The
Angle tribe were a Germanic people who originally lived at the neck of the
Jutland Peninsula. Their ancient home was the peninsula
Anglia (German:
Angeln) in present-day
Schleswig-Holstein,
Germany. In around the
5th century A.D., they migrated to what is now
England. There, they founded the kingdoms of
Northumbria,
East Anglia, and
Mercia. The word 'England' is itself derived from Engla-lond, or the land of the Angles. With the
Saxons, the Angles formed the basis of the immediate pre-Norman English society and provided the roots of the
English language.
This name Angle derives from an Old English word engel It is cognate with the word "angel".