Dithmarschen Mjönir
Hroð-
Etsy back up.
https://www.etsy.com/shop/NorseWest
After forever the forge is back in action. Trying to find a trip to Denmark/Germany. no customs just what is on here is available for now. Not back to knives yet. Hammer arm is a bit rusty yet.
Skål.
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Jul
My Jul Will be between 12/21 and 1/18 so Glædelig Jul again & godt nytår.
Frohe Weihnachten und ein glückliches Neues Jahr.
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Who Are The Corded Ware People (Updated)
Today we will discuss the Corded Ware Culture and the people associated with it culturally .
The Corded Ware culture is the western expression of the ancient Yamna or Yamnaya Culture of the Pontic/Caspian Steppes and possibly has components of West Central European Neolithic elements (David Anthony). Sintashta are the eastern expression of the Corded Ware and may represent what we today call Schythians, a mysterious Indo European tribe who seem to absorb or represent more than one later group. Genetically we see them connected with Gothic peoples, Slavs, Celts and some Uralic speakers as their empire stretched well across Eurasia. The Yamnaya people or maybe more accurately Proto Indo Europeans, theoretically appear to be the admixture of Caucasus Hunter Gatherers and Eastern Hunter Gatherers. R1B-R1A and G2A YDNA. The Neolithic farming communities of the Balkans and eventually all of Europe were descended from these Caucasus Hunter Gatherers as well (G2A). They had spread from the Caucasus into Anatolia and then to Europe. The Western Hunter Gatherer’s haplogroup ancestor (IJK) more than likely originated in the Caucasus or Iran. The I group then within Europe separated from IJK. R1B existed in Mesolithic Europe but rarely and did not see great expansion until the Corded Ware and Bell Beaker Complex. One of the Ancestral components of the Eastern Hunter Gatherer is the “Ancient North Eurasian” who is a common ancestor of Indo Europeans via the EHG and Siberian, Native American peoples via those who migrated to the Americas from East of the Urals. The Haplogroups U and H in MTDNA phylogenetic tree are children of the parent haplogroup MTDNA R. These represent a great deal of female European ancestry along with K, T and many others. The G haplogroup is technically a lesser branch of IJK from which the I, J and K YDNA groups are derived.
(Above) Yamnaya Culture related materials.
I DO NOT OWN THESE IMAGES , NORE DO I CLAIM ANY CREDIT TO THEIR CREATION. COPYRIGHT TO THE ORIGINAL CREATOR. MOST WERE TAKEN FROM WIKIPEDIA OR GOOGLE IMAGES.
(Above) Corded Ware associated artifacts.
I DO NOT OWN THESE IMAGES , NORE DO I CLAIM ANY CREDIT TO THEIR CREATION. COPYRIGHT TO THE ORIGINAL CREATOR. MOST WERE TAKEN FROM WIKIPEDIA OR GOOGLE IMAGES.
The move from the Steppes to Central, Western and Northern Europe:
I DO NOT OWN THIS IMAGE: Source Google Search.
The people of Eurasia were largely Hunter Gatherers up till the Neolithic when groups in the Caucasus, Balkans and Anatolia began to develop and spread new farming technologies northward into Central Europe. In certain areas hunter forager cultures persisted such as in
Scandinavia and parts of the Urals and Western Steppe. Eventually Europe was overtaken by the new technologies and hunting centered life decreased but remained at least in some form as a guarantee against bad yields. The Farming groups represented by Varna, Vinca , LBK and others brought the Megalithic structures to western Europe and Scandinavia. It should be noted that signs of indigenous farming may have been detected before the arrival of Caucasian groups. These farming groups are believed to have been the evolution of the Caucasus Hunter Gatherer (CHG) a distinct group who’s G2A Haplogroup was the primary YDNA of the farming expansion while H in various forms and others were the MTDNA. The H groups also may have had some European distribution in the Mesolithic as well. The Northern contemporaries of the CHG were the Eastern Hunter Gatherer (EHG) centered in modern Russia, The Urals, Scandinavia and Finland. These Hunters were partly descended from the “North Asian Hunter Gatherer” and are the ancestral originators of the R YDNA group (R, R1B,R1A). It is suggested among other theories that the remaining CHG and EHG combined into a new culture and genetic group ancestral to the Yamnaya culture centered in Pontic Caspian steppes north of the Black Sea and Caucasus. This new culture with a complicated language began expanding in the late Neolithic north, South, East and West. The new culture was marked by changes in ideology, travel and customs demarcating them as different or novel from the previous farming and hunting cultures and separated from them by many generations. In a large picture they are the descendant in part from Farming groups but many generations removed. The language spoken was likely Proto Indo-European, a grammatically complicated heavily declined language resistant to barrowing from other languages. This language carried cultural terms unique to it revolving around horse domestication, wheels and mobile economy. It is theorized that this group was the first to tame and ride horses (Horse, Wheel and Language , David Anthony) and create a mobile semi nomadic wheel based economy. The oldest wheel to date on Earth was found in Slovenia at 5350 years old. This would place the wheel in the heartland of Neolithic European farming culture and at the edge of Expanding Steppe Cultures (PIE/WSH). It is also suggested (Theorized) that the Chariot was invented in the Steppes by PIE cultures and spread south via the Caucasus to the Middle and Near East. Archeology and linguistics supports this (David Anthony ). The remnants of words relating to these things are found throughout many ancient branches of PIE. The exact age of the branching is unknown, In David Anthony’s book he points out that Germanic/Baltic/Slavic might be the oldest branching after Anatolian and Tocharian . Also pointed out in David Anthony’s book the PIE language share deep relationships with Uralic language groups via very archaic shared pronouns and other features. In his book he relates the possibility of a shared Ancestor that by PIE and Uralic families descended from. Given the geography I think this is an interesting idea but these are now distinct language families and may have been related in only the most ancient sense. I would like to Add that the Basque language is sometimes referred to as a candidate for the only surviving Neolithic Language with no known membership in existing language families, however recent studies have found similarities with modern Caucasus based languages and the Basque share a similarity with Neolithic populations in a similar way as Sardinians. These Neolithic peoples were originally from the Caucasus and carried the Caucasian G2A Haplogroup that is prevalent still in the Caucasus and Mediterranean populations.
NOTE:
When I speak of interrelatedness to these ancient cultures it is through a modern lens and in no way reflects their actual interactions or relationships nor implies they saw themselves as related to each other.
Why the Expansion took place and what spurred it is unknown but archeology tells us that signs of steppe influence began to be detected in Late Neolithic cultures at the fringe steppe areas, Carpathian Basin, Danube Valley and other places. This included technology, status symbols and burial customs. Signs of hostile force is also detected where WSH groups replace or run out previous Neolithic cultures as they move west into Europe. Signs of peaceful coexistence also exist. The Western and Scandinavian hunters appear to have been most durable to this and you see the Hunter YDNA (I,I2,I1) persist in Scandinavia and have resurgence during the post Bell Beaker Central European Bronze Age. This however was not the case in Britain as the PIE DNA both Autosomaly and YDNA replaces the previous population within several generations. Britain is heavily WSH derived while Scandinavia retains as high as 60% Hunter derived YDNA (I1A) but via autosomal is heavily WSH derived. After 3000BC The Corded ware and their descendants start to become the majority culture in Northern Europe. The story in Southern Europe Is markedly different in that the culture existing when WSH people arrived were much more diverse.
It is believed the Corded Ware culture might have been the group responsible for introducing PIE languages to Northern Europe and other ascribe it as specifically Ancestral to Germanic culture however the Corded Ware horizon appears to be Ancestral all Northern European cultures including Germanic, Celtic, Slavic and Baltic etc. *My view is that the interaction with unique indigenous groups played at least some role in post CWC groups evolving into unique cultures we see today:
WEST CENTRAL EUROPE: Mesolithic to Later Iron Age.
+> indicates shared origin.
* indicates an adjacent culture and genetic contact with PIE groups.
These charts are not exhaustive to every culture or group.
Western Hunter Gatherer*
Neolithic Farmer*
CWC Horizon+>
Bell Beaker Trade Complex+>
Unetice+>
Tumulus+>
Urnfield culture+>
Hallstatt Bronze Age/Iron Age+>
Le Tene Culture (Iron Age)+>
Pan Celtic civilization +>.
NORTHERN EUROPE: (Mesolithic to Iron Age)
Western, Eastern and Scandinavian Hunters *
Neolithic Farmers*
Funnelbeaker Culture (Hunter/Farmer mixed) *
CWC+>
Single Grave Culture+>
Beaker Culture+>
Unetice Culture+>
Nordic Bronze Age+> (Recognizable signs of Germanic Culture)
Jastorf and Wielbark Cultures (Iron Age)+>
Pan Germanic Cultures+>
BRITAIN: Mesolithic to Iron Age..
Hunter Gatherer (First Population) *
Neolithic Farmer (Second population) *
Bell Beaker Chalcolithic Warrior (Pie)+>
Bronze Age Briton (Descended from Beaker)+>
Le Tene Celtic culture+> (Arrives from NW Europe Iron Age)
British Celtic Tribes+>
EASTERN EUROPE:
Eastern Hunter and North Eurasian Hunter+> (Ancestor to Sredny-Stog-Yemnaya)
Western Hunters+>*
Caucasus Hunter+>*
Neolithic Farmers+> CHG* (Simplified term for many cultures)
Contemporary Forager Cultures *
Sredny Stog (Pre PIE? EHG-CHG) +>
Yamnaya (Pie) +> (EHG and CHG)
Corded Ware-Fatyanovo, Sintashta, Andronovo, Srubnaya Etc.+>
Únětice culture+>
Lusation Urnfield Culture +>
Schythians and Aryans (Non political meaning)+>
Pre Slavs?+>
This is just to give a bare idea of the influence of Steppe culture throughout Europe.
Tumulus and Urnfield cultures are mentioned as possibly Ancestral to Celtic culture which was later expressed by the Hallstatt Culture. Often Germanic and Celtic are placed close in the PIE family tree but recent opinions have linked Italic and Celtic as a western branch and Germanic, Baltic and Slavic as a Northern Branch. This being said it is not hard to see a general relatedness especially in the ancient form of each of these languages. Their exact correct placement is unknown as is their exact date of branching. Germanic may have branched as far back as 3500BC or as recently as the Nordic Bronze Age. Germanic customs have a certain amount of unique traits that may be remaining elements of the Pitted Ware Culture or other Scandinavian Hunting groups. As mentioned above Germanic populations are generally higher in Hunter and then Steppe ancestry while southern Europe is more farmer derived. Central Europe being the epicenter of WSH culture (PIE) has high relations rates to Yamnaya derived groups with less hunter and farmer. South Eastern Europe also has distribution WHG I2A. Neolithic female populations play a greater role in Northern Europe than male lineages as G2A is rare but I-M170 with its descendants and R1B/R1A are frequent. Germanic culture appears at least with current information to have been born out of the Hunter/Corded Ware and Single Grave/Bell Beaker group in Jutland or Southern Sweden. It then developed into the Nordic Bronze Age with at least some influence from Unetice and Hallstatt via trade and other contact. All of this of course is hypothetical postulating.
A further note:
In the ideas above I have simplified many elements and the info is not exhaustive. I also want to make sure that the Neolithic cultures are not under represented. The Funnelbeaker Neolithic culture was very widespread in Scandinavia and butted up to remaining Scandinavian hunters like the Pitted Ware culture. This same culture (Funnelbeaker) was also in Germany, Poland and Czechia when the Late Yamnaya arrived from Eastern Europe/Western Steppes. David Anthony proposes they arrived through the Danube Valley and that Corded Ware was a local construction that the Yamnaya made contact with and this grew into the wide spread Corded Ware culture that may have brought PIE languages to Northern Europe. They may have also carried not just PIE elements but remaining Neolithic elements as well. He also proposes the Beaker folk was a pre existing culture that Corded Ware made contact with but we know now via DNA that the Beaker Culture was descended from the same source population as Corded Ware and Yamnaya. In the Same section of his book it is put forth that the Ancestor of Germanic bifurcated from PIE in Eastern Europe which may be true but the actual language we know as Germanic I personally believe developed in Scandinavia nor central Europe during the Corded Ware/Single Grave period . On the subject of Bell Beaker I want to touch on my previous articles and after gaining further insight from the second time I read The Horse, Wheel and Language. The Bell Beaker designs appear to be either evolution from Corded Ware or Funnelbeaker/Corded/Protruding Foot Beaker designs or cruder copies of a Neolithic Iberian design. The Atlantic EBA was flourishing at this point and these could have been traded north from existing Neolithic crafters into arisen Yamnaya descended areas. We know via DNA the Beaker folk were not local to Western Europe but part of migratory Steppe peoples who likely Spoke PIE languages. It could be seen in a way that the Bell Beaker people (not pottery) were just the western most expression of Corded ware that picked up a new pottery style. Other Proto Indo Europeans groups earlier in development sometimes used pottery from surrounding areas. Sintashta and other CWC derived groups became unique eastern branches of CWC so why not a western most branch? The basic traditions of Corded Ware/Battle Axe/ Single Grave were intact in the Bell Beaker horizon. These traditions included single grave burials with goods like stone axes or hammers, copper daggers and Kurgans erected above the grave. The Beaker People represent the majority of British ancestors but are we to believe CWC just stopped at the coast and Beaker people had no connection?. We now have DNA to answer the question that yes The Beaker Folk were Corded Ware and that R1B was prevalent in CWC peoples. Some make them ancestral to Germanic, some to Celtic and Italic cultures. I would also like to add that I agree with the theory that Germanic, Baltic and Slavic belong in a branch together and Celtic and Italic belong in another branch around the Alps perhaps. If you look at word forms and etymology Celtic and Italic languages share some traits as well and mythology elements. If you look at certain words and mythology between Germanic, Baltic and Slavic languages certain elements are shared such as a female personification of the Sun, symbols, cosmology and animistic nature worship elements. A great deal of shared elements can be seen across Indo European religion and Germanic and Celtic people had considerable contact with each other but so did Germanic, Baltic and Slavic peoples. The contribution of the stone axe in the Corded Ware/Battle Axe cultures may have been pre-existing among the Funnelbeaker and other Indigenous groups. The Neolithic cultures of Europe, although likely distributed via Female lineages should not be underestimated either. It is recorded that males in the LBK culture of Central Europe’s Neolithic were buried with Stone axes. These males made little impact genetically but their women and traditions may have.
I hope this inspired you to dive into European Anthropology. Please go read and make up your own mind. I am only an amateur but find it endlessly fascinating.
Books and resources:
The Horse, The Wheel and Language by David Anthony (Highly detailed)
Skelhøj by Madz Kähler and Marrianne Rasmussen (Very Technical)
Bronze Age Metal Work by Nørgaard (Very Technical)
The Mound People by Glob
The Bog People By Glob
Myths and symbols in Pagan Europe by H.R Ellis Davidson (Early Celt and Germanic religion)
Eupedia.com (Great Maps and info on DNA)
Wikipedia.com (with a grain of salt/check other sources)
Wiktionary.com (etymology and tables)
Youtube.com (Good Documentaries)
Happy researching!!
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Anglo Saxon grammar ideas
Anglo Saxon grammatical ideas and dative in semi poetic use:
The AS language retains the archaic Indo-European function of cases and gender as well as complicated poetic grammar that uses cases to imply words that are not actually written. In modern Germanic language only German and Icelandic retain cases and gender in any heavy use. Swedish and Danish have Common and Neuter in modern use. Danish and Old English share sometimes a visually close vocabulary but many are false friends and mean something different. AS uses cases not word order to indicate grammar and is more free in word order. This does not mean it is totally free or random in word order.
(The genders are meaningless in function in AS and only serve as a complicated archaic hold over from Proto Germanic and act as another layer of things to memorize. My interpretation from “Robert E Diamond” Old English grammar/ reader).
The following is my own writing of what I have learned.
The dative:
“Hail to the Sun”
The sun is receiving the call so it is singular dative.
I am the one hailing so I am in nominative.
Hælu Þære Sunnan (hail the sun) “to” is implied when using the dative and technically so is “the” so you could write it “Hælu Sunnan” and “ to the” ís implied and would be understood as such. The ending “an” on the Goddess name Sunne denotes a weak declension of the feminine noun. “Þære” ís the feminine dative form of “the” the nominative (f) form of the is “Seo”. Male Form(n) “Se” which is close to PG and PIE sources.
To add a personal emphasis I could add “Ic”
“Ic Hælu Þære Sunnan”
“I hail the sun”
As you can see Ic is cognate to German Ich.
When using articles (words like “the”) the article must match the gender of the word and the articles case must match the case being used. Dative with dative etc…
Example: masculine:
Se (nom) Hund (nom)
“The Dog” the dog is the subject so it is nominative as is “the”
Se Hundas (Nom/Plural)
“The dogs” plural
Þæs Hundes bān (Genitive)
“The dog’s bone”
(Accusative uses the same word endings as nominative) but uses several different articles depending on gender such as “þone”. The ACC case is used to denote the object being given such as above “bān”. In the modern sentence “I gave the dog a treat” the “treat” is accusative the dog is singular dative. The accusative is also used to indicate movement of something in a sentence such as running, riding, charging etc..
The dative case has the most uses and is the most complicated.
Dative:
“To the Hall” as in a toast
Sæle (neut) (tó the hall) poetic
“To the halls” “ (of our forebears) plural toast
Sælum (neut) dative plural “ to the” ís implied.
Sæl is the origin of the Word Saloon and Salon. Modern Danish “Sal” as in Mjødsal (Mead hall) Old English “Medusæl”
All cases and genders have a version of the word “the” and some are shared. Cases have some of the following endings: ( not complete or exhaustive)
E
A
es
as
U
an
Some case endings on certain words have no end vowel or sometimes use a double from another such as sometimes genitive ending E or Nominative ending in A.
This level of complexity leaves the student with need of complex tables showing all gender forms, articles by case and gender as well as all singular and plural forms of words. Wiktionary and and a good word hoard book goes a long way.
Notes:
Anglo Saxon is a Norð Sea Germamic or Ingveonic language that originated in Jutland and Southern Scandinavia. Old English, English, Old Saxon, Low German, Old Frisian and Frisian are all within the Ingveonic family. Some speculate the Teutons were also Ingveonic due to their southern Scandinavian origin. These languages sit somewhere between Scandinavian and West Germanic languages.
I use Peter S. Baker, Robert E Diamond and Stephen Pollington, K Herbert resources as well Thijs Porck videos and wiktionary declension tables.
Skål 🍻 some of this might not correct but it’s as far as I have gotten.
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Wow
Sometimes you should visit old bookstores. You Never know. full 1907 set royal edition 57 of 450.
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Anglo Saxon word of the day: Yþlad
Anglo Saxon word of the day:
ȳþlād (voyage, crossing) poetic sense.
From:
Proto-West Germanic: *unþi
Old English: ȳþ
Middle English: ythe, uthe, ithe
English: ithe
Old Saxon: ūthia
Old Dutch: *unthia, *untha
Middle Dutch: unde, onde
Dutch: onde (dialectal)
Old High German: undia
Middle High German: unde, ünde
German: Unde (obsolete, dialectal)
Yiddish: אינד (ind)
Old Norse: unnr, uðr
Icelandic: unnur
And:
Old English: lād, ġelād
Middle English: lad, lode, loode
Scots: laid, lade
English: lode, load
Old Frisian: lāde, lēde
Old Saxon: lēda
Middle Low German: leide
→ Norwegian: leide
→ Old Swedish: leidh
Swedish: lejd
Old Dutch: *lēda, *leida
Middle Dutch: leide
Dutch: lei
Old High German: leida
Middle High German: leite, geleite
German: Leite, Geleite
Old Norse: leið
Icelandic: leið
Faroese: leið
Norwegian:
Norwegian Bokmål: lei, led
Norwegian Nynorsk: lei
Old Swedish: lēþ
Swedish: led
Danish: led
→ Proto-Finnic: *laita
Estonian: laid
Finnish: laita
→ Proto-Samic: *lājδ
Bonus:
Wrǣtt (Ornament, jewel)
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Anglo Saxon word of the day: acweorna
Anglo Saxon word of the day:
ācweorna (squirrel)
The first denotes “oak” the second element “weorna “ denotes squirrel.
Proto-West Germanic: *aikwernō
Old English: ācweorna
Middle English: acquerne
Old Frisian: *ēkworna, *ēkhorna
Saterland Frisian: *Eeker (in Kateeker ?)
West Frisian: iikhoarn, iikhoarntsje
Old Saxon: *ēkhorno
Middle Low German: êkhōrn, êkhōrne, eikhōrne, êkhorn, êkōrn, eikōrn, êkōrne, echhorne
⇒ Dutch Low Saxon: Eekhoorntje
German Low German: Ekkern
Westphalian:
Ravensbergisch: Aik, Aikern
Sauerländisch: Ēksken, Aikerte
⇒ German Low German: Eekhoorntje
Old Dutch: *ēcorno
Middle Dutch: êencōren
Dutch: eekhoorn
Old High German: eihhorno, eihhurno
Middle High German: eichurne
Alemannic German: Eichhore
German: Eichhorn
⇒ German: Eichhörnchen
⇒ Hunsrik: Eichhernche
Old Norse: íkorni
Icelandic: íkorni
Faroese: íkorni
Norwegian:
Norwegian Bokmål: ekorn
Norwegian Nynorsk: ekorn, ikorn
Old Swedish: ēkorne, īkorne
Swedish: ekorre, (dialectal) ikorn
Old Danish: īkærnæ
Danish: egern
Westrobothnian: ickȯrn, ikårn, ikkårn
Elfdalian: aikuonn
Jamtish: íkuðn
Gutnish: eikånn
Scanian: igarne
Bonus:
maniġfeald (manifold, many fold, of many parts)
Old English: maniġfeald, mæniġfeald
Middle English: manifald, monifald, manyfold, manifold
English: manifold, manyfold
Old Frisian: manichfald
Old Saxon: managfald
Old Dutch: *manigfald
Middle Dutch: menichvout
Dutch: menigvoud, menigvoudig
Old High German: manicfalt, manicfaltīg
Middle High German: manecvalt, manecvaltec
German: mannigfaltig
Old Norse: margfaldr
Icelandic: margfaldur
Norwegian: mangfoldig
Old Swedish: mangfalder
Swedish: mångfald, mångfaldig
Danish: mangefold
Gutnish: manggfaldur
Gothic: 𐌼𐌰𐌽𐌰𐌲𐍆𐌰𐌻𐌸𐍃 (managfalþs)
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Anglo Saxon word of the day: Geryne
Anglo Saxon Word Of the day:
ġerȳne (mystery) using the word “Run” (rune)
Proto Germanic “garūniją”.
Proto-West Germanic: *garūnī
Old English: ġerȳne
Middle English: irīne, *yrīne, ʒerīnu (pl.)
Old High German: *girūni
Middle High German: gerūne, geriune
German: Geraune
Gothic: 𐌲𐌰𐍂𐌿𐌽𐌹 (garūni)
Bonus:
ċeahhettan ( to laugh loudly, cackle)
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Anglo Saxon word of the day: Preowthwil
Anglo Saxon word of the day:
prēowthwīl (to blink) (the time it takes to blink)
Bonus 1:
Hagosteald (an unmarried warrior of royal descent) (bachelor)( liegeman) (owner or one who lives on fenced land of their family) sometimes acts as a personal name. Alternate:Hægsteald.
Old English: hæġsteald, hagulstead, hagosteald
⇒ Old English: Hagustealdesēa
⇒ Old English: Hagustealdeshām
English: Hexham
Middle English: hassel, haselle
Old Saxon: hagalstad
Old High German: hagalstalt, hagastolt
Old Norse: haukstalda
Bonus 2:
wīġbǣre (warlike) (eager for battle)
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Anglo Saxon word of the day: Scytta.
Anglo Saxon word of þe dæg:
Sċytta (archer, shooter, Sagittarius)
Bonus:
Sċēotan ( to shoot, fire, the act of shooting, quick movement, to rush, to dash)
Proto-West Germanic: *skeutan
Old English: sċēotan
Middle English: shoten
English: shoot, skeet
Scots: schute, schuit, schote, schoot, schete
Old Frisian: skiata
West Frisian: sjitte
Old Saxon: skiotan
Middle Low German: scheten
Low German: scheten
Old Dutch: skietan
Middle Dutch: schieten
Dutch: schieten
Limburgish: sjete
Old High German: sciozzan
Middle High German: schiezzen
Alemannic German: schieße
Central Franconian: schieße, scheeße
German: schießen
Luxembourgish: schéissen
Vilamovian: śisa
Old Norse: skjóta
Icelandic: skjóta
Faroese: skjóta
Old Swedish: skiūta
Swedish: skjuta
Norwegian Nynorsk: skyte, skyta, skjota (archaic)
Old Danish: skiūtæ
Danish: skyde
→ Norwegian Bokmål: skyte
Westrobothnian: skjuut
Elfdalian: stjuota
Jamtish: skjǿte
Old Gutnish: skiauta
Gutnish: skjaute, skiauta
Scanian: skjúda, skúda
Crimean Gothic: schieten
Anglo Saxon word of the day: Tirgan.
Anglo Saxon word of þe dæg:
Tirġan (ᛏᛁᚱᚷᚨᚾ) ( to provoke, pain, irritate)
Old English: tergan, tiergan, tyrgan, tirgan, tirian; tierwan
Middle English: terien, tarien, taryen; terȝen
Scots: tarrow
English: tarry
Old Frisian: *tergia
West Frisian: tergje
Old Saxon: *targian, *tergian
Middle Low German: tergen, targen
→ Danish: tærge
→ Norwegian: terge
→ Swedish: targa
Old Dutch: *tergen
Middle Dutch: tergen, terghen
Dutch: tergen
Old High German: *zergen
Middle High German: zergen
German: zergen
Bonus:
Torht ( to shine, brightness)
Old English: torht
Middle English: torhte, tohte
Old Saxon: torht, toroht
Old High German: zorht, zoraht, zorft
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The Anglo Saxon Tribes
The Anglo Saxons their Language and contributing tribes.
Legend: * means my own reconstruction or idea.
An overview of Tribes and Language:
The Anglo Saxons are a grouping of Germanic tribes: Angles, Jutes, Saxons, Frisians, Danes and Geats to some extent. These tribes were hardly united, shifted loyalties and had a complicated relationship with each other. Many of the proposed early Anglo Saxon Kings were of royal Danish descent according to genealogy and many characters were associated with the the court of the Danes. The overall grouping with politics removed come from a pre Viking cultural age known as the Vendel Period. We see the material culture of the Vendel Period in Sweden, Denmark, Frisia, Germany and England. This is marked by ornate helmets and a distinct form of migration age influenced art/jewelry and sword styles. The Languages of these tribes would also be quite similar at this point despite fragmenting into North, West and Eastern Germanic it is easy to see that Anglo Saxon language bared a resemblance to early Norse dialects and Danish to this day. Today English fits into a category known as “Anglo Frisian” and our closest language family member is Frisian. English is known for retaining the sounds ðþ like Icelandic. Most other Germanic languages dropped these sounds except for certain dialects and an almost ðþ sound in Danish that is barely discernable. Anglo Saxon language was extremely inflected and this reflected the complicated nature of the tongue. The Tribes shifted for position and waged war on each other as well as created alliances. One could say that there was not a united Anglo Saxon land until Alfred the great. The heritage of the Anglo Saxon is that of Angles, Saxons, Jutes (Hypothesized West Geats), Geats, Frisians and Franks . Unlike popular TV shows or movies the Anglo Saxons and Scandinavians were all quite aware of each other and previous interrelations. The listeners of Beowulf in an Anglo Saxon hall are bombarded with places and names of tribes, people and ideas they would be familiar with. As archeology improves we see our ancestors were much more connected than we thought. Today English is an analytical language which has dropped its genders and cases. Our grammar still exists but is maintained in word order unlike OE which relied on cases to reflect grammar. We do have some gender in English today but it is natural gender like referring to certain things as She or He based on our understanding of the object. Example: “She’s a good old boat” or naming vehicles, boats and other things with female names. This is not universal however. Old English genders are sometimes perplexing and require heavy memorization of the Cases and articles. The Old English verb conjugations are also very difficult to memorize and master. The Anglo Saxons used the Fuþorc which is descended from the Elder Fuþark but contains 32 or more Runes. The increase in Runic characters is another indication of the complicated nature of the English language. English today is a combination of Anglo Saxon Vocabulary evolved through Middle English and then Norse, French and Latin. An interesting fact is that you could speak English only using Germanic vocabulary but you could not speak English using only French or Latin . The Norman invasion is responsible in part for the birth of Middle English with help from Danish Influence in the north.
I do not own this image. If you own it and want it removed please leave a comment.
The Anglo Saxon Religion:
There is but one Anglo Saxon religion and that religion is “Germanic Polytheism”. This religion contains elements of Shamanism and Animism inherited from our Hunter Gatherer Ancestors in Scandinavia/Denmark and Indo European ancestral Shamans in the western Steppe. No other religion is Native to the Anglo Saxon but that of the old Gods like Woden, þunor, Frīg and Ing. The religion of the Anglo Saxon is not well attested in certain areas but well attested in others. Much of the context was eradicated by the church and harshly suppressed. We know that attested Anglo Saxon Gods are contemporary to their Continental and Scandinavian relatives minus some that appear to be Ancestral figures or alternate names of known Gods. Some are unique to regions such as a few Frisian/Dutch figures but these could be traced to other known Gods if by a slight stretch. Some Gods are simply not attested and no Anglo Saxon poem existed to preserve them unlike in Iceland. We are missing cosmology and other details however concepts like Midgard “OE Middangeard” and Valkyrie “OE Wælcyrge” were known and used concepts identical to their Norse counterpart. Nothing can be assumed with certainty but If large portions of Germanic religion is universal across most tribes we can assume that the conglomerate of Tribes who became collectively Anglo Saxon had the same complete religious cosmology as the rest. This reasoning is fairly sensical given the Scandinavian/Jutlandic origin of the tribes that contributed to this eventual cultural grouping.
A Few Gods:
Wōden: (Wednesday)
Chief God of the Germanic people and founder of many royal lines. In Scandinavia known as Oðinn (Odin) or by over 200 other names including Gautr, Grimnir, and Fumbultyr. Symbol is a spear or various Runes like Oðalla, Ansuz etc. Wōden’s name means “furious” however given his names like Allfather he obviously is a complex deity and has many facets. He famously hung for nine nights on Yggdrasil to gain sight into the Great Gap and retrieve the magic of the Runes. He is well known to walk amongst humans as well.
Þunor: (Thursday)
Sone of Wōden, God of thunder, the sky and fertility in agriculture. Supreme protector of mankind. Known as Þorr in Scandinavia (Thor), Donar in Germany and Þunær amongst the Old Saxons. Symbol is a Hammer. Thor is figured in a great many tales from Gotland where he travels amongst humans.
Seaxnēat: (Hero/King/Ancestral God)
A divine or semi divine Ancestor found in Old Saxon “Saxnōt” and Anglo Saxon genealogies of Essex. Sometimes listed as a Son of Wōden.
Tiw: Tiwesdæg (Tuesday)
The God of bravery, sacrifice, law, honor and is mentioned in early attestations as the Allfather. In Norse myth he (Tyr) famously loses his hand to protect Asgard from Fenris Wolf. His Rune has been found carved onto sword blades and hilts. The name Tiw, Tir, Tig and Tyr means God or Deity and is cognate to Zeus and PIE Deywos the supreme sky God.
Frīg-Frēo: (Friday)
Goddess of war, Fertility, Sex and magic. Consort or Wife of Wōden and the one who teaches him Seiðr. A Witch of great power and a shamanic figure. Frīg: Etymologically I do not view Frīg/Frēo as different deities and Frīg shares many aspects of Freyja beyond just etymology as Wōdens wife, great Witch and weaver of the sky. A Goddess of healing, house and motherhood as well. In Wōdens own words she knows more but will not say. She Like Odin has many names but none set in stone name. The term Frīg or Frēo is a title meaning “Lady”
Ingwine:
The God of the Ingeveonic tribes also known as Frēa (Lord) his actual name is Ing or Inwine. Norse Cognate Yngvi or Yngvi-Freyr. Yng is mentioned in the prefix of the Yngling dynasty. Many tribes declare descent from him and he is seen in Denmark as a great peace bringer. He may be figured in the sometimes perplexing Germanic mythological story presented of Tacitus’s Germania. Tuisto or Tuisco the God who propigated all Germanic people had a son Mannus who Ingwine may be descended from as a semi divine Ancestral God/Hero. The concepts is this myth does not satisfy however my questions in the least. I have seen it argued aand denied that Tuisto is Tiw or Tyr but the etymology only agrees that Tuisco could be etymologically linked to Tiw but I disagree in that the important part of the word is “TUI”. Personal opinion> I see major holes in the Tacitus data as it was second hand. I see something more like Tuisto was name sake God of the Teuton tribe who had some Celtic Influence after arriving in Jutland (Cimbria) and united with the Cimbrians to fight Rome who are both described as Celtic and Germanic. The word Teuton shares etymology with Celtic Tuatha and Teutabod (King of the Teutons) is theorized as a Celtic name. The Teutons are an Ingeveonic tribe.
Mannus :
Mannus, according to the Roman writer Tacitus, was a figure in the creation myths of the Germanic tribes. Tacitus is the only source of these myths.[1]
Tacitus wrote that Mannus was the son of Tuisto and the progenitor of the three Germanic tribes Ingaevones, Herminones and Istvaeones.[2] In discussing the German tribes Tacitus wrote:
In ancient lays, their only type of historical tradition, they celebrate Tuisto, a god brought forth from the earth. They attribute to him a son, Mannus, the source and founder of their people, and to Mannus three sons, from whose names those nearest the Ocean are called Ingvaeones, those in the middle Herminones, and the rest Istvaeones. Some people, inasmuch as antiquity gives free rein to speculation, maintain that there were more sons born from the god and hence more tribal designations—Marsi, Gambrivii, Suebi, and Vandilii—and that those names are genuine and ancient. (Germania, chapter 2)[3]
I note here that the God of the Geats (Gaut, Gautaz, Gautr, Gapt) is absent as a creator God here. The Gotenes are a tribe attested as Early as the Teutons. The Teutons and Gotanes are arguably the first mentioned tribes exhibiting Germanic features in the late BC’s. The first sign of a distinct Germanic culture were likely seen in the Late BC’s Jastorf and Wielbark cultures.
Gaut (God of the Geats) (Ancestral God)
I write here about Gaut because the Anglo Saxons were preoccupied with the Geats in poems like Beowulf and they are mention in the song Deor. It is arguable that the Geats had a presence in the Early Pagan times of England given the Vendel nature of the Anglo Saxon customs of pre Christian England and the Jutes likely being a confused alternative name of the Geats, Goths etc. Gaut is one of Odin’s names and he is the patron God of the Geatish tribe. I would also note than the Wulffing clan of the Geats and the Wuffing clan of the East Anglians are simply too close to not see a major connection.
Baldæg/Baldor:
Something of an Anglo Saxon term for Baldr the son of Wōden and he mentioned as such in the kings list of Bernicia. His name denotes bravery and boldness and he is the shining God who in Norse myth is slain by mistletoe.
Wyrd:
The Anglo Saxon form of the web of fate.
Beowa:
A not well attested deity Associated with barley, attested in the royal lineage as the son of Scyld, Grandson of Sceafa. The name is similar to Beowulf in the prefix.
Hreða:
A deity attested by Bede connected to the month Hrēðmōnað. The etymology may infer victory or fame.
in chapter 15 of his work De temporum ratione, Bede provides information about English months and celebrations. Bede records that Hrēþmōnaþ is analogous to March, and details that “Hrethmonath is named for their goddess Hretha, to whom they sacrificed at this time” (Rhed-monath a Dea illorum Rheda, cui in illo sacrificabant, nominatur…). Bede notes that Hrēþmōnaþ occurs between Solmōnaþ (February), so named due to the offerings of cakes to the gods during the month, and Ēostermōnaþ (April), named after the goddess Ēostre.[2]
Erce:
Attested in the 11th-century Æcerbot (“field-remedy”) charm. The personification of Earth. Likely related to ON Jorð.
Eostre:
Argued as the name of a Goddess or just the name of a month in the Anglo Saxon calendar recorded by Bede. The name means “East” as in the dawning son.
Eosturmonath has a name which is now translated “Paschal month”, and which was once called after a goddess of theirs named Eostre, in whose honour feasts were celebrated in that month. Now they designate that Paschal season by her name, calling the joys of the new rite by the time-honoured name of the old observance.[21]
Siȝel/Sunne: (Sunday)
Goddess of the Sun and likely a deity stemming form as far back as the Nordic Bronze Age or even dawn of the Indo Europeans. Her name is in our “Sunday”.
Merseburg Charm (Wikipedia)
| Eiris sazun idisi, sazun hera duoder; suma hapt heptidun, suma heri lezidun, suma clubodun umbi cuoniouuidi: insprinc haptbandun, inuar uigandun. | Once sat women, They sat here, then there. Some fastened bonds, Some impeded an army, Some unraveled fetters: Escape the bonds, flee the enemy! |
| Phol ende uuodan uuorun zi holza. du uuart demo balderes uolon sin uuoz birenkit. thu biguol en sinthgunt, sunna era suister; thu biguol en friia, uolla era suister; thu biguol en uuodan, so he uuola conda: sose benrenki, sose bluotrenki, sose lidirenki: ben zi bena, bluot zi bluoda, lid zi geliden, sose gelimida sin! | Phol and Wodan were riding to the woods, and the foot of Balder’s foal was sprained So Sinthgunt, Sunna’s sister, conjured it; and Frija, Volla’s sister, conjured it; and Wodan conjured it, as well he could: Like bone-sprain, so blood-sprain, so joint-sprain: Bone to bone, blood to blood, joints to joints, so may they be glued |
Voluspa: (Wikipiedia)
Benjamin Thorpe translation:
The sun from the south, the moon’s companion,
her right hand cast about the heavenly horses.
The sun knew not where she a dwelling had,
the moon know not what power he possessed,
the stars knew not where they had a station.[3]
Henry Adams Bellows translation:
The sun, the sister of the moon, from the south
Her right hand cast over heaven’s rim;
No knowledge she had where her home should be,
The moon knew not what might was his,
The stars knew not where their stations were.[4]
Mone: (Monday)
Personification of the Moon and brother of Sunne (See above).
Wecta/Wægdæg: (Hero/King/Demigod)
Attested as a son of Wōden in royal lineages and mentioned in prologue of the Poetic Edda as Vegdagr as a powerful King in East Saxony.
The Modra:
The sacred mothers attested by Bede. Possibly associated with the Norns. Venerated at Mōdraniht. Possibly cognate to other triple Goddess traditions in Europe. The West Germanic tradition of the Matres and Matronae may be connected.
Bede: … began the year on the 8th calends of January [25 December], when we celebrate the birth of the Lord. That very night, which we hold so sacred, they used to call by the heathen word Modranecht, that is, “mother’s night”, because (we suspect) of the ceremonies they enacted all that night.[2]
Nicors:
Water Spirits that haunt ponds, lakes and other bodies of water. Cognate to the Scandinavian Nøkken.
Wælcyrge:
Well attested in Norse Myth these skyward female spirits are the collectors of heroic dead and hand maidens to Freyja/Frīg. In Anglo Saxon they may have also denoted some evil female spirit or the ghostly form of a Hag (Evil Witch) out flying the night sky causing havoc.
Places and Things:
Irminsul:
The Axis Mundi or center of the universe this sacred pole is arguably the continental Saxon Yggdrasil. Although not attested in any Anglo Saxon source God poles and sacred trees are archeologically attested in areas of Denmark and The North German plane where the Anglo Saxon Tribes originally came from. If such sites existed amongst the Anglo Saxons they were likely made of wood and would have been destroyed during conversion. We know they worshipped at Sacred groves , Wells and Trees. (Opinion>) Perhaps they simply used trees already existing rather than building something new in England. We know the Elder Saxons had the Irminsul and it was likely a tall pole with the face or effigy of a God on top. Some mention if carvings and temples is mentioned in reference to the Anglo Saxons but a detailed description is lacking.
Ginnungagap: (* Beginnangap)
I have reconstructed that the Anglo Saxon term for this place would be something like “Beginnangap” and translate as “the beginning gap” or “first gap”. I disagree with term denoting chaos because that is not how the Gap is described. Because we have to lean on Norse myth for this I came up with a term in Old English as close to the Norse concept I could. I could be totally wrong in translation and conjugation but I present it here anyway.
Wælhall:
Wōdens heavenly mead hall where heroes go to feast after battle.
Mjöllnir: (* Mylnere)
In both the cases of Anglo Saxons and Elder Saxons the Hammer has a characteristically obvious longer haft and seems to Ignore the myth why the handle came out short. I present here my translation for Mjollnir into Anglo Saxon as “Mylnere” which translates as to crush or mill. My understanding of the etymology of Mjollnir (which is debated) is that it always simply meant to crush or mill and was cognate the word miller. Mylnere fits this etymology and matches Scandinavian etymologies who are nearly Identical to Mjollnir.
Example: Miller Trans to: Norwegian Nynorsk “mylnar” and Swedish mjölnare. I do not claim this absolute fact but I feel it is an interesting idea worth sharing.
Language Family:
North Sea Germanic Language Group: “Ingeveonic”
The Anglian, Frisian, Saxon (missing some elements) Language developed in Denmark (Jutland) and North Sea Coast/islands of Denmark, Frisia and Germany as tribes branched from a suggested common proto Germanic. The North Sea Germanic group also shares heavy similarities with Danish though Danish is a North Germanic Language. In mythological cycles Angul and Dan are sons of Humbli who gave their names to The English and the Danes. Dan has a meaning of something like low land or marsh and Angul has many plausible theories including “Narrow”. Angeln (Low Saxon), Angel (Danish) and Engla Land (Old English) still exists today in South Schleswig-Holstein Germany. The area has been ruled by North Sea Germanic peoples since the earliest arrival of Germanic speakers in the area. The languages of Scandinavia, Holland, Jutland, North Germany also all evolved along a certain path while German and Icelandic remained heavily inflected and are so today. Many sound changes took place and different sound laws, accents, dialects and variants emerge from Proto Germanic and this makes Germanic a complicated and fascinating language family. Anglo Saxon language studied today is derived mainly from West Saxon dialect sources but we have knowledge of Anglian and other dialects.
The modern descendants of Ingeveonic are what is known as Anglo-Frisian language group which includes English and Frisian “our closest linguistic relative” and Low Saxon. English shares a great close comparative nature to Danish, Norwegian, Dutch and more distantly German.
Low Saxon House in Germany.
GALLERY: Images are collected from the internet. if own or wish them removed please comment.
This is just a short glimpse into the history of the Anglo Saxons and particularly their pre christian culture.
Reading List:
Mead Hall (Stephen Pollington)
Aspects of Anglo Saxon Magic (Bill Griffith)
The Lost Gods of England (Kathleen Herbert)
The Elder Gods (Stephen Pollington)
Hammer of the Gods (Swain Wodening)
The Horse, Wheel and Language (David Anthony) PIE anthropology)
Rudiments of Runelore (S.Pollington)
Spellcraft (K. Herbert)
Beowulf (Audio Book) Many good choices on Audible (Not sponsored)
Hroð-
Anglo Saxon word of the day: Uhta
Anglo Saxon word of þe dæg:
ūhta (pre dawn) (last part of night)
Old English: ūht (< *unhtwaz), ūhta (< *unhtwô)
Middle English: *uht (found in compound uhtsang, uhtsong); Middle English: uhhtenn, uȝten, ughten, oughten (< Old English ūhtan, oblique form)
Old Saxon: ūhta
Middle Low German: uchte
German Low German: Uchte, Ucht
→ German: Uchte (“midnight mass”) (regional)
Old Dutch: *ūhto
Middle Dutch: uchte, ochte (various forms are attested, including nuchte through rebracketing, uchten/ochten from the case forms, and rarely uchtent/ochtent from the previous by analogy with avont (“evening”))
Dutch: ochtend
Old High German: uohta (irregular); *ūhta
Middle High German: uohte, ūhte (both rare)
German: Ucht, Aucht (both only in placenames and compounds)
Old Norse: ótta
Icelandic: ótta
Norwegian Bokmål: otte
Westrobothnian: ótt’
Old Swedish: ōtta, ōta
Swedish: otte, otta
Danish: otte
Gothic: 𐌿𐌷𐍄𐍅𐍉 (ūhtwō)
Bonus:
Lagustrǣt (ocean) literally “Water-road”.
Old English: strǣt, strēt
Middle English: strete, streete, stret, strate, street, stræt
English: street
Scots: street, streit, stret
→ Breton: straed
→ Cornish: stret
→ Welsh: stryd
→ Old Irish: sráit (see there for further descendants)
→ Old Norse: stræti (see there for further descendants)
Old Frisian: strēte
North Frisian:
Föhr-Amrum: struat
Mooring: stroote
Saterland Frisian: Sträite
West Frisian: strjitte
Old Saxon: strāta
Middle Low German: strâte
German Low German: Straat, Stroot
Old Dutch: strāta
Middle Dutch: strâte
Dutch: straat (see there for further descendants)
Limburgish: sjtraot, straot
Old High German: strāza
Middle High German: strāze
Alemannic German:
Swabian: Schdrôs
Bavarian: Stråßn, Strossn
Apeltonerisch: Streoss
Mòcheno: stros
Upper Bavarian: Straß
Central Franconian: Stroß
Eifel: Strooß
Hunsrik: Stros
Luxembourgish: Strooss
German: Straße
Rhine Franconian: Schdrooß
And
West Germanic: *lagu
Old English: lagu, lago
Middle English: laȝe, lawe, laie, leye
English: lay
Old Saxon: lagu
Old Norse: lǫgr
Icelandic: lögur
Faroese: løgur
Norwegian Nynorsk: log
Norwegian Bokmål: låg
Old Swedish: lagher
Swedish: lag
Old Danish: low, lou
→ Scots: lyog
Gothic: *𐌻𐌰𐌲𐌿𐍃 (*lagus) (> 𐌻𐌰𐌰𐌶 (laaz))
Hroð-
Book of the month (June)
Hilda Roderick Ellis Davidson is quickly becoming a favorite author of mine. Great detail and everything kept in context. I do love comparatives though I am biased.
Hrøð-
Anglo Saxon ƿord of þe Dæġ: þeodlēas
Hroð-
The Call Of Steel 