The English language dates back to the 400s, when Germanic tribes, including Angles and Saxons, invaded the island that came to be known (because of the Angles) as England. The epic poem Beowulf was written down around 1000 in the Anglo-Saxon language, known as Old English. Middle English developed following the 1066 invasion of the Normans, who came from France. Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales (completed around 1400) is written in Middle English. Modern English originated in the 16th century
