|
During the 4th
century B.C., Greek travelers discovered England was
settled by tall blond warriors known as Celts.
Some were called Brythons or Britons. This is where
we get the name Britain.
Their religion was a
form of animism, Latin for spirit.
The Celts saw
spirits everywhere (in rivers, trees, stones, and
the woods).
The spirits
controlled all aspects of existence, and they had to
be satisfied. This was done by ritual dances and
human sacrifices.
Priests were called
Druids, and they acted as intermediaries
between the gods and the people.
Celtic stories are
dominated by strong women. They deal with magic and
strong imagination. In the stories, one will find
fantastic animals, passionate love affairs, and
great adventures.
The Romans
The Romans invaded
England in 55 B.C. under the leadership of Julius
Caesar.
They were very
organized; they built roads, some of which still
exist today, a 70-mile wall (Hadrian’s Wall—on page
7 of the text), and a solid central government.
Christianity began
to dominate the Celtic religion as a result of Roman
rule.
In 409 A.D.,
the Romans left England because of troubles back in
Rome. They left everything behind. Because of no
central government, England was now weak and prone
to invasion. The result was a series of successful
invasions by non-Christian peoples from the Germanic
regions.
The Anglo Saxons
The Angles and
Saxons from Germany and the Jutes from Denmark
invaded England in 449 A.D. The Anglo-Saxon
language became the dominant language, and the
country was named “Engla Land.”
To the Anglo Saxons,
creating poetry was as important as fighting,
hunting, farming, and loving. They performed their
poetry with music from a harp. The scops were
skilled storytellers who sang of gods and heroes.
Most of the Anglo-Saxon poetry is elegiac, or
poetry that mourns the death of a person or laments
something lost.
The Celts fought
hard to keep their land, but they were eventually
pushed off to Wales. Traces of their culture and
language are still found there.
The Danes invaded England next and fought against
the Anglo Saxons. As the battles between these
groups occurred, William, Duke of Normandy invaded
England in 1066 and defeated both the Anglo
Saxons and the Danes.
 |
