British English English and the other West Germanic languages. Initially, Old English was a diverse group of dialects, reflecting the varied origins of the Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms of England. One of these dialects, Late West Saxon, eventually came to dominate. The original Old English language was then influenced by two waves of invasion: the first was by speakers of the Scandinavian branch of the Germanic family, who conquered and colonised parts of Britain in the 8th and 9th centuries; the second was the Normans in the 11th century, who spoke Old Norman and ultimately developed an English variety of this called Anglo-Norman. These
Anglo-Saxon dress Anglo-Saxon dress Anglo-Saxon dress refers to the variety of early medieval European dress, or clothing, worn by the Anglo-Saxons from the time of their migration to Great Britain in the 5th century until the beginning of the Norman Conquest. The line of Saxon kings began with Egbert in 827 and ended when Harold II was defeated by William the Conqueror at the Battle of Hastings cementing the Normans as the rulers of England. The new Norman rulers had brought fashions from the continent that had a major effect in England. Anglo-Saxon dress had several different periods of transformation and the