Editing Anglo-Saxons (section)

== Culture ==
=== Architecture ===
{{Main|Anglo-Saxon architecture}}
[[File:Anglo-Saxon hall1.png|thumb|Reconstruction of an Anglo-Saxon hall at Wychurst, Kent,{{circa|1000 AD}}|241x241px]]
Early Anglo-Saxon buildings in Britain were generally simple, not using masonry except in foundations but constructed mainly using timber with [[thatch]] roofing.<ref>{{cite web |title=Early Medieval Architecture |url=https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/learn/story-of-england/early-medieval/architecture/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201208134423/https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/learn/story-of-england/early-medieval/architecture/ |archive-date=8 December 2020 |access-date=26 January 2021 |website=English Heritage}}</ref> Generally preferring not to settle within the old Roman cities,<ref>{{cite news |title=When did the Anglo-Saxons come to Britain? |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/zxsbcdm/articles/z23br82 |website=BBC Bitesize |access-date=26 January 2021}}</ref> the Anglo-Saxons built small towns near their centres of agriculture, at fords in rivers, or near natural ports. In each town, a main hall was in the centre, provided with a central hearth.{{Efn|York and London both offer examples of this trend.}}

Only ten of the hundreds of settlement sites that have been excavated in England from this period have revealed masonry domestic structures and confined to a few specific contexts. Timber was the natural building medium of the age;<ref>Turner, H. L. (1970), Town Defences in England and Wales: An Architectural and Documentary Study A. D. 900–1500 (London: John Baker)</ref> the Anglo-Saxon word for "building" is ''timbe''. Unlike in the [[Carolingian Empire]], late Anglo-Saxon royal halls continued to be of timber in the manner of [[Yeavering]] centuries before, even though the king could clearly have mustered the resources to build in stone.<ref>Higham, R. and Barker, P. (1992), Timber Castles (London: B. T. Batsford):193</ref> Their preference must have been a conscious choice, perhaps an expression of deeply–embedded Germanic identity on the part of the Anglo-Saxon royalty.

Even the elite had simple buildings, with a central fire and a hole in the roof to let the smoke escape; the largest homes rarely had more than one floor and one room. Buildings varied widely in size, most were square or rectangular, though some round houses have been found. Frequently these buildings have sunken floors, with a shallow pit over which a plank floor was suspended. The pit may have been used for storage, but more likely was filled with straw for insulation. A variation on the sunken floor design has been found in towns, where the "basement" may be as deep as 9 feet, suggesting a storage or work area below a suspended floor. Another common design was simple post framing, with heavy posts set directly into the ground, supporting the roof. The space between the posts was filled in with wattle and daub, or occasionally, planks. The floors were generally packed earth, though planks were sometimes used. Roofing materials varied, with thatch being the most common, though turf and even wooden shingles were also used.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hamerow |first=Helena |url= |title=Rural Settlements and Society in Anglo-Saxon England |date=2012-07-05 |publisher=[[OUP Oxford]] |isbn=978-0-19-920325-3 |language=en}}</ref>

[[File:EarlsBartonChurch.JPG|thumb|left|Distinctive Anglo-Saxon pilaster strips on the tower of [[All Saints' Church, Earls Barton]]|302x302px]]

Stone was sometimes used to build churches. Bede makes it clear that the masonry construction of churches, including his own at Jarrow, was undertaken ''morem Romanorum'', 'in the manner of the Romans,' in explicit contrast to existing traditions of timber construction. Even at Canterbury, Bede believed that St Augustine's first cathedral had been 'repaired' or 'recovered' (''recuperavit'') from an existing Roman church, when in fact it had been newly constructed from Roman materials. The belief was "the Christian Church was Roman, therefore a masonry church was a Roman building".

The building of churches in Anglo-Saxon England essentially began with [[Augustine of Canterbury]] in Kent following 597; for this he probably imported workmen from [[Francia|Frankish Gaul]]. The [[Canterbury Cathedral|cathedral and abbey in Canterbury]], together with churches in Kent at [[Minster, Swale|Minster in Sheppey]] ({{circa|664}}) and [[St Mary's Church, Reculver|Reculver]] (669), and in Essex at the [[Chapel of St Peter-on-the-Wall]] at [[Bradwell-on-Sea]], define the earliest type in southeast England. A simple nave without aisles provided the setting for the main altar; east of this a chancel arch separated the apse for use by the clergy. Flanking the apse and east end of the nave were side chambers serving as sacristies; further [[porticus]] might continue along the nave to provide for burials and other purposes. In Northumbria the early development of Christianity was influenced by the Irish mission, important churches being built in timber. Masonry churches became prominent from the late 7th century with the foundations of [[Wilfrid]] at [[Ripon]] and [[Hexham]], and of [[Benedict Biscop]] at Monkwearmouth-Jarrow. These buildings had long naves and small rectangular chancels; porticus sometimes surrounded the naves. Elaborate crypts are a feature of Wilfrid's buildings. The best preserved early Northumbrian church is [[Escomb Church]].<ref name="Wilkinson, David John 1964">Wilkinson, David John, and Alan McWhirr. Cirencester Anglo-Saxon Church and Medieval Abbey: Excavations Directed by JS Wacher (1964), AD McWhirr (1965) and PDC Brown (1965–6). Cotswold Archaeological Trust, 1998.</ref>

From the mid-8th century to the mid-10th century, several important buildings survive. One group comprises the first known churches utilizing aisles: [[All Saints' Church, Brixworth|Brixworth]], the most ambitious Anglo-Saxon church to survive largely intact; [[Lady St. Mary Church, Wareham|Wareham St Mary's]]; Cirencester; and the rebuilding of [[Canterbury Cathedral]]. These buildings may be compared with churches in the [[Carolingian Empire]]. Other lesser churches may be dated to the late eighth and early ninth centuries on the basis of their elaborate sculptured decoration and have simple naves with side porticus.<ref>Whitehead, Matthew Alexander, and J. D. Whitehead. The Saxon Church, Escomb. 1979.</ref> The tower of [[St John the Baptist's Church, Barnack|Barnack]] hearkens to the West Saxon reconquest in the early 10th century, when decorative features that were to be characteristic of Late Anglo-Saxon architecture were already developed, such as narrow raised bands of stone (pilaster strips) to surround archways and to articulate wall surfaces, as at [[St Peter's Church, Barton-upon-Humber|Barton-upon-Humber]] and [[All Saints' Church, Earls Barton|Earls Barton]]. In plan, however, the churches remained essentially conservative.

From the monastic revival of the second half of the tenth century, only a few documented buildings survive or have been excavated. Examples include the abbeys of [[Glastonbury Abbey|Glastonbury]]; [[Old Minster, Winchester]]; [[Romsey Abbey|Romsey]]; [[Cholsey Abbey|Cholsey]]; and [[Peterborough Cathedral]]. The majority of churches that have been described as Anglo-Saxon fall into the period between the late 10th century and the early 12th century. During this period, many settlements were first provided with stone churches, but timber also continued to be used; the best wood-framed church to survive is [[Greensted Church]] in Essex, no earlier than the 9th century, and no doubt typical of many parish churches. On the continent during the eleventh century, a group of interrelated [[Romanesque architecture|Romanesque]] styles developed, associated with the rebuilding of many churches on a grand scale, made possible by a general advance in architectural technology and mason-craft.<ref name="Wilkinson, David John 1964" />

The first fully Romanesque church in England was Edward the Confessor's rebuilding of Westminster Abbey ({{circa|1042}}–60, now entirely lost to later construction), while the main development of the style only followed the Norman Conquest. However, at [[Stow Minster]] the crossing piers of the early 1050s are clearly proto-[[Romanesque architecture|Romanesque]]. A more decorative interpretation of Romanesque in lesser churches can be dated only somewhere between the mid and late 11th century, e.g. [[Hadstock]] (Essex), [[Clayton, West Sussex|Clayton]] and [[Church of St Mary the Blessed Virgin, Sompting|Sompting]] (Sussex); this style continued towards the end of the century as at Milborne Port (Somerset). At St Augustine's Abbey in Canterbury ({{circa|1048}}–61) Abbot Wulfric aimed to retain the earlier churches while linking them with an octagonal rotunda, but the concept was still essentially [[Pre-Romanesque architecture|Pre-Romanesque]]. Anglo-Saxon churches of all periods would have been embellished with a range of arts,<ref>Conant, Kenneth John. Carolingian and Romanesque architecture, 800 to 1200. Vol. 13. Yale University Press, 1993.</ref> including wall-paintings, some [[stained glass]], metalwork and statues.

<gallery class="center" heights="180px" widths="220px">
File:St Peters Chapel.jpg|[[Chapel of St Peter-on-the-Wall|St Peter-in-the-Wall]], Essex: A simple nave church of the early style {{circa|lk=no|650}}
File:Brixworth Church Northamptonshire.jpg|[[All Saints' Church, Brixworth|Brixworth]], Northants: monastery founded {{circa|lk=no|690}}, one of the largest churches to survive relatively intact
File:Barnack church.JPG|[[St John the Baptist's Church, Barnack|Barnack]], Peterborough: Lower tower {{circa|lk=no|970}} – spire is later
File:Sompting Church ext from west.JPG|[[Church of St Mary the Blessed Virgin, Sompting|Sompting Church]], Sussex, with the only Anglo-Saxon [[Rhenish helm]] tower to survive, {{circa|lk=no|1050}}
</gallery>

=== Art ===
{{Main|Anglo-Saxon art}}
Early Anglo-Saxon art is seen mostly in decorated jewellery, like brooches, buckles, beads and wrist-clasps, some of outstanding quality. Characteristic of the 5th century is the [[Quoit (brooch)|quoit brooch]] with motifs based on crouching animals, as seen on the silver quoit brooch from [[Sarre, Kent]]. While the origins of this style are disputed, it is either an offshoot of provincial Roman, Frankish, or [[Jutes|Jutish]] art. One style flourished from the late 5th century and continued throughout the 6th and is on many square-headed brooches, it is characterised by [[chip carving|chip-carved]] patterns based on animals and masks. A different style, which gradually superseded it, is dominated by serpentine beasts with interlacing bodies.<ref>Suzuki, Seiichi. The Quoit Brooch Style and Anglo-Saxon Settlement: A Casting and Recasting of Cultural Identity Symbols. Boydell & Brewer, 2000.</ref>
[[File:Sutton.Hoo.ShoulderClasp2.RobRoy.jpg|upright=1.3|thumb|right|Shoulder clasp (closed) from the [[Sutton Hoo]] ship-burial 1, England. [[British Museum]].]]

By the later 6th century, the best works from the south-east are distinguished by greater use of expensive materials, above all gold and garnets, reflecting the growing prosperity of a more organised society which had greater access to imported precious materials, as seen in the buckle from the [[Taplow burial]] and the jewellery from [[Sutton Hoo]],<ref name="Adams, Noël 2010">Adams, Noël. "Rethinking the Sutton Hoo Shoulder Clasps and Armour." Intelligible Beauty: Recent Research on Byzantine ewellery. London: British Museum Research Publications 178 (2010): 87–116.</ref> {{Circa|600}} and {{Circa|625}} respectively. The possible symbolism of the decorative elements like [[interlace (art)|interlace]] and beast forms that were used in these early works remains unclear. These objects were the products of a society that invested its modest surpluses in personal display, that fostered craftsmen and jewellers of a high standard, and in which the possession of a fine brooch or buckle was a valuable status symbol.<ref name="Richards, Julian D 1992">[[Julian D. Richards|Richards, Julian D.]] "Anglo-Saxon symbolism." The Age of Sutton Hoo: The Seventh Century in North-West Europe (1992): 139.</ref>

The [[Staffordshire Hoard]] is the largest hoard of Anglo-Saxon gold and silver metalwork {{as of|2011|10|alt=yet found}}. Discovered in a field near the village of [[Hammerwich]], it consists of over 3,500 items<ref name=natgeo1111>{{cite journal|last=Alexander|first=Caroline|title=Magical Mystery Treasure|journal=National Geographic|date=November 2011|volume=220|issue=5|pages=44|url=http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2011/11/gold-hoard/alexander-text|access-date=2014-02-20|archive-date=2016-12-25|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161225052705/http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2011/11/gold-hoard/alexander-text|url-status=dead}}</ref> that are nearly all martial in character and contains no objects specific to female uses.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Find|url=http://www.staffordshirehoard.org.uk/about|publisher=Staffordshire Hoard|access-date=14 June 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110703040411/http://www.staffordshirehoard.org.uk/about|archive-date=2011-07-03|url-status=dead}}</ref>{{sfn|Leahy|Bland|2009|p=9}} It demonstrates that considerable quantities of high-grade goldsmiths' work were in circulation among the elite during the 7th century. It also shows that the value of such items as currency and their potential roles as tribute or the spoils of war could, in a warrior society, outweigh appreciation of their integrity and artistry.<ref name="Sawyer, Peter 2013" />

The Christianization of the society revolutionised the visual arts, as well as other aspects of society. Art had to fulfil new functions, and whereas pagan art was abstract, Christianity required images clearly representing subjects. The transition between the Christian and pagan traditions is occasionally apparent in 7th century works; examples include the Crundale buckle<ref name="Adams, Noël 2010" /> and the Canterbury pendant.<ref>Mills, Allan A. "The Canterbury Pendant: A Saxon Seasonal-Hour Altitude Dial." PI Drinkwater:'Comments upon the Canterbury Pendant', and AJ Turner:'The Canterbury Dial', Bull BSS 95.2 (1995): 95.</ref> In addition to fostering metalworking skills, Christianity stimulated stone sculpture and [[illuminated manuscript|manuscript illumination]]. In these Germanic motifs, such as interlace and animal ornament along with Celtic spiral patterns, are juxtaposed with Christian imagery and Mediterranean decoration, notably vine-scroll. The [[Ruthwell Cross]], [[Bewcastle Cross]] and [[Easby Cross]] are leading Northumbrian examples of the Anglo-Saxon version of the Celtic [[high cross]], generally with a slimmer shaft.

The jamb of the doorway at [[Monkwearmouth]], carved with a pair of [[lacertine]] beasts, probably dates from the 680s; the golden, garnet-adorned pectoral cross of St [[Cuthbert]] was presumably made before 687; while [[St Cuthbert's coffin|his wooden inner coffin]] (incised with Christ and the [[Evangelists' symbols]], the Virgin and Child, archangels and apostles), the [[Lindisfarne Gospels]], and the [[Codex Amiatinus]] all date from {{Circa|700}}. The fact that these works are all from Northumbria might be held to reflect the particular strength of the church in that kingdom.<ref>[[Leslie Webster (art historian)|Leslie Webster]], [[Janet Backhouse]], and Marion Archibald. The Making of England: Anglo-Saxon Art and Culture, AD 600–900. Univ of Toronto Pr, 1991.</ref> Works from the south were more restrained in their ornamentation than are those from Northumbria.

Lindisfarne was an important centre of book production, along with [[Ripon]] and Monkwearmouth-Jarrow. The [[Lindisfarne Gospels]] might be the single most beautiful book produced in the Middle Ages, and the [[Echternach Gospels]] and (probably) the [[Book of Durrow]] are other products of Lindisfarne. A Latin [[gospel book]], the Lindisfarne Gospels are richly illuminated and decorated in an [[Insular art|Insular]] style that blends Irish and Western Mediterranean elements and incorporates imagery from the Eastern Mediterranean, including [[Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria|Coptic Christianity]].<ref>Brown, Katherine L., and Robin JH Clark. "The Lindisfarne Gospels and two other 8th century Anglo-Saxon/Insular manuscripts: pigment identification by Raman microscopy." Journal of Raman Spectroscopy 35.1 (2004): 4–12.</ref> The [[Codex Amiatinus]] was produced in the north of England at the same time and has been called the finest book in the world.<ref>[[Rupert Bruce-Mitford|Bruce-Mitford, Rupert Leo Scott]]. The art of the Codex Amiatinus. Parish of Jarrow, 1967.</ref> It is certainly one of the largest, weighing 34 kilograms.<ref>Gameson, Richard. "THE COST OF THE CODEX-AMIATINUS." Notes and Queries 39.1 (1992): 2–9.</ref> It is a pandect, which was rare in the Middle Ages, and included all the books of the Bible in one volume. The Codex Amiatinus was produced at Monkwearmouth-Jarrow in 692 under the direction of Abbot [[Ceolfrith]]. Bede probably had something to do with it. The production of the Codex shows the riches of the north of England at this time. We have records of the monastery needing a new grant of land to raise 2,000 more cattle to get the calf skins to make the [[vellum]] for the manuscript.<ref>Meyvaert, Paul. "Bede, Cassiodorus, and the Codex Amiatinus." Speculum 71.04 (1996): 827–883.</ref> The Codex Amiatinus was meant to be a gift to the pope, and Ceolfrith was taking it to Rome when he died on the way. The copy ended up in Florence, where it still is today – a ninth-century copy of this book is in the possession of the pope.<ref>Chazelle, Celia. "Ceolfrid's gift to St Peter: the first quire of the Codex Amiatinus and the evidence of its Roman destination." Early Medieval Europe 12.2 (2003): 129–157.</ref>

[[File:BookCerneEvangalist.jpeg|thumb|upright=1.1|[[Book of Cerne]], [[evangelist portrait]] of [[Saint Mark]]]]
In the 8th century, Anglo-Saxon Christian art flourished with grand decorated manuscripts and sculptures, along with secular works which bear comparable ornament, like the Witham pins and the [[Coppergate helmet]].<ref>THOMAS, GABOR. "OVERVIEW: CRAFT PRODUCTION AND TECHNOLOGY." The Oxford Handbook of Anglo-Saxon Archaeology (2011): 405.</ref> The flourishing of sculpture in Mercia occurred slightly later than in Northumbria and is dated to the second half of the 8th century. The [[Book of Cerne]] is an early 9th century Insular or Anglo-Saxon Latin personal prayer book with Old English components. This manuscript was decorated and embellished with four painted full-page miniatures, major and minor letters, and continuing panels.<ref>Brown 1996, pp. 70, 73.</ref> Further decorated motifs used in these manuscripts, such as hunched, triangular beasts, also appear on objects from the [[Trewhiddle]] hoard (buried in the 870s) and on the rings which bear the names of King [[Æthelwulf of Wessex|Æthelwulf]] and Queen [[Æthelswith]], which are the centre of a small corpus of fine ninth-century metalwork.

There was demonstrable continuity in the south, even though the Danish settlement represented a watershed in England's artistic tradition. Wars and pillaging removed or destroyed much Anglo-Saxon art, while the settlement introduced new Scandinavian craftsmen and patrons. The result was to accentuate the pre-existing distinction between the art of the north and that of the south.<ref>Reynolds, Andrew, and [[Leslie Webster (art historian)|Webster, Leslie]]. "Early Medieval Art and Archaeology in the Northern World." (2013).</ref> In the 10th and 11th centuries, the Viking dominated areas were characterised by stone sculpture in which the Anglo-Saxon tradition of cross shafts took on new forms, and a distinctive Anglo-Scandinavian monument, the 'hogback' tomb, was produced.<ref>O'Sullivan, Deirdre. "Normanising the North: The Evidence of Anglo-Saxon and Anglo-Scandinavian Sculpture." Medieval Archaeology 55.1 (2011): 163–191.</ref> The decorative motifs used on these northern carvings (as on items of personal adornment or everyday use) echo Scandinavian styles. The Wessexan hegemony and the monastic reform movement appear to have been the catalysts for the rebirth of art in southern England from the end of the 9th century. Here artists responded primarily to continental art; foliage supplanting interlace as the preferred decorative motif. Key early works are the [[Alfred Jewel]], which has fleshy leaves engraved on the back plate; and the stole and maniples of Bishop [[Frithestan]] of Winchester, which are ornamented with [[acanthus (ornament)|acanthus]] leaves, alongside figures that bear the stamp of [[Byzantine art]]. The surviving evidence points to Winchester and Canterbury as the leading centres of manuscript art in the second half of the 10th century: they developed colourful paintings with lavish foliate borders, and coloured line drawings.

By the early 11th century, these two traditions had fused and had spread to other centres. Although manuscripts dominate the corpus, sufficient architectural sculpture, [[ivory carving]] and metalwork survives to show that the same styles were current in secular art and became widespread in the south at parochial level. The wealth of England in the later tenth and eleventh century is clearly reflected in the lavish use of gold in manuscript art as well as for vessels, textiles and statues (now known only from descriptions). Widely admired, southern English art was highly influential in Normandy, France and [[Flanders]] from {{circa|1000}}.<ref>[[Janet Backhouse]], Derek Howard Turner, and [[Leslie Webster (art historian)|Leslie Webster]], eds. The Golden Age of Anglo-Saxon Art, 966–1066. British Museum Publications Limited, 1984.</ref> Indeed, keen to possess it or recover its materials, the Normans appropriated it in large quantities in the wake of the Conquest. The [[Bayeux Tapestry]], probably designed by a Canterbury artist for Bishop [[Odo of Bayeux]], is arguably the apex of Anglo-Saxon art. Surveying nearly 600 years of continuous change, three common strands stand out: lavish colour and rich materials; an interplay between abstract ornament and representational subject matter; and a fusion of art styles reflecting English links to other parts of Europe.<ref>Grape, Wolfgang. The Bayeux tapestry: monument to a Norman triumph. Prestel Pub, 1994.</ref>

<gallery class="center" heights="120px" widths="170px">
File:Sutton.Hoo.PurseLid.RobRoy.jpg|[[Sutton Hoo purse-lid]] {{circa|lk=no|620}}
File:CodexAureusCanterburyFolios9v10r.jpg|[[Codex Aureus of Canterbury]] {{circa|lk=no|750}}
File:Ruthwell Cross Christ on south side.jpg|[[Ruthwell Cross]] {{circa|lk=no|750}}
File:BLW Silver Anglo-Saxon ring.jpg|[[Trewhiddle style]] on silver ring {{circa|lk=no|775|850}}
File:St Oswald's Priory Anglo-Saxon cross.jpg|St Oswald's Priory Cross {{circa|lk=no|890}}
</gallery>

=== Language ===
{{Main|Old English}}
[[File:Her swutelað seo gecwydrædnes ðe.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|{{lang|ang|Her sƿutelað seo gecƿydrædnes ðe}} ('Here is manifested the Word to thee'). Unique [[Old English]] inscription over the arch of the south [[porticus]] in the 10th-century [[Breamore#St Mary's church|St Mary's parish church, Breamore]], Hampshire]]
Old English (''Ænglisċ, Anglisċ, Englisċ'') is the earliest form of the [[English language]]. It was brought to Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers, and was spoken and written in parts of what are now England and southeastern Scotland until the mid-12th century, by which time it had evolved into [[Middle English]]. Old English was a [[West Germanic languages|West Germanic language]], closely related to [[Old Frisian]] and [[Old Saxon]] (Old Low German). The language was fully [[inflection|inflected]], with five [[grammatical case]]s, three [[grammatical number]]s and three [[grammatical gender]]s. Over time, Old English developed into four major dialects: Northumbrian, spoken north of the Humber; Mercian, spoken in the Midlands; Kentish, spoken in Kent; and West Saxon, spoken across the south and southwest. All of these dialects have direct descendants in modern England. Standard English developed from the Mercian dialect, as it was predominant in London.<ref>Kemola, Juhani. 2000 "The Origins of the Northern Subject Rule – A Case of Early contact?"</ref>

It is generally held that Old English received little influence from the [[Common Brittonic]] and [[British Latin]] spoken in southern Britain prior to the arrival of the Anglo-Saxons, as it took in very few loan words from these languages. Though some scholars have claimed that Brittonic could have exerted [[Brittonicisms in English|an influence]] on English syntax and grammar,<ref>''The Celtic Roots of English'', ed. by Markku Filppula, Juhani Klemola and Heli Pitkänen, Studies in Languages, 37 (Joensuu: University of Joensuu, Faculty of Humanities, 2002).</ref><ref>Hildegard L. C. Von Tristram (ed.), ''The Celtic Englishes'', Anglistische Forschungen 247, 286, 324, 3 vols (Heidelberg: Winter, 1997–2003).</ref><ref>Peter Schrijver, ''Language Contact and the Origins of the Germanic Languages'', Routledge Studies in Linguistics, 13 (New York: Routledge, 2014), pp. 12–93.</ref> these ideas have not become consensus views,<ref>{{citation|last=Minkova|first=Donka|title=Reviewed Work(s): ''A History of the English Language'' by Elly van Gelderen; ''A History of the English Language'' by Richard Hogg and David Denison; ''The Oxford History of English'' by Lynda Mugglestone|year=2009}}</ref> and have been criticized by other historical linguists.<ref>John Insley, "Britons and Anglo-Saxons," in ''Kulturelle Integration und Personnenamen in Mittelalter'', De Gruyter (2018)</ref><ref>Robert McColl Millar, "English in the 'transition period': the sources of contact-induced change," in ''Contact: The Interaction of Closely-Related Linguistic Varieties and the History of English'', Edinburgh University Press (2016)</ref> [[Richard Coates]] has concluded that the strongest candidates for substratal Brittonic features in English are grammatical elements occurring in regional dialects in the north and west of England, such as the [[Northern Subject Rule]].<ref>Richard Coates, ''Reviewed Work: English and Celtic in Contact'' (2010)</ref>

Old English was more clearly influenced by [[Old Norse]]. Scandinavian loan words in English include [[toponym|place names]], items of basic vocabulary such as ''sky'', ''leg'' and ''they'',<ref name="Shay2008">{{cite book|author =Scott Shay|title=The history of English: a linguistic introduction|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1vj0-f_U1SQC&pg=PA86|access-date=29 January 2012|date=30 January 2008|publisher=Wardja Press|isbn=978-0-615-16817-3|page=86}}</ref> and words concerned with particular administrative aspects of the [[Danelaw]] (that is, the area of land under Viking control, including the East Midlands and Northumbria south of the [[River Tees|Tees]]). Old Norse was related to Old English, as both originated from [[Proto-Germanic language|Proto-Germanic]], and many linguists believe that the loss of inflectional endings in Old English was accelerated by contact with Norse.<ref>{{cite book|last=Barber|first=Charles|title=The English Language: A Historical Introduction|year=2009|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-67001-2|page=137}}</ref><ref>Robert McColl Millar, "English in the 'transition period': the sources of contact-induced change," in ''Contact: The Interaction of Closely-Related Linguistic Varieties and the History of English'' (2016)</ref><ref>{{Citation|last=Schendl|first=Herbert|title=Middle English: Language Contact|year=2012}}</ref>

=== Kinship ===
Local and extended kin groups were a key aspect of Anglo-Saxon culture. Kinship fueled societal advantages, freedom and the relationships to an elite, that allowed the Anglo-Saxons' culture and language to flourish.{{Sfn|Hamerow|2012|p=166}} The ties of loyalty to a lord were to the person of a lord and not to his station; there was no real concept of patriotism or loyalty to a cause. This explains why dynasties waxed and waned so quickly, since a kingdom was only as strong as its leader-king. There was no underlying administration or bureaucracy to maintain any gains beyond the lifetime of a leader. An example of this was the leadership of [[Rædwald of East Anglia]] and how the East Anglian primacy did not survive his death.<ref>Fisher, Genevieve. "Kingdom and community in early Anglo-Saxon eastern England." Regional approaches to mortuary analysis. Springer US, 1995. 147–166.</ref> Kings could not make new laws barring exceptional circumstances. Their role instead was to uphold and clarify previous custom and to assure his subjects that he would uphold their ancient privileges, laws, and customs. Although the person of the king as a leader could be exalted, the office of kingship was not in any sense so powerful or invested with authority as it was to become. One of the tools kings used was to tie themselves closely to the new Christian church, through the practice of having a church leader anoint and crown the king; God and king were then joined in peoples' minds.<ref>Lynch, Joseph H. Christianizing kinship: ritual sponsorship in Anglo-Saxon England. Cornell University Press, 1998</ref>

The ties of kinship meant that the relatives of a murdered person were obliged to exact vengeance for his or her death. This led to bloody and extensive feuds. As a way out of this deadly and futile custom the system of [[weregild]]s was instituted. The weregild set a monetary value on each person's life according to their wealth and social status. This value could also be used to set the fine payable if a person was injured or offended against. Robbing a thane called for a higher penalty than robbing a ceorl. On the other hand, a thane who thieved could pay a higher fine than a ceorl who did likewise. Men were willing to die for the lord and to support their ''comitatus'' (their warrior band). Evidence of this behavior (though it may be more a literary ideal than an actual social practice) can be observed in the story, made famous in the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' entry for 755, of Cynewulf and Cyneheard, in which the followers of a defeated king decided to fight to the death rather than be reconciled after the death of their lord.<ref>Hough, C. "Wergild." (1999): 469–470.</ref>

This emphasis on social standing affected all parts of the Anglo-Saxon world. The courts, for example, did not attempt to discover the facts in a case; instead, in any dispute it was up to each party to get as many people as possible to swear to the rightness of their case, which became known as oath-swearing. The word of a thane counted for that of six ceorls.<ref>Harrison, Mark. Anglo-Saxon Thegn AD 449–1066. Vol. 5. Osprey Publishing, 1993</ref> It was assumed that any person of good character would be able to find enough people to swear to his innocence that his case would prosper.

Anglo-Saxon society was also decidedly patriarchal, but women were in some ways better off than they would be in later times. A woman could own property in her own right. She could and did rule a kingdom if her husband died. She could not be married without her consent, and any personal goods, including lands, that she brought into a marriage remained her own property. If she were injured or abused in her marriage, her relatives were expected to look after her interests.<ref>Fell, Christine E., Cecily Clark, and Elizabeth Williams. Women in Anglo-Saxon England. Blackwell, 1987</ref>

=== Law ===
{{Main|Anglo-Saxon law}}
[[File:Law of Æthelberht.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|right|The initial page of [[Rochester Cathedral#Library|Rochester Cathedral Library]], MS A.3.5, the {{Lang|la|[[Textus Roffensis]]}}, which contains the only surviving copy of King [[Æthelberht of Kent]]'s laws.]]
The most noticeable feature of the Anglo-Saxon legal system is the apparent prevalence of legislation in the form of law codes. The early Anglo-Saxons were organised in various small kingdoms often corresponding to later shires or counties. The kings of these small kingdoms issued written laws, one of the earliest of which is attributed to Ethelbert, king of Kent, ca.560–616.<ref>Simpson, A.W.B. 'The Laws of Ethelbert' in Arnold et al. (1981) 3.</ref> The Anglo-Saxon law codes follow a pattern found in mainland Europe where other groups of the former Roman Empire encountered government dependent upon written sources of law and hastened to display the claims of their own native traditions by reducing them to writing. These legal systems should not be thought of as operating like modern legislation, rather they are educational and political tools designed to demonstrate standards of good conduct rather than act as criteria for subsequent legal judgment.<ref>Baker, J.H. An Introduction to English Legal History. (London: Butterworths, 1990) 3rd edition, {{ISBN|978-0-406-53101-8}}, Chapters 1–2.</ref>

Although not themselves sources of law, Anglo-Saxon charters are a most valuable historical source for tracing the actual legal practices of the various Anglo-Saxon communities. A charter was a written document from a king or other authority confirming a grant either of land or some other valuable right. Their prevalence in the Anglo-Saxon state is a sign of sophistication. They were frequently appealed to and relied upon in litigation. Making grants and confirming those made by others was a major way in which Anglo-Saxon kings demonstrated their authority.<ref>Milsom, S.F.C. Historical Foundations of the Common Law. (London: Butterworths, 1981) 2nd edition, {{ISBN|978-0-406-62503-8}} (limp), 1–23.</ref>

The royal council or witan played a central but limited role in the Anglo-Saxon period. The main feature of the system was its high degree of decentralisation. The interference by the king through his granting of charters and the activity of his witan in litigation are exceptions rather than the rule in Anglo-Saxon times.<ref>Robertson, Agnes Jane, ed. Anglo-Saxon Charters. Vol. 1. Cambridge University Press, 2009.</ref> The most important court in the later Anglo-Saxon period was the shire court. Many shires (such as Kent and Sussex) were in the early days of the Anglo-Saxon settlement the centre of small independent kingdoms. As the kings first of Mercia and then of Wessex slowly extended their authority over the whole of England, they left the shire courts with overall responsibility for the administration of law.<ref>Milsom, S.F.C. Historical Foundations of the Common Law. (London: Butterworths, 1981) 2nd edition, {{ISBN|978-0-406-62503-8}} (limp), 1–23</ref> The shire met in one or more traditional places, earlier in the open air and then later in a moot or meeting hall. The meeting of the shire court was presided over by an officer, the shire reeve or sheriff, whose appointment came in later Anglo-Saxon times into the hands of the king but had in earlier times been elective. The sheriff was not the judge of the court, merely its president. The judges of the court were all those who had the right and duty of attending the court, the suitors. These were originally all free male inhabitants of the neighbourhood, but over time suit of court became an obligation attached to particular holdings of land. The sessions of a shire court resembled more closely those of a modern local administrative body than a modern court. It could and did act judicially, but this was not its prime function. In the shire court, charters and writs would be read out for all to hear.<ref>Pollock, F. and Maitland, F.M. A History of English Law. Two volumes. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1898 reprinted 1968) 2nd edition, {{ISBN|978-0-521-07061-4}} and {{ISBN|978-0-521-09515-0}}, Volume I, Chapter 1.</ref>

Below the level of the shire, each county was divided into areas known as [[Hundred (county division)|hundreds]] (or wapentakes in the north of England). These were originally groups of families rather than geographical areas. The hundred court was a smaller version of the shire court, presided over by the hundred bailiff, formerly a sheriff's appointment, but over the years many hundreds fell into the private hands of a local large landowner. Little is known about hundred court business, which was likely a mix of the administrative and judicial, but they remained in some areas an important forum for the settlement of local disputes well into the post-Conquest period.<ref>Reynolds, Andrew. "Judicial culture and social complexity: a general model from Anglo-Saxon England." World Archaeology ahead-of-print (2014): 1–15.</ref>

The Anglo-Saxon system put an emphasis upon compromise and arbitration: litigating parties were enjoined to settle their differences if possible. If they persisted in bringing a case for decision before a shire court, then it could be determined there. The suitors of the court would pronounce a judgment which fixed how the case would be decided: legal problems were considered to be too complex and difficult for mere human decision, and so proof or demonstration of the right would depend upon some irrational, non-human criterion. The normal methods of proof were oath-helping or the ordeal.<ref name="Hyams, P 1981">Hyams, P. 'Trial by ordeal: the key to proof in the early common law' in Arnold, M.S. et al.. (eds) On the Laws and Customs of England: Essays in honor of S.E. Thorne. (Harvard: Harvard University Press, 1981) {{ISBN|978-0-8078-1434-5}}, p. 90.</ref> Oath-helping involved the party undergoing proof swearing to the truth of his claim or denial and having that oath reinforced by five or more others, chosen either by the party or by the court. The number of helpers required and the form of their oath differed from place to place and upon the nature of the dispute.<ref>Leeson, Peter T. "Ordeals." Journal of Law and Economics 55.3 (2012): 691–714.</ref> If either the party or any of the helpers failed in the oath, either refusing to take it or sometimes even making an error in the required formula, the proof failed and the case was adjudged to the other side. As "wager of law", it remained a way of determining cases in the common law until its abolition in the 19th century.<ref>Higham, Nicholas, and Martin J. Ryan. The Anglo-Saxon World. Yale University Press, 2013.</ref>

The ordeal offered an alternative for those unable or unwilling to swear an oath. The two most common methods were the ordeal by hot iron and by cold water. The former consisted in carrying a red-hot iron for five paces: the wound was immediately bound up, and if on unbinding, it was found to be festering, the case was lost. In the ordeal by water, the victim, usually an accused person, was cast bound into water: if he sunk he was innocent, if he floated he was guilty. Although for perhaps understandable reasons, the ordeals became associated with trials in criminal matters. They were in essence tests of the truth of a claim or denial of a party and appropriate for trying any
legal issue. The allocation of a mode of proof and who should bear it was the substance of the shire court's judgment.<ref name="Hyams, P 1981" />

=== Literature ===
{{Main|Anglo-Saxon literature}}
[[File:Beowulf Cotton MS Vitellius A XV f. 132r.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|First page of the fire-damaged epic ''[[Beowulf]]'']]
Old English literary works include genres such as [[epic poem|epic poetry]], [[hagiography]], [[sermon]]s, [[Old English Bible translations|Bible translations]], legal works, [[chronicle]]s, [[Anglo-Saxon riddles|riddles]] and others. In all there are about 400 surviving [[manuscript]]s from the period, a significant corpus of both popular interest and specialist research. The manuscripts use a modified [[Roman alphabet]], but [[Anglo-Saxon runes]] or ''futhorc'' are used in under 200 inscriptions on objects, sometimes mixed with Roman letters.

This literature is remarkable for being in the vernacular (Old English) in the early medieval period: almost all other written literature in Western Europe was in Latin at this time, but because of Alfred's programme of vernacular literacy, the oral traditions of Anglo-Saxon England ended up being converted into writing and preserved. Much of this preservation can be attributed to the monks of the tenth century, who made – at the very least – the copies of most of the literary manuscripts that still exist. Manuscripts were not common items. They were expensive and hard to make.<ref>Karkov, Catherine E. The Art of Anglo-Saxon England. Vol. 1. Boydell Press, 2011.</ref> First, cows or sheep had to be slaughtered and their skins tanned. The leather was then scraped, stretched, and cut into sheets, which were sewn into books. Then inks had to be made from oak galls and other ingredients, and the books had to be hand written by monks using quill pens. Every manuscript is slightly different from another, even if they are copies of each other, because every scribe had different handwriting and made different errors. Individual scribes can sometimes be identified from their handwriting, and different [[paleography|styles of hand]] were used in specific [[scriptoria]] (centres of manuscript production), so the location of the manuscript production can often be identified.<ref>Fulk, R. D., and Christopher M. Cain. "Making Old English New: Anglo-Saxonism and the Cultural Work of Old English Literature." (2013).</ref>

There are four great poetic codices of [[Old English poetry]] (a [[codex]] is a book in modern format, as opposed to a [[scroll]]): the [[Junius Manuscript]], the [[Vercelli Book]], the [[Exeter Book]], and the [[Nowell Codex]] or ''Beowulf'' Manuscript; most of the well-known lyric poems such as ''[[The Wanderer (Old English poem)|The Wanderer]]'', ''[[The Seafarer (poem)|The Seafarer]]'', ''[[Deor]]'' and ''[[The Ruin]]'' are found in the Exeter Book, while the Vercelli Book has the ''[[Dream of the Rood]]'',<ref>Godden, Malcolm, and Michael Lapidge, eds. The Cambridge Companion to Old English Literature. Cambridge University Press, 1991; there is also the Paris Psalter (not the [[Paris Psalter]]), a metrical version of most of the [[Psalms]], described by its most recent specialist as "a pedestrian and unimaginative piece of poetic translation. It is rarely read by students of Old English, and most Anglo-Saxonists make only passing reference to it. There is scarcely any literary criticism written on the text, although some work has been done on its vocabulary and metre", [http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract;jsessionid=A6553EFEF5479C1641CC3FEF8221A280.journals?fromPage=online&aid=2312048 "Poetic language and the Paris Psalter: the decay of the Old English tradition", by M. S. Griffith], ''Anglo-Saxon England'', Volume 20, December 1991, pp 167–186, {{doi|10.1017/S0263675100001800}}</ref> some of which is also carved on the [[Ruthwell Cross]]. The [[Franks Casket]] also has carved riddles, a popular form with the Anglo-Saxons. Old English secular poetry is mostly characterized by a somewhat gloomy and introspective cast of mind, and the grim determination found in ''[[The Battle of Maldon]]'', recounting an [[Battle of Maldon|action against the Vikings in 991]]. This is from a book that was lost in the [[Cotton Library]] fire of 1731, but it had been transcribed previously.

Rather than being organized around rhyme, the poetic line in Anglo-Saxon is organised around alliteration, the repetition of stressed sounds; any repeated stressed sound, vowel or consonant, could be used. Anglo-Saxon lines are made up of two half-lines (in old-fashioned scholarship, these are called [[hemistich]]es) divided by a breath-pause or [[caesura]]. There must be at least one of the alliterating sounds on each side of the caesura.
{{blockquote|''<u>hr</u>eran mid hondum{{spaces|4}}<u>hr</u>imcealde sæ''{{efn|Example from the Wanderer<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.anglo-saxons.net/hwaet/?do=get&type=text&id=Wdr&textOnly=true|title=Early-Medieval-England.net : The Wanderer|website=www.anglo-saxons.net}}</ref>}}}}
The line above illustrates the principle: note that there is a natural pause after 'hondum' and that the first stressed syllable after that pause begins with the same sound as a stressed line from the first half-line (the first halfline is called the a-verse and the second is the b-verse).<ref>Bradley, S.A.J. Anglo-Saxon Poetry. New York: Everyman Paperbacks, 1995.</ref>

There is very strong evidence that Anglo-Saxon poetry has deep roots in oral tradition, but keeping with the cultural practices seen elsewhere in Anglo-Saxon culture, there was a blending between tradition and new learning.<ref>Alexander, Michael. The Earliest English Poems. 3rd rev. ed. New York:
Penguin Classics, 1992.</ref> Thus while all Old English poetry has common features, three strands can be identified: religious poetry, which includes poems about specifically Christian topics, such as the cross and the saints; Heroic or [[epic poetry]], such as ''Beowulf'', which is about heroes, warfare, monsters, and the Germanic past; and poetry about "smaller" topics, including introspective poems (the so-called elegies), "wisdom" poems (which communicate both traditional and Christian wisdom), and riddles. For a long time all Anglo-Saxon poetry was divided into three groups: [[Cædmon]]ian (the biblical paraphrase poems), heroic, and "Cynewulfian", named after [[Cynewulf]], one of the few named poets in Anglo-Saxon. The most famous works from this period include the epic poem ''[[Beowulf]]'', which has achieved [[national epic]] status in Britain.<ref>Anglo Saxon Poetry. Hachette UK, 2012.</ref>

There are about 30,000 surviving lines of Old English poetry and about ten times that much prose, and the majority of both is religious. The prose was influential and obviously very important to the Anglo-Saxons and more important than the poetry to those who came after the Anglo-Saxons. [[Homily|Homilies]] are sermons, lessons to be given on moral and doctrinal matters, and the two most prolific and respected writers of Anglo-Saxon prose, [[Ælfric of Eynsham|Ælfric]] and [[Wulfstan the Cantor|Wulfstan]], were both homilists.<ref>Sweet, Henry. An Anglo-Saxon reader in prose and verse: with grammar, metre, notes and glossary. At the Clarendon Press, 1908.</ref> Almost all surviving poetry is found in only one manuscript copy, but there are several versions of some prose works, especially the ''[[Anglo-Saxon Chronicle]]'', which was apparently promulgated to monasteries by the royal court. Anglo-Saxon clergy also continued to write in Latin, the language of Bede's works, monastic chronicles, and theological writing, although Bede's biographer records that he was familiar with Old English poetry and gives a five line lyric which he either wrote or liked to quote – the sense is unclear.

=== Symbolism ===
[[Symbolic anthropology|Symbolism]] was an essential element in Anglo-Saxon culture. [[Julian D. Richards]] suggests that in societies with strong [[oral tradition]]s, [[material culture]] is used to store and pass on information and stand instead of literature in those cultures. This symbolism is less logical than literature and more difficult to read. Anglo-Saxons used symbolism to communicate as well as to aid their thinking about the world. Anglo-Saxons used symbols to differentiate between groups and people, status and role in society.<ref name="Richards, Julian D 1992" />

The visual riddles and ambiguities of early Anglo-Saxon animal art, for example, has been seen as emphasising the protective roles of animals on dress accessories, weapons, armour and horse equipment, and its evocation of pre-Christian mythological themes. However Howard Williams and Ruth Nugent have suggested that the number of artefact categories that have animals or eyes—from pots to combs, buckets to weaponry—was to make artefacts 'see' by impressing and punching circular and lentoid shapes onto them. This symbolism of making the object seems to be more than decoration.<ref>Nugent, Ruth, and Howard Williams. "Sighted surfaces. Ocular Agency in early Anglo-Saxon cremation burials." Encountering images: materialities, perceptions, relations. Stockholm studies in archaeology 57 (2012): 187–208.</ref>

Conventional interpretations of the symbolism of grave goods revolved around religion (equipment for the hereafter), legal concepts (inalienable possessions) and social structure (status display, ostentatious destruction of wealth). There was multiplicity of messages and variability of meanings characterised the deposition of objects in Anglo-Saxon graves. In Early Anglo-Saxon cemeteries, 47% of male adults and 9% of all juveniles were buried with weapons. The proportion of adult weapon burials is much too high to suggest that they all represent a social elite.<ref>Härke, Heinrich. "Grave goods in early medieval burials: messages and meanings." Mortality ahead-of-print (2014): 1–21.</ref> The usual assumption is that these are 'warrior burials', and this term is used throughout the archaeological and historical literature. However, a systematic comparison of burials with and without weapons, using archaeological and skeletal data, suggests that this assumption is much too simplistic and even misleading. Anglo-Saxon weapon burial rite involved a complex ritual symbolism: it was multi-dimensional, displaying ethnic affiliation, descent, wealth, élite status, and age groups. This symbol continued until c.700 when it ceased to have the symbolic power that it had before.<ref>Pader, E.J. 1982. Symbolism, social relations and the interpretation of mortuary remains. Oxford. (B.A.R. S 130)</ref> Heinrich Härke suggests this change was the result of the changing structure of society and especially in ethnicity and assimilation, implying the lowering of ethnic boundaries in the Anglo-Saxon settlement areas of England towards a common culture.<ref name="Härke, Heinrich 1992" />

The word ''bead'' comes from the Anglo-Saxon words ''bidden'' (to pray) and ''bede'' (prayer). The vast majority of early Anglo-Saxon female graves contain beads, which are often found in large numbers in the area of the neck and chest. Beads are sometimes found in male burials, with large beads often associated with prestigious weapons. A variety of materials other than glass were available for Anglo-Saxon beads, including amber, rock crystal, amethyst, bone, shells, coral and even metal.<ref name="Guido2000">Guido and Welch. Indirect evidence for glass bead manufacture in early Anglo-Saxon England. In Price 2000 115–120.</ref> These beads are usually considered to have a social or ritual function. Anglo-Saxon glass beads show a wide variety of bead manufacturing techniques, sizes, shapes, colours and decorations. Various studies have been carried out investigating the distribution and chronological change of bead types.<ref>Guido, M. & M. Welch 1999. The glass beads of Anglo-Saxon England c. AD 400–700: a preliminary visual classification of the more definitive and diagnostic types. Rochester: Reports of the Research Committee of the Society of Antiqaries of London 56.</ref><ref>Brugmann, B. 2004. Glass beads from Anglo-Saxon graves: a study of the provenance and chronology of glass beads from early Anglo-Saxon graves, based on visual examination. Oxford: Oxbow</ref> The crystal beads which appear on bead strings in the pagan Anglo-Saxon period seems to have gone through various changes in meaning in the Christian period, which Gale Owen-Crocker suggests was linked to symbolism of the Virgin Mary, and hence to intercession.<ref>Owen-Crocker, Gale R. Dress in Anglo-Saxon England. Boydell Press, 2004.</ref> John Hines has suggested that the over 2,000 different types of beads found at [[Lakenheath]] show that the beads symbolise identity, roles, status and micro cultures within the tribal landscape of the early Anglo-Saxon world.<ref>John Hines (1998) The Anglo-Saxon Cemetery at Edix Hill (Barrington A), Cambridgeshire. Council for British Archaeology.</ref>

Symbolism continued to have a hold on the minds of Anglo-Saxon people into the Christian eras. The interiors of churches would have glowed with colour, and the walls of the halls were painted with decorative scenes from the imagination telling stories of monsters and heroes like those in the poem ''Beowulf''. Although nothing much is left of the wall paintings, evidence of their pictorial art is found in Bibles and Psalters, in illuminated manuscripts. The poem ''The [[Dream of the Rood]]'' is an example how symbolism of trees was fused into Christian symbolism.
Richard North suggests that the sacrifice of the tree was in accordance with pagan virtues and "the image of Christ's death was constructed in this poem with reference to an Anglian ideology of the world tree".<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=North |first=Richard |url= |title=Heathen Gods in Old English Literature |date=1997-12-11 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |isbn=978-0-521-55183-0 |page=273 |language=en}}</ref> North suggests that the author of ''The Dream of the Rood'' "uses the language of the myth of Ingui in order to present the Passion to his newly Christianized countrymen as a story from their native tradition".<ref name=":0" /> Furthermore, the tree's triumph over death is celebrated by adorning the cross with gold and jewels.

The most distinctive feature of [[coin]]age of the first half of the 8th century is its portrayal of animals, to an extent found in no other European [[Coinage in Anglo-Saxon England|coinage of the Early Middle Ages]]. Some animals, such as lions or peacocks, would have been known in England only through descriptions in texts or through images in manuscripts or on portable objects. The animals were not merely illustrated out of an interest in the natural world. Each was imbued with meanings and acted as a symbol which would have been understood at the time.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Gannon |first=Anna |url= |title=The Iconography of Early Anglo-Saxon Coinage: Sixth to Eighth Centuries |date=2003-04-24 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=978-0-19-925465-1 |language=en}}</ref>

=== Food ===
The food eaten by Anglo-Saxons was long presumed to differ between elites and commoners. However, a 2022 study by the [[University of Cambridge]] found that Anglo-Saxon elites and royalty both ate a primarily [[Vegetarianism|vegetarian]] diet based on cereal grains as did peasants. The discovery came after bioarchaeologist Sam Leggett analysed chemical dietary signatures from the bones of 2,023 people buried in England between the 5th to 11th Centuries and cross referenced the analysis with markers of social status. Rather than elites eating regular banquets with huge quantities of meat, the researchers concluded these were occasional grand feasts hosted by the peasants for their rulers rather than regular occurrences.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2022-04-22 |title=Cambridge University study finds Anglo-Saxon kings were mostly vegetarian |language=en-GB |work=[[BBC News]] |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-61178452 |access-date=2022-05-12}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Webb |first=Samuel |date=2022-04-21 |title=Anglo-Saxon kings 'were mostly vegetarian', before the Vikings new study claims |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/climate-change/news/anglosaxon-vegetarian-diet-b2062513.html |access-date=2022-05-12 |website=[[The Independent]] |language=en}}</ref>