Soon after the Romans left, Britain was also attacked by Germanic tribes, mainly Angles and Saxons. At first they only raided but eventually they settled and colonised much of Britain. But the peace did not last. First the warlike vikings attacked from Denmark. They started their raids in the 8th Century and made their first full-scale invasion in 865. Indeed, Britain was even under Danish rule for a while, from 1016 to 1042. Then, the Anglo-Saxons had only just regained the throne when the Normans arrived under the Anglo-Saxons under King Harold at the Battle of Hastings in 1066, and so he became King William I of England.

A King out of Legend
When the Romans left Britain, the land was unprotected against the invading Angles, Saxons and Jutes. They found conquest easy until a King called Arthur united the British and defeated the invaders in many battles. The result was that the Anglo-Saxon advance was halted for about 50 years. Little more than this is known about Arthur except for a powerful legend of magical powers. This legend later became the story of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, a legend full of medieval chivalry and Christian symbols but also some of the earlier magic. But the story does not belong only to Britain; medieval French and German poets also wrote about King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table. 


A Naked Lady
One of the most colourful stories to come out of Saxon England is that of Lady Godiva. She lived in the 11th century and was the wife of Earl Leofric. According to the legend, when her husband demanded high taxes from the people of Coventry, she took their side. Her husband then dared her to ride naked through the streets of Conventry, promising her to lower the taxes if she did so. She agreed. When she rode naked through the town, all the grateful people of Conventry stayed indoors with their windows shut — all, that is, except a certain tailor called Tom who peeped through his window and was struck blind for daring to look. He became known as "Peeping Tom", which is now an expression in the English language.