Plural of fen; wet, low-lying areas of land, typically covered with vegetation and often partially flooded.
From Old English fen, related to Old Frisian fenne and Old Saxon feni. The root may connect to Proto-Germanic *fani-, ultimately relating to 'water' or 'mud.'
The Fens of East Anglia were so legendary that they became Britain's own internal frontier—a place where outlaws hid, rebels organized, and Hereward the Wake led resistance against the Normans. Medieval people thought of fenlands as wild, liminal spaces where normal rules didn't apply.
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