part 2 question 1

1) Why did the Germanic tribes invade the British Isles? What groups did come? Where did they come from? What do you know about them?

• Before the Germanic invasion, the Romans had been fighting and had simply decided to give off the British Isles to any conquering army that decided to come and take over. The Germanic tribes (Angles, Saxons, Jutes, and Frisian) had been invited by the British Celts in order to chase out the northern and western Celts. With the decline of the Roman Empire, the Germanic tribes took advantage of the weak moment to take of Britain. The Germanic tribes were in search of new fertile land, and this new land allowed many German families to settle on fertile land and become farmers. They wanted to have a bigger control on the fertile lands of Europe. (It’s a long story, page 20-21)
• The Germanic groups that came to invade the British Isles were the Angles, Saxons and Jutes. They invaded the Isles during the 5th century AD. These groups came from the shores of northern Europe: from Holland, Germany and Denmark. The Saxons landed in the south west of the island, the Angles in the east and the Jutes landed in Kent. (McCrum, Robert, MacNeil, Robert, Cran, William 1986,1992, 2002, The Story of English, Faber and Faber Limited,page 60.)
• The Germanic tribes where known for the taste for terror and violence. The Angle-Saxons were strong warriors and were considered to be unbeatable. After a while, the Angles were separated from the Saxons when the Angles decided to settle and start farming, they became agricultural people, as for the Saxons remained violent and war groups for a longer period. (The story of English, McCrum, page 55-57)