Anglo-Saxon Law:

The A-S's didn't have a police force as we think of it today, however they did have laws. If a crime was commited it was up to the victim or their family to deal out the punishment to those who commited it. (1)

These are a few of the Anglo-Saxon dooms from the Laws of Æthelberht, King of Kent:
4. If a freeman steal from the king, let him pay ninefold.
5. If a man slay another in the king's tun, let him make bot with fifty shillings.
6. If any one slay a freeman, fifty shillings to the king, as drihtinbeah.
10. If a man lie with the king's maiden, let him pay a bot of fifty shillings. (15)

Anglo-Saxon Buildings:

The size of Anglo-Saxon buildings varied from 3x3.5m to 22x80m. They were usually square or rectangular. [2]

Anglo-Saxon Money:

The Anglo Saxon's main form of money was the silver penny. This coin was about the size of a quarter, and it even looked similar. The king's head was on one side, and a cross was on the other. This may have looked like a quarter, but was equivalent to 10-20 British pounds, or 20-40 American dollars. In fact, an 11th century law required witnesses for transactions of more than 4 pennies, which implies that they had value. They did have shillings and pounds like Britian today, but they were just set amounts of money, not seperate coins. The only other coin was a gold mancus, which was worth 30 pennies. Later, coins were broken in half to form half-pennies.(3)

Halfpennies were 1 inch across, pennies were 1.25 inches, sixpences were .75 inches, shillings were 7/8 inches, florins were 1.125 inches, and a half a crown was 1.25 inches across. [16]

Here is a picture of the silver penny with King Alfred's head on it.
[13]

Anglo-Saxon Slavery:

There were different ways to become a slave and to get out of slavery. Just because someone became a slave did not mean they would die a slave. A slave could be born into slavery or more commonly captured through war. People could also become slaves by putting themselves into slavery for fines they were unable to pay. Slavery was not always for life. A slave could be bought and freed by their families or even freed by the owner’s choice. Also if a person was put into slavery for debts, they could be freed once their labor reached the value of the original debt.(4)

Anglo-Saxon Warfare:

Traditional lore would lead us to believe that the anglo-saxons were constantly engaged in battle, but this is not really the case. Battles were actually quite rare and occurred only once every twenty years or so. To find oneself in battle was often accidental and the person just happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Any wound that one would suffer would be seen as serious because he had a very low chance of survival due to blood poisoning or infection.(5)

Anglo-Saxon Names:

Instead of using so-called "last names," or surnames as we do today, Anglo-Saxons distinguished two people of the same name by their occupation or by where they lived. For example, the names Farmer, Baxter, Fisher, Weaver, and Hunter were originated by the Anglo-Saxons. Once their raids began, the vikings distinguished people by adding the name of one's father or mother to his/her own name. For example, a name like "Harald Erik's Son" eventually became "Harald Erkison." (6)
*Reference in Sarum: William atte Brigge's son, John adopts the name, Wilson, which becomes the new lineage name for the family for the rest of the book, until the name, Forest, is adopted. The author, Edward Rutherford, states his belief in this origin of the today-common name Wilson during the intro to the book.

Christianity in Anglo-Saxon England

The Anglo-saxons were a paganistic people before the Romans came. In 596 the pope sent missionaries to Kent, and the native people began to breed into the incoming Christians. King Ethelbert of England married a Christian princess and was baptised. Many of the southern kingdoms became Christian. (7)

Feasts and Celebrations

The Anglo-Saxons celebrations were always about the quantities and qualities of food provided where better meats, cheeses, fish and drinks were presented. The days of celebrations usually consisted of three whole feasts and at each one a certain etiquet was required. The feasts celebrated were on weddings, births, betrothals, and the church created three main feasts:
the winter feast, Easter feast, and a feast to celebrate the binding of the sheaves. (8)

Wergild

The Anglo-Saxon term wergild means a price paid by the killer of someone to the family of the deceased. The wergild policy did much more than just specify this amount.of money. Wergild effectively showed the social classes of the day; the higher the class, the higher the wergild. In order from highest to lowest were the nobles, ceorls (property owning free men), and chattels (slaves). The wergild didn't just punish murders, but actually helped prevent them. Without wergild, strong men could kill the rich and be confident that they could kill anyone who attempted revenge. With the wergild, however, the family of the deceased could demand a high payment that was required by law. This would deter many who contemplated murder. This concept was introduced by the first Lord of Kent, Ethlebert. (9)

Punishment of crime

Fighting was a way of life, and not to avenge the death of a family member was a social disgrace, so endlessly intricate blood-feuds generated perpetual excuses for going to war. The two alternatives for ending a blood-feud were 1) paying "wergild" -- the man price, or 2) arranging a marriage. Women were known as "cup-bearers" (because they served the mead) and "peace-weavers" (because of this function whereby feuds could be ended). But none of this really ever worked. The germanic tribes hated peace; fighting was more honorable. (10)

Anglo Saxon Warrior

The original Anglo Saxon soldiers used light spears, or javelins, to throw at opposing enemies when they were at a pretty far distance. It later came into a heavier spear and shield to use for close combat battle. Only the true warrior in those times could hold a sword. (11)

A Fyrd was a military organization that "consisted of highly trained thanes." Depending on the thanes position in society he was chosen to become a "professional warrior." Thanes had to serve "one month out of every three in rotation", to allow the town to always be protected. The thanes were extremely loyal to their king or lord, "and if their lord or king died in battle, his men were expected to die avenging his death." It was dishonorable to leave the battlefield where your lord had been killed. "Those who did were executed by their lord's successor for their disloyalty." During peacetime, the Fyrd policed the towns.(14)


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Sources:

(1) http://www.regia.org/law.htm
(2)http://www.regia.org/houses.htm
(3)http://www.anglo-saxons.net/hwaet/?do=get&type=question&id=Money
(4)
http://www.britainexpress.com/History/anglo-saxon_life.htm
(5)http://www.regia.org/warfare/war.htm
(6) http://www.uta.edu/english/tim/courses/4301w99/ashc.html
(7) http://chemistry.mtu.edu/~pcharles/ANGLOUSA/anglosaxon1.html
(8)http://www.regia.org/feasting.htm
(9)http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/ancient_british_history/58419
(10) http://www.wsu.edu/~delahoyd/medieval/anglo-saxon.html
(11)http://www.regia.org/spear.htm
(12)http://www.intellectbooks.com/nation/gifs/roman.gif
[13]http://www.gwydir.demon.co.uk/jo/units/money.htm
(14) http://www.uta.edu/english/tim/courses/4301w99/ashc.html
(15) http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/560-975dooms.html
[16]http://www.gwydir.demon.co.uk/jo/units/money.htm#size