B21 Celtic and Anglo-Saxon invasions

Celtic invasion

During the period 6-3BC a people called the Celts spread across Europe and invaded Britain. The Celtic tribes called the picts penetrated into the mountains in the North. The Scotts crossed over the Ireland and settled there. The most powerful Celtic tribes-the Britains need most of the country and it was made Britain after them.The Celtic social structure was simple. They were only 2 classes of people: Horsemen and Druids.Horsemenwere local aristocracy whereas Druids were enlarging of setting all disputes concerning religion and human sacrifice. The Druids were considered to be able to foretell the future. They accumulated knowledge in all spheres. The Celts worshiped nature. They imagined the sky, the sun, the moon and the sea to be ruled by beings like themselves but much more powerful. The Celts had no towns, they have only villages. They kept large herds of cattle and sheep which formed their chief wealth.

Anglo-Saxon invasion

It is regarded as the beginning of medieval history in Britain. In the 5^th century the Anglo-Saxons first the Jutes than other Germanic tribes: the Saxon and the Anglos began to migrate to Britain. The Saxons came from the territory line between the Reign and Elbe rivers. The Jutes and the Anglos came from Penincula. The first they came to rob in 449 AD, the Jutes landed in Kent and it was the beginning of the conquest. Many Celts were either exterminated into the mountains of Wales, Scotland or to Cornwall. Some Celtic traditions exist in these places nowadays. By the end of AD 6 the Saxons founded several kingdoms, with the Angles in the northern and central parts (kingdoms Northumbria, Mercia, and East Anglia); the Saxon in the South (k. Wessex, Essex, and Sussex). In each kingdom a royal dynasty was established. Alongside the negative influence there was a positive impact on the Celtic culture:

1. English has been the principle language of the country since then.

2. The Anglos gave England its name

3. The invaders introduced a new culture and a class system made up of the king, lords, workers

4. A-S England was one of the most civilized countries in Europe with organized agriculture and trade systems

5. The A-S introduced a plough

6. The country was united

7. The Christianity was brought to England at the end of the 6^th c.

8. New churches and monasteries were built

B 22 Scandinavian invasions

Since the 8th c. the British Isles were ravaged by sea rovers from Scandinavia, first by Danes, later – by Norwegians. By the end of the 9th c. the Danes had succeeded in obtaining a permanent footing in England; more than half of England was yielded to the invaders and recognized as Danish territory – “Danelaw”. The new settlers and the English intermarried and intermixed; they lived close together and did not differ either in social rank or in the level of culture and customs. In the areas of the heaviest settlement the Scandinavians outnumbered the Anglo-Saxon population, which is attested by geographical names. Altogether more than 1,400 English villages and towns bear names of Scandinavian origin (with the element thorp meaning ‘village’, e.g. Woodthorp). Eventually the Scandinavians were absorbed into the local population both ethnically and linguistically. They merged with the society around them, but the impact on the linguistic situation and on the further development of the English language was quite profound. The increased regional differences of English in the 11th and 12th c. must partly be attributed to the Scandinavian influence. Due to the contacts and mixture with O Scand, the Northern dialects had acquired lasting and sometimes indelible Scandinavian features. In later ages the Scandinavian element passed into other regions. The incorporation of the Scandinavian element in the London dialect and Standard English was brought about by the changing linguistic situation in England: the mixture of the dialects and the growing linguistic unification.