Who were the Anglo-Saxons? The Anglo-Saxons were some of the earliest inhabitants of present day England. In this paper the three stages of the Anglo-Saxon period will be revised. Beginning with the earliest of the three, the Anglo-Saxon Conquest, followed by the Coming of Christianity and finally Anglo-Saxon Literature.
Included in the revision of these stages will be how each one of the stages had an impact on the Anglo-Saxon period and how it has impacted English history today.
The Anglo-Saxon people were ferocious, deep-sea fisherman whose prowess was war. Their language was formed as a mixture of many tribes, today it is known as Anglo-Saxon or Old English. The Anglo-Saxons brought to Britain their own pagan beliefs. They believed that every human life was in the hands of fate or destiny. The earliest of these people worshipped Germanic gods. Among the gods were Tiu, god of war and the sky; Woden, chief of the gods; and Fria, Woden's wife and goddess of the home. There names survive in our names of the week; Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday. These people lived by hunting, gathering, farming. They passed their time by drinking a liquor known as mead, feasting (had to feast, their was no preservation or if they had bad luck there would be a famine), and singing.
The second stage in the period of the people known as the Anglo-Saxons is, the Coming of Christianity. The new religion introduced by the mighty empire of the Romans, Roman Catholicism had a profound effect on Anglo-Saxon civilization. No longer was anybody able to treat anyone else with cruelty. No longer would anybody worship to pagan gods. The church promoted peace and played a major role in unifying the English people amongst so much fighting and war. The church also brought to England two crucial elements of civilization that had been missing since the departure of the Romans: education and written literature.