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The creation of Wales: 8th - 9th century
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The digging of Offa's dyke in the 8th century, as the effective border between Anglo-Saxon England and Celtic Wales, formalizes a situation which has existed for a century and a half. Victories near Bath (in 577) and near Chester (in 613) have brought the Anglo-Saxons to the Bristol Channel and the Irish Sea, restricting the Celtic tribes to the great western peninsula protected by the Welsh mountains.
In this enforced seclusion lies the beginning of the Welsh identity. The region is called Wales from an Anglo-Saxon word wealas, meaning 'foreigners'. Similarly the beleaguered Celts begin to call themselves cymry ('fellow-countrymen'), naming their shared territory Cymru.
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