Where can I find information on the anglo-saxons?

Question

Where can I find good detailed information on the anglo-saxons? About a year ago I found out I was descended from these people and after studying some of their mythology and lore in a high school english class I've gotten more and more interested in them. Problem is being a somewhat nomadic people they didn't really leave a written account of their history and such. Any help is greatly appreciated...

Answer 1

Anglo-Saxons weren't nomadic. Their individual tribes on the mainland might have been, but they were the Angles and the Saxons then. Anglo-Saxon were the merging of the two tribes in England in the so-called Dark Ages. They were not nomadic. They were the rulers of England. Alfred the Great, for instance.

Look at the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, written year-by-year by the monks of the time, detailing what happened each year. It goes from about 700 A.D. to 1200 A.D., though there are occasionally some gaps, during war or plague. It's actually quite interesting, telling of rulers, battles, and trade conditions of the time.

If you're looking for further back than that, they were pretty much related to the Vikings, coming out of the same area. The Jutes that took northern England, from Yorkshire to London, were from Denmark. The Angles, who took southeastern England from the coast to about halfway across, and the Saxons, who took southwestern England from the coast to Angle territory, were from the Northern France/Luxembourg area, which was settled by travelers from Scandinavia. They were all asked over by the Britons to keep marauding bands at bay, and took to the island, taking it for themselves and dividing it up. The justes controlled most of the land, but lost it to the Vikings and the Angles. The Angles and Saxons eventually merged under one king, but the Vikings came in force to the northern territories and held them under the Danelaw for years. They were only beaten out right before William crossed the Channel in 1066.

Oh, and if you're looking for your coat of arms, for the family name anyway, just ask. I can find it for you.

Answer 2

The Anglo-Saxons spoke dialects of previous Low German, it relatively is greater efficient basic in the present day as previous English, or merely merely Anglo-Saxon. The Pre-Christian Anglo-Saxons had very comparable ideals to the Vikings. yet their gods had fairly diverse names, Odin develop into basic as Woden or Wotan, and Thor develop into basic as Thunor. The names of the previous Anglo-Saxon gods are nonetheless got here upon interior the days of the week. Tuesday is termed after Tiwes, Wednesday after Woden, Thursday after Thunor, Friday after Freiya. As for customs, each and every loose born Anglo-Saxon lived on his very own land, oaths have been seen sacred, and Kings have been appointed, there develop into no primogeniture. JRR Tolkien based his books on Anglo-Saxon languages and customs.

Answer 3

I also found out from the "Coat of Arms" that our family name also is decsended from anglo-saxons.........I would just type something to the effect of Meaning or, History of the anglo-saxon, on your address bar, or ask google.com......Good-Luck.....

Answer 4

Try these sites

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglo-Saxons
http://www.anglo-saxons.net/hwaet/

Answer 5

www.historyanglo.com