A History of English Language

Foreign influences on old english 75
(mountain) from L. mōns, montem; torr (tower, rock) possibly from L. turris, possibly
from Celtic; wīc (village) from L. vīcus. All of these words are found also as elements in
place-names. It is possible that some of the Latin words that the Germanic speakers had
acquired on the continent, such as street (L. strāta via), wall, wine, and others, were
reinforced by the presence of the same words in Celtic. At best, however, the Latin
influence of the First Period remains much the slightest of all the influences that Old
English owed to contact with Roman civilization.
60. Latin Influence of the Second Period: The Christianizing of Britain.
The greatest influence of Latin upon Old English was occasioned by the conversion of
Britain to Roman Christianity beginning in 597. The religion was far from new in the
island, because Irish monks had been preaching the gospel in the north since the founding
of the monastery of lona by Columba in 563. However, 597 marks the beginning of a
systematic attempt on the part of Rome to convert the inhabitants and make England a
Christian country. According to the well-known story reported by Bede as a tradition
current in his day, the mission of St. Augustine was inspired by an experience of the man
who later became Pope Gregory the Great. Walking one morning in the marketplace at
Rome, he came upon some fair-haired boys about to be sold as slaves and was told that
they were from the island of Britain and were pagans. “‘Alas! what pity,’ said he, ‘that
the author of darkness is possessed of men of such fair countenances, and that being
remarkable for such a graceful exterior, their minds should be void of inward grace?’ He
therefore again asked, what was the name of that nation and was answered, that they were
called Angles. ‘Right,’ said he, ‘for they have an angelic face, and it is fitting that such
should be co-heirs with the angels in heaven. What is the name,’ proceeded he, ‘of the
province from which they are brought?’ It was replied that the natives of that province
were called Deiri. ‘Truly are they de ira’ said he, ‘plucked from wrath, and called to the
mercy of Christ. How is the king of that province called?’ They told him his name was
Ælla; and he, alluding to the name, said ‘Alleluia, the praise of God the Creator, must be
sung in those parts.’” The same tradition records that Gregory wished himself to
undertake the mission to Britain but could not be spared. Some years later, however,
when he had become pope, he had not forgotten his former intention and looked about for
someone whom he could send at the head of a missionary band. Augustine, the person of
his choice, was a man well known to him. The two had lived together in the same
monastery, and Gregory knew him to be modest and devout and thought him well suited
to the task assigned him. With a little company of about forty monks Augustine set out
for what seemed then like the end of the earth.
It is not easy to appreciate the difftculty of the task that lay before this small band.
Their problem was not so much to substitute one ritual for another as to change the
philosophy of a nation. The religion that the Anglo-Saxons shared with the other
Germanic tribes seems to have had but a slight hold on the people at the close of the sixth
century; but their habits of mind, their ideals, and the action to which these gave rise were
often in sharp contrast to the teachings of the New Testament. Germanic philosophy
exalted physical courage, independence even to haughtiness, loyalty to one’s family or
leader that left no wrong unavenged. Christianity preached meekness, humility, and