Who Were the Saxons, and How Did the Anglo-Saxons Emerge? Origins, Mythology, and Migration

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Who Were the Saxons, and How Did the Anglo-Saxons Emerge? Origins, Mythology, and Migration

Before You Begin: An Important Note for the Reader

If you have always assumed that "Saxon" and "Anglo-Saxon" were identical terms, or that the English language resulted from a blend of Germanic tribes and Celts, you are not alone. This is one of the most common misconceptions in popular history.

To understand the origins of England and the English language, two fundamental facts must be clarified:

• The Merger Behind the Name: The term Anglo-Saxon does not stem from a union with the Celts, but rather from the alliance of two distinct Germanic tribes that crossed the North Sea: the Saxons (from northern Germany) and the Angles (from southern Denmark).
• The Origins of English: English (Old English) developed directly from the Germanic dialects brought by these tribes. In fact, the word England derives from Engla-land—which literally translates to "Land of the Angles."

Below, we dive into the history of this migration, the pagan mythology practiced prior to Christianization, and how this tribal past continues to be weaponized in contemporary politics.

From Germanic Tribes to Western Identity: Origins, Mythology, and the Political Exploitation of the Saxons and Anglo-Saxons

Introduction

Political shifts in contemporary Europe—marked by the rise of ultranationalist movements and debate over national identity—frequently invoke symbols and narratives from the pre-modern past. Elections in regional German states such as Saxony have reignited public interest in Germanic tribal roots and the historical meaning behind terms like "Saxon" and "Anglo-Saxon."

However, the space between academic historiography and popular perception is fraught with anachronisms. Understanding the formation of the Western European world requires deconstructing myths of ethnic homogeneity. It demands analyzing the movement of northern European tribes starting in the fifth century AD, examining their social structures, pagan religious practices, and migratory patterns alongside the contemporary mechanisms that weaponize this historical memory.

1. Origins and Historical Background: Saxons, Angles, and Jutes

Before a unified identity emerged in Great Britain, northern Europe was inhabited by several decentralized Germanic tribal confederations:

• The Saxons: Occupied the plains of northern continental Europe, concentrating between the Elbe and Weser river basins (the area of present-day Lower Saxony and Schleswig-Holstein, Germany). Their ethnonym originates from their use of the seax, a single-edged fighting knife. They maintained a decentralized society divided into nobles (edhilingui), freemen (frilingi), and serfs (lazzi).
• The Angles: A Germanic tribe originating from the Angeln peninsula in southern modern-day Denmark and northern Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. Crucially, the Angles were not of Celtic origin; they belonged to the same Germanic ethnolinguistic branch as the Saxons.
• The Jutes: A Germanic people from the northern Jutland peninsula who played a decisive role in settling southeastern Britain (the region of Kent).

The Brythonic Celts, meanwhile, represented the indigenous population of Britain, which had become deeply Romanized after centuries under Roman imperial rule.

2. The Invasion of Britain and the Emergence of Anglo-Saxon Identity

Following the collapse of Roman military administration in Britain around AD 410, local Celtic populations faced intense military pressure from non-Romanized northern peoples, such as the Picts and Scots. According to accounts by the monk Gildas (De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae) and later the Venerable Bede (Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum), Celtic leaders hired Germanic mercenaries as foederati.

Continental Europe (5th Cent.)               Great Britain
[ Saxons / Angles / Jutes ] --(Migration)--> [ Brythonic Celts ]
                                                   |
                                     (Cultural Fusion & Territorial Conflicts)
                                                   |
                                                   v
                                         [ Anglo-Saxon People ]
                                                   |
                                                   v
                                        [ Engla-land / England ]

Starting around AD 449, migratory flows accelerated. Driven by land scarcity on the continent and the island's weak defenses, Angles, Saxons, and Jutes established permanent settlements, pushing Celtic populations toward the western and northern peripheries (Wales, Cornwall, and Scotland).

Old English and the Anglo-Saxon identity emerged from the linguistic and cultural synthesis among the kingdoms established by these tribes. This process gave rise to the name Engla-land ("Land of the Angles"), the conceptual foundation of modern England.

Historical Note: Not all Saxons migrated to Britain. Continental Saxons remained in northern Germany, preserving their tribal structure and pagan religion until the eighth century, when they were forcibly converted to Christianity and absorbed into the Carolingian Empire following the bloody Saxon Wars (AD 772–804) led by Charlemagne.

3. The Germanic Pagan Pantheon and Mythology

Prior to Christianization—carried out between the sixth and eighth centuries by the Gregorian Mission and Hiberno-Scottish monks—Anglo-Saxon populations practiced a branch of pre-Christian Germanic paganism, sharing cosmological roots with Norse mythology.

Anglo-Saxon Deity	Norse Equivalent	Primary Domain	English Etymological Heritage
Woden	Odin	Wisdom, war, magic; patron of royal lineages	Wednesday (Woden's Day)
Thunor	Thor	Thunder, physical strength, protection of peasants	Thursday (Thunor's Day)
Tiw	Tyr	War, honor, justice of the assembly (Thing)	Tuesday (Tiw's Day)
Fríge	Frigg / Freyja	Fertility, love, motherhood, the domestic sphere	Friday (Fríge's Day)

Sacred rites were conducted outdoors in natural sanctuaries, sacred groves, and near water sources—such as the Irminsul, a sacred cosmic pillar venerated by continental Saxons until its destruction by order of Charlemagne. The Anglo-Saxon worldview was governed by the concept of Wyrd (inexorable fate) and the moral duty of achieving glory in battle (dom), preserved orally through the songs of poets (scops), as recorded in the epic poem Beowulf.

4. Political Weaponization and the Myth of Ethnic Purity

Critical historical analysis reveals clear contradictions in how contemporary ultranationalist movements manipulate the Germanic past:

• Deconstructing the Myth of Ethnic Purity: The genesis of the Anglo-Saxons itself undermines the premise of a static, isolated ethnic group. Anglo-Saxon identity formed through the continuous merger of successive Germanic migratory waves with Celtic populations, followed later by Scandinavian (Viking) and Norman influences.
• Historical Misuse of the Term: The label "Anglo-Saxon" is often used anachronistically in geopolitical discourse to imply an unchanging Western ethnic or cultural hegemony, ignoring the dynamic, hybrid nature of the Early Middle Ages.
• Co-optation of Pagan Symbols: Far-right parties and extremist groups in modern Germany (particularly within regional strongholds like Saxony) appropriate runes, imagery of Woden, and narratives of Saxon resistance. This decontextualizes Late Antique spiritual practices to justify twenty-first-century political ideologies.

Historiographical knowledge serves as an antidote to memory manipulation, demonstrating that migration and cultural exchange are the core structural elements of European nation-building.

Conclusion

The formation of the Anglo-Saxon people and the history of continental Saxons are pivotal chapters in the transition from Late Antiquity to the Middle Ages. Far from representing an isolated or unchanging bloodline, these groups resulted from complex processes of migration, conflict, and cultural assimilation that shaped the language, landscape, and religious history of the Western world.

Understanding these origins apart from nineteenth-century Romanticism or modern political exploitation allows us to see modern nations for what they truly are: entities built upon pluralistic migrations and the constant reshaping of identity.

Bibliography

Bede (the Venerable). The Ecclesiastical History of the English People. Edited by Judith McClure and Roger Collins. Oxford: Oxford World's Classics, 2008.

Blair, Peter Hunter. An Introduction to Anglo-Saxon England. 3rd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003.

Gildas. The Ruin of Britain and Other Works (De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae). Edited and translated by Michael Winterbottom. Chichester: Phillimore, 1978.

Higham, Nicholas J., and Martin J. Ryan. The Anglo-Saxon World. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2013.

Stenton, Frank M. Anglo-Saxon England. 3rd ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001.

Wood, Ian. The Merovingian Kingdoms: 450–751. London: Longman, 1994.