Arthurand the Anglo-Saxonwars

 Arthurand the Anglo-Saxonwars

The Arthurian Age-the Celtic Twilight-the

Dark Ages-the Birth of England: these are the

powerfullyromantic names often given to one of the

mostconfusedyet vital periods in British history. It

is an era upon which rival Celtic and English

nationalismsfrequently focus. How far, for exam-

ple, were the Romano-Celtic culture and pop-

ulationofBritannia obliterated by invading Angle,

Saxonand Jutish barbarians? Or are the British

IslesstillessentiallyCeltic, even though the larger

part of their population now speaks a Germanic

tongue?

Suchquestions will probably exercise historians

andarchaeologistsfor generations. But one thing is

clear:it was an era of settlement, and of the sword.

Sincetitleto the land was both won and maintained

by force of arms, the military or socio-military

history of the early medieval period is of

fundamentalimportance. Paradoxically it is an

aspectwhichhas received relatively little attention,

withtoo many historians dismissing Anglo-Saxon

andCelticwarfare aslittle more than a disorganised

but bloodybrawl.

Thisviewnow seems grossly oversimplified, yet

greatproblemsremain. Lack of evidence is one, and

the difficultiesposed by what little survives is

another.Written sources tend to be unreliable. The

late Roman Notitia Dignitatum military list was

probablyout of date for Britain. Histories range

fromthe almost unintelligible, such as Gildas, to

thosewritten long after the event, such as Bede,

~ennius,the Anglo-SaxonChronicleand the Pictish

ListofKings.Military terminology can be equally

misleading,since these sources often use anachron-

istic classical terms or fanciful poetic imagery.

Pictorialrepresentations, apart from their general

crudity,poseexactly the same problems and often

reflectRoman or Byzantine originals. Certainly the

craftsmen and artists who made them rarely worked

'from life'. Despite these difficulties, however, it now

seems that warfare and weaponry in the so-called

Dark Ages were more sophisticated than was once

thought, as were the societies involved.