We must begin by dismissing from our minds all those modern notions which are almost inevitably6 implied by the use of language directly derived7 from that of our heathen ancestors, but now mixed up in our conceptions with the most advanced forms of European civilisation8. We must not allow such words as "king" and "English" to mislead us into a species of filial blindness to the real nature of our Teutonic forefathers10. The little community of wild farmers and warriors13 who lived among the dim woodlands of Sleswick, beside the swampy14 margin15 of the North Sea, has grown into the nucleus16 of a vast empire, only very partially17 Germanic in blood, and enriched by all the alien culture of Egypt, Assyria, Greece, and Rome. But as it still preserves the identical tongue of its early barbarous days, we are naturally tempted18 to read our modern acquired feelings into the simple but familiar terms employed by our continental19 predecessors20. What the early English called a king we should now-a-days call a chief; what they called a meeting of wise men we should now-a-days call a palaver21. In fact, we must recollect22 that we are dealing23 with a purely24 barbaric race—not savage25, indeed, nor without a certain rude culture of its own, the result of long centuries of previous development; yet essentially26 military and predatory in its habits, and akin27 in its material civilisation to many races which we now regard as immeasurably our inferiors. If we wish for a modern equivalent of the primitive Anglo-Saxon level of culture, we may perhaps best find it in the Kurds of the Turkish and Persian frontier, or in the Mahrattas of the wild mountain region of the western Deccan.
The early English in Sleswick and Friesland had partially reached the agricultural stage of civilisation. They tilled little plots of ground in the forest; but they depended more largely for subsistence upon their cattle, and they were also hunters and trappers in the great belts of woodland or marsh5 which everywhere surrounded their isolated28 villages. They were acquainted with the use of bronze from the first period of their settlement in Europe, and some of the battle-axes or shields which they manufactured from this metal were beautifully chased with exquisite30 decorative31 patterns, equalling in taste the ornamental32 designs still employed by the Polynesian islanders. Such weapons, however, were doubtless intended for the use of the chieftains only, and were probably employed as insignia of rank alone. They are still discovered in the barrows which cover the remains33 of the early chieftains; though it is possible that they may really belong to the monuments of a yet earlier race. But iron was certainly employed by the English, at least, from about the first century of the Christian34 era, and its use was perhaps introduced into the marshlands of Sleswick by the Germanic conquerors35 of the north. Even at this early date, abundant proof exists of mercantile intercourse36 with the Roman world (probably through Pannonia), whereby the alien culture of the south was already engrafted in part upon the low civilisation of the native English. Amber37 was then exported from the Baltic, while gold, silver, and glass beads38 were given in return. Roman coins are discovered in Low German tombs of the first five centuries in Sleswick, Holstein, Friesland, and the Isles39; and Roman patterns are imitated in the iron weapons and utensils40 of the same period. Gold byzants of the fifth century prove an intercourse with Constantinople at the exact date of the colonisation of Britain. From the very earliest moment when we catch a glimpse of its nature, the home-grown English culture had already begun to be modified by the superior arts of Rome. Even the alphabet was known and used in its Runic form, though the absence of writing materials caused its employment to be restricted to inscriptions41 on wooden tablets, on rude stone monuments, or on utensils of metal-work. A golden drinking-horn found in Sleswick, and engraved42 with the maker's name, referred to the middle of the fourth century, contains the earliest known specimen43 of the English language.
The early English society was founded entirely44 on the tie of blood. Every clan45 or family lived by itself and formed a guild46 for mutual47 protection, each kinsman48 being his brother's keeper, and bound to avenge49 his death by feud50 with the tribe or clan which had killed him. This duty of blood-revenge was the supreme51 religion of the race. Moreover, the clan was answerable as a whole for the ill-deeds of all its members; and the fine payable52 for murder or injury was handed over by the family of the wrong-doer to the family of the injured man.
Each little village of the old English community possessed53 a general independence of its own, and lay apart from all the others, often surrounded by a broad belt or mark of virgin54 forest. It consisted of a clearing like those of the American backwoods, where a single family or kindred had made its home, and preserved its separate independence intact. Each of these families was known by the name of its real or supposed ancestor, the patronymic being formed by the addition of the syllable55 ing. Thus the descendants of ?lla would be called ?llings, and their ham or stockade56 would be known as ?llingaham, or in modern form Allingham. So the tun or enclosure of the Culmings would be Culmingatun, similarly modernised into Culmington. Names of this type abound57 in the newer England at the present day; as in the case of Birmingham, Buckingham, Wellington, Kensington, Basingstoke, and Paddington. But while in America the clearing is merely a temporary phase, and the border of forest is soon cut down so as to connect the village with its neighbours, in the old Anglo-Saxon fatherland the border of woodland, heath, or fen59 was jealously guarded as a frontier and natural defence for the little predatory and agricultural community. Whoever crossed it was bound to give notice of his coming by blowing a horn; else he was cut down at once as a stealthy enemy. The marksmen wished to remain separate from all others, and only to mix with those of their own kin9. In this primitive love of separation we have the germ of that local independence and that isolated private home life which is one of the most marked characteristics of modern Englishmen.
In the middle of the clearing, surrounded by a wooden stockade, stood the village, a group of rude detached huts. The marksmen each possessed a separate little homestead, consisting usually of a small wooden house or shanty60, a courtyard, and a cattle-fold. So far, private property in land had already begun. But the forest and the pasture land were not appropriated: each man had a right from year to year to let loose his kine or horses on a certain equal or proportionate space of land assigned to him by the village in council. The wealth of the people consisted mainly in cattle which fed on the pasture, and pigs turned out to fatten61 on the acorns62 of the forest: but a small portion of the soil was ploughed and sown; and this portion also was distributed to the villagers for tillage by annual arrangement. The hall of the chief rose in the midst of the lesser63 houses, open to all comers. The village moot64, or assembly of freemen, met in the open air, under some sacred tree, or beside some old monumental stone, often a relic65 of the older aboriginal66 race, marking the tomb of a dead chieftain, but worshipped as a god by the English immigrants. At these informal meetings, every head of a family had a right to appear and deliberate. The primitive English constitution was a pure republican aristocracy or oligarchy67 of householders, like that which still survives in the Swiss forest cantons.
But there were yet distinctions of rank in the villages and in the loose tribes formed by their union for purposes of war or otherwise. The people were divided into three classes of ?thelings or chieftains, freolings or freemen, and theows or slaves. The ?thelings were the nobles and rulers of each tribe. There was no king: but when the tribes joined together in a war, their ?thelings cast lots together, and whoever drew the winning lot was made commander for the time being. As soon as the war was over, each tribe returned to its own independence. Indeed, the only really coherent body was the village or kindred: and the whole course of early English history consists of a long and tedious effort at increased national unity11, which was never fully29 realised till the Norman conquerors bound the whole nation together in the firm grasp of William, Henry, and Edward.
In personal appearance, the primitive Anglo-Saxons were typical Germans of very unmixed blood. Tall, fair-haired, and gray-eyed, their limbs were large and stout68, and their heads of the round or brachycephalic type, common to most Aryan races. They did not intermarry with other nations, preserving their Germanic blood pure and unadulterated. But as they had slaves, and as these slaves must in many cases have been captives spared in war, we must suppose that such descriptions apply, strictly69 speaking, to the freemen and chieftains alone. The slaves might be of any race, and in process of time they must have learnt to speak English, and their children must have become English in all but blood. Many of them, indeed, would probably be actually English on the father's side, though born of slave mothers. Hence we must be careful not to interpret the expressions of historians, who would be thinking of the free classes only, and especially of the nobles, as though they applied71 to the slaves as well. Wherever slavery exists, the blood of the slave community is necessarily very mixed. The picture which the heathen English have drawn72 of themselves in Beowulf is one of savage pirates, clad in shirts of ring-armour, and greedy of gold and ale. Fighting and drinking are their two delights. The noblest leader is he who builds a great hall, throws it open for his people to carouse73 in, and liberally deals out beer, and bracelets74, and money at the feast. The joy of battle is keen in their breasts. The sea and the storm are welcome to them. They are fearless and greedy pirates, not ashamed of living by the strong hand alone.
In creed75, the English were pagans, having a religion of beliefs rather than of rites76. Their chief deity77, perhaps, was a form of the old Aryan Sky-god, who took with them the guise78 of Thunor or Thunder (in Scandinavian, Thor), an angry warrior12 hurling79 his hammer, the thunder-bolt, from the stormy clouds. These thunder-bolts were often found buried in the earth; and being really the polished stone-axes of the earlier inhabitants, they do actually resemble a hammer in shape. But Woden, the special god of the Teutonic race, had practically usurped80 the highest place in their mythology81: he is represented as the leader of the Germans in their exodus82 from Asia to north-western Europe, and since all the pedigrees of their chieftains were traced back to Woden, it is not improbable that he may have been really a deified ancestor of the principal Germanic families. The popular creed, however, was mainly one of lesser gods, such as elves, ogres, giants, and monsters, inhabitants of the mark and fen, stories of whom still survive in English villages as folk-lore or fairy tales. A few legends of the pagan time are preserved for us in Christian books. Beowulf is rich in allusions83 to these ancient superstitions84. If we may build upon the slender materials which alone are available, it would seem that the dead chieftains were buried in barrows, and ghost-worship was practised at their tombs. The temples were mere58 stockades85 of wood, with rude blocks or monoliths to represent deities86 and altars. Probably their few rites consisted merely of human or other sacrifices to the gods or the ghosts of departed chiefs. There was a regular priesthood of the great gods, but each man was priest for his own household. As in most other heathen communities, the real worship of the people was mainly directed to the special family deities of every hearth87. The great gods were appealed to by the chieftains and by the race in battle: but the household gods or deified ancestors received the chief homage88 of the churls by their own firesides.
Thus the Anglo-Saxons, before the great exodus from Denmark and North Germany, appear as a race of fierce, cruel, and barbaric pagans, delighting in the sea, in slaughter89, and in drink. They dwelt in little isolated communities, bound together internally by ties of blood, and uniting occasionally with others only for purposes of rapine. They lived a life which mainly alternated between grazing, piratical seafaring, and cattle-lifting; always on the war-trail against the possessions of others, when they were not specially70 engaged in taking care of their own. Every record and every indication shows them to us as fiercer heathen prototypes of the Scotch90 clans91 in the most lawless days of the Highlands. Incapable92 of union for any peaceful purpose at home, they learned their earliest lesson of subordination in their piratical attacks upon the civilised Christian community of Roman Britain. We first meet with them in history in the character of destroyers and sea-robbers. Yet they possessed already in their wild marshy home the germs of those free institutions which have made the history of England unique amongst the nations of Europe.
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1
distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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primitive
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| adj.原始的；简单的；n.原(始)人，原始事物 | |
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colonized
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| 开拓殖民地，移民于殖民地( colonize的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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marshy
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| adj.沼泽的 | |
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marsh
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| n.沼泽，湿地 | |
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inevitably
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| adv.不可避免地；必然发生地 | |
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derived
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| vi.起源；由来；衍生；导出v.得到( derive的过去式和过去分词 )；（从…中）得到获得；源于；（从…中）提取 | |
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8
civilisation
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| n.文明，文化，开化，教化 | |
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kin
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| n.家族，亲属，血缘关系；adj.亲属关系的，同类的 | |
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forefathers
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| n.祖先，先人；祖先，祖宗( forefather的名词复数 )；列祖列宗；前人 | |
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unity
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| n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调 | |
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warrior
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| n.勇士，武士，斗士 | |
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warriors
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| 武士，勇士，战士( warrior的名词复数 ) | |
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swampy
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| adj.沼泽的，湿地的 | |
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margin
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| n.页边空白；差额；余地，余裕；边，边缘 | |
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nucleus
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| n.核，核心，原子核 | |
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partially
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| adv.部分地，从某些方面讲 | |
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tempted
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| v.怂恿（某人）干不正当的事；冒…的险（tempt的过去分词） | |
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continental
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| adj.大陆的，大陆性的，欧洲大陆的 | |
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predecessors
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| n.前任( predecessor的名词复数 )；前辈；（被取代的）原有事物；前身 | |
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palaver
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| adj.壮丽堂皇的；n.废话，空话 | |
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recollect
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| v.回忆，想起，记起，忆起，记得 | |
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dealing
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| n.经商方法，待人态度 | |
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purely
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| adv.纯粹地，完全地 | |
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savage
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| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
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essentially
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| adv.本质上，实质上，基本上 | |
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akin
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| adj.同族的，类似的 | |
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isolated
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| adj.与世隔绝的 | |
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fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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exquisite
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| adj.精美的；敏锐的；剧烈的，感觉强烈的 | |
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decorative
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| adj.装饰的，可作装饰的 | |
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ornamental
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| adj.装饰的；作装饰用的；n.装饰品；观赏植物 | |
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remains
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| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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Christian
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| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
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conquerors
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| 征服者，占领者( conqueror的名词复数 ) | |
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intercourse
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| n.性交；交流，交往，交际 | |
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amber
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| n.琥珀；琥珀色；adj.琥珀制的 | |
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beads
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| n.（空心）小珠子( bead的名词复数 )；水珠；珠子项链 | |
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isles
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| 岛( isle的名词复数 ) | |
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utensils
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| 器具，用具，器皿( utensil的名词复数 )； 器物 | |
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inscriptions
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| （作者）题词( inscription的名词复数 )； 献词； 碑文； 证劵持有人的登记 | |
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engraved
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| v.在（硬物）上雕刻（字，画等）( engrave的过去式和过去分词 )；将某事物深深印在（记忆或头脑中） | |
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specimen
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| n.样本，标本 | |
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entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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clan
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| n.氏族，部落，宗族，家族，宗派 | |
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guild
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| n.行会，同业公会，协会 | |
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mutual
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| adj.相互的，彼此的；共同的，共有的 | |
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kinsman
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| n.男亲属 | |
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49
avenge
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| v.为...复仇，为...报仇 | |
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50
feud
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| n.长期不和；世仇；v.长期争斗；世代结仇 | |
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51
supreme
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| adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的 | |
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52
payable
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| adj.可付的，应付的，有利益的 | |
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53
possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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54
virgin
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| n.处女，未婚女子；adj.未经使用的；未经开发的 | |
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55
syllable
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| n.音节；vt.分音节 | |
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56
stockade
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| n.栅栏，围栏；v.用栅栏防护 | |
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abound
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| vi.大量存在；(in，with)充满，富于 | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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fen
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| n.沼泽，沼池 | |
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shanty
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| n.小屋，棚屋；船工号子 | |
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fatten
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| v.使肥，变肥 | |
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acorns
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| n.橡子，栎实( acorn的名词复数 ) | |
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lesser
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| adj.次要的，较小的；adv.较小地，较少地 | |
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moot
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| v.提出；adj.未决议的；n.大会；辩论会 | |
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relic
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| n.神圣的遗物，遗迹，纪念物 | |
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aboriginal
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| adj.（指动植物）土生的，原产地的，土著的 | |
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oligarchy
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| n.寡头政治 | |
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strictly
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| adv.严厉地，严格地；严密地 | |
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specially
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| adv.特定地；特殊地；明确地 | |
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applied
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| adj.应用的；v.应用，适用 | |
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72
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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carouse
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| v.狂欢；痛饮；n.狂饮的宴会 | |
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bracelets
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| n.手镯，臂镯( bracelet的名词复数 ) | |
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creed
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| n.信条；信念，纲领 | |
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76
rites
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| 仪式，典礼( rite的名词复数 ) | |
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77
deity
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| n.神，神性；被奉若神明的人(或物) | |
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guise
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| n.外表，伪装的姿态 | |
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79
hurling
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| n.爱尔兰式曲棍球v.猛投，用力掷( hurl的现在分词 )；大声叫骂 | |
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80
usurped
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| 篡夺，霸占( usurp的过去式和过去分词 )； 盗用； 篡夺，篡权 | |
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81
mythology
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| n.神话，神话学，神话集 | |
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82
exodus
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| v.大批离去，成群外出 | |
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83
allusions
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| 暗指，间接提到( allusion的名词复数 ) | |
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84
superstitions
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| 迷信，迷信行为( superstition的名词复数 ) | |
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85
stockades
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| n.（防御用的）栅栏，围桩( stockade的名词复数 ) | |
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86
deities
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| n.神，女神( deity的名词复数 )；神祗；神灵；神明 | |
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87
hearth
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| n.壁炉炉床，壁炉地面 | |
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88
homage
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| n.尊敬，敬意，崇敬 | |
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89
slaughter
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| n.屠杀，屠宰；vt.屠杀，宰杀 | |
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90
scotch
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| n.伤口，刻痕；苏格兰威士忌酒；v.粉碎，消灭，阻止；adj.苏格兰(人)的 | |
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91
clans
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| 宗族( clan的名词复数 )； 氏族； 庞大的家族； 宗派 | |
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92
incapable
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| adj.无能力的，不能做某事的 | |
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