a few men had a right to the English throne. Harold Godwineson became king, in all likelihood at the behest of Edward the Shrift (Confessor) on his deathbed. However William of Normandy, an afterbear of Æthelred and Canute’s wife Emma, and Harald of Norway, (helped by Harold Godwineson’s unfriendly brother Tostig) all had a right. Although, maybe the strongest right to the throne belonged to Edgar the Atheling, whose youth hindered him from being a greater player in the unfoldings of 1066AJ, though he was made king for a short time by the English Witan.
Inslaught was the outcome of this setting. Harald Godwineson overcame Harald of Norway and Tostig at the fight-out of Stanford Bridge, but fell in the fighting against William of Normanby at Hastings. Being kinned king on Christmas Day, 1066AJ, William began a set of steps in strengthen his hold on England. However, his leadership was always under threat in England, and the lack of knowledge about Northumbria in the Doomesdey’s Book is witness to the unrest there during William’s kingship.
Go-to
Further Reading
Anne Savage, "The Anglo-Saxon Chronicles" ISBN 1-85833-478-0, pub CLB, 1997 David Howarth, "1066 The Year of the Conquest", ISBN 0-14-005850-8, pub1981 F.M. Stenton, Anglo-Saxon England, 3rd edition, (Oxford, 1971) J. Campbell et al, The Anglo-Saxons, (Penguin, 1991) R. Lacey & D. Danziger, "The Year 1000: What Life Was Like at the Turn of the First Millennium" (Little Brown & Company, 1999) For a full reading list, see Simon Keynes' bibliography [1]
See also
Anglo-Saxonic culture and society.
Timeline of Anglo-Saxonic England
Anglo-Saxonic architecture
Anglo-Saxonic monarchs
Anglo-Saxonic warfare
Anglo-Saxonic polytheism
Prosopography of Anglo-Saxonic England
States in Medieval Britain
Britain in the Middle Ages
Outside Ties
Medievalists.net -extensive resources on the medieval period