1. The Anglo-Saxons

2. When the Romans left Britain in 410 A.D., a new group of people came in ships across the North Sea. These people were the Anglo-Saxons, and they were a mixture of people from north Germany, Denmark and northern Holland.

3. Farmers, sailors, iron smiths, woodworkers Lived in villages Houses built from wood Clothes made from woolen cloth or animal skins Men: tunics with tight trousers or leggings Women: long dresses

4. Gatherings and feasts took place in great halls Loved tales about brave warriors Music often played to accompany stories and poems (harp or lyre) Enjoyed riddles for entertainment

5. Anglo-Saxons at War Armies usually small, with only a few hundred men Soldiers had spears, axes, swords and bows and arrows Helmets and wooden shields Fought on foot during a battle

6. Religion Anglo-Saxons arrived in Britain as Pagans, but gradually converted to Christianity. Paganism: represents a wide variety of traditions that emphasize reverence for nature and a revival of ancient polytheistic and animistic religious practices. Polytheism: the belief in or worship of more than one god. Animism: the belief in the existence of individual spirits that inhabit natural objects and phenomena

7. Kennings Literary devices in which a poetic phrase substitutes for a noun Provides powerful imagery that helps the audience focus on the words of the scop, or poet telling the story

8. Alacrity (noun) speed or quickness; eagerness

9. Antithesis (noun) the direct or exact opposite

10. Arbitrate (verb) to judge or decide in the matter so as to reconcile differences

11. Baleful (adj.) portending evil; ominous

12. Cache (noun) a hiding place used especially for storing provisions

13. Caroused (verb) to engage in boisterous, drunken merrymaking

14. Contrived (adj.) obviously planned or calculated; not spontaneous or natural

15. Deluge (noun) something that overwhelms as if by a great flood

16. Ethos (noun) the distinctive spirit of a culture or an era

17. Extol (verb) to praise highly or exalt

18. Exultant (adj.) marked by great joy or jubilation; triumphant

19. Fissure (noun) a long narrow opening; a crack or cleft

20. Glutton (noun) a person who is devoted to eating and drinking to excess

21. Inexorable (adj.) not capable of being persuaded by entreaty; relentless

22. Keel (noun) the principle structural member of a ship, running lengthwise down the center from bow to stern

23. Pinioned (verb) to restrain or immobilize by binding the arms

24. Quell (verb) to put down forcible; suppress

25. Reticence (noun) the state or quality of being reluctant; unwillingness

26. Solace (noun) comfort in sorrow, misfortune, or distress; consolation

27. Stalwart (adj.) having or marked by imposing physical strength

28. Unavailing (adj.) ineffectual or useless; futile

29. Vernacular (noun) the standard native language of a country or locality