following the withdrawal of the roman legions to gaul modern france around 400, the british isles fell into a very dark period of several centuries from which almost no written records survive. the roman-british culture that had existed under 400 years of roman rule disappeared under relentless invasion and migration by barbarians. celts came over from ireland a tribe called the scotti gave their name to the northern part of the main island, scotland. saxons and angles came from germany, frisians from modern holland, and jutes from modern denmark. by 600, the angles and saxons controlled most of modern england. by 800, only modern wales, scotland, and west cornwall remained in largely celtic hands.

the new inhabitants were called anglo-saxons from the angles and saxons. the angles gave their name to the new culture england from angle-land, and the germanic language they brought with them, english, replaced the native celtic and previously imported la...