Old English, or Anglo-Saxon as it is also known, is the oldest form of English. The original speakers of ‘English’ came from the part of Europe that is now Germany and Denmark in the form of the Angles, Saxons, and the Jutes. The Angle and Saxon tribes were the largest of the three attacking tribes and so we know them as Anglo-Saxons. They all had their own dialects but the dialects are now referred to as either Old English or Anglo-Saxon. This language was spoken in parts of England and Scotland between the 5th and 12th centuries.

Roughly 100 of the most common words in the English language are all of Anglo-Saxon origin, for example:

Here are examples of Anglo-Saxon words used today, written in Anglo-Saxon runes.

the

you

earth

house

food

sing

night

sleep