Angles - Wikipedia Angles From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to navigation Jump to search North Sea Germanic people, from the eponymous area For other uses, see Angles (disambiguation). Angles Ængle/ Engle Spread of Angles (red) and Saxons (blue) around 500 AD Regions with significant populations Schleswig (Anglia), Holstein, Jutland, Frisia, Heptarchy (England) Languages Old English (Anglic dialects) Religion Originally Germanic and Anglo-Saxon paganism, later Christianity Related ethnic groups Anglo-Saxons, English, Saxons, Frisii, Jutes Approximate positions of some Germanic peoples reported by Graeco-Roman authors in the 1st century. Suevian peoples in red, and other Irminones in purple The Angles (Old English: Ængle, Engle; Latin: Angli; German: Angeln) were one of the main Germanic peoples[1] who settled in Great Britain in the post-Roman period. They founded several kingdoms of the Heptarchy in Anglo-Saxon England, and their name is the root of the name England ("land of Ængle"). According to Tacitus, writing before their move to Britain, Angles lived alongside Langobards and Semnones in historical regions of Schleswig and Holstein, which are today part of southern Denmark and northern Germany (Schleswig-Holstein).[2] Contents 1 Etymology 2 Greco-Roman historiography 2.1 Tacitus 2.2 Ptolemy 3 Medieval historiography 4 Archaeology 5 Anglian kingdoms in England 6 Notes 7 References Etymology[edit] See also: Angul (king) The name of the Angles may have been first recorded in Latinised form, as Anglii, in the Germania of Tacitus. It is thought to derive from the name of the area they originally inhabited, the Anglia Peninsula (Angeln in modern German, Angel in Danish). This name has been hypothesised to originate from the Germanic root for "narrow" (compare German and Dutch eng = "narrow"), meaning "the Narrow [Water]", i.e., the Schlei estuary; the root would be *h₂enǵʰ, "tight". Another theory is that the name meant "hook" (as in angling for fish), in reference to the shape of the peninsula; Indo-European linguist Julius Pokorny derives it from Proto-Indo-European *h₂enk-, "bend" (see ankle).[3] Alternatively, the Angles may have been called such because they were a fishing people or were originally descended from such.[4] During the fifth century, all Germanic tribes who invaded Britain were referred to as either Englisc, Ængle or Engle, who were all speakers of Old English (which was known as Englisc, Ænglisc, or Anglisc). Englisc and its descendant, English, also goes back to Proto-Indo-European *h₂enǵʰ-, meaning narrow. Pope Gregory I, in an epistle, simplified the Latinised name Anglii to Angli, the latter form developing into the preferred form of the word.[5] The country remained Anglia in Latin. Alfred the Great's translation of Orosius's history of the world uses Angelcynn (-kin) to describe the English people; Bede uses Angelfolc (-folk); also such forms as Engel, Englan (the people), Englaland, and Englisc occur, all showing i-mutation.[6] Greco-Roman historiography[edit] Tacitus[edit] The map shows both the Anglia (Angeln) and the Schwansen peninsulas Possible locations of the Angles and Jutes before their migration to Britain The earliest known mention of the Angles may be in chapter 40 of Tacitus's Germania written around AD 98. Tacitus describes the "Anglii" as one of the more remote Suebic tribes compared to the Semnones and Langobardi, who lived on the Elbe and were better known to the Romans. He grouped the Angles with several other tribes in that region, the Reudigni, Aviones, Varini, Eudoses, Suarines, and Nuithones.[2][7] These were all living behind ramparts of rivers and woods, and therefore inaccessible to attack.[2][7] He gives no precise indication of their geographical situation but states that, together with the six other tribes, they worshipped Nerthus, or Mother Earth, whose sanctuary was located on "an island in the Ocean".[8] The Eudoses are the Jutes; these names probably refer to localities in Jutland or on the Baltic coast. The coast contains sufficient estuaries, inlets, rivers, islands, swamps, and marshes to have been then inaccessible to those not familiar with the terrain, such as the Romans, who considered it unknown, inaccessible, with a small population and of little economic interest. The majority of scholars believe that the Anglii lived on the coasts of the Baltic Sea, probably in the southern part of the Jutland peninsula. This view is based partly on Old English and Danish traditions regarding persons and events of the fourth century, and partly because striking affinities to the cult of Nerthus as described by Tacitus are to be found in pre-Christian Scandinavian religion.[8] Ptolemy[edit] Ptolemy, writing in around 150 AD, in his atlas Geography (2.10), describes them in a confusing manner. In one passage, the Sueboi Angeilloi (in Greek equivalent to Latin spelling Suevi Angili), are living in a stretch of land between the northern Rhine and central Elbe, but apparently not touching either river, with the Suebic Langobardi on the Rhine to their west, and the Suebic Semnones on the Elbe stretching to their east. This is unexpected. However, as pointed out by Gudmund Schütte, the Langobards also appear as the "Laccobardi" in another position near the Elbe and the Saxons, which is considered more likely to be correct, and the Angles probably lived in that region also.[9][10] Owing to the uncertainty of this passage, much speculation existed regarding the original home of the Anglii. One theory is that they or part of them dwelt or moved among other coastal people, perhaps confederated up to the basin of the Saale (in the neighbourhood of the ancient canton of Engilin) on the Unstrut valleys below the Kyffhäuserkreis, from which region the Lex Anglorum et Werinorum hoc est Thuringorum is believed by many to have come.[8][11] The ethnic names of Frisians and Warines are also attested in these Saxon districts. A second possible solution is that these Angles of Ptolemy are not those of Schleswig at all. According to Julius Pokorny, the Angri- in Angrivarii, the -angr in Hardanger and the Angl- in Anglii all come from the same root meaning "bend", but in different senses. In other words, the similarity of the names is strictly coincidental and does not reflect any ethnic unity beyond Germanic. Gudmund Schütte, in his analysis of Ptolemy, believes that the Angles have simply been moved by an error coming from Ptolemy's use of imperfect sources. He points out that Angles are placed correctly just to the northeast of the Langobardi, but that these have been duplicated, so that they appear once, correctly, on the lower Elbe, and a second time, incorrectly, at the northern Rhine.[12] Medieval historiography[edit] Further information: Kings of the Angles Manuscript of Bede Bede states that the Anglii, before coming to Great Britain, dwelt in a land called Angulus, "which lies between the province of the Jutes and the Saxons, and remains unpopulated to this day." Similar evidence is given by the Historia Brittonum. King Alfred the Great and the chronicler Æthelweard identified this place with Anglia, in the province of Schleswig (Slesvig) (though it may then have been of greater extent), and this identification agrees with the indications given by Bede.[8] In the Norwegian seafarer Ohthere of Hålogaland's account of a two-day voyage from the Oslo fjord to Schleswig, he reported the lands on his starboard bow, and Alfred appended the note "on these islands dwelt the Engle before they came hither".[n 1] Confirmation is afforded by English and Danish traditions relating to two kings named Wermund and Offa of Angel, from whom the Mercian royal family claimed descent and whose exploits are connected with Anglia, Schleswig, and Rendsburg. Danish tradition has preserved record of two governors of Schleswig, father and son, in their service, Frowinus (Freawine) and Wigo (Wig), from whom the royal family of Wessex claimed descent. During the fifth century, the Anglii invaded Great Britain, after which time their name does not recur on the continent except in the title of the legal code issued to the Thuringians: Lex Anglorum et Werinorum hoc est Thuringorum.[8][11] The Angles are the subject of a legend about Pope Gregory I, who happened to see a group of Angle children from Deira for sale as slaves in the Roman market. As the story was told by Bede, Gregory was struck by the unusual appearance of the slaves and asked about their background. When told they were called "Anglii" (Angles), he replied with a Latin pun that translates well into English: "Bene, nam et angelicam habent faciem, et tales angelorum in caelis decet esse coheredes" [It is well, for they have an angelic face, and such people ought to be co-heirs of the angels in heaven]. Supposedly, this encounter inspired the pope to launch a mission to bring Christianity to their countrymen.[15][16] Archaeology[edit] The province of Schleswig has proved rich in prehistoric antiquities that date apparently from the fourth and fifth centuries. A large cremation cemetery has been found at Borgstedt, between Rendsburg and Eckernförde, and it has yielded many urns and brooches closely resembling those found in pagan graves in England. Of still greater importance are the great deposits at Thorsberg moor (in Anglia) and Nydam, which contained large quantities of arms, ornaments, articles of clothing, agricultural implements, etc., and in Nydam, even ships. By the help of these discoveries, Angle culture in the age preceding the invasion of Britannia can be pieced together.[8] Anglian kingdoms in England[edit] See also: Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo-Saxons, and History of Anglo-Saxon England Angles, Saxons, and Jutes throughout England According to sources such as the History of Bede, after the invasion of Britannia, the Angles split up and founded the kingdoms of Northumbria, East Anglia, and Mercia. H.R. Loyn has observed in this context that "a sea voyage is perilous to tribal institutions",[17] and the apparently tribe-based kingdoms were formed in England. Early times had two northern kingdoms (Bernicia and Deira) and two midland ones (Middle Anglia and Mercia), which had by the seventh century resolved themselves into two Angle kingdoms, viz., Northumbria and Mercia. Northumbria held suzerainty amidst the Teutonic presence in the British Isles in the 7th century, but was eclipsed by the rise of Mercia in the 8th century. Both kingdoms fell in the great assaults of the Danish Viking armies in the 9th century. Their royal houses were effectively destroyed in the fighting, and their Angle populations came under the Danelaw. Further south, the Saxon kings of Wessex withstood the Danish assaults. Then in the late 9th and early 10th centuries, the kings of Wessex defeated the Danes and liberated the Angles from the Danelaw. They united their house in marriage with the surviving Angle royalty, and were accepted by the Angles as their kings. This marked the passing of the old Anglo-Saxon world and the dawn of the "English" as a new people. The regions of East Anglia and Northumbria are still known by their original titles. Northumbria once stretched as far north as what is now southeast Scotland, including Edinburgh, and as far south as the Humber estuary. The rest of that people stayed at the centre of the Angle homeland in the northeastern portion of the modern German Bundesland of Schleswig-Holstein, on the Jutland Peninsula. There, a small peninsular area is still called Anglia today and is formed as a triangle drawn roughly from modern Flensburg on the Flensburger Fjord to the City of Schleswig and then to Maasholm, on the Schlei inlet. Notes[edit] ^ See the translation by Sweet,[13] noted by Loyn.[14] References[edit] ^ Darvill, Timothy, ed. (2009). "Angles". The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology (3rd ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780191727139. Retrieved 26 January 2020. Angles. A Germanic people who originated on the Baltic coastlands of Jutland. ^ a b c Tacitus, Cap. XL ^ Pyles, Thomas and John Algeo 1993. Origins and Development of the English Language. 4th edition. (New York: Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich). ^ Baugh, Albert C. and Thomas Cable 1993 A History of the English Language. 4th edition. (Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall). ^ Gregory said "Non Angli, sed angeli, si forent Christiani" [They are not Angles, but angels, if they were Christian] after a response to his query regarding the identity of a group of fair-haired Angles, slave children whom he had observed in the marketplace. See p. 117 of Zuckermann, Ghil'ad (2003), Language Contact and Lexical Enrichment in Israeli Hebrew. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 9781403917232, 9781403938695 ^ Fennell, Barbara 1998. A History of English. A Sociolinguistic Approach. Oxford: Blackwell. ^ a b Church & Brodribb (1876), Ch. XL ^ a b c d e f Chadwick (1911), pp. 18–19. ^ Ptolemy, Geography, 2.10[permanent dead link]. ^ Schütte (1917), p. 34See also pp. 119–120, & 125–127 ^ a b Lex Anglorum et Werinorum hoc est Thuringorum (in Latin) – via Vikifons. ^ Schütte (1917), p. 34 & 118. ^ Sweet (1883), p. 19. ^ Loyn (1991), p. 24. ^ Bede (731), Lib. II. ^ Jane (1910), Vol. II. ^ Loyn (1991), p. 25. Sources Bede (731). Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum [Ecclesiastical History of the English People] (in Latin). Chadwick, Hector Munro (1911). "Angli" . In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. 2 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 18–19. Jane, Lionel Cecil, ed. (1910). Ecclesiastical History of the English Nation . Translated by John Stevens. Tacitus, Publius Cornelius. De origine et situ Germanorum [On the Origin and Situation of the Germans] (in Latin). Germania. Translated by Church, Alfred John; Brodribb, William Jackson. 1876. Schütte, Gudmund (1917). Ptolemy's Maps of Northern Europe: A Reconstruction of the Prototypes. Copenhagen: Græbe for H. Hagerup for the Royal Danish Geographical Society. Sweet, Henry (1883). King Alfred's Orosius. Oxford: E. Pickard Hall & J. H. Stacy for N. Trübner & Co. for the Early English Text Society. Loyn, Henry Royston (1991). A Social and Economic History of England: Anglo-Saxon England and the Norman Conquest (2nd ed.). London: Longman Group. ISBN 978-0582072978. Attribution: "Angles" , Encyclopædia Britannica, 2 (9th ed.), 1878, p. 30 v t e Germanic peoples Indo-European ethnolinguistic group of Northern European origin primarily identified as speakers of Germanic languages History Nordic Bronze Age Pre-Roman Iron Age Roman Iron Age Germanic Iron Age Viking Age Early culture Architecture Art Calendar Clothing Family Festivals Funerary practices Anglo-Saxon Norse Law Anglo-Saxon Norse Literature Anglo-Saxon Norse Mythology Continental Frankish Norse Names Gothic Paganism Anglo-Saxon Gothic Norse Scripts Gothic alphabet Runic Symbology Warfare Anglo-Saxon Gothic and Vandal Viking Languages Germanic parent language Proto-Germanic language East Germanic languages West Germanic languages North Germanic languages Ancient tribes Alemanni Brisgavi Bucinobantes Raetovari Adrabaecampi Angles Anglo-Saxons Ambrones Ampsivarii Angrivarii Armalausi Auiones Avarpi Baemi Baiuvarii Banochaemae Bastarnae Batavi Belgae Germani cisrhenani Atuatuci Caeroesi Condrusi Eburones Paemani Segni Morini Nervii Bateinoi Betasii Brondings Bructeri Burgundians Buri Cananefates Caritni Casuari Chaedini Chaemae Chamavi Chali Charudes Chasuarii Chattuarii Chatti Chauci Cherusci Cimbri Cobandi Corconti Cugerni Danes Dauciones Dulgubnii Favonae Firaesi Fosi Franks Ripuarian Franks Salian Franks Frisiavones Frisii Gambrivii Geats Gepids Goths Crimean Goths Greuthungi Gutones Ostrogoths Thervingi Thracian Goths Visigoths Gutes Harii Hermunduri Heruli Hilleviones Ingaevones Irminones Istvaeones Jutes Juthungi Lacringi Lemovii Lombards Heaðobards Lugii Diduni Helisii Helveconae Manimi Nahanarvali Marcomanni Marsacii Marsi Mattiaci Nemetes Njars Nuithones Osi Quadi Reudigni Rugii Rugini Saxons Semnones Sicambri Scirii Sitones Suarines Suebi Sunici Swedes Taifals Tencteri Teutons Thuringii Toxandri Treveri Triboci Tubantes Tulingi Tungri Ubii Usipetes Vagoth Vandals Hasdingi Silingi Vangiones Varisci Victohali Vidivarii Vinoviloth Warini Christianization Gothic Christianity Christianization of the Franks Christianisation of Anglo-Saxon England Christianization of Scandinavia Christianization of Iceland Category Anglo-Saxon England portal Authority control GND: 4085773-6 Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Angles&oldid=1003595618" Categories: Angles (people) Early Germanic peoples History of Northumberland Ingaevones Migration Period Peoples of Anglo-Saxon England Hidden categories: All articles with dead external links Articles with dead external links from June 2020 Articles with permanently dead external links CS1 Latin-language sources (la) Articles with short description Short description matches Wikidata EngvarB from September 2013 Use dmy dates from September 2013 Articles containing Old English (ca. 450-1100)-language text "Related ethnic groups" needing confirmation Articles using infobox ethnic group with image parameters Articles containing Latin-language text Articles containing German-language text Wikipedia articles incorporating a citation from the 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica with Wikisource reference Wikipedia articles incorporating a citation from EB9 Wikipedia articles with GND identifiers Navigation menu Personal tools Not logged in Talk Contributions Create account Log in Namespaces Article Talk Variants Views Read Edit View history More Search Navigation Main page Contents Current events Random article About Wikipedia Contact us Donate Contribute Help Learn to edit Community portal Recent changes Upload file Tools What links here Related changes Upload file Special pages Permanent link Page information Cite this page Wikidata item Print/export Download as PDF Printable version In other projects Wikimedia Commons Languages العربية Asturianu Azərbaycanca Bân-lâm-gú Беларуская Български Brezhoneg Català Чӑвашла Čeština Dansk Deutsch Eesti Español Esperanto Euskara فارسی Français Frysk Galego 𐌲𐌿𐍄𐌹𐍃𐌺 한국어 Հայերեն Hrvatski Bahasa Indonesia Íslenska Italiano Қазақша Kiswahili Latina Lietuvių Magyar Македонски മലയാളം Mirandés Nederlands Nedersaksies 日本語 Norsk bokmål Piemontèis Plattdüütsch Polski Português Română Русский Scots Shqip Simple English Slovenčina Slovenščina Српски / srpski Srpskohrvatski / српскохрватски Suomi Svenska தமிழ் ไทย Türkçe Українська Tiếng Việt West-Vlams 吴语 中文 Edit links This page was last edited on 29 January 2021, at 19:11 (UTC). 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