Anglo-Saxons was imbued with meanings and acted as a symbol which would have been understood at the time. "Anglo-Saxon" in linguistics is still used as a term for the original West Germanic component of the modern English language, which was later expanded and developed through the influence of Old Norse and Norman French, though linguists now more often refer to it as Old English. Throughout the history of the Anglo-Saxons studies producing a dispassionate narrative of the people has been difficult. In the early Middle Ages the views of Geoffrey of Monmouth produced a personally inspired history that wasn't challenged for
Anglo-Norman language English dialects by Viking settlement. The same word had been established in Normandy by the Normans (Norsemen) and was then brought over after the Conquest and established firstly in southern English dialects. It is, therefore, argued that the word "mug" in English shows some of the complicated Germanic heritage of Anglo-Norman. Many expressions used in English today have their origin in Anglo-Norman (such as the expression "before-hand" derives from Anglo-Norman "avaunt-main"), as do many modern words with interesting etymologies. "Mortgage", for example, literally meant "death-wage" in Anglo-Norman. "Curfew" (fr. "couvre-feu") meant "cover-fire", referring to the time in the evening when