Anglo-Saxon paganism of the days of the week in the English language. What is known about the religion and its accompanying mythology have since influenced both literature and Modern Paganism. The word "pagan" is a Latin term that was used by Christians in Anglo-Saxon England to designate non-Christians. In Old English, the vernacular language of Anglo-Saxon England, the equivalent term was "hæðen" ("heathen"), a word that was cognate to the Old Norse "heiðinn", both of which may derive from a Gothic word, "haiþno". Both "pagan" and "heathen" were terms that carried pejorative overtones, with "hæðen" also being used in Late Anglo-Saxon texts
History of Anglo-Saxon England History of Anglo-Saxon England Anglo-Saxon England was early medieval England, existing from the 5th to the 11th century from the end of Roman Britain until the Norman conquest in 1066. It consisted of various Anglo-Saxon kingdoms until 927 when it was united as the Kingdom of England by King Æthelstan (r. 927–939). It became part of the North Sea Empire of Cnut the Great, a personal union between England, Denmark and Norway in the 11th century. The Anglo-Saxons were the members of Germanic-speaking groups who migrated to the southern half of the island of Great Britain from nearby northwestern Europe