When the Angles, Saxons and Jutes came to the shores of Britain they were speaking a language called old English that is close to Old German – the language that evolved back in their homelands. 16 centuries later modern English has evolved through the impact of invasion, religion  and time. Following the coming of the […]

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Holiday times loom for lots of people. I am off to Spain in a few weeks and I am listening to a CD of Spanish so I can learn how to order a beer. That got me thinking about some old English Phrases that would be handy if you chose Dark Ages Britain as a […]

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The next few days I am going to have a look at the names we give to the days of the week. These names demonstrate the profound effect that the Germanic and Anglo-Saxon mythology had on development of  western culture. Of the 7 days of the week all but one of them relates to a Old English/ Norse / Germainic […]

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In 1929 an RAF crew took aerial shots of the site of the old Roman town of Venta Icenorum around the church of Caistor St Edmund near Norwich. The photographs revealed an extensive road network and soon the archaeologists moved in. During their excavations they came across a large early Anglo-Saxon cemetery with burials dating from the 5th century. In the cemetery they found some cremation urns as […]

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The Language of the Anglo Saxons by Richard Denning Old English The Anglo Saxon’s used a language called Old English which evolved out of Old German – the language spoken in the homelands in West Germany. Old English was in use between the 5th and 11th centuries when it merged with Norman French and produced […]

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