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Encyclopedia > Germanic tribes

The term Germanic tribes (or Teutonic tribes) applies to the ancient Germanic peoples of Europe. Europe - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ...


The Germanic tribes spoke mutually intelligible dialects and shared a mythology (see Germanic mythology) and storytelling, as is indicated by Beowulf and the Volsunga saga. One example of their shared identity is their common Germanic name for non-Germanic peoples, *walhaz (plural of *walhoz), from which the local names Welsh, Wallis, Walloon, Wallachia and Cornwall were derived. A second example of a recognized ethnic unity is the fact that the Romans knew them as one and gave them a common name, Germani, the source of our German and Germanic (see Etymology below). A pair of languages is said to be mutually intelligible if speakers of one language can readily understand the other language. ... A dialect (from the Greek word διάλεκτος, dialektos) is a variety of a language used by people from a particular geographic area. ... Mythology - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... Germanic paganism refers to the religion and mythology of the Germanic nations preceding Christianization, including Norse and Anglo-Saxon mythologies, and remnants of pre-Christian beliefs in the folklore of medieval and modern Germanic peoples. ... The first page of Beowulf This article describes Beowulf, the epic poem. ... The Ramsund carving in Sweden depicts 1) how Sigurd is sitting naked in front of the fire preparing the dragon heart, from Fafnir, for his foster-father Regin, who is Fafnirs brother. ... The Volcae in the 2nd century BC were a large and powerful Celtic nation of Gallia Transalpina, comprised of two branches, the Volcae Arecomici and the Volcae Tectosages. ... National motto: Cymru am byth (Welsh: Wales for ever) Waless location within the UK Official languages English, Welsh Capital Cardiff Largest city Cardiff First Minister Rhodri Morgan Area  - Total Ranked 3rd UK 20,779 km² Population  - Total (2001)  - Density Ranked 3rd UK 2,903,085 140/km² NUTS 1... The Valais (also known in German as Wallis) is one of the 26 cantons of Switzerland in the south-western part of the country, in the Pennine Alps around the valley of the Rhone River from its springs to Lake Geneva. ... The term Walloon may refer to either the Walloon language, or to the ethnic people of the same name. ... Map of Romania with Wallachia in yellow. ... Motto: Onan hag oll (Cornish: One and all) Cornwall, England Geography Status Ceremonial and (smaller) Non-metropolitan county Region South West England Area - Total - Admin. ...


In the absence of large-scale political unification, such as that imposed forcibly by the Romans upon the peoples of Italy, the various tribes remained free, led by their own hereditary or chosen leaders. Ancient Rome is an expression that encompass a complex reality, not a single phenomenon. ...

Contents


Etymology of "German"

As the Germanic tribes never called themselves so, but the Romans first knew them as allies of the Celts, Germani is thought to be the Celtic name for them. However, there is also a Latin adjective germanus (<- germen, seed or offshoot), which has the sense of "related" or "kindred" and whence derives the Portuguese irmão and the Spanish hermano, "brother". If the proper name Germani derives from this word, it may refer to the Roman experience of the Germanic tribes as allies of the Celts. A Celtic cross. ... The Celtic languages are the languages descended from Proto-Celtic, or Common Celtic, spoken by ancient and modern Celts alike. ...


Another possible derivation is the one proffered by The Oxford Etymological Dictionary (1966 Edition), which relates the name to Old Irish gair, "neighbor", which actually means "near". The Welsh is ger. Considering the earliest historical relationship between the Germans and the Celts, "neighbor" ought perhaps to be interpreted as "ally."


McBain's An Etymological Dictionary of the Gaelic Language relates the word to Irish gearr, "cut, short" (a short distance) and states the Proto-Celtic root to be *gerso-s, further related to ancient Greek chereion, "inferior" and English gash. Here the etymological trail seems to recede into a prehistoric morass, but there is a good reason for this disappearing trail. English gash leads by one path or another to the Greek word character, which is an engraving for an identity sign of some sort. There is no clear root for this word. It could be an Indo-european root, *khar-, *kher-, *ghar-, *gher-, "cut", from which also Hittite kar-, "cut". Or, it could be a pre-Indo-European root, related perhaps to Egyptian kha-, "cut", or the Indo-European root could come from the pre-Indo-European root. Proto-Celtic language, also called Common Celtic, is the putative ancestor of all the known Celtic languages. ... Proto-Indo-European Indo-European studies Indo-European is originally a linguistic term, referring to the Indo-European language family. ... Hittite can refer to either: The ancient Anatolian people called the Hittites; or The Hittite language, an ancient Indo-European language they spoke. ... The Pre-Indo-European population of Europe included an unknown number of ethnic groups that dwelt on the continent before the coming of the speakers of Indo-European languages (though some scholars dispute the Indo-European invasion theory: see Paleolithic Continuity Theory). ...


The self names for the Germanics reveal something of a unity as well. The best known are the Deutsch/Dutch/Dietsch /Dansk words, which come from Indo-European *teuta-, "tribe" or "people". Not all the Germanics use that word, but there is another, used by all, which is so obvious that it escapes notice: man. We read of the man first in the Germania of Tacitus (Chapter 2, Oxford text): Deutsch is: the German word for german a misspelling of the word Dutch one of the three cognates of medieval Dietsch A German family name A. Deutsch Alexander Nikolaevich Deutsch, Russian astronomer (active 1926-1985) Armin Joseph Deutsch, American astronomer (active 1944-1974) Alexander Deutsch, German planetologist (active 1984-) David... Dutch ( â–¶) is a West Germanic, Low German language spoken by around 24 million people, mostly in the Netherlands and Belgium. ... Danish (dansk) belongs to the North Germanic languages (also called Scandinavian languages), a sub-group of the Germanic branch of the Indo-European languages. ... In the Roman era Germania was the Latin name for a geographical area that stretched from the west bank of the Rhine to a vaguely-defined eastern frontier with the forest and steppe regions of modern Russia and Ukraine. ... Gaius Cornelius Tacitus Publius or Gaius Cornelius Tacitus (ca. ...

"Celebrant carminibus antiquis, quod unum apud illos memoriae et annalium genus est, Tuistonem deum terra editum. ei filium Mannum originem gentis conditoresque Manno tres filios adsignant..."
"They celebrate, in ancient songs, which are the only kind of memory and annals among them, Tuisto, the god brought forth from the earth, and assign to him a son, Mannus, the author, and three sons to Mannus, the founders, of the people..."

Tuisto or Tuisco was according to Tacitus (Germania, ch. ... Mannus was a mythological character from whom a number of Germanic tribes were descended. ...

History

Origin

Map of the Nordic Bronze Age culture, ca 1200 BC
Map of the Nordic Bronze Age culture, ca 1200 BC

Regarding the question of ethnic origins, evidence developed by both archaeologists and linguists suggests that a people or group of peoples sharing a common material culture dwelt in northern Germany and southern Scandinavia during the late European Bronze Age (1000 BC-500 BC). This culture group is called the Nordic Bronze Age and spread from southern Scandinavia into northern Germany. The long presence of Germanic tribes in southern Scandinavia (an Indo-European language had probably arrived by 2000 BC) is also evidenced by the fact that no pre-Germanic place names have been found in this area. Download high resolution version (657x683, 31 KB)The Nordic Bronze Age culture, ca 1200 BC. The map based on Image:Europe plain rivers. ... Download high resolution version (657x683, 31 KB)The Nordic Bronze Age culture, ca 1200 BC. The map based on Image:Europe plain rivers. ... Map of the Nordic Bronze Age culture, ca 1200 BC The Nordic Bronze Age (also Northern Bronze Age) is the name given by Oscar Montelius (1843-1921) to a period and a Bronze Age culture in Scandinavian pre-history, ca 1800 BC - 600 BC, with sites that reached as far... (Redirected from 1200 BC) Centuries: 14th century BC - 13th century BC - 12th century BC Decades: 1250s BC 1240s BC 1230s BC 1220s BC 1210s BC - 1200s BC - 1190s BC 1180s BC 1170s BC 1160s BC 1150s BC Events and Trends 1204 BC - Theseus, legendary King of Athens is deposed after... Scandinavia, Fennoscandia, and the Kola Peninsula. ... The Bronze Age is a period in a civilizations development when the most advanced metalworking has developed the techniques of smelting copper from natural outcroppings and alloys it to cast bronze. ... (Redirected from 1000 BC) Centuries: 12th century BC - 11th century BC - 10th century BC Decades: 1050s BC 1040s BC 1030s BC 1020s BC 1010s BC - 1000s BC - 990s BC 980s BC 970s BC 960s BC 950s BC Events and Trends 1006 BC - David becomes king of the ancient Israelites (traditional... Centuries: 7th century BC - 6th century BC - 5th century BC Decades: 550s BC - 540s BC - 530s BC - 520s BC - 510s BC - 500s BC - 490s BC - 480s BC - 470s BC - 460s BC - 450s BC Events and Trends 509 BC - Foundation of the Roman Republic 508 BC - Office of pontifex maximus created... Map of the Nordic Bronze Age culture, ca 1200 BC The Nordic Bronze Age (also Northern Bronze Age) is the name given by Oscar Montelius (1843-1921) to a period and a Bronze Age culture in Scandinavian pre-history, ca 1800 BC - 600 BC, with sites that reached as far... Proto-Indo-European Indo-European studies Indo-European is originally a linguistic term, referring to the Indo-European language family. ... (Redirected from 2000 BC) (21st century BC - 20th century BC - 19th century BC - other centuries) (3rd millennium BC - 2nd millennium BC - 1st millennium BC) Events 2064 - 1986 BC -- Twin Dynasty wars in Egypt 2000 BC -- Farmers and herders travel south from Ethiopia and settle in Kenya. ...


Linguists, working backwards from historically-known Germanic languages, suggest that this group spoke proto-Germanic, a distinct branch of the Indo-European language family. Cultural features at that time included small, independent settlements, and an economy strongly based on the keeping of livestock. The Germanic languages form one of the branches of the Indo-European (IE) language family. ... Map of the Pre-Roman Iron Age culture(s) associated with Proto-Germanic, ca 500 BC-50 BC. The area south of Scandinavia is the Jastorf culture Proto-Germanic, the proto-language believed by scholars to be the common ancestor of the Germanic languages, includes among its descendants Dutch, Yiddish... Proto-Indo-European Indo-European studies Indo-European is originally a linguistic term, referring to the Indo-European language family. ...

Enlarge
Map of the Pre-Roman Iron Age culture(s) associated with Proto-Germanic, ca 500 BC-60 BC. The area south of Scandinavia is the Jastorf culture

The southward movement was probably influenced by a deteriorating climate in Scandinavia ca 600 BC - ca 300 BC. The warm and dry climate of southern Scandinavia (2-3 degrees warmer than today) deteriorated considerably, which not only dramatically changed the flora, but forced people to change their way of living and to leave settlements. Download high resolution version (657x683, 31 KB)Map of the Nordic Iron Age and the Jastorf culture. ... Download high resolution version (657x683, 31 KB)Map of the Nordic Iron Age and the Jastorf culture. ... A map of the area covered by the Pre-Roman Iron Age, ca 500 BC-1 AD The Pre-Roman Iron Age (also called the Celtic Iron Age) (ca 600 BC or 500 BC - ca 1 AD) designates the earliest part (i. ... Map of the Pre-Roman Iron Age culture(s) associated with Proto-Germanic, ca 500 BC-50 BC. The area south of Scandinavia is the Jastorf culture Proto-Germanic, the proto-language believed by scholars to be the common ancestor of the Germanic languages, includes among its descendants Dutch, Yiddish... Centuries: 7th century BC - 6th century BC - 5th century BC Decades: 550s BC - 540s BC - 530s BC - 520s BC - 510s BC - 500s BC - 490s BC - 480s BC - 470s BC - 460s BC - 450s BC Events and Trends 509 BC - Foundation of the Roman Republic 508 BC - Office of pontifex maximus created... Centuries: 2nd century BC - 1st century BC - 1st century Decades: 110s BC 100s BC 90s BC 80s BC 70s BC - 60s BC - 50s BC 40s BC 30s BC 20s BC 10s BC Years: 65 BC 64 BC 63 BC 62 BC 61 BC 60 BC 59 BC 58 BC 57... The Jastorf culture is an Iron Age material culture in northern Europe, dated from about 600 BC to 1. ... Centuries: 8th century BC - 7th century BC - 6th century BC Decades: 650s BC 640s BC 630s BC 620s BC 610s BC - 600s BC - 590s BC 580s BC 570s BC 560s BC 550s BC Events and Trends Fall of the Assyrian Empire and Rise of Babylon 609 BC _ King Josiah... Centuries: 4th century BC - 3rd century BC - 2nd century BC Decades: 350s BC 340s BC 330s BC 320s BC 310s BC - 300s BC - 290s BC 280s BC 270s BC 260s BC 250s BC Years: 305 BC 304 BC 303 BC 302 BC 301 BC - 300 BC - 299 BC 298 BC...


At around this time, this culture discovered how to extract bog iron from the ore in peat bogs. Their technology for gaining iron ore from local sources may have helped them expand into new territories. Bog iron refers to impure iron deposits that develop in bogs or swamps by the chemical or biochemical oxidation of iron carried in the solutions. ... Iron ore (Banded iron formation) Manganese ore Lead ore Gold ore An ore is a mineral deposit containing a metal or other valuable resource in economically viable concentrations. ... Wiktionary has a definition of: Bog Virgin boreal acid bogs at Browns Lake Bog, Ohio A bog is a wetland type that accumulates peat, a deposit of dead plant material. ... This heap of iron ore pellets will be used in steel production. ...


The Germanic culture grew to the southwest and southeast, without sudden breaks, and it can be distinguished from the culture of the Celts inhabiting the more southerly Danube and Alpine regions during the same period. A Celtic cross. ... The Danube (Donau in German; Dunaj in Slovak; Duna in Hungarian; Dunav in Croatian and Serbian; Дунав in Bulgarian; Dunăre in Romanian; Дунай (Dunay) in Ukrainian; Danuvius in Latin) is Europes second-longest river (after the Volga). ...


The details of the expansion are known only generally, but it is clear that the forebears of the Goths were settled on the southern Baltic shore by 100 AD. According to some scholars, along the lower and middle Rhine, previous local inhabitants seem to have come under the leadership of Germanic figures from outside. Invasion of the Goths: a late 19th century painting by O. Fritsche portrays the Goths as cavalrymen. ... The Baltic Sea is located in Northern Europe, from 53 deg. ... (Redirected from 100 AD) For other uses, see number 100. ... At 1,320 kilometres (820 miles) and an average discharge of more than 2,000 cubic meters per second, the Rhine (German Rhein, French Rhin, Dutch Rijn, Romansch: Rein, Italian: Reno) is one of the longest and most important rivers in Europe. ... The name Nordwestblock is applied by historians to a group of Europeans whose homeland was in the western part of present-day Germany during the 1st century, but who were not originally Germanic tribes. ...


Collision with Rome

By the late 2nd century, B.C., Roman authors recount Gaul (modern France), Italy, and Iberia (modern Portugal and Spain) were invaded by migrating Germanic tribes, culminating in military conflict with the armies of the Roman Empire. Six decades later, Julius Caesar invoked the threat of such attacks as one justification for his annexation of Gaul to Rome. Map of Gaul circa 58 BC Gaul (from Latin Gallia, c. ... topographic map of the Iberian Peninsula The Iberian Peninsula, or Iberia, is located in the extreme southwest of Europe. ... The Roman Empire is the term conventionally used to describe the Ancient Roman polity in the centuries following its reorganization under the leadership of Octavian (better known as Caesar Augustus), until its radical reformation in what was later to be known as the Byzantine Empire. ... Gaius Caesar (Classical Latin: IMP·C·IVLIVS·CAESAR·DIVVS) (b. ...

Gaius Cornelius Tacitus, author of the Germania, an ethnographic work on the diverse group of Germanic tribes outside of the Roman Empire.
Gaius Cornelius Tacitus, author of the Germania, an ethnographic work on the diverse group of Germanic tribes outside of the Roman Empire.

As Rome advanced her borders to the Rhine and Danube, incorporating many Celtic societies into the Empire, the tribal homelands to the north and east emerged collectively in the records as Germania, whose peoples were sometimes at war with the Empire, but who also engaged in complex and long-term trade relations, military alliances, and cultural exchanges with their neighbors to the south. Tacitus Source: [1] This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ... Tacitus Source: [1] This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ... Gaius Cornelius Tacitus Publius or Gaius Cornelius Tacitus (c. ... The Germania (Latin title: De Origine et situ Germanorum), written by Gaius Cornelius Tacitus around 98, is an ethnographic work on the diverse set of Germanic tribes outside the Roman Empire. ... Ethnography (from the Greek ethnos = nation and graphe = writing) refers to the qualitative description of human social phenomena, based on months or years of fieldwork. ... City motto: Senatus Populusque Romanus – SPQR (The Senate and the People of Rome) Founded 21 April 753 BC mythical, 1st millennium BC Region Latium Mayor Walter Veltroni (Left-Wing Democrats) Area  - City Proper  1290 km² Population  - City (2004)  - Metropolitan  - Density (city proper) 2,546,807 almost 4,000,000 1... At 1,320 kilometres (820 miles) and an average discharge of more than 2,000 cubic meters per second, the Rhine (German Rhein, French Rhin, Dutch Rijn, Romansch: Rein, Italian: Reno) is one of the longest and most important rivers in Europe. ... The Danube (Donau in German; Dunaj in Slovak; Duna in Hungarian; Dunav in Croatian and Serbian; Дунав in Bulgarian; Dunăre in Romanian; Дунай (Dunay) in Ukrainian; Danuvius in Latin) is Europes second-longest river (after the Volga). ... A Celtic cross. ... In the Roman era Germania was the Latin name for a geographical area that stretched from the west bank of the Rhine to a vaguely-defined eastern frontier with the forest and steppe regions of modern Russia and Ukraine. ...


The wars against the Cimbri and Teutoni whose military incursion into Roman Italy was thrust back in 101 BC were written up by Caesar and others as historical prototypes of a Northern danger for the Empire to be controlled. In the Augustean period there was - as a result of Roman activity as far as the Elbe River - a first definition of the "Germania magna": from Rhine and Danube in the West and South to the Vistula and the Baltic Sea in the East and North. The migrations of the Teutons and the Cimbri The Cimbri were a Proto-Germanic tribe who according to Pliny the Elder lived on Jutland (Chersonesus Cimbrica), and the Jutish region of Himmerland (where the contemporary Gundestrup cauldron was found) is thought to preserve their name (cf. ... This entry is about the Teutonic people, not to be confused with the Teutonic Knights. ...


Caesar's ethnographic excurses finally established the term Germania. The initial purpose of the Roman campaigns was to protect Gaul by controlling the area between the Rhine and the Elbe. In 9 AD a revolt of their subject Germanics headed by Arminius (decisive defeat of Quintilius Varus in the Teutoburg Forest) ended in the withdrawal of the Roman frontier to the Rhine. At the end of the 1st century two provinces west of the Rhine called Germania inferior and Germania superior were established. Important medieval cities like Aachen, Cologne, Trier, Mainz, Worms and Speyer were part of these Roman structures. The Hermannsdenkmal Arminius (16 BC-AD 21), in Germany also frequently called Hermann der Cherusker, was a war chief of the Germanic tribe of the Cherusci. ... Varus can refer to: in anatomy, a varus deformity an ancient Roman politician, Publius Quinctilius Varus (46 BC - 9 AD) Varus, a Roman cognomen This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... In the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest (AD 9), an alliance of Germanic tribes led by Arminius (also known in German as Hermann), the son of Segimerus of the Cherusci, ambushed and wiped out three Legions of unsuspecting Roman allies. ... The Roman province of Germania Inferior, 120 AD Germania Inferior (in English: Lower Germany) was a Roman province located on the left bank of the Rhine, in todays southern Netherlands and western Germany. ... Categories: Historical stubs | Ancient Roman provinces | German history | Germany | History of the Germanic peoples ... Aachen Cathedral Printen Figurine at Aachen Cathedral Top Floor of Aachen Cathedral Tree-lined boulevard in Aachen Typical Aachen street with early 20th century Gründerzeit houses Aachen (French Aix-la-Chapelle, Dutch Aken, Latin Aquisgranum, Ripuarian Oche) is a spa city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, on the border... Cologne (German: â–¶ [kÅ“ln]; Kölsch: Kölle) is with its one million residents Germanys fourth largest city after Berlin, Hamburg and Munich. ... Trier: The Porta Nigra, viewed from outside Location of Trier Trier (French: Trèves, Spanish: Treveris, Italian: Treviri) is Germanys oldest city. ... Mainz (French: Mayence) is a city in Germany and the capital of the German federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate. ... Worm can refer to: The worm, a collection of animal phyla. ... Speyer (English formerly Spires) is a city in Germany (Rhineland-Palatinate) with approx. ...


Migration Period

Main article: Migration Period

During the 5th century, as the Roman Empire drew toward its end, numerous Germanic tribes, under pressure from invading Asian peoples and/or population growth and climate change, began migrating en masse in far and diverse directions, taking them to England and as far south through present day Continental Europe to the Mediterranean and northern Africa. Over time, this wandering meant intrusions into other tribal territories, and the ensuing wars for land escalated with the dwindling amount of unoccupied territory. Wandering tribes then began staking out permanent homes as a means of protection. Much of this resulted in fixed settlements from which many, under a powerful leader, expanded outwards. A defeat meant either scattering or merging with the dominant tribe, and this continued to be how nations were formed. In Denmark the Jutes merged with the Danes, in Sweden the Geats merged with the Swedes. In England, for example, we now most often refer to the Anglo-Saxons rather than the two separate tribes. Human migration denotes any movement of groups of people from one locality to another, rather than of individual wanderers. ... // Events Romulus Augustus, Last Western Roman Emperor Rome sacked by Visigoths in 410. ... Variations in CO2, temperature and dust from the Vostok ice core over the last 400 000 years The term climate change is used to refer to changes in the Earths global climate or regional climates. ... Wikimedia Commons has media related to: England Travel guide to England from Wikitravel English language English law English (people) List of monarchs of England – Kings of England family tree List of English people Angeln (region in northern Germany, presumably the origin of the Angles for whom England is named) UK... Continental Europe refers to the continent of Europe, explicitly excluding European islands and peninsulae. ... The Mediterranean Sea is an intercontinental sea positioned between Europe to the north, Africa to the south and Asia to the east, covering an approximate area of 2. ... Africa - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... One of the most influential doctrines in history is that all humans are divided into groups called nations. ... The Jutes were a Germanic people who are believed to have originated from Jutland in modern Denmark and part of the Frisian coast. ... Geats (Gautar Old Norse or Götar in Swedish) is the Old English spelling of the name of a Scandinavian people living in Götaland, land of the Geats, currently within the borders of modern Sweden. ... A map showing the general locations of the major Anglo-Saxon kingdoms The Anglo-Saxons were originally a collection of differing Germanic tribes from Angeln—a peninsula in the southern part of Schleswig, protruding into the Baltic Sea, and what is now Lower Saxony, in the north-west coast of...


Role of the Germanics in the Fall of Rome

Some of the Germanic tribes are frequently blamed in popular conceptions for the fall of the Roman Empire in the late 5th century. Professional historians and archaeologists have since the 1950s shifted their interpretations in such a way that the Germanic peoples are no longer seen as invading a decaying empire but as being co-opted into helping defend territory the central government could no longer adequately administer. Individuals and small groups from Germanic tribes had long been recruited from the territories beyond the limes (i.e., the regions just outside the Roman Empire), and some of them had risen high in the command structure of the army. Then the Empire recruited entire tribal groups under their native leaders as officers. Assisting with defense eventually shifted into administration and then outright rule, as Roman traditions of government passed into the hands of Germanic leaders. Odoacer, who deposed Romulus Augustulus, is the ultimate example. The Roman Empire is not the Holy Roman Empire (843-1806). ... // Events Romulus Augustus, Last Western Roman Emperor Rome sacked by Visigoths in 410. ... Historiography can refer to two separate notions about the study of history. ... REED H Is awsome! ... // Events and trends The 1950s in Western society was marked with a sharp rise in the economy for the first time in almost 30 years and return to the 1920s-type consumer society built on credit and boom-times, as well as the the baby boom from returning GIs who... A limes is a Roman wall marking the boundaries of the Roman Empire. ... Odoacer solidus struck in name of Zeno. ... Romulus Augustus (460s/470s - after 511) was the last of the Western Roman Emperors. ...


The presence of successor states controlled by a nobility from one of the Germanic tribes is evident in the 6th century - even in Italy, the former heart of the Empire, where Odoacer was followed by Theodoric the Great, king of the Ostrogoths, who was regarded by Roman citizens and Gothic settlers alike as legitimate successor to the rule of Rome and Italy. A state is an organized political community occupying a definite territory, having an organized government, and possessing internal and external sovereignty. ... The Lords and Barons prove their Nobility by hanging their Banners and exposing their Coats-of-arms at the Windows of the Lodge of the Heralds. ... This Buddhist stela from China, Northern Wei period, was built in the early 6th century. ... Odoacer solidus struck in name of Zeno. ... Tomb of Theodoric in Ravenna Theodoric the Great (454 - August 30, 526), known to the Romans as Flavius Theodoricus, was king of the East Goths, the Ostrogoths (488-526), ruler of Italy (493-526), and regent of the Visigoths (511-526). ... This article deals with the continental Ostrogoths. ... City motto: Senatus Populusque Romanus – SPQR (The Senate and the People of Rome) Founded 21 April 753 BC mythical, 1st millennium BC Region Latium Mayor Walter Veltroni (Left-Wing Democrats) Area  - City Proper  1290 km² Population  - City (2004)  - Metropolitan  - Density (city proper) 2,546,807 almost 4,000,000 1...


Culture

Thor, god of thunder, one of the major figures in Germanic mythology.
Thor, god of thunder, one of the major figures in Germanic mythology.

See: Germanic king, Germanic paganism Thors battle against the giants (1872), by Mårten Eskil Winge. ... Thors battle against the giants (1872), by Mårten Eskil Winge. ... Thor carries his hammer and wears his belt of strength in this illustration from an 18th century Icelandic manuscript. ... Thor, god of thunder, one of the major figures in Germanic mythology. ... The Germanic king originally had three main functions. ... Germanic paganism refers to the religion and mythology of the Germanic nations preceding Christianization, including Norse and Anglo-Saxon mythologies, and remnants of pre-Christian beliefs in the folklore of medieval and modern Germanic peoples. ...


The Germanic tribes were each politically independent, under a hereditary king. The kings appear to have claimed descendancy from mythical founders of the tribes, the name of some of which is preserved:

Angul is a district of Orissa, India. ... Angles (German: Angeln, Old English: Englas, Latin: singular Anglus, plural Anglii) were Germanic people, from Angeln in Schleswig, who settled in East Anglia, Mercia and Northumbria in the 5th century. ... A list of the Kings etc. ... The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle is a collection of annals narrating the history of the English and their settlement in Britain. ... A god of the Anglo-Saxon /Early English tribes brought with them from continental Europe, around the 5th and 6th centuries until conversion to Christianity in the 8th and 9th centuries CE. Woden is the carrier-off of the dead, but not necessarily with the attributes of his Norse equivalent... Aurvandil is mentioned once in Norse Mythology, in the Skáldskaparmal section of Snorri Sturlusons Edda: Thor went home to Thrúdvangar, and the hone remained sticking in his head. ... The Vandals were an East Germanic tribe that entered the late Roman Empire during the 5th century and created a state in North Africa, centered on the city of Carthage. ... Burgundus was the mythical founder of the Burgundian tribe. ... The Burgundians or Burgundes were an East Germanic tribe which may have emigrated from mainland Scandinavia to the island of Bornholm, whose old form in Old Norse still was Burgundarholmr (the Island of the Burgundians), and from here to mainland Europe. ... Dan is the name of one or more legendary kings of the Danes in medieval Scandinavian texts. ... Gaut, Gauti, Guti, Gothus are name forms based on the same Proto-Germanic root. ... Invasion of the Goths: a late 19th century painting by O. Fritsche portrays the Goths as cavalrymen. ... Yngvi, Ingui or Ing appears to have been the older name for the god Freyr, which meant lord. In Scandinavian mythology, Yngvi, alternatively Yngve, was the progenitor of the Yngling lineage, a legendary dynasty of Swedish kings from whom the earliest historical Norwegian kings in turn claimed to be descended... For other uses, see Yngling (disambiguation). ... Irmin was the god of war of the Saxons. ... Also referred to as Herminones, Hermiones, Elbe Germans (Irminonen, sometimes called Elb-Germanen in German), a Germanic proto-tribe or cultural group. ... The Lombards (Latin Langobardi, from which the alternative name Longobards found in older English texts), were a Germanic people originally from Scandinavia that entered the late Roman Empire. ... Seaxneat or Saxnot is the mythical founder of the Saxons. ... This article is about the Saxons, a Germanic people. ... The Vagoths were a Germanic tribe mentioned by Jordanes. ...

Conversion to Christianity

The Ostrogoths, Visigoths, and Vandals were Christianized while they were still outside the bounds of the Empire; however, they converted to Arianism rather than to orthodox Catholicism, and were soon regarded as heretics. The one great written remnant of the Gothic language is a translation of portions of the Bible made by Ulfilas, the missionary who converted them. The Lombards were not converted until after their entrance into the Empire, but received Christianity from Arian Germanic groups. This article deals with the continental Ostrogoths. ... The Visigoths, originally Tervingi, or Vesi (the noble ones), one of the two main branches of the Goths (of which the Ostrogothi were the other), were one of the loosely-termed Germanic peoples that disturbed the late Roman Empire. ... The Vandals were an East Germanic tribe that entered the late Roman Empire during the 5th century and created a state in North Africa, centered on the city of Carthage. ... The historical phenomenon of Christianization, the conversion of individuals to Christianity or the conversion of entire peoples at once (a political shift as much as a spontaneous mass shift in individual consciences), also includes the practice of converting pagan cult practices, pagan religious imagery, pagan sites and the pagan calendar... Arianism was a Christological view held by followers of Arius, a Christian priest who lived and taught in Alexandria, Egypt, in the early 4th century. ... This article considers Catholicism in the broadest ecclesiastical sense. ... Heresy, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, is a theological or religious opinion or doctrine maintained in opposition, or held to be contrary, to the ‘catholic’ or orthodox doctrine of the Christian Church, or, by extension, to that of any church, creed, or religious system, considered as orthodox. ... The Gothic language (*gutiska razda, *𐌲𐌿𐍄𐌹𐍃𐌺𐌰 𐍂𐌰𐌶𐌳𐌰) is an extinct Germanic language that was spoken by the Goths and specifically by the Visigoths. ... The Bible (sometimes The Book, Good Book, Word of God, The Word, or Scripture), from Greek (τα) βιβλια, (ta) biblia, (the) books, is the classical name for the Hebrew Bible of Judaism or the combination of the Old Testament and New Testament of Christianity (The Bible therefore actually refers to at least... Representation of Ulfilas surrounded by the Gothic alphabet Ulfilas or Wulfila (perhaps meaning little wolf) (c. ... A missionary is a propagator of religion, often an evangelist or other representative of a religious community who works among those outside of that community. ... The Lombards (Latin Langobardi, from which the alternative name Longobards found in older English texts), were a Germanic people originally from Scandinavia that entered the late Roman Empire. ...


The Franks were converted directly from paganism to Catholicism without an intervening time as Arians. Several centuries later, Anglo-Saxon and Frankish missionaries and warriors undertook the conversion of their Saxon neighbours. A key event was the felling of Thor's Oak near Fritzlar by Boniface, apostle of the Germans, in 723. Eventually, the conversion was forced by armed force, successfully completed by Charlemagne, in a series of campaigns (the Saxon Wars), that also brought Saxon lands into the Frankish empire. The Franks or the Frankish people were one of several west Germanic tribes who entered the late Roman Empire from Frisia as foederati and established a lasting realm (sometimes referred to as Francia) in an area that covers most of modern-day France and the western regions of Germany (Franconia... Within a Christian context, paganism (from Latin paganus) and heathenry are catch-all terms which have come to connote a broad set of spiritual/religious beliefs and practices of a natural religion, as opposed to the Abrahamic religions based on scriptures. ... This article considers Catholicism in the broadest ecclesiastical sense. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... Thors Oak was an ancient tree sacred to the Germanic tribe of the Catti, ancestors of todays Hessians, and one of the most important sacred sites of the Germans. ... Fritzlar is a small German town (pop. ... For the Roman general of this name, see Bonifacius. ... Events Saint Boniface fells Thors Oak near Fritzlar, marking the decisive event in the Christianization of the northern Germanic tribes The worlds first mechanical clock is allegedly built in China. ... Charlemagne (ca. ...


Languages

The Germanic languages form one of the branches of the Indo-European (IE) language family. ...

List of Germanic tribes


Precautionary Note: These ethnic names were culled from a variety of ancient and mediaeval sources dating from the middle of the 1st millennium BC to the early 2nd millennium AD. They do not necessarily represent contemporaneous, distinct or Germanic-speaking populations. The peoples referenced do not necessarily have common ancestral populations. Some identities closely fit the concept of a tribe. Others are confederations or even unions of tribes. Some may not have spoken Germanic at all, but were bundled by the sources with the Germanic speakers. Some were undoubtedly of mixed culture. Some tribes may have assimilated to Germanic; others to other cultures from Germanic. Long-lasting ethnic identities changed population base and language over the centuries. As for genetic characteristics, they must be considered unrelated to these names. Apart from these limitations, it is probably safe to assume that, on the whole, most of these populations spoke some branch of Germanic and contributed to pools of descendants who currently live in the Germanic-speaking countries. Many of the names descend to modern place names. Adrabaecampi is the scholarly transliteration into Latin of Ptolemys Adrabaikampoi, a tribe, he says, of greater Germany, dwelling on the north bank of the Danube south of the Gabreta Forest after the Marcomanni and Sudini. ... The Alamanni, Allemanni or Alemanni, were an alliance of warbands formed from Germanic tribes, first mentioned by Dio Cassius when they fought Caracalla in 213. ... The tribe of the Ambrones appears briefly in the sources relating to the 2nd century BC, splashes meteorically across the pages of Roman history, and just as quickly disappears. ... The Ampsivarii were a Germanic tribe mentioned by the Roman author Gaius Cornelius Tacticus, writing in the 1st century C.E. Their homeland was located in what is now northwestern Germany around the river Ems, which flows into the North Sea. ... Angles (German: Angeln, Old English: Englas, Latin: singular Anglus, plural Anglii) were Germanic people, from Angeln in Schleswig, who settled in East Anglia, Mercia and Northumbria in the 5th century. ... The Cherusci were a Germanic tribe inhabiting the Rhine valley and the plains and forests of northwestern Germany (between near modern Osnabrück and Hanover) during the 1st century BC and 1st century CE. They were first allies and then enemies of Rome. ... The Avarpi or Auarpoi or Avarni are a tribe of Greater Germany in Ptolemys Geography. ... The Auiones (*Awioniz meaning island people) were one of the Nerthus-worshipping tribes mentioned by Tacitus in Germania, and this tribe probably lived on Öland (Kendrick 1930:71). ... The Baemi or Baimoi are a people of Ptolemy who lived in Greater Germany between the Luna forest and the Danube river. ... The Banochaemae, or Baenochaemae, or Bainochaimai, or Bonochamae were a people of Greater Germany in Ptolemy. ... The Batavii (or Batavi, Batavians) were a Germanic, or possibly Celtic tribe reported by Julius Caesar and Tacitus to have lived around the Rhine delta, in the area which is currently the Netherlands. ... The Batini or Bateinoi are a tribe of greater Germany in Ptolemy, located to the east of the Banochaemae, who were near the upper Elbe. ... Bavarii was a large and powerful tribe which emerged late in Teutonic tribal times, in what is now the Czech Republic (Bohemia). ... The Brisgavi (or Brisigavi, German: Breisgauer) were an Alamannic tribe in the 5th century in the southern region of the Black Forest in south Germany. ... The Brondings were a Germanic tribe or clan. ... The Bructeri were a Germanic tribe located in northwestern Germany (Soester Boerde), between the Lippe and Ems rivers south of the Teutoburg Forest, in present-day North Rhine-Westphalia around 100 BC through 350 AD. They formed an alliance with the Cherusci, the Marsi (Germanic) and the Chatti, under the... The Burgundians or Burgundes were an East Germanic tribe which may have emigrated from Scandinavia to the island of Bornholm, whose old form in Old Norse still was Burgundarholmr (the Island of the Burgundians), and from here to mainland Europe. ... The Buri first appear in history as a Germanic tribe mentioned in the Germania of Tacitus, where they close the back of the Marcomanni and Quadi of Bohemia and Moravia. ... The Calucones were a Germanic tribe mentioned by a few of the classical sources, but not all. ... Canninefates or Canenefatae comes from Canene (Latin: onion) and fatae (Latin: lords). ... The Caritni, a Latinization, or the Karitnoi in the Greek of Ptolemys Geography (2. ... The Chaedini (Latinized form) or Chaideinoi or Khaideinoi (Greek forms) are a Germanic people that are listed only in the Geography of Ptolemy. ... The name, Chaemae, is a Latinization of an ancient Germanic tribal name cited by Ptolemy in his Geography (2. ... The Chali, a Latinized form of the Khaloi or Chaloi of Ptolemys Greek, were a people of Greater Germany (Geography 2. ... The Chamavi first appear under that name in the 1st century AD Germania of Tacitus as a Germanic tribe that, for most of their history, existed along the north bank of the lower Rhine in the region today called Hamaland after them. ... Charudes is the scholarly Latinization of an ethnic identity known in Ptolemy as the Charoudes. ... The Chasuarii were a Germanic tribe mentioned by Tacitus in the Germania. ... The Chatti (also Catti) were an ancient Germanic tribe settled in central and northern Hesse and southern Lower Saxony, along the upper reaches of the Weser river and in the valleys and mountains of the Eder, Fulda and Werra river regions, a district approximately corresponding to Hesse-Cassel, though probably... The Chauci were a populous Germanic tribe inhabiting the extreme northwestern shore of Germany during Roman times - basically the stretch of coast between Frisia in the west to the Elbe estuary in the east. ... The Cherusci were a Germanic tribe inhabiting the Rhine valley and the plains and forests of northwestern Germany (between near modern Osnabrück and Hanover) during the 1st century BC and 1st century CE. They were first allies and then enemies of Rome. ... The Chatti (also Catti) were an ancient Germanic tribe settled in central and northern Hesse and southern Lower Saxony, along the upper reaches of the Weser river and in the valleys and mountains of the Eder, Fulda and Werra river regions, a district approximately corresponding to Hesse-Cassel, though probably... The migrations of the Teutons and the Cimbri The Cimbri were a Proto-Germanic tribe who according to Pliny the Elder lived on Jutland (Chersonesus Cimbrica), and the Jutish region of Himmerland (where the contemporary Gundestrup cauldron was found) is thought to preserve their name (cf. ... The Cobandi, Greek Kobandoi, were a people of Ptolemys Geography (2. ... The Condrusi were a tribe of ancient Belgium, which takes its name from the political and ethnic group known to the Romans as the Belgae. ... The Corconti or Korkontoi were a tribe of Greater Germany in the Geography of Ptolemy (2. ... The Daner were an ancient North Germanic tribe residing in Terra Scania and on the Danish islands. ... The Daukiones or Dauciones were a Germanic tribe mentioned by Ptolemy as living in Scandinavia. ... The Diduni or Dunii were a tribe of Germania mentioned only by the 2nd century geographer Claudius Ptolemy. ... The Dulgubnii are Germanic tribe mentioned in Tacitus Germania (Chapter 34) as being on the east side of the Frisians. ... The Eburones were a Belgic tribe based of north-eastern Gaul in the 1st century BC. Julius Caesar describes them as being of Germanic origin. ... The Jutes were a Germanic people who are believed to have originated in Jylland (Jutland) in modern Denmark and part of the Frisian coast. ... The Franks or the Frankish people were one of several west Germanic tribes who entered the late Roman Empire from Frisia as foederati and established a lasting realm (sometimes referred to as Francia) in an area that covers most of modern-day France and the western regions of Germany (Franconia... The Roman historian Tacitus, in his Germania, mentioned the Frisians among people he grouped together as the Ingvaeones. ... Geats (Gautar Old Norse or Götar in Swedish) is the Old English spelling of the name of a Scandinavian people living in Götaland, land of the Geats, currently within the borders of modern Sweden. ... The Gepids (Latin Gepidae) were a Germanic tribe most famous in history for defeating the Huns after the death of Attila. ... Invasion of the Goths: a late 19th century painting by O. Fritsche portrays the Goths as cavalrymen. ... Among the Germanic tribes in Gaul mentioned by Tacitus in his Germania were the Harii. ... The Hasdingii were the southern tribes of the Vandals. ... The Helisii are one of the tribal states of the Lugii in Tacitus (Germania 43). ... The Helveconae, or Helvaeonae, or Helvecones, or Aelvaeones, or Ailouaiones, are names possibly referring to the same population, and possibly further connected to the Hilleviones of Sweden. ... The Heruli (spelled variously in Latin and Greek) were a nomadic Germanic people, who were subjugated by the Ostrogoths, Huns, and Byzantines in the 3rd to 5th centuries. ... An ancient tribe of Germanic people who occupied the area around what is now Thuringia, Saxony, and Northern Bavaria, from roughly around 1 AD, to 400 AD. -Alternate spellings: Hermunduri, Hermunduli, Hermonduri, Hermonduli ... The Hilleviones were the occupants of Scandinavia in the first few centuries BC, according to Pliny the Elder (Naturalis Historia, Book 4, Chapter 27. ... Also referred to as Ingaevones, North Sea Germans (Ingwäonen, Nordsee-Germanen in German). ... Also referred to as Herminones, Hermiones, Elbe Germans (Irminonen, sometimes called Elb-Germanen in German), a Germanic proto-tribe or cultural group. ... The Istvaeones (also called Istaevones, Istriaones, Istriones, Sthraones, Thracones, Rhine Germans or Weser-Rhine Germans (Istwäonen, Weser-Rhein-Germanen in German)) were a West Germanic cultural group or proto-tribe. ... The Jutes were a Germanic people who are believed to have originated from Jutland in modern Denmark and part of the Frisian coast. ... The Juthungi (German: Juthungen, Greek: Iouthungi, Latine: Iuthungi) were an Alemannic tribe in the region north of the rivers Danube and Altmühl in the modern state of Bavaria. ... The Lacringi are a people who received brief mention in ancient history for their role in the border wars conducted by the peoples along the Danube against the emperor, Marcus Aurelius. ... The Lemovii was a Germanic tribe which was only named by Tacitus. ... The Lombards (Latin Langobardi, from which the alternative name Longobards found in older English texts), were a Germanic people originally from Scandinavia that entered the late Roman Empire. ... The Lombards (Latin Langobardi, from which the alternative name Longobards found in older English texts), were a Germanic people originally from Scandinavia that entered the late Roman Empire. ... The green area is the Przeworsk culture identified with the Lugians. ... The Marcomanni were a Germanic tribe, probably related to the Suebi or Suevi. ... The Marsi (German: Marser) were a small Germanic tribe settled between the Rhine, Ruhr and Lippe rivers in northwest Germany. ... The Nervii were one of the most powerful Belgic tribes living east of the Scheldt in north-eastern Gaul in the 1st century BC. The exact date of their inception and destruction is not known. ... Ancient name for the inhabitants of Nericia. ... The Nuithones were one of the Nerthus-worshipping Germanic tribes mentioned by Tacitus in Germania. ... This article deals with the continental Ostrogoths. ... The Quadi were a smaller Germanic tribe, about which little definitive information is known. ... The Reudigni were one of the Nerthus-worshipping tribes mentioned by Tacitus in Germania. ... The Rugians (Latin rugii) were an East Germanic tribe whose ultimate origins have been traced to Rogaland in Norway, whose population probably was the Rugii that Jordanes mentioned as a tribe that still remained in Scandza. ... This article is about the Saxons, a Germanic people. ... Scirians (cf. ... Segni, in the Latin language called Signinsis, is an Italian city located in the Province of Rome. ... The Semnoni were a Germanic tribe which was settled between the Elbe and the Oder in the 1st century when they were described by Tacitus. ... A subdivision of the vandals, an East Germanic tribe. ... The Sitones were mysterious, or mythical, Germanic people. ... The Suarines were one of the Nerthus-worshipping Germanic tribes mentioned by Tacitus in Germania. ... The Suebi or Suevi were an eastern Germanic people whose origin was near the Baltic Sea. ... Suiones, Swedes, Svíar or Svear, were an ancient Germanic tribe in Scandinavia. ... This article or section should include material from Sigambrer The Sugambri, Sigambrer or Sicambri were a west Germanic tribe which existed during the time of the Roman Empire. ... This entry is about the Teutonic people, not to be confused with the Teutonic Knights. ... The Treveri tribe of Gaul inhabited the lower valley of the Moselle, within the southern fringes of the vast Arduenna Silva (Ardennes Forest). ... The Tungri were a tribe of ancient Gaul who occupied the lands of the northern Arduenna Silva (Ardennes), along the lower valley of the Mosa (Meuse). ... The Ubii were a Germanic tribe first encountered dwelling on the right bank of the Rhine in the time of Julius Caesar, who formed an alliance with them in 55 BC in order to launch attacks across the river. ... The Usipetes were a Germanic tribe that existed during the 1st century. ... The Usipi were a German tribe whose territory lay on the right bank of the Rhine (and thus outside the Roman Empire, in Germania), probably between the valleys of the Lahn and Sieg. ... The Vandals were an East Germanic tribe that entered the late Roman Empire during the 5th century and created a state in North Africa, centered on the city of Carthage. ... The Vangiones were a tribe of the Belgae originally from the Upper Rhine valley. ... The Varni (Procopius), Varini (Tacitus), Varinnae (Pliny the Elder), Wærns/Werns (Widsith) and Warnii (the Thuringian Law) probably refer to a little known Germanic tribe. ... The Varisci were a Germanic tribe, the presumed prior inhabitants of a mediaeval district, Provincia Variscorum, the same (in presumption) as the Vogtland district of Saxony in Germany. ... The Visigoths, originally Tervingi, or Vesi (the noble ones), one of the two main branches of the Goths (of which the Ostrogothi were the other), were one of the loosely-termed Germanic peoples that disturbed the late Roman Empire. ... Viewed historically or developmentally, a tribe consists of a social formation existing before the development of, or outside of, states. ...


Some tribal maps of ancient Germany can be found at:

Note: these maps or any other maps represent an interpretation of the information available to the map-maker. Typically the ancients did not know or did not leave enough information for us to locate them exactly. The maps only give us a rough idea of the features and ethnic locations of ancient Germany. In addition, some of tribes, e.g. the Bastarnae are not identified as Germanic with any certainty and large areas in Central Europe the Germanic tribes probably only constituted a newly arrived minority among Slavs and remaining Celts. Wolfram (1990:91f), for instance, points out that the early Visigoths, called Tervingi also comprised many Taifalans (unknown origin) and Alans (Iranians). The Alans became so Gothicized that non-Germanic people considered them to be Goths. The Visigoths were one of two main branches of the Goths, the Ostrogoths being the other. ... The Alans or Alani were an Iranian nomadic group among the Sarmatian people, warlike nomadic pastoralists of mixed backgrounds, who spoke an Iranian language and shared, in a broad sense, a common culture. ...


Classification

The concept of "Germanic" as a distinct ethnic identity was hinted at by the early Greek geographer Strabo [1], who distinguished a barbarian group in northern Europe similar to, but not part of, the Celts. Posidonius, to our knowledge, is the first to have used the name. An ethnic group is a group of people who identify with one another, or are so identified by others, on the basis of a boundary that distinguishes them from other groups. ... Strabo (squinty) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. ... Barbarian was originally a Greek term applied to any foreigner, one not sharing a recognized culture or language with the speaker or writer employing the term. ... A Celtic cross. ... The bust of Posidonius as an older man depects his character as a Stoic philosopher. ...


By the 1st century A.D., the writings of Caesar, Tacitus and other Roman era writers indicate a division of Germanic-speaking peoples into tribal groupings centred on: (1st century BC - 1st century - 2nd century - other centuries) The 1st century was that century which lasted from 1 to 100. ... Gaius Cornelius Tacitus Publius or Gaius Cornelius Tacitus (c. ... The Roman Era is a period in Western history, when ancient Rome was the center of power of the world around the Mediterranean Sea, where Latin was the lingua franca. ...

The Istvaeones, Irminones, and Ingvaeones are collectively called West Germanic tribes. In addition to this those Germanic people who remained in Scandinavia are referred to as North Germanic. These groups all developed separate dialects, the basis for the differences among Germanic languages down to the present day. The Oder (or Odra) River (German: Oder, Polish/Czech: Odra, Ancient Latin: Viadua, Viadrus, Medieval Latin: Odera, Oddera) is a river in Central Europe (mostly in Poland). ... Length 1,047 km Elevation of the source 1,106 m Average discharge  ? m³/s Area watershed 192,000 km² Origin  Barania Góra, Beskidy Mouth  GdaÅ„sk Bay, Baltic Sea Basin countries Poland, Ukraine, Belarus, Slovakia The Vistula (Polish: WisÅ‚a) is the longest river in Poland. ... The tribes referred to as East Germanic constitute a wave of migrants who moved from Scandinavia into the area between the Oder and Vistula rivers between 600 - 300 BC. In historical times these tribes were differentiated as Goths, Burgundians and Vandals among others. ... At 1,320 kilometres (820 miles) and an average discharge of more than 2,000 cubic meters per second, the Rhine (German Rhein, French Rhin, Dutch Rijn, Romansch: Rein, Italian: Reno) is one of the longest and most important rivers in Europe. ... The Istvaeones (also called Istaevones, Istriaones, Istriones, Sthraones, Thracones, Rhine Germans or Weser-Rhine Germans (Istwäonen, Weser-Rhein-Germanen in German)) were a West Germanic cultural group or proto-tribe. ... The Elbe River (Czech Labe listen â–¶(?), Sorbian/Lusatian Łobjo, Polish Łaba, German Elbe, Hungarian Elba) is one of the major waterways of central Europe. ... Also referred to as Herminones, Hermiones, Elbe Germans (Irminonen, sometimes called Elb-Germanen in German), a Germanic proto-tribe or cultural group. ... Jutland Peninsula Jutland (Danish: Jylland; German: Jütland) is a peninsula in northern Europe that forms the mainland part of Denmark and a northern part of Germany, dividing the North Sea from the Baltic Sea. ... Also referred to as Ingaevones, North Sea Germans (Ingwäonen, Nordsee-Germanen in German). ... The Istvaeones (also called Istaevones, Istriaones, Istriones, Sthraones, Thracones, Rhine Germans or Weser-Rhine Germans (Istwäonen, Weser-Rhein-Germanen in German)) were a West Germanic cultural group or proto-tribe. ... Also referred to as Herminones, Hermiones, Elbe Germans (Irminonen, sometimes called Elb-Germanen in German), a Germanic proto-tribe or cultural group. ... Also referred to as Ingaevones, North Sea Germans (Ingwäonen, Nordsee-Germanen in German). ... A North Germanic language is any of several Germanic languages spoken in Scandinavia, parts of Finland and on the islands west of Scandinavia. ... The Germanic languages form one of the branches of the Indo-European (IE) language family. ...


The divison of peoples into west-Germanic, east-Germanic, and north-Germanic was a 19th century hypothesis of linguists. Many Greek scholars only classified Celts and Scyths in the Northwest and Northeast of the Mediterranean and this classification was widely maintained in Greek literature until Late Antiquity. Latin-Greek ethnographers (Tacitus, Pliny the Elder, Ptolemy, and Strabo) mentioned in the first two centuries AD the names of peoples they classified as Germanic along the Elbe, the Rhine, and the Danube, the Vistula and on the Baltic Sea. Tacitus mentioned 40, Ptolemy 69 peoples. Classical ethnography applied the name Suebi to many tribes in the first century. It appeared that this native name had all but replaced the foreign name Germanic. After the Marcomannic wars the Gothic name steadily gained importance. Some of the ethnic names mentioned by the ethnographers of the first two centuries AD on the shores of the Oder and the Vistula (Gutones, Vandali) reappear from the 3rd century on in the area of the lower Danube and north of the Carpathian Mountains. Modern scholarship has no explanation for the ethnic processes causing this continuity. For the end of the 5th century the Gothic name can be used - according to the historical sources - for such different peoples like the Goths in Gaul, Iberia and Italy, the Vandals in Africa, the Gepids along the Tisza and the Danube, the Rugians, Sciri and Burgundians, even the Iranian Alans. These peoples were classified as Scyths and often deducted from the ancient Getae (most important: Cassiodor/Jordanes, Getica approx. 550 AD). A Celtic cross. ... Scythian warriors, drawn after figures on an electrum cup from the KulOba kurgan burial near Kerch. ... Gaius Cornelius Tacitus Publius or Gaius Cornelius Tacitus (ca. ... Pliny the Elder: an imaginative 19c portrait. ... Claudius Ptolemaeus, given contemporary German styling, in a 16th century engraved book frontispiece. ... Strabo (squinty) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. ... The Marcomanni were a Germanic tribe, probably related to the Suebi or Suevi. ... Invasion of the Goths: a late 19th century painting by O. Fritsche portrays the Goths as cavalrymen. ... The Vandals were an East Germanic tribe that entered the late Roman Empire during the 5th century and created a state in North Africa, centered on the city of Carthage. ... Invasion of the Goths: a late 19th century painting by O. Fritsche portrays the Goths as cavalrymen. ... The Vandals were an East Germanic tribe that entered the late Roman Empire during the 5th century and created a state in North Africa, centered on the city of Carthage. ... The Gepids (Latin Gepidae) were a Germanic tribe most famous in history for defeating the Huns after the death of Attila. ... The Rugians (Latin rugii) were an East Germanic tribe whose ultimate origins have been traced to Rogaland in Norway, whose population probably was the Rugii that Jordanes mentioned as a tribe that still remained in Scandza. ... The Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI) is an Iraqi political party; its support comes from the countrys Shia Muslim community and from their fellow religionists in neighbouring Iran. ... The Burgundians or Burgundes were an East Germanic tribe which may have emigrated from mainland Scandinavia to the island of Bornholm, whose old form in Old Norse still was Burgundarholmr (the Island of the Burgundians), and from here to mainland Europe. ... The Alans or Alani were an Iranian nomadic group among the Sarmatian people, warlike nomadic pastoralists of mixed backgrounds, who spoke an Iranian language and shared, in a broad sense, a common culture. ... The Getae was the name by which the pre-Roman ancient writers reffered to the tribes that will become the later Dacians. ...


The concept of Volk

In the last decade of the 20th century and the first decade of the 21st there has been debate about exactly what "tribe" or "people" meant to these groups, whose fluidity and willingness to sometimes blend is seen while at the same time forced mergers as a result of war were taking place and the tribe as it had been known vanished. The late classical sources are especially clear in the matter of the blended nature of the Alamanni. Volk is a German (and Dutch) word meaning people or folk. It is commonly used as prefix in words such as Volksentscheid (plebiscite) or Völkerbund (League of Nations), or the car manufacturer Volkswagen (literally, peoples car). A number of völkisch movements were set up in Germany after... The 1990s refers to the years 1990 to 1999; the last decade of the 20th Century. ... (19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s As a means of recording the passage of time, the 20th century was that century which lasted from 1901–2000 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar (1900–1999 in the... 2000s - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... The 21st century is the century that began on 1 January 2001 and will last to 31 December 2100. ... The Alamanni, Allemanni or Alemanni, were an alliance of warbands formed from Germanic tribes, first mentioned by Dio Cassius when they fought Caracalla in 213. ...


The idea of a unified German people, or Volk, was expressed openly in print by 19th century Ethnic Nationalist writers and thinkers after the Napoleonic Wars. Such an identity, however, had existed more implicitly since the Middle Ages, helping to fuel the Protestant Reformation, when many Germanic lands pulled away religiously and politically from the Roman Catholic Church. Volk is a German (and Dutch) word meaning people or folk. It is commonly used as prefix in words such as Volksentscheid (plebiscite) or Völkerbund (League of Nations), or the car manufacturer Volkswagen (literally, peoples car). A number of völkisch movements were set up in Germany after... Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ... Ethnic nationalism is the form of nationalism in which the state derives political legitimacy from historical cultural or hereditary groupings (ethnicities); the underlying assumption is that ethnicities should be politically distinct. ... The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars fought during Napoleon Bonapartes rule over France. ... The Middle Ages formed the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history into three ages: the classical civilization of Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and modern times, beginning with the Renaissance. ... The Protestant Reformation was a movement which emerged in the 16th century as a series of attempts to reform the Roman Catholic Church in Western Europe. ... The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the Christian Church whose visible and spiritual head on Earth (representing Jesus Christ) is the Pope, currently Pope Benedict XVI, and whose adherents constitute almost half of all Christians worldwide. ...


See also

This are some historical Germanic Confederations 230 BC - Bastarnae, a mixture of Germanic tribes, at the Black Sea; they participated in the siege of Olbia (modern Odessa) in 220 BC. 109 BC - Huge confederation composed of the Germanic of Cimbri and Teutoni and the Celtic-Germanic Helvetii formed near Miltenberg... Germanic peoples are ethnic groups of Germanic origin, the linguistic, cultural, and racial descendants of the old Germanic tribes. ... Gravegoods from various North French and Rhineland sites, up to the 6th c. ...

Further reading

  • Beck, Heinrich and Heiko Steuer and Dieter Timpe, eds. Die Germanen. Studienausgabe. Reallexikon der germanischen Altertumskunde. Berlin, New York: Walter de Gruyter 1998. Xi + 258 pp. ISBN 3-11-016383-7.
  • Collins, Roger. Early medieval Europe. 300-1000. 2nd ed. Basingstoke: Macmillan 1999. XXV + 533 pp. ISBN 0-333-65807-8.
  • Geary, Patrick J. Before France and Germany. The creation and transformation of the Merovingian world. Oxford: Oxford University Press 1988. Xii + 259 pp. ISBN 0-195-04458-4.
  • Geary, Patrick J. The Myth of Nations. The Medieval Origins of Europe. Princeton: Princeton University Press 2002. X + 199 pp. ISBN 0-691-11481-1.
  • Herrmann, Joachim. Griechische und lateinische Quellen zur Frühgeschichte Mitteleuropas bis zur Mitte des 1. Jahrtausends unserer Zeitrechnung. I. Von Homer bis Plutarch. 8. Jh. v. u. Z. bis 1. Jh. v. u. Z. II. Tacitus-Germania. III. Von Tacitus bis Ausonius. 2. bis 4. Jh. u. Z. IV. Von Ammianus Marcellinus bis Zosimos. 4. und 5. Jh. u. Z. Berlin: Akademie Verlag 1988 -1992. I: 657 pp. ISBN 3-05-000348-0. II: 291 pp. ISBN 3-05-000349-9. III: 723 pp. ISBN 3-05-000571-8. IV: 656 pp. ISBN 3-05-000591-2.
  • Pohl, Walter. Die Germanen. Enzyklopädie deutscher Geschichte 57. München: Oldenbourg 2004. X + 156 pp. ISBN 3-486-56755-1.
  • Pohl, Walter. Die Voelkerwanderung. Eroberung und Integration. Stuttgart: Kohlhammer 2002. 266 pp. ISBN 3-170-15566-0. Monograph, German.
  • Todd, Malcolm. The Early Germans. Oxford: Blackwell 2004. Xii + 266 pp. ISBN 0-631-16397-2.
  • Wolfram, Herwig. History of the Goths. Berkeley: University of California Press 1988. Xii + 613 pp. ISBN 0-520-6983-8.
  • Wolfram, Herwig. The Roman Empire and its Germanic peoples. Berkeley: University of California Press 1997. XX + 361 pp. ISBN 0-520-08511-6.

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