3.Anglo-Saxon Times（446-871）

After the Roman legions left Britain，almost immediately the Caledonians broke through Hadrian’s Wall and invaded the north of England，and they repeatedly ravaged south of the Wall during the next decades.At this time the Britons asked the Roman government to send back the legions to protect them.In 446when the government in Rome finally refused the British request for military aid，the Britons then turned to the Angles and Saxons in Germany and Jutes in the Jutland peninsula for help.In 449，the Jutes led by Hengist arrived and conquered Kent.Learning of this success，Angles，Saxons and other Jutes came over too.For 150years the Britons were victimized by a campaign of ruthless destruction at the hands of these Teutons，who，so far as subsequent history is concerned turned out to be the first Englishmen.When the devastation was over，little remained of Celtic or Roman civilization on the island.The Angles，Saxons and Jutes set up many kingdoms throughout the country.At one time there were seven kingdoms which were called Heptarchy in history.These kingdoms were Northumbria in the north，Mercia in the midlands，East Anglia and Essex in the east，Kent in the southeast，Sussex in the south and Wessex in the southwest.Finally in 829Wessex won the overlordship of all the rest，and Egbert，the king of Wessex，began to style himself“King of the English”.By this time Danish Viking raids were a great threat to their safety，and Egbert’s son，who succeeded him in 839，combined the kingdoms against the Vikings.Friendly relations between them were established by marriage alliances and by apeace of boundaries；this paved the way for the acceptance in 886of Alfred，King of Wessex，as lord of all the English who had not fallen under Danish rule.

Map of Heptarchy

From the continent the Anglo-Saxons had brought with them their terrible Teutonic deities：Tiu，the God of War（Tuesday）；Woden，Father of the Gods（Wednesday）；and Thor，God of Thunder（Thursday）.The Anglo-Saxons were a stalwart，fierce and gloomy people.Their profession having been for so long piracy in the sea，it is no wonder that their literature abounds in enthusiastic reference to the sea and to battle.The dialects spoken by the Anglo-Saxons became the mighty instrument of communication，emotion，and literature.And then Old English or Anglo-Saxon was formed.Its vocabulary provided the basic and indispensable part of Modern English.

In 597，Pope Gregory sent Augustine to convert the English to Christianity.Ethelbert，King of Kent，accepted the new religion，and soon after the faith spread throughout the land.Ireland too，already Christianized，sent missionaries to the north of England，where Christianity began to flourish in literature.The monasteries，which soon grew up，became the centers of culture，so that it is not strange that the first recorded English literature should have a heavy religious cast.The new religion brought with it a new philosophy，and the Anglo-Saxons，once a ferocious race，were soon burning with religious exaltation.