"The origin of the names of many English towns, hamlets and villages date as far back as Saxon times, when kings like Alfred the Great established fortified borough towns to defend againts the Danes. A number of settlements were established and named by French Normans following the Conquest. Many are even older and are derived from Roman place-names. Some hark back to the Vikings who invaded our shores and established settlements in the eighth and ninth centuries. Most began as simple descriptions of the locations, some identified its founder, marked territorial limits, or gave tribal people a sense of their place in the grand scheme of things. Whatever their derivatives, placenames are inextricably linked up in outr history and they tell us a great deal about the place where we live."--Book jacket.