How close did the Anglo-Saxons of around Alfred's time feel to the mainland Saxon people? How did they discuss the continuation of paganism in the latter?

by ghost_of_the_ages

I'd guess that in the 9th century there would still have been a great deal of mutual intelligibility between Old English and the Saxon and Frisian languages across the sea. Was there any communication, incidental or sustained, between them?

And as a follow-up: do we have any English reactions to Charlemagne's conquest of the Saxons?

Steelcan909