Editing Angles (tribe) (section)

===Tacitus===
[[File:AngelnAngel.png|thumb|right|upright=0.9|Angeln in northern [[Schleswig-Holstein]].]]
[[File:Over Jerstal.png|thumb|right|upright=0.9|Possible locations of the Angles and Jutes before their migration to Britain]]

The earliest surviving mention of the Angles is in chapter 40 of Tacitus's ''[[Germania (book)|Germania]]'' written around AD 98. [[Tacitus]] describes the "Anglii" as one of the more remote [[Suebi]]c tribes living beyond the Semnones and Langobardi, who lived near the lower [[Elbe]], and were better known to the Romans. He grouped the Angles with several other tribes in that region, the [[Reudigni]], [[Aviones]], [[Varini]], [[Eudoses]], [[Suarines]], and [[Nuithones]].<ref name=Tacitus>{{harvp|Tacitus|loc=[[s:la:De origine et situ Germanorum (Germania)#XL|Cap. XL]]}}</ref><ref name=CB>{{harvp|Church|Brodribb|1876|loc=[[s:Germany and Its Tribes#40|Ch.&nbsp;XL]]}}</ref> According to Tacitus, they were all living behind ramparts of rivers and woods, and therefore inaccessible to attack.<ref name=Tacitus /><ref name=CB />

He gives no precise indication of their geographical situation but states that, together with the six other tribes, they worshipped [[Nerthus]], or Mother Earth, whose sanctuary was located on "an island in the Ocean".{{sfnp|Chadwick|1911|pp=18–19}} The Eudoses are generally considered to be the [[Jutes]] and these names have been associated with localities in [[Jutland]] or on the Baltic coast. The coast contains sufficient estuaries, inlets, rivers, islands, swamps, and marshes to have been inaccessible to those not familiar with the terrain, such as the Romans, who considered it unknown and inaccessible.

The majority of scholars believe that the Anglii lived on the coasts of the [[Baltic Sea]], probably in the southern part of the Jutland peninsula. This view is based partly on Old English and Danish traditions regarding persons and events of the fourth century, and partly because striking affinities to the cult of Nerthus as described by Tacitus are to be found in pre-Christian [[Scandinavia]]n religion.{{sfnp|Chadwick|1911|pp=18–19}}