What is the difference between Old English and Anglo-Saxon ?
‘Anglo-Saxon’ refers to the people, their history, and their culture. ‘Old English’ refers to their language. Old English used to be called ‘Anglo-Saxon’ as well, but around the middle of the twentieth century scholars began to use the term ‘Old English’ to stress the continuity between the Anglo-Saxons’ language and ours. Indeed, although the written form of old English looks to a beginner like a foreign language, further study reveals that Old English and Modern English really are very closely related.
