After the Romans withdrew from Britain, the island was invaded by the Angles, the Jutes,
and the Saxons--a group of tribes from
Scandinavia and the
coastal area of Germany. The Anglii, as they were known, arrived about 450 AD,
looting, burning, and killing.
Many native Britons fled west to modern-day Wales, Ireland, and Scotland. Those who
remained were conquered.
The Anglii spoke a language from the Germanic branch of the Indo-European language, which we now call "Old English." It became the dominant language of Britain, and its forms are still the basis of English grammar today. Old English was a language of the basics of everyday life. According to one computer analysis, the 100 most common words in modern English are all from the old Anglo-Saxon language.
Eventually the Anglii settled down to a life of farming in Britain. By 1000 AD the area where they lived was generally known as "the land of the Angles," or Englaland.