Chapter 69

OF THE DIALECTS OF THE SAXON AREA, AND OF THE SO-CALLED OLD SAXON.

§ 21. The area occupied by the Saxons of Germany has been investigated; and it now remains to ask, how far the language of the occupants was absolutely identical throughout, or how far it fell into dialects or sub-dialects.

There were at least _two_ divisions of the Saxon; (1st) the Saxon of which the extant specimens are of English origin, and (2nd), the Saxon of which the extant specimens are of Continental origin. We will call these at present the Saxon of England, and the Saxon of the Continent.

§ 22. Respecting the Saxon of England and the Saxon of the Continent, there is good reason for believing that the _first_ was spoken in the _northern_, the _second_ in the _southern_ portion of the Saxon area, i.e., the one in Hanover and the other in Westphalia, the probable boundaries between them being the line of highlands between Osnaburg and Paderborn.

§ 23. Respecting the Saxon of England and the Saxon of the Continent, there is good reason for believing that, whilst the _former_ was the mother-tongue of the Angles and the conquerors of England, the _latter_ was that of the Cherusci of Arminius, the conquerors and the annihilators of the legions of Varus.[19]

§ 24. Respecting the Saxon of England and the Saxon of the Continent, it is a fact that, whilst we have a full literature in the former, we have but fragmentary specimens of the latter--these being chiefly the following: (1) the Heliand,[20] (2) Hildubrand and Hathubrant,[21] (3) the Carolinian Psalms.[22]

§ 25. The preceding points have been predicated respecting the difference between the two ascertained Saxon dialects, for the sake of preparing the reader for the names by which they are known.

THE SAXON OF THE CONTINENT THE SAXON OF ENGLAND MAY BE CALLED MAY BE CALLED

1. Continental Saxon. Insular Saxon. 2. German Saxon. English Saxon. 3. Westphalian Saxon. Hanoverian Saxon. 4. South Saxon. North Saxon. 5. Cheruscan Saxon. Angle Saxon. 6. Saxon of the Heliand. Saxon of Beowulf.[23]

§ 26. The Saxon of England _is_ called Anglo-Saxon; a term against which no exception can be raised.

§ 27. The Saxon of the Continent _used_ to be called _Dano_-Saxon, and _is_ called _Old_ Saxon.

§ 28. _Why called Dano-Saxon._--When the poem called _Heliand_ was first discovered in an English library, the difference in language between it and the common Anglo-Saxon composition was accounted for by the assumption of a _Danish_ intermixture.

§ 29. _Why called _Old_ Saxon._ When the Continental origin of the _Heliand_ was recognised, the language was called _Old_ Saxon, because it represented the Saxon of the mother-country, the natives of which were called _Old_ Saxons by the _Anglo_-Saxons themselves. Still the term is exceptionable; as the Saxon of the Heliand is probably a _sister_-dialect of the _Anglo_-Saxon, rather than the _Anglo_-Saxon itself in a Continental locality. Exceptionable, however, as it is, it will be employed.

* * * * *