77. Fresh Elements contributed by the Danes or Northmen.
Then came the Danes or Northmen (SS52, 63). They brought with them a new spirit of still more savage independence which found expression in their song, "I trust my sword, I trust my steed, but most I trust myself at need."
They conquered a large part of the island, and in conquering regenerated it. So strong was their love of independence, that even the lowest classes of farm laborers were quite generally free.
More small independent landholders were found amongh the Danish population than anywhere else; and it is said that the number now existing in the region which they settled in the northeast of England is still much larger than in the south. (See map facing p. 32.) Finally, the Danes and the English, both of whome sprang from the North Germanic tribes (S36), mingled and becames in all respects one people.
78. Summary: What the Anglo-Saxons accomplished.
Thus Jutes, Saxons, Angles, and Danes, whom together we may call the Anglo-Saxons,[1] laid the corner stone of the English nation. However much that nation has changed since, it remains, nevertheless, in its solid and fundamental qualities, what those peoples made it.
[1] Anglo-Saxons: Some authorities insist that this phrase means the Saxons of England in distinction from those of the Continent. It is used here, however, in the sense given by Professor Freeman, as a term describing the people formed in England by the union of the Germanic tribes which had settled in the island.
They gave first the language, simple strong, direct, and plain—the familiar, everyday speech of the fireside and the street, the well-known words of both the newspaper and the Bible.
Next they established the government in its main outlines as it still exists; that is, a king, a legislative body representing the people, and a judicial system embodying the germ, at least, of trial by jury (S89).
Last, and best, they furnished conservative patience, persistent effort, indomitable tenacity of purpose, and cool, determined courage. These qualities have won glorious victories on both sides of the Atlantic, not only in the conflicts of war, but in the contests of peace, and who can doubt that they are destined to win still greater ones in the future?