Tribes
& Clans
An Island nation heavily populated was under control of a vast majority of ruthless and vile tribes and clans set out to conquer the foggy land. A midst the fog before the Germanic invasions lived the Celts, tribes who were united by common speech, customs, and religion. Each tribe was headed by a king and was divided by class into Druids (priests), warrior nobles, and commoners. The lack of political unity made them vulnerable to their enemies. During the first century, Britain was conquered and subjugated by Rome. During the next three hundred years, Rome legions provided the politically discordant Britons the protection necessary to secure the country from attack.
When Britain gained independence from Rome, the Roman legions withdrew leaving the country vunerable for invaders. Soon after the withdrawal of Roman troops inhabitants from the north began attacking the Britains. It was in that paradox of time the migration of the Germanic speaking people began to take heed on shore. Although there were many different Germanic tribes migrating to England, several stood out from among the others, such as the Angles, Saxons, Jutes, Frisians, and Franks. The Angles migrated from Denmark and the Saxons from northern Germany. There is some debate as to the exact origin of the Jutes, since linguistic evidence suggests that they came from the Jutland peninsula, while archaeological evidence suggests an origin from one of the northern Frankish realms near the mouth of the Rhine river. The Frisians and Franks migrated mainly from the low countries and north-western Germany.
As Old English began to evolve, four major dialects emerged which were Kentish, spoken by the Jutes, West Saxon, the Saxon dialect, and Northumbrian and Mercian, subdivisions of the dialect spoken by the Angles. By the 9th century, partly through the influence of King Alfred, the West Saxon dialect became prevalent in literature which aided the dialect's dominance among scholars.
Soon after the Germanic invasions, the inhabitants gave their settlements new names. The most common Saxon place names are those ending in -ton (fenced area), -wick (dwelling), -ham (home), -worth (homestead), -den (pasture), -hurst (wooded hill), and -burn (stream). Some settlement names began with more than one word which either stated personal possession or described a physical description of the area and would later evolve into one word. One example of this evolution would be the word Chatham which was originally Ceatta's Ham (Ceatta's home).
The early Anglo-Saxon society was organized around clans or tribes and was centered around a system of reciprocity called comitatus. The eoldorman expected martial service and loyalty from his thanes, and the thanes expected protection and rewards from the lord. By the middle of the ninth century the royal family of Wessex was universally recognized as the English royal family and held a hereditary right to rule. Succession to the throne was not guaranteed as the witan, or council of leaders, had the right to choose the best successor from the members of the royal house.
Throughout the Anglo-Saxon territory, Tribes and Clans flourished always seeking the opportunity to take supreme control. But within the struggle for control, families, loyalty, and royalty were created already laying the foundation of the future of their land.
