The Beginning of the Language

England, the Land of the Angles. English, their language. But from what corner of the world did the Angles travel from? We head to Germany, the land of the Anglo-Saxons, also to Denmark, the center of the Proto-Germanic languages. Here, along this northerly coast and on the surrounding Islands live the Angles, the Saxons and the Jutes (although they have been found to live slightly further south, even as far as the Rhineland). This is where the English language began. During the end of the 5th Century and throughout the 6th, these groups of people travelled into Britain, beginning the era of Old English. This movement of people was on such a heavy scale that little influence was made on the language by the previous Romano-Celtic inhabitant. Although, this movement was not an invasion, the Romans had left by 410, and little conflict arose from their coming. By around the year 700 the whole of England, except Cornwallis, was occupied by the Anglo-Saxons (Although Wales still remained a British stronghold). But English was still in its youngest form; if we were to view it now it would appear as a foreign language, the comparisons with modern English still being distant and very difficult to see.