For centuries, the Anglo-Saxons have loomed large in the imagination of British history. Traditionally portrayed as the foundational ethnic and cultural group that laid the groundwork for England, the “Anglo-Saxon” narrative has been imbued with notions of racial purity, national identity, and civilizational inheritance. Yet, in recent decades, historians, archaeologists, and cultural scholars have increasingly challenged and dismantled the myths surrounding the Anglo-Saxons. This article explores the construction of the Anglo-Saxon myth, its uses and abuses throughout history—especially in the 19th and 20th centuries—and how modern scholarship is reshaping our understanding of this early medieval period.
The Historical Anglo-Saxons: Migration and Synthesis
The term “Anglo-Saxon” refers to a group of Germanic peoples—primarily the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes—who migrated to the island of Britain following the decline of Roman rule in the 5th century CE. Contrary to earlier ideas of a full-scale invasion, current archaeological and genetic evidence suggests a more complex and gradual process of migration, assimilation, and cultural synthesis with the native Romano-British population.
Rather than displacing the indigenous people outright, the newcomers likely intermarried, traded, and coexisted with them in varying degrees, resulting in a hybrid culture. The resulting polities, such as Mercia, Wessex, and Northumbria, were politically fragmented but culturally dynamic, adopting Christianity, creating art, and engaging in extensive trade with the continent and Scandinavia.
The Birth of a Myth: The Victorian Reinvention of Anglo-Saxon England
The modern myth of the Anglo-Saxons was largely shaped in the 19th century, during the height of British imperialism and nationalism. Victorian scholars and politicians romanticized the Anglo-Saxons as the pure ancestors of the English people—an imagined origin that conveniently emphasized continuity, racial homogeneity, and moral superiority.
Key to this construction was the notion of the "Anglo-Saxon race," often contrasted with the "Norman yoke" (a mythologized idea that the Norman Conquest of 1066 suppressed a freer and more democratic Anglo-Saxon society). This narrative was used to bolster ideas of British exceptionalism, democracy, and even colonial domination. shutdown123