The '''Angles''' is a modern English word for a [[Germanic languages|Germanic-speaking]] people who took their name from the cultural ancestral region of [[Angeln]], a modern district located in [[Schleswig-Holstein]], [[Germany]]. Ancient Angeln preceded all modern national distinctions and was probably not coterminous with the modern.

==Etymology==
The ethnic name "'''Angle'''" has had various forms and spellings, the earliest attested being '''Anglii''', the Latinized name of a Germanic tribe mentioned in the [[Germania]] of [[Tacitus]]. It is adjectival in form. An individual of this tribe would have been called '''Anglius''' if male and '''Anglia''' if female, (the plural forms being '''Anglii''' and '''Angliae''', respectively). The masculine is used for the generic form.

The original noun from which this adjective was produced remains unknown for certain. The stem is theorized to have had the form *Ang?l/r-. The more prominent etymological theories concerning the name's origin have included:
* Derivation from the Latin word ''angulus'', translating as "Angle"
* The [[Old English]] word for the Baltic district of [[Angeln]] (where the Angles are believed to have emigrated from) is ''Angel''. This is the preferred etymological theory amongst historians, and may connect to ''Angle'', (the peninsula is marked for its "angular" shape).
* It may mean "the people who dwell by the Narrow Water," (i.e. the [[Schlei]]), from the [[Proto-Indo-European language]] [[root (linguistics)|root]] ''ang-'' meaning "narrow".
* It may refer to [[fishing]] by the method called "[[angling]]."
* Derivation from the Germanic god [[Ingwaz]] or the [[Ingvaeones]] federation of which the Angles were part, (the initial vowel could as well be "a" or "e").

Pope [[Gregory the Great]] is the first known to have simplified '''Anglii''' to '''Angli''', which he did in an epistle, the latter form developing into the preferred form of the word in Britain and throughout the continent, (the generic form becoming '''Anglus''' in answer). The country remained '''Anglia''' in Latin. Meanwhile, there are several likenesses of form and meaning attested in Old English literature: King Alfred's translation of ''Orosius'' uses '''Angelcynn''' (-kin) to describe England and the English people; [[Bede]], '''Angelfolc''' (-folk); there are also such forms as '''Engel''', '''Englan''' (the people), '''Englaland''' and '''Englisc''', all showing signs of vocalic mutation and later developing into the dominant forms.

'''Angle''' is used as the root of the [[French language|French]] and [[Anglo-Norman language|Anglo-Norman]] words '''Angleterre''' (Angleland, i.e. England) and '''Anglais''' (English).

== Early history ==
===Angles under other names===
Two important geographers, [[Strabo]] and [[Pliny the Elder|Pliny]], are silent concerning the Angles. Their reasons for this exclusion was their consideration of the south shore of the [[Baltic Sea|Baltic]] to be ''terra incognita'', "unknown land." They both go on to describe that shore, however. Since the Angles took a geographic name, they likely had other names not based on geography.

Strabo's mention of the [[Battle of Teutoburg Forest]] places his knowledge in the final years of [[Augustus]]' reign and after, which is the early first century.
Strabo (7.2.1, 4 and 7.3.1) states that the [[Cimbri]] still live on the peninsula ([[Jutland]]) where they always did, even though some of them liked to wander. Beyond the [[Elbe]] the coastal people are unknown, but south of them are the [[Suebi]] from the Elbe to the Getae ([[Goths]]). Strabo worked eastward from the [[Rhine]].

Pliny on the other hand worked from east to west (4.13.94). His description leaves the [[Black Sea]], crosses the Ripaei mountains to the shore of the northern ocean, and follows it westward to [[Cadiz]]. In the first direction is direction in [[Scythia]], where the [[Sarmatians|Sarmati]], [[Venedi]], [[Sciri]] and [[Hirri]] are located, as far as the [[Vistula]].
Then the [[Inguaeones]] begin. Baunonia ([[Bornholm]]) is an island opposite Scythia. Cylipenus, probably the Bay of [[Kiel]], is described, and from there a gulf called Lagnus, which is on the frontier of the Cimbri. Its location is not known, but it was likely in the Angeln region.

In Pliny, the Inguaeones consisted of the Cimbri and the [[Teutones]] (the [[Chauci]] as well, but they were not in this region). If Lagnus was situated on the Cimbrian frontier and after Kiel, then Angeln must have been in the territory of the Teutones. They were perhaps not named Angles at that time; however, the territory of the Teutones probably included the [[Vorpommern]] and the region south to the Elbe (mainly Holstein), accounting for the implied larger range of the people called Angles in later sources.

===Tacitus===
[[Image:Uebersicht-SL.png|thumb|right|Schleswig-Flensburg district]]
Possibly the first instance of the Angles in recorded history is in [[Tacitus]]' ''[[Germania (book)|Germania]]'', chapter 40, in which the ''Anglii'' are mentioned in passing in a list of Germanic tribes. He gives no precise indication of their geographical position but states that, together with six other tribes, they worshipped a goddess named [[Nerthus]], whose sanctuary was situated on "an island in the Ocean."

The other tribes are the [[Reudigni]], [[Aviones]], [[Varini]], [[Eudoses]], [[Suarini]] and [[Nuitones]], which are together described as being behind ramparts of rivers and woods; that is, inaccessible to attack. As the Eudoses are the [[Jutes]], these names probably refer to localities in Jutland or the Baltic coast; i.e., they are all Cimbri or Teutones. The coast contains sufficient estuaries, inlets, rivers, islands, swamps and marshes to have been then inaccessible to those not familiar with the terrain, such as the Romans, who labelled it unknown and inaccessible country.

The majority of scholars believe that the Anglii had lived from the beginning on the coasts of the [[Baltic Sea]], probably in the southern part of the Jutish peninsula. The evidence for this view is derived partly from English and Danish traditions dealing with persons and events of the 4th century, and partly from the fact that striking affinities to the cult of [[Nerthus]] as described by Tacitus are to be found in Scandinavian, especially Swedish and Danish, religion.

Investigations in this subject have rendered it very probable that the island of Nerthus was Sjælland ([[Zealand]]), and the kings of Wessex traced their ancestry ultimately to a certain [[Scyld]], who is clearly to be identified with [[Skiöldr]], the mythical founder of the Danish royal family ([[Skiöldungar]]). In English tradition this person is connected with "Scedeland" (pl.), i.e. [[Scandinavia]], while in Scandinavian tradition he is associated with the ancient royal residence at [[Lejre]] in Sjælland.

The account in Germania is contradictory to that of Strabo and Pliny in at least one major point. Tacitus viewed the Baltic as the Suebian Sea and lists the seven tribes as being in Suebian territory. The Suebi were among the [[Herminones]] of central Germany. And yet Pliny accounts for the Teutones as being Inguaeones, the Ingaevones of Tacitus. In Strabo, the Suebi are to the south of the coast. The Suebian language went on to become [[Old High German]], while the Angles and Jutes were among the speakers of [[Old Saxon]].

===Suevi Angili===
[[Ptolemy]] in his ''Geography'' (2.10), half a century later, presents a somewhat more complex view. The [[Saxons]] are placed around the lower [[Elbe]], which area they could have reached merely by an extension of the Saxon alliance. East of them are the Teutones and also a dissimilation of them, the Teutonoari, which denotes "men" (wer); i.e., "the Teuton men." These Teutons or Teuton men appear to have been in Angeln and the land around it.

The Angles, as such, are not listed at all. Instead there are '''Syeboi Angeilloi''' , Latinized to '''Suevi Angili''', located south of the middle Elbe. Owing to the uncertainty of this passage, there has been much speculation regarding the original home of the Angli. One theory is that they dwelt in the basin of the [[Saale]] (in the neighbourhood of the canton [[Engilin]]), from which region the ''Lex Angliorum et Werinorum hoc est Thuringorum'' is believed by many to have come.

A second possible solution is that these Angles of Ptolemy are not those of Schleswig at all. According to [[Julius Pokorny]] the Angri- in [[Angrivarii]], the -angr in [[Hardanger]] and the Angl- in Anglii all come from the same root meaning "bend", but in different senses. In other words, the similarity of the names is strictly coincidental and does not reflect any ethnic unity beyond Germanic. The Suevi Angeli would have been in [[Lower Saxony]] or near it and, like Ptolemy's Suevi [[Semnones]], were among the Suebi at the time.

===Bede===
[[Image:Beda Petersburgiensis f3v.jpg|thumb|left|Manuscript of Bede.]]
[[Bede]] states that the Angli, before they came to Great Britain, dwelt in a land called Angulus, and similar evidence is given by the ''[[Historia Brittonum]]''. King [[Alfred the Great]] and the chronicler [[Æthelweard (historian)|Æthelweard]] identified this place with the district that is now called [[Angeln]], in the province of [[Schleswig]] (Slesvig), though it may then have been of greater extent, and this identification agrees with the indications given by Bede. Confirmation is afforded by English and Danish traditions relating to two kings named [[Wermund]] and [[Offa of Angel|Offa]], from whom the Mercian royal family were descended and whose exploits are connected with Angeln, Schleswig and [[Rendsburg]]. Danish tradition has preserved record of two governors of Schleswig, father and son, in their service, [[Frowinus]] ([[Freawine]]) and [[Ket and Wig|Wigo]] (Wig), from whom the royal family of [[Wessex]] claimed descent. During the 5th century the Angli invaded Great Britain, after which time their name does not recur on the continent except in the title of ''Suevi Angili''.

The province of Schleswig has proved rich in prehistoric antiquities that date apparently from the 4th and 5th centuries A.D. A large cremation cemetery has been found at [[Borgstedterfeld]], between Rendsburg and [[Eckernförde]], which has yielded many urns and brooches closely resembling those found in heathen graves in England. Of still greater importance are the great deposits at [[Thorsberg moor]] (in Angeln) and [[Nydam]], which contained large quantities of arms, ornaments, articles of clothing, agricultural implements, etc., and in the latter case even ships. By the help of these discoveries, Angle civilization in the age preceding the invasion of Great Britain can be pieced together.

== Great Britain ==
[[Image:Map of England within the United Kingdom.png|thumb|right|England]]
According to sources such as the Bede, after the invasion of Great Britain, the Angles split up and founded the kingdoms of the ''Nord Angelnen'' ([[Northumbria]]), ''Ost Angelnen'' ([[East Anglia]]), and the ''Mittlere Angelnen'' ([[Mercia]]). Thanks to the major influence of the Saxons, the tribes were collectively called [[Anglo-Saxons]] by the [[Normans]]. The regions of East Anglia and Northumbria are still known by their original titles to this day.

The rest of that people stayed at the center of the Angle homeland in the northeastern portion of the modern German bundesland of [[Schleswig-Holstein]], on the [[Jutland Peninsula]]. There a small peninsular form is still called "[[Angeln]]" today and is formed as a triangle drawn roughly from modern [[Flensburg]] on the Flensburger Fjord to the [[City of Schleswig]] and then to Maasholm, on the [[Schlei]] inlet.

This small and relatively easterly geographic localisation of the original Angeln tribal group has led to one of the Anglo-Saxon invasion's enduring mysteries: how it is possible that the Anglo-Saxons were so frequently mentioned as colonisers of ancient Great Britain in all the ancient and medieval written sources, while evidence of the neighbouring and much more powerful [[Frisians]]' concurrent colonising activities in Great Britain has been so limited to discoveries in archeological science, and more often to logical deductions and inferences alone. Ethnic Frisians are known to have inhabited the land directly in the path of any migration route from Angeln to Great Britain (except for the long and difficult route by sea around the northern tip of Denmark). They also inhabited lands between the ancient Saxon domain and Great Britain; yet they are rarely mentioned as having taken part in the vast migration. This same hypothesis has been applied to the [[Franks]], since the Saxons made a short stay in [[Gallia Lugdunensis|northwestern Gaul]] (the [[Bessin]] in what became [[Normandy]]) before ultimately moving to Britain. In the Roman era, much of the southern coast was called the [[Saxon Shore]] and attested for their presence in the [[English Channel]].

== St. Gregory ==
The Angles are the subject of a legend about [[Pope Gregory I]] which apparently has roots in history. Gregory happened to see a group of Angle children from [[Deira (kingdom)|Deira]] for sale as slaves in the Roman market. Struck by the beauty of their fair-skinned complexions and bright blue eyes, Gregory inquired about their background. When told they were Angles, he replied with a Latin pun that translates well into English: “Non Angli, sed angeli” ("Not Angles, but angels"). Supposedly, he thereafter resolved to convert their pagan homeland to Christianity.{{Fact|date=November 2007}}

Most historians doubt the validity of this account and emend Pope Gregory's statement to have essentially been: "These people could be Angels if only we could convert them."{{Fact|date=November 2007}}

==See also==
{{portalpar|Ancient Germanic culture}}
*[[Germanic peoples]]
*[[List of Germanic peoples]]
* For the rulers of the Angles prior to their migration to Great Britain, see [[List of kings of the Angles]].
*[[Thorsberg moor]]

==References==
* {{1911 |article=Angli |author=[[Hector Munro Chadwick]] }}

==External links==
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/2076470.stm English and Welsh are races apart]; BBC; 30 June, 2002.
* [http://www.prospect-magazine.co.uk/article_details.php?id=7817 British Islanders come mainly from Spain]; Prospect Magazine; 18 November, 2006.

[[Category:Ancient Germanic peoples]]
[[Category:Anglo-Saxon people| Angles]]
[[Category:Ethnic groups in Europe]]
[[Category:History of Northumberland]]
[[Category:History of the Germanic peoples]]
[[Category:Migration Period]]
[[Category:West Germanic peoples]]
[[Category:Angles| ]]

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