# Whats the difference between an Anglo and a Saxon? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 16, 2003, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-an-anglo-and-a-saxon/148883 "2003-01-16T01:44:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Popup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/94ad74/32.png) [@Popup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Popup)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2003, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-an-anglo-and-a-saxon/148883/21 "2003-01-17T15:08:55Z")
Now that we’re discussing the anglo / saxon/ jutish invasion, isn’t it time to bring up **Hengist** and **Horsa**? I believe legend has it that they were Angles (anglic?) mercenaries invited by some local ruler, to help in a domestic struggle, but soon took over (almost) the entire island. What does modern history think of them? Should they be relegated to the same shady half-historical cupboard as **king Arthur**? (Who might have existed, but whos conduct probably had very little to do with the medieval stories of his exploits.) ---
**Author:** ![everton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecb155/32.png) [@everton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/everton)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2003, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-an-anglo-and-a-saxon/148883/22 "2003-01-17T15:29:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Popup \* > Now that we’re discussing the anglo / saxon/ jutish invasion, isn’t it time to bring up **Hengist** and **Horsa**? > > I believe legend has it that they were Angles (anglic?) mercenaries invited by some local ruler, to help in a domestic struggle, but soon took over (almost) the entire island. > > What does modern history think of them? Should they be relegated to the same shady half-historical cupboard as **king Arthur**? (Who might have existed, but whos conduct probably had very little to do with the medieval stories of his exploits.) According to my recollection (and [this reference](http://www.bartleby.com/65/he/HengistN.html)) they were Jutes not Angles. They _were_ real too - I saw them in [this film](http://www.carryonline.com/carry/cocleo.html), in which Hengist invented the square wheel ;). ---
**Author:** ![toadspittle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@toadspittle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toadspittle)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2003, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-an-anglo-and-a-saxon/148883/23 "2003-01-17T18:03:13Z")
Angles, Saxons, Jutes, Normans … you English are just a bloody lot of immigrants! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2003, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-an-anglo-and-a-saxon/148883/24 "2003-01-17T21:56:25Z")
The OP said: "Is there a difference? I’ve heard the term Anglo, and I’ve heard the term Anglo Saxon. " This sounds more to me like an issue of modern usage. As Agback says, “Anglo” can be short for Anglo-Saxon. But in modern usage, I bet more often Anglo is the term used by Hispanics in the US and maybe Mexico to refer to non-Hispanic whites, even if for the speaker the origin in the sense of “Anglo-Saxon” is lost in the mists of history. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2003, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-an-anglo-and-a-saxon/148883/25 "2003-01-18T01:00:29Z")
Speaking of King Arthur, in a lot of fictional Arthurian stories, the Saxons seem to be their main enemies. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2003, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-an-anglo-and-a-saxon/148883/26 "2003-01-18T01:44:37Z")
**Guin** , in all the genuine “Arthur” legends, he _was_ the Celtic ruler making a defense against the tide of Germanic invaders. Arthur battled the Saxons the way Washington battled the British and Wellington the French. BTW, Arthur very possibly was modeled after the real life Celtic Chieftain called [Riothamus](http://www.uidaho.edu/student_orgs/arthurian_legend/origins/riothamu.html) by the romans. > [@](#): > > (Riothamus’) similarities to Arthurian legend are astonishing: “The `King of the Britons’ is in Gaul with his sea-borne army at exactly the right time… He is betrayed by a deputy-ruler who conspires with barbarians… He vanishes after a fatal battle, without any recorded death. His apparent line of retreat shows him moving in the direction of the real town of Avallon in Burgandy.” ---
**Author:** ![Royal\_Berk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c37758/32.png) [@Royal\_Berk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Royal_Berk)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2003, 10:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-an-anglo-and-a-saxon/148883/27 "2003-01-20T10:38:41Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by toadspittle \* > \*\*Angles, Saxons, Jutes, Normans … you English are just a bloody lot of immigrants! 😉 \*\* If you refer to lineage, then we’re ALL immigrants. With the possible exception of people living halfway up a tree in Kenya at this moment. ---
**Author:** ![davey\_engle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8e8cbc/32.png) [@davey\_engle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davey_engle)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2013, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-an-anglo-and-a-saxon/148883/28 "2013-02-14T23:09:43Z")
> [@Hermann\_Cheruscan](#): > > Is there a difference? I’ve heard the term Anglo, and I’ve heard the term Anglo Saxon. I’ don’t believe I’ve ever heard a group of people called Saxons, though. Engles are an entirely different race from the Saxons. Why we got lumped in with those peaheads with a missing neck vertebrae is anyones guess. I also object to the Engles being called immigrants. We didn’t just wander in past customs - we had to kill our fair share to carve out our claim in the time honoured way. One might as well speak of Alexander the Immigrant. ---
**Author:** ![rsat3acr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a3d4f5/32.png) [@rsat3acr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rsat3acr)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2013, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-an-anglo-and-a-saxon/148883/29 "2013-02-14T23:58:28Z")
reported ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2013, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-an-anglo-and-a-saxon/148883/30 "2013-02-15T01:12:53Z")
Let’s just close this one. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-an-anglo-and-a-saxon/148883.md?page=1)