4. +Ancient English or Anglo-Saxon, 450-1100.+-- This form of English differed from modern English in having a much larger number of inflexions. The noun had five cases, and there were several declensions, just as in Latin; adjectives were declined, and had three genders; some pronouns had a dual as well as a plural number; and the verb had a much larger number of inflexions than it has now. The vocabulary of the language contained very few foreign elements. The poetry of the language employed head-rhyme or alliteration, and not end-rhyme, as we do now. The works of the poet +Caedmon+ and the great prose-writer +King Alfred+ belong to this Anglo-Saxon period. 5. +Early English, 1100-1250.+-- The coming of the Normans in 1066 made many changes in the land, many changes in the Church and in the State, and it also introduced many changes into the language. The inflexions of our speech began to drop off, because they were used less and less; and though we never adopted new _inflexions_ from French or from any other language, new French _words_ began to creep in. In some parts of the country English had ceased to be written in books; the language existed as a spoken language only; and hence accuracy in the use of words and the inflexions of words could not be ensured. Two notable books-- written, not printed, for there was no printing in this island till the year 1474-- belong to this period. These are the +Ormulum+, by +Orm+ or +Ormin+, and the +Brut+, by a monk called +Layamon+ or +Laweman+. The latter tells the story of Brutus, who was believed to have been the son of Æneas of Troy; to have escaped after the downfall of that city; to have sailed through the Mediterranean, ever farther and farther to the west; to have landed in Britain, settled here, and given the country its name.