hmm , i wouldnt have put it like that ...
when i was in sweden they called the time before the vikings and after roman times , the wandering time ( or something). I'd never heard of this, but in the uk we are taught that ,,
1. before the romans ( about 0ad) , there were the celts and/or britons inhabiting gb.
2. romano britain was very populous and everyone seemed happy ( sort of)
3. the legions left say around 400ad , and various tribes , saxons , angles came across either 'invading' or actually being paid to stop other tribes..
4. the vikings started invading say abut 800 , ( which is about the time some carried on into normandy,,err though i guess it wasnt called that then !)
5. one lot of ex-vikings defeated another lot in 1066.
i'd have thought it wasnt really the 1066 invasion which removed "old english history" but the romans did that.. also remember the angles and saxons were european tribes ( probably fitting in with the 'wandering' which how it was represented in sweden). So anglo-saxon britain which is where beowolf came from , was in itself a usurping of cultures.....
this looks like a reasonable link,, it doesnt quite totally destroy all i've written
..
http://www.brown.edu/Departments/Medieval_Studies/anglos.html
-dave-
as for ducking, at the battle of hastings in 1066 , harold ( the king of england) had just defeated his brother and other vikings at the battle of stamford bridge , they then marched about 200 miles in about 7 days ( something like that) to meet William of normandy. they did okay, but then harold got hit by an arrow in his eye and obviously his side lost!
