I've been trying to study beyond my high school level of English History, and I was wondering, since I know about the Germanic settlers/invaders of Britain, but I know next to nothing of their society and lifestyle at home in Germany.
What was life like in Dark Ages Juteland, Anglia and Saxony? What made them emigrate? I've heard a lot mostly about the Saxons, did they actually show a greater than average power and dominance on the mainland?
Thanks for any interest.
Since there are no answers here I want to try to answer this.
The Jutes, Angles and Saxons were of the same Germanic cultural pool as the Scandinavian Vikings of the 8th-10th centuries as they had similar language, similar pre-Christian religion, and similar chieftain-clan culture. You can see the clear cultural tie between English-Saxon culture and that of the Vendels in Sweden comparing the Sutton Hoo find and the Vendel finds (look up helmets for both the finds). I don't know specifically you want to know about their daily life but cultural-wise, if you know about Viking Age Norse culture it is very similar (Belief in Wotan/Odin, Donar/Thor, etc).
Emigration happened for a number of reasons as the period they were moving had many tribes moving around to find land. The big one was simple competition for favorable farming land between tribes/clans that led to warfare (such as the conflicts between pre-Charlemagne Franks and the Saxons). The effects of warfare and raiding also caused migrations (think like displaced Syrian refugees). The other which can be factored but not a primary reason was the land inheritance laws favored elder sons meaning other sons that wanted their own homestead had to go off and find other land to settle which could lead into greater clan conflicts for land.
Now in terms of the might of the Saxons, they were a significant power, enough to invade Frankish lands under Charlemagne that led to the Saxon Wars but we know that it was Charlemagne that conquered the Saxons and essentially destroyed what was pre-Christian Saxon culture forcing the conversion of Christianity.