A girl and her father - Britons - watch ships approaching…settlers from Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands…the people who will become the Anglo-Saxons.
Drama: The Anglo-Saxons arrive
Music. Waves breaking on a shingle beach
Narrator: England. Sixteen hundred years ago. A beach on the East coast. A man and a girl have seen something, a boat, coming their way.
Girl: Who are they Father?
Man: I don’t know.
Girl: Are they Britons like us?
Man: I don’t think so. Their boat looks strange. It’s too long to be one of ours.
Girl: Look Father. There’s another one. Two boats.
Man: No. Not two. Look further out; three…four…five. And see, there. More. Lots more.
Girl: Father - I’m frightened.
Narrator: They don’t know it, but the girl and her father are looking at visitors from across the sea. People who will change Britain forever. People we call The Anglo-Saxons.
Sixteen hundred years ago the Anglo-Saxons started coming across the sea to Britain from countries we now call Denmark, the Netherlands and Germany.
At first they were just raiders; they stole valuable possessions from the Britons and then went home.
But soon the invaders became settlers. They brought their families, they built farms and villages. These Anglo-Saxons had come to stay.
FX: A horse walking, a dog barking, a cockerel crows etc as a thane returns to his village/farm/home at evening.
Narrator: Two hundred years later: The Anglo-Saxons now rule Britain. An Anglo-Saxon lord - a thane - is returning home to his wife and family.
FX: Fire in hearth
Wife: I was worried; you’ve been away for days.
Thane: It was a long way.
Wife: Sit. I’ll bring you food.
Thane: Has all been well?
Wife: The children are fine, the crops are ripening. No wolves have attacked the sheep. All is well. Now… tell me of the meeting.
Thane: The witan was held two nights ago.
Wife: Tell me.
Thane: I’m tired. Tomorrow.
Wife: Were you allowed to enter the Great Hall? Were all the other thanes there?
Thane: I need to sleep.
Wife: Did you see the king?
Thane: Later.
Wife: Tell me now. I want to hear everything.
Thane: Alright…Yes, I entered the Great Hall. Yes, all the thanes of the kingdom were there.
Wife: Is the hall big?
Thane: Huge. Twenty men standing on each other’s shoulders wouldn’t reach the ceiling. The walls are hung with furs and tapestries – the finest. And swords and shields… The tables stretch the entire length of the hall.
Wife: And the king?
Thane: The king sat at the highest table, surrounded by his advisors. The thanes sat down the sides.
Wife: Was there a great feast?
Thane: Meat was roasting on two huge fires. The king’s servants poured horns of mead. Every man ate and drank his fill.
Wife: And…the witan?
Thane: The next day the King held his witan and we found out why he wanted us there; we are to prepare ourselves for battle.
Wife: A battle?
Thane: The kingdom to the north wants to take our land. We’re going to attack them before they attack us. I must leave in three days.
Wife: You? Why do you have to go?
Thane: It’s my duty as a thane. If the king asks me to fight then I must fight.
Wife: No, I don’t want you to go. There is work to be done here. Harvest is coming. Who’ll tell the servants what to do?
Thane: You will. You’ll be in charge.
Wife: They won’t listen to me!
Thane: They will listen. Anyway, I won’t be away for long. This is just a brief quarrel between kings. It’ll be over in no time.
Wife: You don’t know that. Please…
Thane: I have no choice. The King calls me and I must go. If I have to fight then I will fight.
Wife: But you’re not a fighter.
Thane: Really?
Wife: Once perhaps, but not any more. Now we are a farmers…landowners.
Thane: And why are we landowners? Why do we have a farm and fields and animals? Why do we have servants and live in this place? Because the king gave it all to us! So we serve the King. And when he calls us to battle, we do not argue. We pick up our weapons and fight, to the death if we have to.
Narrator: For the next three hundred years the five main Anglo-Saxon kingdoms - East Anglia, Mercia, Kent, Northumbria and Wessex - became stronger and richer. Sometimes they quarrelled and fought battles against each other… but they also built castles and towns and farmed the fertile soil of England.
But then, in 873, new ships appeared sailing towards the English coast - fierce invaders from the north. The Vikings.
1. The Anglo-Saxons arrive
1600 years ago. A beach on the east coast of England. A child and her father watch as ships appear on the horizon. They are from the countries we now called Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands…people who will become the Anglo-Saxons.
The first Anglo-Saxons arrived as raiders, taking away with them whatever precious articles they could plunder. But later they brought their families and settled the fertile land.
Two hundred years later and the Anglo-Saxons now rule the land. A thane returns to his home where his wife quizzes him about the recent 'witan' - a meeting of Anglo-Saxon leaders. The thane reveals that he must shortly leave to fight for the king. Everything they possess is dependent on royal patronage, so he must do as the king commands.
Later, new ships appear on the horizon - new raiders from the north. The Vikings.
Resources
Download / print the episode transcript (pdf)
Song: 'We are Anglo-Saxons!' (Vocal)
We work the fields
And sow the crops
We’ve got great craft skills too.
Wood, metal, glass, pottery and gold
We’re proud of all we do.
Anglo-Saxons!
We’re strong and brave and true!
Anglo-Saxons!
Work hard in all we do!
Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands
These were once our homes.
Until we sailed across the sea
And to ‘Angle-land’ did roam!
Anglo-Saxons!
We’re strong and brave and true!
Anglo-Saxons!
Work hard in all we do!
(Girls)
We weave the cloth
Prepare the meals
Make cheese and brew the ale.
(Boys)
We learn to hunt
And use the spear
And how to fish and sail.
Anglo-Saxons!
We’re strong and brave and true!
Anglo-Saxons!
Work hard in all we do!
We love to gather round the fire
On dark and stormy nights
And sing and hear exciting tales
Of great heroic fights!
Anglo-Saxons!
We’re strong and brave and true!
Anglo-Saxons!
Work hard in all we do!
Anglo-Saxons!
We’re strong and brave and true!
Anglo-Saxons!
Work hard in all we do!
More from this series
The reign of Alfred the Great, including his struggles with the Vikings.
The reign of Athelstan - often considered the first true king of all England.
The Danes are terrorised by a monster called Grendel and Beowulf - a prince of Geatland - is determined to help them.
