Two major events in Old English period

The “Old English Period” saw two significant events that had a lasting influence on the English
language and they are,

(i) The introduction of Christianity by the Romans

(ii) A long series of massive attacks made on England by the Vikings.

1. Introduction of Christianity

The Romans governed Britain for about 400 years, from the middle of the first century to
the first half of the fifth. Christianity was introduced to the Celts in England during this
period of Roman authority, maybe for the first time. During the reign of the Romans, some
Celts converted to Christianity, although the religion's influence was limited to the lower and
middle classes.

As a result of the Anglo-Saxon invasions, these Christian Celts, like the non-Christian Celts,
were obliged to find shelter in the bleak forests and mountains in England's northern and
western parts. However, in 597, when St Augustine arrived in Kent with roughly forty
Christian missionaries under his command, the tide began to turn. He was sent to England by
Pope Gregory the Great to spread Christianity, thus he received the Roman church's financial
and spiritual assistance. However, these missionaries were initially terrified that the Anglo-
Saxons, who were known for their brutality and cruelty, would attack them. However, they
were greeted graciously and warmly by King Ethelbert of Kent, much to their delight.
Women played a crucial role in history taking an unexpected turn, such as in the history of
Christianity in England. King Ethelbert (c. 560-616) had a Christian wife who was very
beautiful. Because of his wife's persuasive charm, King Ethelbert was converted to
Christianity soon. Afterwards, the entire royal family was converted to a devoted Christian
family.

   
What the Old English period witnessed was not a tide in the affairs of men but a swelling tide
in favour of Christianity. One after another, circumstances changed in favour of Christianity
in England. King Edwin, the king of Northumbria, married one of the daughters of King
 Ethelbert, and like the queen of Kent, this queen of Northumbria got her husband, the king,
converted to Christianity. Even Bede presents a vivid account of how Bishop Paulinus
baptized numerous converts in the River Trent. Benedict Bishop, a Northumbrian noble,
devoted all his life to the spread of Christianity, particularly to the task of adorning
monasteries and equipping them with scholarly collections of Latin books on Christianity.
Bede, England’s first historian, wrote his famous Historia Ecclesiastica in a sanctuary of
Northumbria. Fact and fiction, legend and reality, superstition and religious devotion, literary
activities and recording of chronology—all these mingled together to create an attitudinal
climate in support of Christianity during the Old English period.
Caedmon, a labourer, working at the stables at Whitby, came to St Hilda, the
abbess, and recited a religious hymn in praise of God and said that that hymn had been
revealed to him in a dream. Caedmon’s report about what had happened in his vision
could not be dismissed as a tale told by an idiotic labourer. Caedmon turned out to be
“the first English poet known to us by name”, and the Caedmonian hymn proved to be
“possibly the oldest surviving piece of English poetry composed on English soil”. The
Anglo-Saxons were a militant and barbaric race that delighted in warfare and bloodshed.
Their primary occupation was to plunder, and their main pastime was to recount the
deeds of their ruthless warriors. Christianity for these barbaric people was a new
experience, a new ideology, a new perspective on life and an entirely new mode of living.
It thoroughly permeated their emotive being and became an integral part of their national
mentality.

This incident of the Christianity being introduced to the people of England is the first
major event in the old English period. For the Germanic tribes now entrenched in
England, the new experience of Christianity proved to be both a chance and a challenge to
push their linguistic capacity and inventiveness, notably in the realm of vocabulary.

2. The Scandinavian Influence:

The second event during the Old English period that had an everlasting influence on the
history of the English language was the violent inroads made by the Scandinavians known as
Vikings. The Viking era in European history lasted around 700 years, from AD 700 to 1100.
Many Vikings left their homelands in Scandinavia during this time and traveled by longboat to
other countries such as Britain and Ireland. The invaders were dubbed 'Danes' by the British, but
they came from Norway and Sweden as well as Denmark. Viking means 'pirate raid,' which is an
apt term given that they were ferocious warriors who frequently plundered monasteries in search
of treasure.

These Scandinavian people preferred the exciting and adventurous life of a pirate to the dull
and monotonous labour needed for agriculture. However, some Vikings were farmers and grew
crops. Other Vikings were skilful at crafting and made beautiful metalwork and wooden
carvings.

The first Viking raid recorded in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle was around AD 787. It started
with a fierce struggle between the Anglo-Saxons and the Vikings. The Vikings were pagans, not
Christians like most people living in Britain. They offered human sacrifices to their gods and
enjoyed mutilating their prisoners. So they did not think twice about raiding a monastery.
Christian monasteries in Britain were easy targets for the Vikings. The monks had no weapons,
and the buildings were filled with valuable treasures, like gold, jewels and books.

The Vikings ravaged East Anglia and Northumbria and firmly established themselves in
those kingdoms, with King Cnut being the most well-known Viking king of England (1016-
1035). Despite plundering and slaughtering Anglo-Saxons mercilessly for years, these Vikings
were more or less of the same tribal background. They came from the same part of Europe as the
Anglo-Saxons' original country.

The language of these Vikings was known as Old Norse which was basically the same as
the language of the early Germanic settlers in England. These Vikings influenced the English
language in a big way, nevertheless. The English language still uses some of their Old Norse
languages today. For example, words like ‘egg’, ‘muck’ and ‘dirt’. Even some modern town
names are based on Viking words! York places end in ‘thorpe’, ‘by’ or ‘kirk’. Hence, for
example, the Viking word for deer is “djúr” and village is ‘bȳ’ - together making “Derby”.

The army fought its way into northern England for several years, capturing the Anglo-
Saxon kingdoms of Northumbria, East Anglia, and most of Mercia. However, Alfred the Great,
the ruler of Wessex, did not succumb to the Vikings by AD874. Although King Alfred defeated
the Viking army in combat, he could not wholly expel the Vikings from the British Isles. The
Vikings and King Alfred made a treaty after years of fighting. Even after this pact, though, the
battle continued for many years. Finally, an imaginary dividing line was agreed upon that would
run from London in the south to Chester in the northwest of England. To the west were the
Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, while to the east were the rugged Viking regions known as the
Danelaw.

Therefore, these two chief events impacted the development of the English language
to a great extent.