e classes of _aethelings_ or chieftains,
_freolings_ or freemen, and _theows_ or slaves. The _aethelings_ were the
nobles and rulers of each tribe. There was no king: but when the tribes
joined together in a war, their _aethelings_ cast lots together, and
whoever drew the winning lot was made commander for the time being. As
soon as the war was over, each tribe returned to its own independence.
Indeed, the only really coherent body was the village or kindred: and
the whole course of early English history consists of a long and tedious
effort at increased national unity, which was never fully realised till
the Norman conquerors bound the whole nation together in the firm grasp
of William, Henry, and Edward.

In personal appearance, the primitive Anglo-Saxons were typical Germans
of very unmixed blood. Tall, fair-haired, and gray-eyed, their limbs
were large and stout, and their heads of the round or brachycephalic
type, common to most Aryan races. They did not intermarry with other
nations, preserving their Germanic blood pure and unadulterated. But as
they had slaves, and as these slaves must in many cases have been
captives spared in war, we must suppose that such descriptions apply,
strictly speaking, to the freemen and chieftains alone. The slaves might
be of any race, and in process of time they must have learnt to speak
English, and their children must have become English in all but blood.
Many of them, indeed, would probably be actually English on the father's
side, though born of slave mothers. Hence we must be careful not to
interpret the expressions of historians, who would be thinking of the
free classes only, and especially of the nobles, as though they applied
to the slaves as well. Wherever slavery exists, the blood of the slave
community is necessarily very mixed. The picture which the heathen
English have drawn of themselves in _Beowulf_ is one of savage pirates,
clad in shirts of ring-armour, and greedy of gold and ale. Fighting and
drinking are their two delights. The noblest leader is he who builds a
great hall, throws it open for his people to carouse in, and liberally
deals out beer, and bracelets, and money at the feast. The joy of battle
is keen in their breasts. The sea and the storm are welcome to them.
They are fearless and greedy pirates, not ashamed of living by the
strong hand alone.

In creed, the English were pagans, having a religion of beliefs rather
than of rites. Their chief deity, per