Why Is the English Culture Regarded as Anglo-saxon?
Summary:
Anglo-Saxons played an important part in the later development of some of the cultural aspects of contemporary England, such as its language, its literacy and its literature. Had the Anglo-Saxons never invaded and, most importantly, settled in Britain, England would not be what it is today.
The history of England goes far back to the fifth century, with the arrival of Germanic tribes to the United Kingdom. These tribes were the Anglos, the Saxons and the Jutes, whose people later on became known as the Anglo-Saxons. They arrived to the island in boats with a need for land. They settled there and contributed to the birth of what is now England. Taking that into account, perhaps the reason English culture is considered Anglo-Saxon is that the former has its origins in the Anglo-Saxon period, and the importance of the Anglo-Saxon period in England can be seen nowadays in language, literacy and literature.
To start with, Anglo-Saxon conquest had an important impact on the construction of the English language as we know it at present. During the early Anglo-Saxon period in the fifth century, the Anglo-Saxon tribes which arrived to the isles brought with them a variety of Germanic dialects which coined some Celtic words and, during the Viking invasions in the ninth and tenth centuries, mixed with the Norse varieties spoken by the Vikings. This gave birth to Old English, which took Germanic sentence structure, grammar, and vocabulary, and which has been found in many old literary texts. To this language, Latin words were added, and after the Norman Conquest, Norman words were introduced. By then, the language had become Middle English and it showed clear signs of Germanic influence in vocabulary as well as in spelling. Thus, Anglo-Saxon language suffered from many modifications since the Saxon's arrival to Britain. But even though that language did not survive entirely, it influenced greatly the later development of the English language.
Secondly, the Anglo-Saxon period had a lot to do with the origin of English literacy. Many works were written during the late Anglo-Saxon period, but before that there were not any written works since the Anglo-Saxons were illiterate people who relied on oral transmission of their language, religion, and history. But that changed with the arrival of the Romans who wanted to convert Saxons into Christianity. In order to achieve their goal, the Roman and Celtic churches joined forces and introduced a new system of literacy to the Anglo-Saxons. These were taught to read and write English, and, in addition, members of the clergy were taught Latin in order to understand the Scriptures of Christianity. Alfred the Great is probably the most important piece in the development of education since he was the first king to establish schools were people could learn to read and write both, in English and in Latin. This set the pattern for other schools to be established and thus contribute to the literacy campaign triggered by Alfred.
Last but not least, Anglo-Saxon literacy had an influence on the development of English literature. With the beginning of literacy, many works written in Latin were translated into English, encouraged by Alfred. Most of the translations included religious works, such as the Bible, the lives of the saints, psalms, hymns and proverbs. Literacy originated the writing of the poems that were once transmitted orally. One of those poems is Beowulf, the story of a warrior who defeats two monsters and then celebrates his victory. This type of poems, heroic, was important in that they introduced literary devices used in contemporary literature, such as similes, metaphors and kennings. What is more, the subject matter and terminology of heroic poems contributed to the writing of famous modern literary novels, like The Lord of the Rings.
To summarize, Anglo-Saxons played an important part in the later development of some of the cultural aspects of contemporary England, such as its language, its literacy and its literature. Had the Anglo-Saxons never invaded and, most importantly, settled in Britain, England would not be what it is today.
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