EBK for Kids: Who were the Saxons? (original) (raw)

Who were they?

The Saxons were named after a type of sword they used called a 'Sax'. The Saxons originally lived in Europe. Some of them came to live in Britain during the Dark Ages. The word 'Saxon' refers to several groups of people from Northern Germany and Southern Denmark. They were a type of Germanic people. They are sometimes called 'Anglo-Saxons'. This refers to two groups: the Angles and the Saxons. It can also mean the 'English Saxons'. The part of Britain which the Anglo-Saxons took over was named 'England' after them. It means 'Land of the Angles'. They all spoke a language similar to English. It is usually called 'Old English'. They used a type of writing called Runes for name tags and gravestones. Strictly speaking, the Saxons came from North-West Germany. Some of them moved south to set up Upper Saxony. The Angles came from Angeln in South-West Denmark. A third group, called the Jutes, came from Jutland in Central Denmark. Tradition says that the Saxons settled in Southern England; the Angles settled in East Anglia, the Midlands and Northern England; the Jutes settled in Kent, Hampshire & on the Isle of Wight. Other groups who settled in Britain can also be called 'Saxons'. These include the Frisians, the Franks and the Swabians.