| The True Origins of the Saxons The German scholar Kurt Oertel believes that the Saxons may have actually been Anglian war-bands. Another historian writes: The Saxons of the third and fourth centuries seem to have been organized in war-bands, constantly forming and reforming for particular enterprises. It is highly likely that the name 'Saxon' was applied by terrified provincials to any group of warriors who appeared from the northern seas. There will have been little inducement to make enquiries about their precise tribal affiliation. All right. Fine. I am not a terrified provincial from the third century. I'm a twenty-first century man of English descent who is making the enquiry now. It is true that the first mention of the Saxons in history located them "upon the neck of the Cimbric peninsula", territory that was dominated by the Angles. As the Angles expanded, they left archaeological evidence of their settlements in Holstein. They fanned out into Mecklenburg to the southeast, Thuringia to the south, and Friesland to the southwest. Many scholars believe that, even before their migration to Britain, the Germanic tribes were mixed into one large confederation with the Angles providing the leadership and organization as well as most of the migrants. So, considering the archaeological and historical evidence, it may very well be that Mr. Oertel is right. The people that the Romans and Britons called 'Saxons' were really Angles. He concludes: "...the Saxons may have been an offspring of the Angles, or to be more precise, that the Saxons originally were the warrior-club of the Angles who eventually became an ethnic unit of their own..." |
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