It began the way these stories always do, with migrants, families seeking something very simple,

a better life. As the Tundra thought, people ventured north, and what they found was a new home.

As the centuries passed, new people arrived, some simply bringing new ideas, and others stayed.

They took on many names and had many cultures, and they prospered and grew.

People from all over the known world were coming to these lands, joining the growing communities.

Many came fleeing environmental changes, or the chaos of war, and sought to make a new home,

here. Over time, their ways mixed with the local population, and they created something new.

This happened again and again. Beaker people, Celts, the Roman Empire, people from Spain,

the Mediterranean, North Africa, Francia, Germany, from everywhere, centuries, millennia of migrants,

all adding their voices to these people. Language, art, religion, it all changed over time,

but every group of migrants had one thing in common. They all came seeking a better life.

The Danes presented a challenge, but not a new one. For their entire history, these people have been

mixing with the outside world. These people were never isolated. There was never a moment of purity,

and that was their strength. It was their cultural agility that brought them agriculture,

new forms of artistry, new technologies, new religions, and even new forms of government.

And it will be that same vital characteristic that will allow these people, despite their

disparate backgrounds and cultures, to unite under a single banner and form one of the most

consequential kingdoms in human history. In season 7 of the British History Podcast, England.