Magic in Anglo-Saxon England the pantheon of Anglo-Saxon gods in order to understand "the sort of powers that may lie behind magic ritual." He argued that the Anglo-Saxon pagan religion was "a mass of unorganised popular belief" with various traditions being passed down orally. The language of the Anglo-Saxons was Old English, a Germanic language descended from those of several tribes in continental Europe. Old English had several words that refer to "powerful women associated with divination, magical protection, healing and cursing". One of these was "hægtesse" or "hægtis", whilst another was "burgrune". Another Old English term for magicians was "dry", making them practitioners
Legal English the Law of Æthelberht. Following the Norman invasion of England in 1066, Anglo-Norman French became the official language of legal proceedings in England for a period of nearly 300 years until the Pleading in English Act 1362 (and continued in minor use for another 300 years), while Medieval Latin was used for written records for over 650 years. Some English technical terms were retained, however (see Anglo-Saxon law: Language and dialect for details). In legal pleadings, Anglo-Norman developed into Law French, from which many words in modern legal English are derived. These include "property", "estate", "chattel", "lease", "executor", and "tenant".