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Early Germanic culture refers to the culture of the early
Germanic peoples The Germanic peoples were historical groups of people that once occupied Central Europe and Scandinavia during antiquity and into the early Middle Ages. Since the 19th century, they have traditionally been defined by the use of ancient and ear ...
. Largely derived from a synthesis of
Proto-Indo-European Proto-Indo-European (PIE) is the reconstructed common ancestor of the Indo-European language family. Its proposed features have been derived by linguistic reconstruction from documented Indo-European languages. No direct record of Proto-Indo-E ...
and indigenous Northern European elements, the Germanic culture started to exist in the
Jastorf culture The Jastorf culture was an Iron Age material culture in what is now northern Germany and southern Scandinavia spanning the 6th to 1st centuries BC, forming part of the Pre-Roman Iron Age and associating with Germanic peoples. The culture evo ...
that developed out of the
Nordic Bronze Age The Nordic Bronze Age (also Northern Bronze Age, or Scandinavian Bronze Age) is a period of Scandinavian prehistory from c. 2000/1750–500 BC. The Nordic Bronze Age culture emerged about 1750 BC as a continuation of the Battle Axe culture (the ...
. It came under significant external influence during the
Migration Period The Migration Period was a period in European history marked by large-scale migrations that saw the fall of the Western Roman Empire and subsequent settlement of its former territories by various tribes, and the establishment of the post-Roman ...
, particularly from
ancient Rome In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–509 B ...
. The Germanic peoples eventually overwhelmed the
Western Roman Empire The Western Roman Empire comprised the western provinces of the Roman Empire at any time during which they were administered by a separate independent Imperial court; in particular, this term is used in historiography to describe the period fr ...
, which by the
Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...
facilitated their
conversion Conversion or convert may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * "Conversion" (''Doctor Who'' audio), an episode of the audio drama ''Cyberman'' * "Conversion" (''Stargate Atlantis''), an episode of the television series * "The Conversion" ...
from
paganism Paganism (from classical Latin ''pāgānus'' "rural", "rustic", later "civilian") is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christianity, early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions ot ...
to Christianity and the abandonment of their tribal way of life. Certain traces of early Germanic culture have survived among the Germanic peoples up to the present day.


Languages

Linguists postulate that an early
Proto-Germanic Proto-Germanic (abbreviated PGmc; also called Common Germanic) is the reconstructed proto-language of the Germanic branch of the Indo-European languages. Proto-Germanic eventually developed from pre-Proto-Germanic into three Germanic branc ...
language existed and was distinguishable from the other
Indo-European languages The Indo-European languages are a language family native to the overwhelming majority of Europe, the Iranian plateau, and the northern Indian subcontinent. Some European languages of this family, English, French, Portuguese, Russian, Dutc ...
as far back as 500 BCE. From what is known, the early Germanic tribes may have spoken
mutually intelligible In linguistics, mutual intelligibility is a relationship between languages or dialects in which speakers of different but related varieties can readily understand each other without prior familiarity or special effort. It is sometimes used as an ...
dialects derived from a common parent language but there are no written records to verify this fact. The Germanic tribes moved and interacted over the next centuries, and separate dialects among
Germanic languages The Germanic languages are a branch of the Indo-European language family spoken natively by a population of about 515 million people mainly in Europe, North America, Oceania and Southern Africa. The most widely spoken Germanic language, Engli ...
developed down to the present day. Some groups, such as the
Suebi The Suebi (or Suebians, also spelled Suevi, Suavi) were a large group of Germanic peoples originally from the Elbe river region in what is now Germany and the Czech Republic. In the early Roman era they included many peoples with their own names ...
, have a continuous recorded existence, and so there is a reasonable confidence that their modern dialects can be traced back to those in classical times. By extension, but sometimes controversially, the names of the sons of
Mannus Mannus, according to the Roman writer Tacitus, was a figure in the creation Germanic mythology, myths of the Germanic tribes. Tacitus is the only source of these myths. Tacitus wrote that Mannus was the son of Tuisto and the progenitor of the t ...
,
Istvaeones The Istaevones (also spelled Istvaeones) were a Germanic group of tribes living near the banks of the Rhine during the Roman Empire which reportedly shared a common culture and origin. The Istaevones were contrasted to neighbouring groups, the In ...
,
Irminones The Irminones, also referred to as Herminones or Hermiones ( grc, Ἑρμίονες), were a large group of early Germanic tribes settling in the Elbe watershed and by the first century AD expanding into Bavaria, Swabia and Bohemia. Notably this ...
, and
Ingvaeones The Ingaevones were a West Germanic cultural group living in the Northern Germania along the North Sea coast in the areas of Jutland, Holstein, and Frisia in classical antiquity. Tribes in this area included the Angles, Frisii, Chauci, Saxons, ...
, are sometimes used to divide up the medieval and modern
West Germanic languages The West Germanic languages constitute the largest of the three branches of the Germanic languages, Germanic family of languages (the others being the North Germanic languages, North Germanic and the extinct East Germanic languages, East Germanic ...
. The more easterly groups such as the
Vandals The Vandals were a Germanic peoples, Germanic people who first inhabited what is now southern Poland. They established Vandal Kingdom, Vandal kingdoms on the Iberian Peninsula, Mediterranean islands, and North Africa in the fifth century. The ...
are thought to have been united in the use of
East Germanic languages The East Germanic languages, also called the Oder–Vistula Germanic languages, are a group of extinct Germanic languages that were spoken by East Germanic peoples. East Germanic is one of the primary branches of Germanic languages, along with ...
, the most famous of which is
Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...
. The dialect of the Germanic people who remained in
Scandinavia Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion#Europe, subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, ...
is not generally called
Ingvaeonic North Sea Germanic, also known as Ingvaeonic , is a postulated grouping of the northern West Germanic languages that consists of Old Frisian, Old English, and Old Saxon, and their descendants. Ingvaeonic is named after the Ingaevones, a West Ge ...
, but is classified as
North Germanic The North Germanic languages make up one of the three branches of the Germanic languages—a sub-family of the Indo-European languages—along with the West Germanic languages and the extinct East Germanic languages. The language group is also r ...
, which developed into
Old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and t ...
. Within the West Germanic group, linguists associate the Suebian or Hermionic group with an "
Elbe Germanic Elbe Germanic, also called Irminonic or Erminonic, is a term introduced by the German linguist Friedrich Maurer (1898–1984) in his book, ''Nordgermanen und Alemanen'', to describe the unattested proto-language, or dialectal grouping, ancestra ...
" which developed into
Upper German Upper German (german: Oberdeutsch ) is a family of High German dialects spoken primarily in the southern German-speaking area (). History In the Old High German time, only Alemannic and Bairisch are grouped as Upper German. In the Middle High G ...
, including modern German. More speculatively, given the lack of any such clear explanation in any classical source, modern linguists sometimes designate the
Frankish language Frankish ( reconstructed endonym: *), also known as Old Franconian or Old Frankish, was the West Germanic language spoken by the Franks from the 5th to 9th century. After the Salian Franks settled in Roman Gaul, its speakers in Picardy and ...
(and its descendant
Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...
) as
Istvaeonic Weser-Rhine Germanic is a proposed group of prehistoric West Germanic dialects which would have been both directly ancestral to Dutch language, Dutch, as well as being a notable substratum influencing West Central German dialects. The term was int ...
, although the geographical term "
Weser-Rhine Germanic Weser-Rhine Germanic is a proposed group of prehistoric West Germanic dialects which would have been both directly ancestral to Dutch, as well as being a notable substratum influencing West Central German dialects. The term was introduced by the G ...
" is often preferred. However, the classical "''Germani''" near the Rhine, to whom the term was originally applied by Caesar, may not have even spoken Germanic languages, let alone a language recognizably ancestral to modern Dutch. The close relatives of Dutch,
Low German : : : : : (70,000) (30,000) (8,000) , familycolor = Indo-European , fam2 = Germanic , fam3 = West Germanic , fam4 = North Sea Germanic , ancestor = Old Saxon , ancestor2 = Middle L ...
, English and Frisian, are sometimes designated as Ingvaeonic, or alternatively, "
North Sea Germanic North Sea Germanic, also known as Ingvaeonic , is a postulated grouping of the northern West Germanic languages that consists of Old Frisian, Old English, and Old Saxon, and their descendants. Ingvaeonic is named after the Ingaevones, a West Ge ...
". Frankish, (and later Dutch,
Luxembourgish Luxembourgish ( ; also ''Luxemburgish'', ''Luxembourgian'', ''Letzebu(e)rgesch''; Luxembourgish: ) is a West Germanic language that is spoken mainly in Luxembourg. About 400,000 people speak Luxembourgish worldwide. As a standard form of th ...
and the Frankish dialects of German in Germany) has continuously been intelligible to some extent with both "Ingvaeonic" Low German, and some "Suebian" High German dialects, with which they form a spectrum of continental dialects. All these dialects or languages appear to have formed by the mixing of migrating peoples after the time of
Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, and ...
. So it is not clear if these medieval dialect divisions correspond to any mentioned by
Tacitus Publius Cornelius Tacitus, known simply as Tacitus ( , ; – ), was a Roman historian and politician. Tacitus is widely regarded as one of the greatest Roman historiography, Roman historians by modern scholars. The surviving portions of his t ...
and
Pliny Pliny may refer to: People * Pliny the Elder (23–79 CE), ancient Roman nobleman, scientist, historian, and author of ''Naturalis Historia'' (''Pliny's Natural History'') * Pliny the Younger (died 113), ancient Roman statesman, orator, w ...
. Indeed, in Tacitus (Tac. Ger. 40) and in
Claudius Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; grc-gre, Πτολεμαῖος, ; la, Claudius Ptolemaeus; AD) was a mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist, who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were of importance ...
's ''
Geography Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth description") is a field of science devoted to the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and ...
'', the
Anglii The Angles ( ang, Ængle, ; la, Angli) were one of the main Germanic peoples who settled in Great Britain in the post-Roman period. They founded several kingdoms of the Heptarchy in Anglo-Saxon England. Their name is the root of the name ' ...
, ancestors of the
Anglo-Saxons The Anglo-Saxons were a Cultural identity, cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo- ...
, are designated as being a Suebic tribe. Despite their common linguistic framework, by the 5th century CE, the Germanic peoples were linguistically differentiated and could no longer easily comprehend one another. Nonetheless, the line between Germanic and
Romance peoples The Romance-speaking world, Romanophone world, Neolatin world, or Latin-speaking world, is the part of the world where Romance languages (those evolved from Latin) are either official, co-official, or significantly used, comprising Latin Europe an ...
in central Europe remained at the western mouth of the
Rhine ), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland , source1_coordinates= , source1_elevation = , source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein , source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland , source2_coordinates= , so ...
river and while
Gaul Gaul ( la, Gallia) was a region of Western Europe first described by the Romans. It was inhabited by Celtic and Aquitani tribes, encompassing present-day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, most of Switzerland, parts of Northern Italy (only during ...
fell under Germanic domination and was firmly settled by the
Franks The Franks ( la, Franci or ) were a group of Germanic peoples whose name was first mentioned in 3rd-century Roman sources, and associated with tribes between the Lower Rhine and the Ems River, on the edge of the Roman Empire.H. Schutz: Tools, ...
, the linguistic patterns did not move much. Further west and south in Europe-proper, the linguistic presence of the Germanic languages is almost negligible. Despite the fact that the
Visigoths The Visigoths (; la, Visigothi, Wisigothi, Vesi, Visi, Wesi, Wisi) were an early Germanic people who, along with the Ostrogoths, constituted the two major political entities of the Goths within the Roman Empire in late antiquity, or what is ...
ruled a
kingdom Kingdom commonly refers to: * A monarchy ruled by a king or queen * Kingdom (biology), a category in biological taxonomy Kingdom may also refer to: Arts and media Television * ''Kingdom'' (British TV series), a 2007 British television drama s ...
in what is now Spain and
Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...
for upwards of 250 years, there are almost no recognizable Gothic words borrowed into Spanish or
Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...
. Conversely, many common given names in the Iberian peninsula, and the surnames derived from them, are of Germanic origin (Álvaro - Álvarez; Fernando - Fernández/Hernández; Gonzalo - González; Rodrigo - Rodríguez, etc.). By 500 CE, the West Germanic speakers had apparently developed a distinct language continuum with extensive loaning from
Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
(due to their ongoing contact with the Romans), whereas the East Germanic languages were dying out.


Literature

Germanic literature includes all the oral and written literature which was common to the early Germanic peoples, in respect to form and nature of content. It was generally intended to honor the gods or to praise tribal ancestors. The general public plays an insignificant role in Germanic literature, which revolves almost exclusively around chieftains, warriors and their associates. Wives and other female relatives of such leaders and warriors figure prominently in many pieces of Germanic literature. Germanic literature is divided into literature transferred orally from generation to generation and literature written down at a later date. Some of this literature, such as the
Grottasöngr ''Grottasöngr'' (or ''Gróttasöngr''; Old Norse: 'The Mill's Songs', or 'Song of Grótti') is an Old Norse poem, sometimes counted among the poems of the ''Poetic Edda'' as it appears in manuscripts that are later than the '' Codex Regius''. T ...
, appears to have been passed down from a very early time. Much of what is known about Germanic literature was passed down by
skald A skald, or skáld (Old Norse: , later ; , meaning "poet"), is one of the often named poets who composed skaldic poetry, one of the two kinds of Old Norse poetry, the other being Eddic poetry, which is anonymous. Skaldic poems were traditionally ...
s and
scop A ( or ) was a poet as represented in Old English poetry. The scop is the Old English counterpart of the Old Norse ', with the important difference that "skald" was applied to historical persons, and scop is used, for the most part, to designa ...
s, who were poets employed by a chieftain to memorize his deeds and those of his ancestors.
Priscus Priscus of Panium (; el, Πρίσκος; 410s AD/420s AD-after 472 AD) was a 5th-century Eastern Roman diplomat and Greek historian and rhetorician (or sophist)...: "For information about Attila, his court and the organization of life generall ...
notes that such skalds were also prominent at the court of
Attila Attila (, ; ), frequently called Attila the Hun, was the ruler of the Huns The Huns were a nomadic people who lived in Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Eastern Europe between the 4th and 6th century AD. According to European traditio ...
. The structure of the verse and the rime system shows that Germanic poetry followed a distinct poetic form. A significant characteristic is the
alliterative verse In prosody, alliterative verse is a form of verse that uses alliteration as the principal ornamental device to help indicate the underlying metrical structure, as opposed to other devices such as rhyme. The most commonly studied traditions of ...
. Riddles figure prominently in both
Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons were a Cultural identity, cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo- ...
and early Scandianvian literature. Important works are Germanic literature are
Beowulf ''Beowulf'' (; ang, Bēowulf ) is an Old English epic poem in the tradition of Germanic heroic legend consisting of 3,182 alliterative lines. It is one of the most important and most often translated works of Old English literature. The ...
, the
Nibelungenlied The ( gmh, Der Nibelunge liet or ), translated as ''The Song of the Nibelungs'', is an epic poetry, epic poem written around 1200 in Middle High German. Its anonymous poet was likely from the region of Passau. The is based on an oral tradition ...
, and the Icelandic
Eddas "Edda" (; Old Norse ''Edda'', plural ''Eddur'') is an Old Norse term that has been attributed by modern scholars to the collective of two Medieval Icelandic literary works: what is now known as the ''Prose Edda'' and an older collection of poem ...
and
saga is a series of science fantasy role-playing video games by Square Enix. The series originated on the Game Boy in 1989 as the creation of Akitoshi Kawazu at Square (video game company), Square. It has since continued across multiple platforms, ...
s. Powerful individuals of the distant past figure prominently in Germanic literature. Such individuals include Julius Caesar, Attila,
Ermanaric Ermanaric; la, Ermanaricus or ''Hermanaricus''; ang, Eormanrīc ; on, Jǫrmunrekkr , gmh, Ermenrîch (died 376) was a Greuthungian Gothic king who before the Hunnic invasion evidently ruled a sizable portion of Oium, the part of Scythia ...
,
Theodoric the Great Theodoric (or Theoderic) the Great (454 – 30 August 526), also called Theodoric the Amal ( got, , *Þiudareiks; Greek: , romanized: ; Latin: ), was king of the Ostrogoths (471–526), and ruler of the independent Ostrogothic Kingdom of Italy b ...
and
Charlemagne Charlemagne ( , ) or Charles the Great ( la, Carolus Magnus; german: Karl der Große; 2 April 747 – 28 January 814), a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and the first Holy ...
. Accounts of the history of the Goths play and important role in Germanic literature, and although the Goths themselves disappeared, their deeds were remembered for centuries afterwards among Germanic peoples living as far as
Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...
. The works of
Jordanes Jordanes (), also written as Jordanis or Jornandes, was a 6th-century Eastern Roman bureaucrat widely believed to be of Goths, Gothic descent who became a historian later in life. Late in life he wrote two works, one on Roman history (''Romana ...
,
Gregory of Tours Gregory of Tours (30 November 538 – 17 November 594 AD) was a Gallo-Roman historian and Bishop of Tours, which made him a leading prelate of the area that had been previously referred to as Gaul by the Romans. He was born Georgius Florenti ...
,
Paul the Deacon Paul the Deacon ( 720s 13 April in 796, 797, 798, or 799 AD), also known as ''Paulus Diaconus'', ''Warnefridus'', ''Barnefridus'', or ''Winfridus'', and sometimes suffixed ''Cassinensis'' (''i.e.'' "of Monte Cassino"), was a Benedictine monk, s ...
, Priscus and
Saxo Grammaticus Saxo Grammaticus (c. 1150 – c. 1220), also known as Saxo cognomine Longus, was a Danish historian, theologian and author. He is thought to have been a clerk or secretary to Absalon, Archbishop of Lund, the main advisor to Valdemar I of Denmark. ...
were written in Latin and
Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
, but since their authors were of Germanic origin and because their works show traces of Germanic heritage, philologist Francis Owen considers these works part of Germanic literature as well. A large amount of Germanic epic literature must have been produced during the violent years of the
Migration Period The Migration Period was a period in European history marked by large-scale migrations that saw the fall of the Western Roman Empire and subsequent settlement of its former territories by various tribes, and the establishment of the post-Roman ...
, but few of these accounts appear to have been preserved. During his reign, Charlemagne ordered a collection of the old heroic songs to be made, but this collection was later destroyed by order of
Louis the Pious Louis the Pious (german: Ludwig der Fromme; french: Louis le Pieux; 16 April 778 – 20 June 840), also called the Fair, and the Debonaire, was King of the Franks and co-emperor with his father, Charlemagne, from 813. He was also King of Aqui ...
. A common theme in Germanic literature is the consequences of failing to live up to one's moral principles, and the moral dilemma faced by an individual struggling to maintain his loyalty under difficult conditions. A key theme is the attempt of the individual to overcome his fate, referred to as
wyrd Wyrd is a concept in Anglo-Saxon culture roughly corresponding to fate or personal destiny. The word is ancestral to Modern English ''weird'', whose meaning has drifted towards an adjectival use with a more general sense of "supernatural" or "u ...
by the Anglo-Saxons. In Germanic literature,
dark humor Black comedy, also known as dark comedy, morbid humor, or gallows humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally considered serious or painful to discus ...
figures prominently.


Scripts

The earliest known Germanic inscription was found at Negau (in what is now southern
Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
) on a bronze helmet dating back to the first century BCE. Some of the other earliest known physical records of the Germanic language appear on stone and wood carvings in
Runic Runes are the letters in a set of related alphabets known as runic alphabets native to the Germanic peoples. Runes were used to write various Germanic languages (with some exceptions) before they adopted the Latin alphabet, and for specialised ...
script from around 200 CE. Runes had a special significance in early Germanic culture, and each runic letter had a distinct name associated with a particular subject. The origins of runes has been a source of controversy. Runic writing likely disappeared due to the concerted opposition of the
Christian Church In ecclesiology, the Christian Church is what different Christian denominations conceive of as being the true body of Christians or the original institution established by Jesus. "Christian Church" has also been used in academia as a synonym fo ...
, which regarded runic text as heathen symbols which supposedly contained inherent magical properties that they associated with the Germanic peoples' pagan past. Unfortunately, this primitive view ignores the abundance of "pious runic writing found on church-related objects" (ranging from inscriptions in the doorways of churches, on church bells and even those found on baptismal fonts) when Christianity was introduced into the Germanic North. An important linguistic step was made by the Christian convert
Ulfilas Ulfilas (–383), also spelled Ulphilas and Orphila, all Latinized forms of the unattested Gothic form *𐍅𐌿𐌻𐍆𐌹𐌻𐌰 Wulfila, literally "Little Wolf", was a Goth of Cappadocian Greek descent who served as a bishop and missionary ...
, who became a bishop to the
Thervingi The Thervingi, Tervingi, or Teruingi (sometimes pluralised Tervings or Thervings) were a Goths, Gothic people of the plains north of the Lower Danube and west of the Dniester River in the 3rd and the 4th centuries. They had close contacts with ...
Goths in CE 341; he subsequently invented a
Gothic alphabet The Gothic alphabet is an alphabet used for writing the Gothic language. Ulfilas (or Wulfila) developed it in the 4th century AD for the purpose of translating the Bible. The alphabet essentially uses uncial forms of the Greek alphabet, wit ...
and translated the scriptures from Greek into Gothic, creating a
Gothic Bible The Gothic Bible or Wulfila Bible is the Christian Bible in the Gothic language spoken by the Eastern Germanic (Goths, Gothic) tribes in the early Middle Ages. The translation was allegedly made by the Arianism, Arian bishop and missionary U ...
, which is the earliest known translation of the Bible into a Germanic language.


Religion

Prior to the
Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...
, Germanic peoples followed what is now referred to as
Germanic paganism Germanic paganism or Germanic religion refers to the traditional, culturally significant religion of the Germanic peoples. With a chronological range of at least one thousand years in an area covering Scandinavia, the British Isles, modern Germ ...
: "a system of interlocking and closely interrelated religious worldviews and practices rather than as one indivisible religion" and as such consisted of "individual worshippers, family traditions and regional cults within a broadly consistent framework". Germanic religion was
polytheistic Polytheism is the belief in multiple deities, which are usually assembled into a pantheon of gods and goddesses, along with their own religious sects and rituals. Polytheism is a type of theism. Within theism, it contrasts with monotheism, the ...
in nature, with some underlying similarities to other European and Indo-European religions. Despite the unique practices of some tribes, there was a degree of cultural uniformity among the Germanic peoples concerning religion. From its earliest descriptions by Roman authors in antiquity to the Icelandic accounts written in the Middle Ages, Germanic religion appears to have changed considerably.


Origins

Germanic religion appears to have emerged as a synthesis of the religion of the Indo-European speakers who arrived with the
Corded Ware culture The Corded Ware culture comprises a broad archaeological horizon of Europe between ca. 3000 BC – 2350 BC, thus from the late Neolithic, through the Copper Age, and ending in the early Bronze Age. Corded Ware culture encompassed a va ...
and the indigenous populations among whom they settled. It is often suggested that the
conflict Conflict may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Conflict'' (1921 film), an American silent film directed by Stuart Paton * ''Conflict'' (1936 film), an American boxing film starring John Wayne * ''Conflict'' (1937 film) ...
between the
Æsir The Æsir (Old Norse: ) are the gods of the principal pantheon in Norse religion. They include Odin, Frigg, Höðr, Thor, and Baldr. The second Norse pantheon is the Vanir. In Norse mythology, the two pantheons wage war against each other, res ...
and
Vanir In Norse mythology, the Vanir (; Old Norse: , singular Vanr ) are a group of gods associated with fertility, wisdom, and the ability to see the future. The Vanir are one of two groups of gods (the other being the Æsir) and are the namesake of the ...
, the two groups in the Norse branch of the Germanic pantheon, represents a remembrance of this synthesis.


Deities

Many of the deities found in Germanic paganism appeared under similar names across the Germanic peoples, most notably the god known to the Germans as Wodan or Wōden, to the Anglo-Saxons as Woden, and to the Norse as
Óðinn Odin (; from non, Óðinn, ) is a widely revered god in Germanic paganism. Norse mythology, the source of most surviving information about him, associates him with wisdom, healing, death, royalty, the gallows, knowledge, war, battle, victory, ...
, as well as the god
Thor Thor (; from non, Þórr ) is a prominent god in Germanic paganism. In Norse mythology, he is a hammer-wielding æsir, god associated with lightning, thunder, storms, sacred trees and groves in Germanic paganism and mythology, sacred groves ...
– known to the Germans as Donar, to the Anglo-Saxons as Þunor and to the Norse as Þórr. Tacitus writes that the Germanic peoples primarily worshipped "
Mercury Mercury commonly refers to: * Mercury (planet), the nearest planet to the Sun * Mercury (element), a metallic chemical element with the symbol Hg * Mercury (mythology), a Roman god Mercury or The Mercury may also refer to: Companies * Merc ...
", but also "
Hercules Hercules (, ) is the Roman equivalent of the Greek divine hero Heracles, son of Jupiter and the mortal Alcmena. In classical mythology, Hercules is famous for his strength and for his numerous far-ranging adventures. The Romans adapted the Gr ...
" and "
Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury (planet), Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Mars (mythology), Roman god of war. Mars is a terr ...
". These have generally been identified with Odin, Thor and
Týr (; Old Norse: , ) is a god in Germanic mythology, a valorous and powerful member of the and patron of warriors and mythological heroes. In Norse mythology, which provides most of the surviving narratives about gods among the Germanic peoples, ...
, the gods of wisdom, thunder and war respectively. Týr appears to at one point have been the chief deity in the Germanic pantheon, but he was eventually displaced by Odin.


Rituals

Archaeological findings suggest that the early Germanic peoples practiced some of the same 'spiritual' rituals as the
Celts The Celts (, see pronunciation for different usages) or Celtic peoples () are. "CELTS location: Greater Europe time period: Second millennium B.C.E. to present ancestry: Celtic a collection of Indo-European peoples. "The Celts, an ancien ...
, including
human sacrifice Human sacrifice is the act of killing one or more humans as part of a ritual, which is usually intended to please or appease gods, a human ruler, an authoritative/priestly figure or spirits of dead ancestors or as a retainer sacrifice, wherein ...
, divination, and the belief in spiritual connection with the natural environment around them. In Germanic religion, one distinguishes between household worship and community worship. This was similar to religious worship in
Roman religion Religion in ancient Rome consisted of varying imperial and provincial religious practices, which were followed both by the people of Rome as well as those who were brought under its rule. The Romans thought of themselves as highly religious, ...
. In household worship the male head of the household would act as the "priest". Spiritual rituals frequently occurred in consecrated groves or upon islands on lakes where perpetual fires burned. The Germanic peoples did not construct temples to carry out their religious rites.


Priests

Unlike the Celts, who had their
druid A druid was a member of the high-ranking class in ancient Celtic cultures. Druids were religious leaders as well as legal authorities, adjudicators, lorekeepers, medical professionals and political advisors. Druids left no written accounts. Whi ...
s, there does not appear to have been a priestly caste among the Germanic peoples. There were however individuals who performed certain religious duties. This included carrying out sacrifices and punishing those found guilty of crimes against the tribe. Germanic priestesses were feared by the Romans, as these tall women with glaring eyes, wearing flowing white gowns often wielded a knife for sacrificial offerings. Captives might have their throats cut and be bled into giant cauldrons or have their intestines opened up and the entrails thrown to the ground for prophetic readings.


Afterlife

Germanic ideology and religious practices were pervaded and colored to a large degree by war, particularly the notion of a heroic death on the battlefield, as this brought the god(s) a "blood sacrifice."


Conversion to Christianity

Christianity had no relevance for the pagan barbarians until their contact and integration with Rome. Pagan beliefs amid the Germanic tribes were reported by some of the earlier Roman historians and in the 6th century CE another instance of this appears when the Byzantine historian and poet,
Agathias Agathias or Agathias Scholasticus ( grc-gre, Ἀγαθίας σχολαστικός; Martindale, Jones & Morris (1992), pp. 23–25582/594), of Myrina (Mysia), an Aeolian city in western Asia Minor (Turkey), was a Greek poet and the principal histo ...
, remarked that the
Alemanni The Alemanni or Alamanni, were a confederation of Germanic tribes * * * on the Upper Rhine River. First mentioned by Cassius Dio in the context of the campaign of Caracalla of 213, the Alemanni captured the in 260, and later expanded into pres ...
c religion was "solidly and unsophisticatedly pagan." The
Ostrogoths The Ostrogoths ( la, Ostrogothi, Austrogothi) were a Roman-era Germanic peoples, Germanic people. In the 5th century, they followed the Visigoths in creating one of the two great Goths, Gothic kingdoms within the Roman Empire, based upon the larg ...
, Visigoths, and Vandals were Christianized while they were still outside the bounds of the Empire; however, they converted to
Arianism Arianism ( grc-x-koine, Ἀρειανισμός, ) is a Christological doctrine first attributed to Arius (), a Christian presbyter from Alexandria, Egypt. Arian theology holds that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, who was begotten by God ...
rather than
Roman Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...
, and were soon regarded as
heretics Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, in particular the accepted beliefs of a church or religious organization. The term is usually used in reference to violations of important religi ...
by Catholics. The one great written remnant of the Gothic language is the Gothic Bible made by Wulfila, the Arian
missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Tho ...
who converted them. Goths, Vandals, and other Germanic peoples often offered political resistance prior to their conversion to Christianity. The
Lombards The Lombards () or Langobards ( la, Langobardi) were a Germanic people who ruled most of the Italian Peninsula from 568 to 774. The medieval Lombard historian Paul the Deacon wrote in the ''History of the Lombards'' (written between 787 and ...
were not converted until after their entrance into the Empire, but received Christianity from Arian Germanic tribes sometime during the 5th century. The Franks were converted directly from paganism to Catholicism under the leadership of
Clovis I Clovis ( la, Chlodovechus; reconstructed Frankish: ; – 27 November 511) was the first king of the Franks to unite all of the Frankish tribes under one ruler, changing the form of leadership from a group of petty kings to rule by a single kin ...
in about CE 496 without an intervening time as Arians. The Visigoths converted to Roman Catholicism in 589 AD. Several centuries later, Anglo-Saxon and Frankish missionaries and warriors undertook the conversion of their
Saxon The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic * * * * peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country (Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the Nor ...
neighbors. A key event was the felling of
Thor's Oak Donar's Oak (also Thor's Oak or, via ''interpretatio romana'', Jove's Oak) was a sacred tree of the Germanic pagans located in an unclear location around what is now the region of Hesse, Germany. According to the 8th century ''Vita Bonifatii auct ...
near
Fritzlar Fritzlar () is a small town (pop. 15,000) in the Schwalm-Eder district in northern Hesse, Germany, north of Frankfurt, with a storied history. The town has a medieval center ringed by a wall with numerous watch towers. Thirty-eight meters (125& ...
by
Boniface Boniface, OSB ( la, Bonifatius; 675 – 5 June 754) was an English Benedictine monk and leading figure in the Anglo-Saxon mission to the Germanic parts of the Frankish Empire during the eighth century. He organised significant foundations of ...
, apostle of the
Germans , native_name_lang = de , region1 = , pop1 = 72,650,269 , region2 = , pop2 = 534,000 , region3 = , pop3 = 157,000 3,322,405 , region4 = , pop4 = ...
, in CE 723. When Thor failed to strike Boniface dead after the oak hit the ground, the Franks were amazed and began their conversion to the Christian faith. Eventually for many Germanic tribes, the conversion to Christianity was achieved by armed force, successfully completed by Charlemagne, in a series of campaigns (the
Saxon Wars The Saxon Wars were the campaigns and insurrections of the thirty-three years from 772, when Charlemagne first entered Saxony with the intent to conquer, to 804, when the last rebellion of tribesmen was defeated. In all, 18 campaigns were fought ...
), that also brought Saxon lands into the
Frankish empire Francia, also called the Kingdom of the Franks ( la, Regnum Francorum), Frankish Kingdom, Frankland or Frankish Empire ( la, Imperium Francorum), was the largest post-Roman barbarian kingdom in Western Europe. It was ruled by the Franks dur ...
. Massacres, such as at Verden, where as many as 4,500 people were beheaded according to one of Charlemagne's chroniclers, were a direct result of this policy. In Scandinavia, Germanic paganism continued to dominate until the 11th century in the form of
Old Norse religion Old Norse religion, also known as Norse paganism, is the most common name for a branch of Germanic religion which developed during the Proto-Norse period, when the North Germanic peoples separated into a distinct branch of the Germanic peop ...
, when it was gradually replaced by Christianity. While the Germanic peoples were slowly converted to Christianity by varying means, many elements of the pre-Christian culture and indigenous beliefs remained firmly in place after the conversion process, particularly in the more rural and distant regions. Of particular note is the survival of the pagan fascination with the forest in the retention of
Christmas tree A Christmas tree is a decorated tree, usually an evergreen conifer, such as a spruce, pine or fir, or an artificial tree of similar appearance, associated with the celebration of Christmas. The custom was further developed in early modern ...
even today. Many of the Germanic tribes actually revered forests as sacred places and left them unmolested. Conversion to Christianity broke this pagan obsession with protecting the forest in some locations and allowed once migrant tribes to settle in places where they previously refused to cultivate the soil or chop down trees based on religious belief. To that end, the Christianisation of Germanic peoples facilitated the clearing of forests and therewith provided "a broad and stable basis for the medieval economy of Central Europe" by leveraging the vast forest resources available to them.


Heathenism

Elements of Germanic paganism survived into post-Christianization
folklore Folklore is shared by a particular group of people; it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. This includes oral traditions such as tales, legends, proverbs and jokes. They include material culture, ranging ...
, and today
new religious movement A new religious movement (NRM), also known as alternative spirituality or a new religion, is a religious or spiritual group that has modern origins and is peripheral to its society's dominant religious culture. NRMs can be novel in origin or th ...
s exist which see themselves as modern revivals of Germanic Heathenry.


Folklore

The
folklore Folklore is shared by a particular group of people; it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. This includes oral traditions such as tales, legends, proverbs and jokes. They include material culture, ranging ...
of early Germanic peoples was intimately intertwined with their natural surroundings. Legendary creatures of Germanic folklore include,
elves An elf () is a type of humanoid supernatural being in Germanic mythology and folklore. Elves appear especially in North Germanic mythology. They are subsequently mentioned in Snorri Sturluson's Icelandic Prose Edda. He distinguishes "ligh ...
, who inhabited the woods, foundations and streams; dwarves, who inhabited the caves of the earth; serpents, who inhabited the sea; and the
neck The neck is the part of the body on many vertebrates that connects the head with the torso. The neck supports the weight of the head and protects the nerves that carry sensory and motor information from the brain down to the rest of the body. In ...
, who inhabited the marshes. Remnants of early Germanic folklore has survived unto the present day.


Festivals

Festivals in early Germanic culture included the autumn festival (
Winter Nights Winter Nights or Old Norse ''vetrnætr'' was a specific time of year in medieval Scandinavia Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its const ...
), the New Year festival (
Yule Yule, actually Yuletide ("Yule time") is a festival observed by the historical Germanic peoples, later undergoing Christianised reformulation resulting in the now better-known Christmastide. The earliest references to Yule are by way of indig ...
), the spring festival (
Easter Easter,Traditional names for the feast in English are "Easter Day", as in the '' Book of Common Prayer''; "Easter Sunday", used by James Ussher''The Whole Works of the Most Rev. James Ussher, Volume 4'') and Samuel Pepys''The Diary of Samuel ...
), and
Midsummer's Day Midsummer is a celebration of the season of summer usually held at a date around the summer solstice. It has pagan pre-Christian roots in Europe. The undivided Christianity, Christian Church designated June 24 as the feast day of the early Chri ...
. Yule was intended to induce the
sun The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is a nearly perfect ball of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core. The Sun radiates this energy mainly as light, ultraviolet, and infrared radi ...
to regain its former strength. Easter celebrated the renewal of nature. The Midsummer's Day was the greatest festival of all, in which it was celebrated that the sun had regained its full power. On this occasion numerous tribes would come together to celebrate and a general peace would sometimes be declared. Meanwhile, the autumn festival was a period of mourning.


Calendar


Funerary practices

In Neolithic Northern Europe, the deceased were generally buried by inhumation. By the early Bronze Age, cremation became more frequent, and eventually universal. The deceased was generally burnt at a funeral
pyre A pyre ( grc, πυρά; ''pyrá'', from , ''pyr'', "fire"), also known as a funeral pyre, is a structure, usually made of wood, for burning a body as part of a funeral rite or execution. As a form of cremation, a body is placed upon or under the ...
, while his weapons and other possessions were placed in an urn for burial. Leading members of the community were sometimes buried in
burial mound Burial, also known as interment or inhumation, is a method of final disposition whereby a dead body is placed into the ground, sometimes with objects. This is usually accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing the deceased and objec ...
s. During the
Pre-Roman Iron Age The archaeology of Northern Europe studies the prehistory of Scandinavia and the adjacent North European Plain, roughly corresponding to the territories of modern Sweden, Norway, Denmark, northern Germany, Poland and the Netherlands. The regio ...
, the possessions of the deceased was sometimes placed in a hollowed-out grave without an urn. During the Roman period, urns were typically placed in flat graves. The deceased was buried along with his possessions so that he could bring them to the afterlife. Such possessions included weapons, personal adornments and other belongings, sometimes including the owner's horse and even his boat. In certain rare cases the deceased was even buried along with several of his servants, who would be slain for the purpose. Tacitus reports that certain Germanic individuals were inhumated in mound graves. Archaeological evidence does not suggest that this was a common practice. Cremation appears to have been much more common and long lasting in Scandinavia than in other Germanic territories. Among the coastal and island peoples of the north, the deceased was often placed with all his possessions in his boat, and then set on fire. Boat burials remained common in later times, even when inhumation was reintroduced. In such burials, the body was often placed in a boat over which a burial mound was erected. Inhumation became common again during the Migration period. Since such graves were often arranged in long rows, they have been called row-graves. They are not distinguished by mounds. Often they were arranged on either side of a high-way. This was a practice that had survived from Neolithic times.


Symbols

There were many symbols of importance in early Germanic culture, including the
sun cross A sun cross, solar cross, or wheel cross is a solar symbol consisting of an equilateral cross inside a circle. The design is frequently found in the symbolism of prehistoric cultures, particularly during the Neolithic to Bronze Age periods of ...
and the
swastika The swastika (卐 or 卍) is an ancient religious and cultural symbol, predominantly in various Eurasian, as well as some African and American cultures, now also widely recognized for its appropriation by the Nazi Party and by neo-Nazis. It ...
. Such symbols are attested from the
Nordic Bronze Age The Nordic Bronze Age (also Northern Bronze Age, or Scandinavian Bronze Age) is a period of Scandinavian prehistory from c. 2000/1750–500 BC. The Nordic Bronze Age culture emerged about 1750 BC as a continuation of the Battle Axe culture (the ...
up to the
Viking Age The Viking Age () was the period during the Middle Ages when Norsemen known as Vikings undertook large-scale raiding, colonizing, conquest, and trading throughout Europe and reached North America. It followed the Migration Period and the Ger ...
.


Patterns of thought

Early Germanic society was characterized by a rigorous
code of ethics Ethical codes are adopted by organizations to assist members in understanding the difference between right and wrong and in applying that understanding to their decisions. An ethical code generally implies documents at three levels: codes of bus ...
, which above all valued trust, loyalty and courage. The attainment of honor, fame and recognition was a primary ambition. Independence and individuality was highly emphasized. This emphasis largely prevented the emergence of a unified Germanic state. The environment in which the Germanic peoples emerged, notably their attachment to the forest and the sea, played a major role in shaping such values. Germanic literature is filled with scorn for characters who failed to live the Germanic ideals. Although Germanic society was highly stratified between leaders, freemen and slaves, their culture still emphasized equality. On occasion, the freemen of the tribe would overrule the decisions of their own leaders.


Law

Common elements of Germanic society can be deduced both from
Roman historiography Roman historiography stretches back to at least the 3rd century BC and was indebted to earlier Greek historiography. The Romans relied on previous models in the Greek tradition such as the works of Herodotus (c. 484 – 425 BC) and Thucydides (c. ...
and comparative evidence from the
Early Medieval The Early Middle Ages (or early medieval period), sometimes controversially referred to as the Dark Ages, is typically regarded by historians as lasting from the late 5th or early 6th century to the 10th century. They marked the start of the Mi ...
period.


Kingship

A main element uniting Germanic societies was
kingship King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...
, in origin a sacral institution combining the functions of military leader, high priest, lawmaker and judge. Germanic monarchy was elective; the king was elected by the free men from among eligible candidates of a family ( OE ''cynn'') tracing their ancestry to the tribe's divine or semi-divine founder. Under the influence of the
Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediterr ...
, the power of Germanic kings over their own people increased throughout the centuries, partially because mass-migrations of the time required more stern leadership. Caesar notes than in wartime, Germanic tribes would select a "magistrate" with supreme authority to wage war. Those who refused to follow him were considered traitors, and were subjected to social isolation:
When a nation either defends itself in war or wages it, magistrates are selected to be in charge of the war with power of life and death... Those unwilling to follow are thought as deserters and traitors and are no longer trusted in anything.


Assemblies

All freemen had the right to participate in general assemblies or '' things'', where disputes between freemen were addressed according to customary law. In the
federalist The term ''federalist'' describes several political beliefs around the world. It may also refer to the concept of parties, whose members or supporters called themselves ''Federalists''. History Europe federation In Europe, proponents of de ...
organization of
Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
, where
cantonal The 26 cantons of Switzerland (german: Kanton; french: canton ; it, cantone; Sursilvan and Surmiran: ; Vallader and Puter: ; Sutsilvan: ; Rumantsch Grischun: ) are the member states of the Swiss Confederation. The nucleus of the Swiss Con ...
structures remained comparatively local, the Germanic thing survived into the 21st century in the form of the ''
Landsgemeinde The ''Landsgemeinde'' ("cantonal assembly"; , plural ''Landsgemeinden'') is a public, non-secret ballot voting system operating by majority rule, which constitutes one of the oldest forms of direct democracy. Still at use – in a few places ...
'', albeit subject to federal law.


Legal codes

The king was bound to uphold ancestral law, but was at the same time the source for new laws for cases not addressed in previous tradition. This aspect was the reason for the creation of the various Germanic law codes by the kings following their
conversion to Christianity Conversion to Christianity is the religious conversion of a previously non-Christian person to Christianity. Different Christian denominations may perform various different kinds of rituals or ceremonies initiation into their community of believ ...
: besides recording inherited tribal law, these codes have the purpose of settling the position of the church and Christian clergy within society, usually setting the
weregild Weregild (also spelled wergild, wergeld (in archaic/historical usage of English), weregeld, etc.), also known as man price (blood money), was a precept in some archaic legal codes whereby a monetary value was established for a person's life, to b ...
s of the members of the clerical hierarchy parallel to that of the existing hierarchy of nobility, with the position of an
archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...
mirroring that of the king. Generally speaking, Roman legal codes eventually provided the model for many Germanic laws and they were fixed in writing along with Germanic legal customs. Traditional Germanic society was gradually replaced by the system of estates and
feudalism Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was the combination of the legal, economic, military, cultural and political customs that flourished in medieval Europe between the 9th and 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a way of structur ...
characteristic of the
High Middle Ages The High Middle Ages, or High Medieval Period, was the periodization, period of European history that lasted from AD 1000 to 1300. The High Middle Ages were preceded by the Early Middle Ages and were followed by the Late Middle Ages, which ended ...
in both the
Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a Polity, political entity in Western Europe, Western, Central Europe, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its Dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, dissolution i ...
and
Anglo-Norman Anglo-Norman may refer to: *Anglo-Normans, the medieval ruling class in England following the Norman conquest of 1066 * Anglo-Norman language **Anglo-Norman literature * Anglo-Norman England, or Norman England, the period in English history from 10 ...
England in the 11th to 12th centuries, to some extent under the influence of
Roman law Roman law is the law, legal system of ancient Rome, including the legal developments spanning over a thousand years of jurisprudence, from the Twelve Tables (c. 449 BC), to the ''Corpus Juris Civilis'' (AD 529) ordered by Eastern Roman emperor J ...
as an indirect result of Christianisation, but also because political structures had grown too large for the flat hierarchy of a
tribal society The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide usage of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. This definition is contested, in part due to conflic ...
. The same effect of political centralization took hold in Scandinavia slightly later, in the 12th to 13th century (
Age of the Sturlungs The Age of the Sturlungs or the Sturlung Era ( is, Sturlungaöld ) was a 42–44 year period of violent internal strife in mid-13th century Iceland. It is documented in the Sturlunga saga. This period is marked by the conflicts of local chieftai ...
,
Consolidation of Sweden The consolidation of Sweden involved an extensive process during which the loosely organized social system consolidated under the power of the king. The actual age of the Swedish kingdom is unknown.Hadenius, S; Nilsson, T and Åselius, G. (1996:1 ...
,
Civil war era in Norway The civil war era in Norway ( no, borgerkrigstida or ''borgerkrigstiden'') began in 1130 and ended in 1240. During this time in history of Norway, Norwegian history, some two dozen rival kings and pretenders War of succession, waged wars to clai ...
), by the end of the 14th century culminating in the giant
Kalmar Union The Kalmar Union (Danish language, Danish, Norwegian language, Norwegian, and sv, Kalmarunionen; fi, Kalmarin unioni; la, Unio Calmariensis) was a personal union in Scandinavia, agreed at Kalmar in Sweden, that from 1397 to 1523 joined under ...
. Elements of tribal law, notably the
wager of battle Trial by combat (also wager of battle, trial by battle or judicial duel) was a method of Germanic law to settle accusations in the absence of witnesses or a confession in which two parties in dispute fought in single combat; the winner of the ...
, remained in effect throughout the Middle Ages, in the case of the Holy Roman Empire until the establishment of the
Imperial Chamber Court The ''Reichskammergericht'' (; ; la, Iudicium imperii) was one of the two highest judicial institutions in the Holy Roman Empire, the other one being the Aulic Council in Vienna. It was founded in 1495 by the Imperial Diet in Worms. All legal ...
in the early
German Renaissance The German Renaissance, part of the Northern Renaissance, was a cultural and artistic movement that spread among Germany, German thinkers in the 15th and 16th centuries, which developed from the Italian Renaissance. Many areas of the arts and ...
.


Determining guilt

In the case of a suspected crime, the accused could avoid punishment by presenting a fixed number of free men (their number depending on the severity of the crime) prepared to swear an
oath Traditionally an oath (from Anglo-Saxon ', also called plight) is either a statement of fact or a promise taken by a sacrality as a sign of verity. A common legal substitute for those who conscientiously object to making sacred oaths is to ...
on his innocence. Failing in having witness testify in his favor, an accused man could prove his innocence in a trial. Such trials often the outcome when numerous individuals would swear oaths both in support and opposition of the defendant. Trials were typically either a
trial by ordeal Trial by ordeal was an ancient judicial practice by which the guilt or innocence of the accused was determined by subjecting them to a painful, or at least an unpleasant, usually dangerous experience. In medieval Europe, like trial by combat, tri ...
or a
trial by combat Trial by combat (also wager of battle, trial by battle or judicial duel) was a method of Germanic law to settle accusations in the absence of witnesses or a confession in which two parties in dispute fought in single combat; the winner of the ...
. Common ordeals include trial by water and trial by fire. If someone was accused of crimes against the community itself, the determining of guilt or innocence was generally left to the priests.


Punishment

Capital crimes in early Germanic culture included treason, cowardice in battle, desertion, assassination, degenerate magical practices and robbery. Tacitus notes that traitors were on occasion hanged in trees, while cowards were disposed of by drowning them in swamps:
"Traitors and deserters are hanged on trees. Cowards, those who will not fight, and those who have defiled their bodies, are plunged into a boggy mire, with a wicker hurdle pressed on top of them."
Hanging was considered an offering to the gods, while the drowning in swamps was more of a symbolic act, intended to completely remove the criminal from contact with the living. Some
bog bodies A bog body is a human cadaver that has been naturally mummified in a peat bog. Such bodies, sometimes known as bog people, are both geographically and chronologically widespread, having been dated to between and the Second World War. Fischer 19 ...
appear to have been bound, and it is possible that they were buried alive. Corporal or capital punishment for free men does not figure prominently in the Germanic law codes, and
banishment Exile is primarily penal expulsion from one's native country, and secondarily expatriation or prolonged absence from one's homeland under either the compulsion of circumstance or the rigors of some high purpose. Usually persons and peoples suf ...
appears generally to be the most severe penalty issued officially. This reflects that Germanic tribal law did not have the scope of exacting
revenge Revenge is committing a harmful action against a person or group in response to a grievance, be it real or perceived. Francis Bacon described revenge as a kind of "wild justice" that "does... offend the law ndputteth the law out of office." Pr ...
, which was left to the judgement of the family of the victim, but to settle damages as fairly as possible once an involved party decided to bring a dispute before the assembly.


Weregild

Early Germanic law reflects a hierarchy of worth within the society of free men, reflected in the differences in
weregild Weregild (also spelled wergild, wergeld (in archaic/historical usage of English), weregeld, etc.), also known as man price (blood money), was a precept in some archaic legal codes whereby a monetary value was established for a person's life, to b ...
. The weregild was instituted as a way to prevent the
blood feud A feud , referred to in more extreme cases as a blood feud, vendetta, faida, clan war, gang war, or private war, is a long-running argument or fight, often between social groups of people, especially families or clans. Feuds begin because one part ...
s. It was a sum of money which was to be paid to the injured party as compensation for damage to person or property. The amount of weregild to be paid depended upon the damage done and the position of the persons involved. It was generally regulated by the tribal assembly. A fascinating component of early Germanic laws were the varying distinctions concerning the physical body, as each body part had a personal injury value and corresponding legal claims for personal injury viewed matters like gender, rank and status as a secondary interest when deliberating cases. Among the Anglo-Saxons, a regular free man (a '' ceorl'') had a weregild of 200
shilling The shilling is a historical coin, and the name of a unit of modern currencies formerly used in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, other British Commonwealth countries and Ireland, where they were generally equivalent to 12 pence o ...
s (i.e.
solidi The ''solidus'' (Latin 'solid';  ''solidi'') or nomisma ( grc-gre, νόμισμα, ''nómisma'',  'coin') was a highly pure gold coin issued in the Late Roman Empire and Byzantine Empire. Constantine introduced the coin, and its weight ...
or gold pieces), classified as a ''twyhyndeman'' "200-man" for this reason, while a nobleman commanded a fee of six times that amount (''twelfhyndeman'' "1200-man"). Among the Alemanni the basic weregild for a free man was 200 shillings, and the amount could be doubled or tripled according to the man's rank. Unfree
serf Serfdom was the status of many peasants under feudalism, specifically relating to manorialism, and similar systems. It was a condition of debt bondage and indentured servitude with similarities to and differences from slavery, which developed ...
s did not command a weregild, and the recompense paid in the event of their death was merely for material damage, 15 shillings in the case of the Alamanni, increased to 40 or 50 if the victim had been a skilled artisan. The social hierarchy is not only reflected in the weregild due in the case of the violent or accidental death of a man, but also in differences in fines for lesser crimes. Thus the fines for insults, injury, burglary or damage to property differ depending on the rank of the injured party. They do not usually depend on the rank of the guilty party, although there are some exceptions associated with royal privilege. Free women did not have a political station of their own but inherited the rank of their father if unmarried, or their husband if married. The weregild or recompense due for the killing or injuring of a woman is notably set at twice that of a man of the same rank in
Alemannic law The Lex Alamannorum and Pactus Alamannorum were two early medieval law codes of the Alamanni. They were first edited in parts in 1530 by Johannes Sichard in Basel. Pactus Alamannorum The ''Pactus Alamannorum'' or ''Pactus legis Alamannorum'' is th ...
.


Property

Caesar writes that Germanic peoples did not own private property, but that land was the property of the entire tribe, and was distributed by the tribal leaders to occupied for a specified amount of time. Such measures were intended to prevent members of the tribe from becoming settled agriculturalists, and to prevent wealth concentration, which could become a source of instability. To a large degree, many of the extant legal records from the Germanic tribes seem to revolve around property transactions. In early Germanic society, the free men of property each ruled their own estate and were subject to the king directly, without any intermediate hierarchy as in later
feudalism Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was the combination of the legal, economic, military, cultural and political customs that flourished in medieval Europe between the 9th and 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a way of structur ...
. Free men without landed property could swear fealty to a man of property who as their lord would then be responsible for their upkeep, including generous
feasts A festival is an event ordinarily celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, mela, or eid. A festival co ...
and gifts. This system of sworn retainers was central to early Germanic society, and the loyalty of the retainer to his lord generally replaced his family ties.


Warfare

Although the arrival of the Corded Ware culture in Northern Europe in the 3rd millennium BC must have been accompanied by widespread conflict, Germanic society during the Nordic Bronze Age of the 2nd millennium BC appears to have been largely peaceful. With the introduction of iron to Northern Europe however, Germanic society became heavily characterized by war. Germanic weapons were usually spears, javelins, shields and sometimes broad slashing swords, known as Spathae to the Romans. Shields were round, oval or hexagonal, often painted with tribal or clan symbols. Body armour and helmets were rare, being reserved for chiefs and their inner circle of warriors, many Germanic warriors often fought naked. Germanic warfare largely emphasized offensive infantry warfare. Armies would typically attack in a wedge formation, with chieftains leading from the front fighting side by side with their immediate family members. Germanic warriors would eventually also excel at horse-powered warfare and naval warfare. Fortifications were rarely used, and as a result, there was little use for siege equipment. Raids by small war bands led by a charismatic leader, a so-called
comitatus ''Comitatus'' was in ancient times the Latin term for an armed escort or retinue. The term is used especially in the context of Germanic warrior culture for a warband tied to a leader by an oath of fealty and describes the relations between a lor ...
, was a common occurrence. Military training was started from an early age. During the time of the
Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediterr ...
, large number of Germanic mercenaries served in the
Roman army The Roman army (Latin: ) was the armed forces deployed by the Romans throughout the duration of Ancient Rome, from the Roman Kingdom (c. 500 BC) to the Roman Republic (500–31 BC) and the Roman Empire (31 BC–395 AD), and its medieval contin ...
, some even gaining prominent positions. Early Germanic peoples believed that heroic death in battle would enable a warrior admittance to Valhalla, a majestic hall presided over by Odin, chief of the Germanic pantheon. In times of distress, a Germanic tribe would on occasion embark on a wholesale mass-migration, in which the entire able-bodied population became engaged in war. In a series of
Germanic Wars This is a chronology of warfare between the Ancient Rome, Romans and various Germanic peoples between 113 BC and 476. The nature of these wars varied through time between Roman conquest, Germanic uprisings and later Germanic invasions of the ...
, invading Germanic peoples overwhelmed the
Western Roman Empire The Western Roman Empire comprised the western provinces of the Roman Empire at any time during which they were administered by a separate independent Imperial court; in particular, this term is used in historiography to describe the period fr ...
and established themselves as the foremost military powers of Western Europe in its place.


Economy


Agriculture

Germanic agriculture emphasized cereal production and
animal husbandry Animal husbandry is the branch of agriculture concerned with animals that are raised for meat, fibre, milk, or other products. It includes day-to-day care, selective breeding, and the raising of livestock. Husbandry has a long history, starti ...
. This depended on the nature of the area. Cereals produced by Germanic agriculturalists was normally used for home consumption, rather than being sold or exported. Cattle hides was however an important export for Germanic merchants.


History

Traces of the earliest pastoralism of the Germanic peoples appear in central Europe in the form of elaborate cattle burials along the Elbe and Vistula Rivers from around 4000–3000 BCE. These archaeological remnants were left by the
Globular Amphora culture The Globular Amphora culture (GAC, (KAK); ), c. 3400–2800 BC, is an archaeological culture in Central Europe. Marija Gimbutas assumed an Indo-European origin, though this is contradicted by newer genetic studies that show a connection to the ear ...
who cleared forests for herding cattle and sometime after 3000 BCE began using wheeled carts and plows to cultivate their lands. Central to survival for their assistance in tilling the soil and supplying food, cattle became an economic resource to these early people. The
Funnelbeaker culture The Funnel(-neck-)beaker culture, in short TRB or TBK (german: Trichter(-rand-)becherkultur, nl, Trechterbekercultuur; da, Tragtbægerkultur; ) was an archaeological culture in north-central Europe. It developed as a technological merger of lo ...
and Corded Ware culture and (circa. 2900–2300 BCE) coincide one another and provide evidence of how the ancestors of the Germanic peoples lived.


Roman descriptions

Caesar writes that the Germanic tribes were not agricultural people, and that tribal leaders instituted active measures to prevent members of the tribe from becoming settled agriculturalists. Archaeological research has however discovered that this observation by Caesar is not entirely correct. Agriculture was and had been for a long time a key component in Germanic life. Caesar's observations were made from warlike tribes on the move near the Roman borders, and are thus not representative of all the Germanic peoples. That agriculture was an important part of Germanic life is attested by Caesar, when he writes that the
Usipetes The Usipetes or Usipii (in Plutarch's Greek, Ousipai, and possibly the same as the Ouispoi of Claudius Ptolemy) were an ancient tribe who moved into the area on the right bank (the northern or eastern bank) of the lower Rhine in the first century B ...
and
Tencteri The Tencteri or Tenchteri or Tenctheri (in Plutarch's Greek, Tenteritē and possibly the same as the Tenkeroi mentioned by Claudius Ptolemy if these were not the Tungri) were an ancient tribe, who moved into the area on the right bank (the norther ...
had been forced to migrate from their lands after the Suebi had sabotaged their crops. Tacitus writes that the Germanic peoples were more of a pastoral people than an agricultural people. Wealth was in a large part measured by the amount of cattle owned. He noted that Germanic cattle was of smaller size than Roman cattle.


Crop raising

The chief cereal grains produced were wheat and
barley Barley (''Hordeum vulgare''), a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains, particularly in Eurasia as early as 10,000 years ago. Globally 70% of barley pr ...
. In later times
oat The oat (''Avena sativa''), sometimes called the common oat, is a species of cereal grain grown for its seed, which is known by the same name (usually in the plural, unlike other cereals and pseudocereals). While oats are suitable for human con ...
s and
rye Rye (''Secale cereale'') is a grass grown extensively as a grain, a cover crop and a forage crop. It is a member of the wheat tribe (Triticeae) and is closely related to both wheat (''Triticum'') and barley (genus ''Hordeum''). Rye grain is u ...
were also cultivated. Garden products such as
beans A bean is the seed of several plants in the family Fabaceae, which are used as vegetables for human or animal food. They can be cooked in many different ways, including boiling, frying, and baking, and are used in many traditional dishes th ...
,
beets The beetroot is the taproot portion of a beet plant, usually known in North America as beets while the vegetable is referred to as beetroot in British English, and also known as the table beet, garden beet, red beet, dinner beet or golden beet ...
,
peas The pea is most commonly the small spherical seed or the seed-pod of the flowering plant species ''Pisum sativum''. Each pod contains several peas, which can be green or yellow. Botanically, pea pods are fruit, since they contain seeds and d ...
and
turnips The turnip or white turnip (''Brassica rapa'' subsp. ''rapa'') is a root vegetable commonly grown in temperate climates worldwide for its white, fleshy taproot. The word ''turnip'' is a compound of ''turn'' as in turned/rounded on a lathe and '' ...
were well known. Evidence from a Saxon village known as
Feddersen Wierde Feddersen is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Berend Wilhelm Feddersen (1832–1918), German physicist *Ditlevine Feddersen (1727–1803), Norwegian poet and translator *Helga Feddersen (1930–1990), German actress, comedian an ...
near
Cuxhaven Cuxhaven (; ) is an independent town and seat of the Cuxhaven district, in Lower Saxony, Germany. The town includes the northernmost point of Lower Saxony. It is situated on the shore of the North Sea at the mouth of the Elbe River. Cuxhaven has ...
, Germany (which existed between BCE 50 to CE 450) shows that the Germanic peoples cultivated
oat The oat (''Avena sativa''), sometimes called the common oat, is a species of cereal grain grown for its seed, which is known by the same name (usually in the plural, unlike other cereals and pseudocereals). While oats are suitable for human con ...
s and rye, used
manure Manure is organic matter that is used as organic fertilizer in agriculture. Most manure consists of animal feces; other sources include compost and green manure. Manures contribute to the fertility of soil by adding organic matter and nutri ...
as fertilizer, and that they practiced
crop rotation Crop rotation is the practice of growing a series of different types of crops in the same area across a sequence of growing seasons. It reduces reliance on one set of nutrients, pest and weed pressure, and the probability of developing resistant ...
.


Husbandry

Germanic agriculturalists primarily emphasized the raising of cattle, but goats,
pigs The pig (''Sus domesticus''), often called swine, hog, or domestic pig when distinguishing from other members of the genus '' Sus'', is an omnivorous, domesticated, even-toed, hoofed mammal. It is variously considered a subspecies of ''Sus s ...
, horses and sheep also played an important role. This had been the case since at least the early Bronze Age. There were plenty of chickens, ducks and
geese A goose (plural, : geese) is a bird of any of several waterfowl species in the family (biology), family Anatidae. This group comprises the genera ''Anser (bird), Anser'' (the grey geese and white geese) and ''Branta'' (the black geese). Some o ...
in Germanic farmyards. A Germanic farm was typically inhabited by a large number of dogs. Germanic farmers harvested
wool Wool is the textile fibre obtained from sheep and other mammals, especially goats, rabbits, and camelids. The term may also refer to inorganic materials, such as mineral wool and glass wool, that have properties similar to animal wool. As ...
from their sheep, and used it for clothing.
Oxen An ox ( : oxen, ), also known as a bullock (in BrE British English (BrE, en-GB, or BE) is, according to Oxford Dictionaries, "English as used in Great Britain, as distinct from that used elsewhere". More narrowly, it can refer spec ...
were used to plow the fields and for drawing wagons. This was the main means of transport. Horses were used for riding, ans also later as a draught animal. In areas along the
North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian S ...
coast, cattle raising appears to have been prevalent. This was because the high probability of flooding made agriculture risky. Similarly, in mountainous areas with good pasture but poor soil, husbandry was prevalent.


Agricultural settlements

Archaeological research has uncovered two forms of Germanic agricultural settlements. There were the farm village and the individual farm. The prevalence of either of these forms of settlements depended upon the nature of the land. The prevalence of the individual farm among Germanic peoples has sometimes been ascribed to their love of independence. Such individual farms depended upon a plentiful supply of water. Areas with poor soil or where the area was broken up by hills also encouraged the prevalence of individual farms. In the Icelandic sagas only individual farms are mentioned, and this also appears to have been the case in Norway, from where most of the
Icelanders Icelanders ( is, Íslendingar) are a North Germanic ethnic group and nation who are native to the island country of Iceland and speak Icelandic. Icelanders established the country of Iceland in mid 930 AD when the Althing (Parliament) met for ...
came. The establishment of agricultural villages was more common in areas rich soil or a poor water supply. Such settlements were typically grouped around a common water supply. Such settlements required a more sophisticated form or communal organization.


Equipment

The
plough A plough or plow ( US; both ) is a farm tool for loosening or turning the soil before sowing seed or planting. Ploughs were traditionally drawn by oxen and horses, but in modern farms are drawn by tractors. A plough may have a wooden, iron or ...
was the most important form of agricultural equipment for the early Germanic peoples, who had abandoned the hoe in Neolithic times. The Germanic words for plough are of distinct Indo-European origin. The plough was typically drawn by oxen, as shown in Bronze Age rock carvings. The wheel plough was eventually introduced to them from the south. It significantly improved the efficiency of Germanic agriculture. The Germanic tribes appear to have been the first peoples to use the
heavy plough A plough or plow ( US; both ) is a farm tool for loosening or turning the soil before sowing seed or planting. Ploughs were traditionally drawn by oxen and horses, but in modern farms are drawn by tractors. A plough may have a wooden, iron or ...
, which enabled them to farm the rough forested lowlands of Northern Europe. In this respect their technology was superior to that of the Romans. The Germanic word for harrow is of Indo-European origin, indicating that this tool was introduced at an early time. The
sickle A sickle, bagging hook, reaping-hook or grasshook is a single-handed agricultural tool designed with variously curved blades and typically used for harvesting, or reaping, grain crops or cutting succulent forage chiefly for feeding livestock, ei ...
was used for the reaping of grain, while the ancient practice of beating out grain with sticks or tramping it out remained prevalent for a long time. The fields were tilled with a light-weight wooden ard, although heavier models also existed in some areas.


Fishing

Among Germanic peoples living along the coasts, fishing was an important business.


Hunting


Trade

The presence of amber in Mycenaean graves, and the presence of Italian bronze daggers in Northern European graves, attest to trade relations between early Bronze Age Germanic peoples and the
Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ea ...
. Such trade further increased in volume through the
Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age (Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age (Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly appl ...
. The early Germanic peoples imported a large amount of gold from Ireland and ornaments from cultures along the
Danube The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...
. Large amounts of
amber Amber is fossilized tree resin that has been appreciated for its color and natural beauty since Neolithic times. Much valued from antiquity to the present as a gemstone, amber is made into a variety of decorative objects."Amber" (2004). In Ma ...
has been discovered at sites of the
Hallstatt culture The Hallstatt culture was the predominant Western Europe, Western and Central European Archaeological culture, culture of Late Bronze Age Europe, Bronze Age (Hallstatt A, Hallstatt B) from the 12th to 8th centuries BC and Early Iron Age Europe ...
, testifying to a massive export of this commodity by the Germanic peoples to their Celtic southern neighbors. From the Hallstatt culture, this amber found its way to the
Villanovan culture The Villanovan culture (c. 900–700 BC), regarded as the earliest phase of the Etruscan civilization, was the earliest Iron Age culture of Italy. It directly followed the Bronze Age Proto-Villanovan culture which branched off from the Urnfield ...
. In return, the Germanic peoples imported salt from the Hallstatt culture. The arrival of iron from the south into Germanic territories led to a partial collapse of the Nordic Bronze Age. By this time the amber trade had declined. Roman goods exported by the Romans to Germanic territories include
bead A bead is a small, decorative object that is formed in a variety of shapes and sizes of a material such as stone, bone, shell, glass, plastic, wood, or pearl and with a small hole for threading or stringing. Beads range in size from under ...
s, coins, glassware, silverware and weapons. In turn the Romans received amber, cattle, fur and slaves. By the 4th century, wine became a very important Roman export to the Germanic world. It became a luxury product widely consumed by Germanic leaders. The two most important trade routes between Rome and the Germanic world went either along the North Sea coast or along the
Vistula The Vistula (; pl, Wisła, ) is the longest river in Poland and the ninth-longest river in Europe, at in length. The drainage basin, reaching into three other nations, covers , of which is in Poland. The Vistula rises at Barania Góra in ...
towards the
Adriatic The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) ...
. Significant trade routes were also located along the
Oder The Oder ( , ; Czech, Lower Sorbian and ; ) is a river in Central Europe. It is Poland's second-longest river in total length and third-longest within its borders after the Vistula and Warta. The Oder rises in the Czech Republic and flows thr ...
and
Elbe The Elbe (; cs, Labe ; nds, Ilv or ''Elv''; Upper and dsb, Łobjo) is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Giant Mountains of the northern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia (western half of the Czech Repu ...
rivers. Trade relations between Rome and the Germanic peoples increased throughout the history of the Roman Empire. This trade also facilitated increased cultural contacts. As the Germanic peoples became more and more acquainted with Roman industrial products, their appreciation of
Roman coinage Roman currency for most of Roman history consisted of gold, silver, bronze, orichalcum and copper coinage. From its introduction to the Republic, during the third century BC, well into Imperial times, Roman currency saw many changes in form, de ...
increased. The importation of Roman coins into Germanic territories reduced the importance of amber in Germanic society. Large collections of Roman coinage have been found deep into Germanic terrotires, even in Scandinavia. Returning Germanic mercenaries in the
Roman army The Roman army (Latin: ) was the armed forces deployed by the Romans throughout the duration of Ancient Rome, from the Roman Kingdom (c. 500 BC) to the Roman Republic (500–31 BC) and the Roman Empire (31 BC–395 AD), and its medieval contin ...
brought back many Roman products to their communities. One of the reasons the Romans may have drawn borders along the Rhine, besides the sizable population of Germanic warriors on one side of it, was that the Germanic economy was not robust enough for them to extract much booty nor were they convinced they could acquire sufficient tax revenue from any additional efforts of conquest. Drawing a distinctive line between themselves and Germanic people also incentivized alliances and trade as the Germanic people sought a share of the imperial wealth.


Finance

In early Germanic society, amber was an important medium of exchange. Early Germanic peoples are recorded as being intensely opposed to taxation. For this reason, it is noted by
Salvian Salvian (or Salvianus) was a Christian writer of the 5th century in Roman Gaul. Personal life Salvian's birthplace is uncertain, but some scholars have suggested Cologne or Trier some time between 400 and 405. He was educated at the school of Trie ...
, native Romans in many cases preferred "barbarian" rule over Roman rule.
"For in the Gothic country the barbarians are so far from tolerating this sort of oppression that not even Romans who live among them have to bear it. Hence all the Romans in that region have but one desire, that they may never have to return to the Roman jurisdiction. It is the unanimous prayer of the Roman people in that district that they may be permitted to continue to lead their present life among the barbarians."
Roman coinage was coveted by the Germanic people who preferred silver to gold coins, mostly likely indications that a market economy was developing. Tacitus does mention the presence of a bartering system being observable among the Germanic people, but this was not exclusive, as he also writes of their use of "gold and silver for the purpose of commerce", adding rather sardonically in his text, that they preferred silver for buying cheap everyday goods. Such observations from Tacitus aside, fine metalwork, iron and glassware was soon being traded by the Germanic peoples along the coast of the North Sea of Denmark and the
Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
.


Slavery

Slavery was common among the early Germanic peoples. Slaves were both captured during war and purchased. Certain slaves had on the contrary lost their freedom through gambling. Such individuals were however generally expelled from the community. As the Germanic peoples were frequently engaged in war, there was a constant supply of cheap slaves, although slavery was never as an important institution as it became in ancient Rome. In the Germanic economy, slaves performed both domestic work and farm labor. Attractive female slaves would often end up as
concubine Concubinage is an interpersonal and sexual relationship between a man and a woman in which the couple does not want, or cannot enter into a full marriage. Concubinage and marriage are often regarded as similar but mutually exclusive. Concubi ...
s for leaders and wealthy landowners.
Gladiator A gladiator ( la, gladiator, "swordsman", from , "sword") was an armed combatant who entertained audiences in the Roman Republic and Roman Empire in violent confrontations with other gladiators, wild animals, and condemned criminals. Some gla ...
games between slaves, such as those carried out in ancient Rome, is not mentioned as having been common among Germanic peoples, although it is possible that such games were arranged among the Germanic peoples living on the Roman border. According to Tacitus, Germanic peoples treated slaves more mildly than contemporary peoples. Although the master had complete power of life and death over his slave, mistreatment of slaves is not recorded in early Germanic literature. In the Icelandic sagas, the children of slaves and masters are often mentioned as playing with each other. The
manumission Manumission, or enfranchisement, is the act of freeing enslaved people by their enslavers. Different approaches to manumission were developed, each specific to the time and place of a particular society. Historian Verene Shepherd states that t ...
of slaves among Germanic peoples was common, just as it was among the Romans. Owen notes that the life of a Germanic slave was "infinitely better than on the industrialized farms of Italy.".


Craftsmanship

After 1300 BCE the societies of
Jutland Jutland ( da, Jylland ; german: Jütland ; ang, Ēota land ), known anciently as the Cimbric or Cimbrian Peninsula ( la, Cimbricus Chersonesus; da, den Kimbriske Halvø, links=no or ; german: Kimbrische Halbinsel, links=no), is a peninsula of ...
and
Northern Germany Northern Germany (german: link=no, Norddeutschland) is a linguistic, geographic, socio-cultural and historic region in the northern part of Germany which includes the coastal states of Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Lower Saxony an ...
along with the Celtic people experienced a major revolution in technology during the Late Bronze Age, shaping tools, containers and weapons through the improved techniques of working bronze. Both the sword and the bow and arrow as well as other weaponry proliferate and an arms race of sorts between the tribes ensued as they tried to outpace one another. Trade was taking place to a greater degree and simple gems and amber from the Mediterranean indicate that long-distance exchange of goods was occurring. Important small-scale industries in Germanic society were
weaving Weaving is a method of textile production in which two distinct sets of yarns or threads are interlaced at right angles to form a fabric or cloth. Other methods are knitting, crocheting, felting, and braiding or plaiting. The longitudinal th ...
, the manual production of basic
pottery Pottery is the process and the products of forming vessels and other objects with clay and other ceramic materials, which are fired at high temperatures to give them a hard and durable form. Major types include earthenware, stoneware and por ...
and, more rarely, the fabrication of iron tools, especially weapons. When the Iron Age arrived, the Germanic people showed greater mastery of ironworks than their Celtic contemporaries but they did not have the extensive trade networks during this period that their southern neighbors enjoyed with the Greco-Roman world. In many cases in fact, ancient Germanic smiths and other craftsmen produced products of higher quality than the Romans. Germanic metalworkers must have held very important positions in their societies. This is attested by the respect accorded to master craftsmen in Germanic literature, such as
Wayland the Smith In Germanic mythology, Wayland the Smith ( ang, Wēland; , ; Old Frisian: Wela(n)du; german: Wieland der Schmied; goh, Wiolant; ''Galans'' (''Galant'') in Old French; gem-x-proto, Wēlandaz, italic=no from ', lit. "crafting one") is a master ...
.


Architecture


Mead hall

A significant structure in Germanic architecture was the
mead hall Among the early Germanic peoples, a mead hall or feasting hall was a large building with a single room intended to receive guests and serve as a center of community social life. From the fifth century to the Early Middle Ages such a building was t ...
. It was designed for the purpose of serving as a dining-hall, sleeping-room and assembly for the chieftain and his followers. Such hall are vividly described in the Germanic epics. In
Beowulf ''Beowulf'' (; ang, Bēowulf ) is an Old English epic poem in the tradition of Germanic heroic legend consisting of 3,182 alliterative lines. It is one of the most important and most often translated works of Old English literature. The ...
, which takes place in 6th century Scandinavia, the mead hall is described as a quadrilateral structure of wood with a raised platform on either side within. In the centre on one side of the mead-hall, there was a high-seat and a secondary high-seat, which were reserved for the chieftain and his guest of honor respectively. In front of the high-seats were long tables upon which heavy planks were raised. The chief's followers would sleep in the hall at raised platforms during the night, with their equipment hanging above on the wall ready for use. The king would normally sleep in a separate structure. A blazing
hearth A hearth () is the place in a home where a fire is or was traditionally kept for home heating and for cooking, usually constituted by at least a horizontal hearthstone and often enclosed to varying degrees by any combination of reredos (a lo ...
was placed in the centre of the hall.


Infrastucture

Archaeologists have discovered a number of well-constructed roads across moors in Germanic territories. Although the Germanic peoples were not road-builders, paths and wagon tracks were created. They later learned the art of road-building from
Roman engineers The ancient Romans were famous for their advanced engineering accomplishments. Technology for bringing running water into cities was developed in the east, but transformed by the Romans into a technology inconceivable in Greece. The architecture ...
. Germanic peoples did not build bridges. Rivers were instead crossed at fords or by boats. This is vividly described in the Nibelungenlied.


Dwellings

The dwelling houses of the Germanic tribes varied by locality and time period. Typically, they were of timber and constructed rectangularly with walls of upright posts. Intervening spaces were filled with interwoven
twig A twig is a thin, often short, branch of a tree or bush. The buds on the twig are an important diagnostic characteristic, as are the abscission scars where the leaves have fallen away. The color, texture, and patterning of the twig bark are ...
s and
branch A branch, sometimes called a ramus in botany, is a woody structural member connected to the central trunk (botany), trunk of a tree (or sometimes a shrub). Large branches are known as boughs and small branches are known as twigs. The term '' ...
es, and then smeared with
clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4). Clays develop plasticity when wet, due to a molecular film of water surrounding the clay par ...
. When dry this had the same effect as modern
stucco Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and a ...
. Roofs were thatched with grass or straw. Early Germanic houses were typically unitary, housing both humans and animals. Buildings often had upright logs or posts as walls, long crossed
rafter A rafter is one of a series of sloped structural members such as wooden beams that extend from the ridge or hip to the wall plate, downslope perimeter or eave, and that are designed to support the roof shingles, roof deck and its associated ...
s at the top and
thatched Thatching is the craft of building a roof with dry vegetation such as straw, water reed, sedge (''Cladium mariscus''), rushes, heather, or palm branches, layering the vegetation so as to shed water away from the inner roof. Since the bulk of ...
saddle roof A saddle roof is a roof form which follows a convex curve about one axis and a concave curve about the other. The hyperbolic paraboloid form has been used for roofs at various times since it is easily constructed from straight sections of lumber, ...
s, with the interior of the house being divided into three parts by two rows of posts. The entrance was typically on the side and there was an exit in the roof for the smoke from the hearth. The living quarters were generally in one part of the building, while the stalls for cattle were in the side areas. Round houses were not uncommon in Germanic architecture, but was more frequent among the Celts. This form of architecture appears to have been borrowed by Germanic peoples encroaching upon Celtic territory, such as the
Marcomanni The Marcomanni were a Germanic people * * * that established a powerful kingdom north of the Danube, somewhere near modern Bohemia, during the peak of power of the nearby Roman Empire. According to Tacitus and Strabo, they were Suebian. Origin ...
. On the
Column of Marcus Aurelius The Column of Marcus Aurelius ( la, Columna Centenaria Divorum Marci et Faustinae, it, Colonna di Marco Aurelio) is a Roman victory column in Piazza Colonna, Rome, Italy. It is a Doric column featuring a spiral relief: it was built in honour of ...
, Roman soldiers are depicted setting fire to such round houses belonging to the Marcomanni. A more simple Germanic construction were log huts with thatched roofs at an angle of ca. 45 degrees. Such structures are described by
Strabo Strabo''Strabo'' (meaning "squinty", as in strabismus) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. The father of Pompey was called "Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-sighted that he could see ...
and Pliny, who claim that those could be loaded on wagons and established at a new place. These constructions were probably utilized during times of war or migration. Germanic houses were frequently constructed on artificial mounds as a measure against flooding. This form of construction was particularly common along the North Sea coast, where floods were frequent. Houses belonging to powerful members of the community were normally quite spacious.


Settlements

Germanic settlements were typically small, rarely containing much more than ten households, often less, and were usually located by clearings in the woods. Settlements remained of a fairly constant size throughout the period. Germanic settlements were typically along the coasts and rivers.


Other buildings

The more simple structures in Germanic villages were often dug-out shelters with dung-covered roofs. These were generally used as supply-rooms, work-rooms or dwelling places for the poor.


Feddersen Wierde

The best known settlements are the wurts, or warfts in North Germany. The classic site is Feddersen Wierde, near Cuxhaven at the mouth of the River Weser. This was inhabited from the first century BC until the fifth century AD, when due to the rising sea level, they probably emigrated to England. A comprehensive archaeological excavation between 1954 and 1963 yielded valuable knowledge about prehistoric settlements in the North Germany


Music


Cuisine


Diet

Although the Germanic tribes practiced both agriculture and husbandry, the latter was extremely important both as a source of dairy products and as a basis for wealth and social status, which was measured by the size of an individual's herd. Caesar writes that the Germanic peoples mainly consumed milk, cheese and meat. The diet consisted mainly of the products of farming and husbandry and was supplied by hunting to a very modest extent. Barley and wheat were the most common agricultural products and were used for baking a certain flat type of bread as well as brewing beer. Beowulf and the Icelandic sagas describe a society with a plentiful supply of food. Many of the famous Germanic mass-migrations carried out appear to have been motivated by
famine A famine is a widespread scarcity of food, caused by several factors including war, natural disasters, crop failure, Demographic trap, population imbalance, widespread poverty, an Financial crisis, economic catastrophe or government policies. Th ...
, often induced by
crop failure Harvesting is the process of gathering a ripe crop from the fields. Reaping is the cutting of grain or pulse for harvest, typically using a scythe, sickle, or reaper. On smaller farms with minimal mechanization, harvesting is the most labor-i ...
s.


Drinks

Early Germanic peoples prepared both
ale Ale is a Type of beer, type of beer brewed using a Warm fermentation, warm fermentation method, resulting in a sweet, full-bodied and fruity taste. Historically, the term referred to a drink brewed without hops. As with most beers, ale typicall ...
,
mead Mead () is an alcoholic beverage made by fermenting honey mixed with water, and sometimes with added ingredients such as fruits, spices, grains, or hops. The alcoholic content ranges from about 3.5% ABV to more than 20%. The defining character ...
, beer and wine. The importance of drinking at social functions is vividly described in pieces of Germanic literature such as Beowulf, the Nibelungenlied and the
Poetic Edda The ''Poetic Edda'' is the modern name for an untitled collection of Old Norse anonymous narrative poems, which is distinct from the ''Prose Edda'' written by Snorri Sturluson. Several versions exist, all primarily of text from the Icelandic me ...
. Both the words beer and
ale Ale is a Type of beer, type of beer brewed using a Warm fermentation, warm fermentation method, resulting in a sweet, full-bodied and fruity taste. Historically, the term referred to a drink brewed without hops. As with most beers, ale typicall ...
are of distinct Germanic origin, having no
cognate In historical linguistics, cognates or lexical cognates are sets of words in different languages that have been inherited in direct descent from an etymology, etymological ancestor in a proto-language, common parent language. Because language c ...
s in other
Indo-European languages The Indo-European languages are a language family native to the overwhelming majority of Europe, the Iranian plateau, and the northern Indian subcontinent. Some European languages of this family, English, French, Portuguese, Russian, Dutc ...
. In early Germanic culture, beer had been sweetened by
honey Honey is a sweet and viscous substance made by several bees, the best-known of which are honey bees. Honey is made and stored to nourish bee colonies. Bees produce honey by gathering and then refining the sugary secretions of plants (primar ...
, while ale was made from grain alone. Since the honey had to be imported from the south, it is probable that ale was being drunk among the Germanic tribes earlier than beer. Tacitus notes that the Germanic drink was "a liquid made from barley or wheat fermented into a faint resemblance of whine." Evidence from Germanic literature and the Germanic vocabulary show that mead played a particularly important role in early Germanic culture. The oldest mentioning of
mead Mead () is an alcoholic beverage made by fermenting honey mixed with water, and sometimes with added ingredients such as fruits, spices, grains, or hops. The alcoholic content ranges from about 3.5% ABV to more than 20%. The defining character ...
being drunk by the Germanic tribes is from the 5th century writer
Priscus Priscus of Panium (; el, Πρίσκος; 410s AD/420s AD-after 472 AD) was a 5th-century Eastern Roman diplomat and Greek historian and rhetorician (or sophist)...: "For information about Attila, his court and the organization of life generall ...
, who writes that mead was being consumed at the court of Attila. Mead was prepared through boiling a mixture of water and honey and leaving it to
ferment Fermentation is a metabolism, metabolic process that produces chemical changes in organic Substrate (chemistry), substrates through the action of enzymes. In biochemistry, it is narrowly defined as the extraction of energy from carbohydrates in ...
. In later times wine was added to the mead. Wine seems to have been introduced to the Germanic tribes at a late date, as this drink could not be produced in Northern Europe, and had to be imported. Contrary to Caesar, Tacitus writes that several Germanic tribes were known to drink excessively. Germanic drinking bouts were often accompanied with violence. Tacitus adds in this connection that the Germanic peoples were more easily defeated through exploiting their vices than by attacking them militarily. Caesar notes that certain warlike and powerful Germanic tribes, such as the
Nervii The Nervii were one of the most powerful Belgic tribes of northern Gaul at the time of its conquest by Rome. Their territory corresponds to the central part of modern Belgium, including Brussels, and stretched southwards into French Hainault. D ...
and Suebi, practiced
teetotalism Teetotalism is the practice or promotion of total personal abstinence from the psychoactive drug alcohol, specifically in alcoholic drinks. A person who practices (and possibly advocates) teetotalism is called a teetotaler or teetotaller, or i ...
, banning the import of alcoholic beverages to their territories in order to combat degeneracy.


Family life

The most important family relationships among the early Germanic peoples were within the individual household, a fact based on the archaeological evidence from their settlements where the long-houses appeared to be central in their existence. Within the household unit, an individual was equally bound to both the mother and the father's side of the family. Fathers were the main figures of authority, but wives also played an important and respected role. Children were valued, and according to Tacitus, limiting or destroying one's offspring was considered shameful. Mothers apparently breast-fed their own children rather than using nurses. Besides parents and children, a household might include slaves, but slavery was uncommon, and according to Tacitus, slaves normally had households of their own. Their slaves (usually prisoners of war) were most often employed as domestic servants.


Extended family

A Germanic family was part of an extended family known as the
sippe ''Sippe'' is German for "clan, kindred, extended family" ( Frisian ''Sibbe'', Norse ''Sifjar''). It continues a Proto-Germanic term ''*sebjō'', which referred to a band or confederation bound by a treaty or oath, not primarily restricted to blo ...
, which was the basis for the organization of Germanic society. The sippe provided the basis for the organization of the "hundreds" in times of war, and determined the amount of weregild to be paid in disputes. A family was the core of the household, which also included slaves and others who worked on the estate. The writings of Tacitus allude to the Germanic peoples being aware of a shared
ethnicity An ethnic group or an ethnicity is a grouping of people who identify with each other on the basis of shared attributes that distinguish them from other groups. Those attributes can include common sets of traditions, ancestry, language, history, ...
, in that, they either knew or believed that they shared a common biological ancestor with one another. Just how pervasive this awareness may have been is certainly debatable, but other factors like language, clothing, ornamentation, hair styles, weapon types, religious practices and shared oral history were likely just as significant in tribal identity for the Germanic peoples. Members of a Germanic tribe told tales about the exploits of heroic founding figures who were more or less mythologized. Village life consisted of free men assembled under a chieftain, all of whom shared common cultural and political traditions. Status among the early Germanic tribes was often gauged by the size of a man's cattle herd or by one's martial prowess. Before their conversion to Christianity, the Germanic peoples of Europe were made up of several
tribe The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide usage of the term in English language, English is in the discipline of anthropology. This definition is contested, in p ...
s, each functioning as an economic and military unit and sometimes united by a common religious cult. Outsiders could be adopted into a new tribe.
Kinship In anthropology, kinship is the web of social relationships that form an important part of the lives of all humans in all societies, although its exact meanings even within this discipline are often debated. Anthropologist Robin Fox says that ...
, especially close kinship, was very important to life within a tribe but generally was not the source of a tribe's identity. In fact, several elements of ancient Germanic life tended to weaken the role of kinship: the importance of the
retinue A retinue is a body of persons "retained" in the service of a noble, royal personage, or dignitary; a ''suite'' (French "what follows") of retainers. Etymology The word, recorded in English since circa 1375, stems from Old French ''retenue'', it ...
s surrounding military
chieftain A tribal chief or chieftain is the leader of a tribe, tribal society or chiefdom. Tribe The concept of tribe is a broadly applied concept, based on tribal concepts of societies of western Afroeurasia. Tribal societies are sometimes categori ...
s, the ability of strong leaders to unite people who were not closely related, and
feud A feud , referred to in more extreme cases as a blood feud, vendetta, faida, clan war, gang war, or private war, is a long-running argument or fight, often between social groups of people, especially families or clans. Feuds begin because one part ...
s and other conflicts within a tribe that might lead to permanent divisions. A code of ethics in battle prevailed among the Germanic kin. According to Tacitus, the greatest disgrace that can befall a warrior of a clan among the Germanic tribes was the abandonment of their shield during combat, as this almost certainly resulted in social isolation. Within tribal Germanic society, their social hierarchy was linked intrinsically to war and this warrior code maintained the fidelity between chiefs and their young warriors. Feuds were the standard means for resolving conflicts and regulating behavior. Peace within the tribe was about controlling violence with codes identifying exactly how certain types of feuds were to be settled. Those closely related to a person who had been injured or killed were supposed to exact revenge on or monetary payment from the offender. This duty helped reaffirm the bonds between extended family members. Yet such feuds weakened the tribe as a whole, sometimes leading to the creation of a new tribe as one group separated from the rest. Clans of Germanic people consisted of groupings of about 50 households in total with societal rules for each specific clan. Recent scholarship suggests that, despite the obligation to take part in feuds and other customs involving kinship ties,
extended families An extended family is a family that extends beyond the nuclear family of parents and their children to include aunts, uncles, grandparents, cousins or other relatives, all living nearby or in the same household. Particular forms include the stem a ...
did not form independent units among the early Germanic peoples. Though most members of a tribe would have been more or less distantly related, common descent was not the main source of a tribe's identity, and extended families were not the main social units within a tribe. Traditional theories have emphasized the supposedly central role in Germanic culture of clans or large groups with common ancestry. But there is little evidence that such clans existed, and they were certainly not an important element of social organization. As historian Alexander C. Murray concludes, "kinship was a crucial factor in all aspects of barbarian activity, but its uses and groupings were fluid, and probably on the whole not long lasting." Internal competition within the factions of a tribe occasionally resulted in internecine warfare which weakened and sometime destroyed a group, as appears to have been the case for the Cherusci tribe during Rome's earlier period. When a certain number of families resided on the same territory, this constituted a village (''Dorf'' in German). The overall territory occupied by people from the same tribe was designated in the writings of Tacitus as a ''civitas'', with each of the individual ''civitas'' divided into ''pagi'' (or cantons), which were made up of several ''vici''. In cases where the tribes were grouped into larger confederations or a group of kingdoms, the term ''
pagus In ancient Rome, the Latin word (plural ) was an administrative term designating a rural subdivision of a tribal territory, which included individual farms, villages (), and strongholds () serving as refuges, as well as an early medieval geogra ...
'' was applied (''Gau'' in German). Extensive contact with Rome altered the egalitarian structure of tribal Germanic society. As individuals rose to prominence, a distinction between commoner and nobility developed and with it the previous constructs of folkright shared equally across the tribe was replaced in some cases by privilege. As a result, Germanic society became more
stratified Stratification may refer to: Mathematics * Stratification (mathematics), any consistent assignment of numbers to predicate symbols * Data stratification in statistics Earth sciences * Stable and unstable stratification * Stratification, or st ...
. Elites within the Germanic tribes who learned the Roman system and emulated the way they established dominion were able to gain advantages and exploit them accordingly. Important changes began taking place by the 4th century CE as Germanic peoples, while still cognizant of their unique clan identities, started forming larger confederations of a similar culture. Gathering around the dominant tribes among them and hearkening to the most charismatic leaders brought the various barbarians tribes closer together. On the surface this change appeared to the Romans as welcome since they preferred to deal with a few strong chiefs to control the populations that they feared across the Rhine and Danube, but it eventually made these Germanic rulers of confederated peoples more and more powerful. While strong, they were still not federated to one another since they possessed no sense of "pan-Germanic solidarity", but this started to change noticeably by the 5th century CE at Rome's expense.


Role of women

In early Germanic society, a woman had no formal political rights, meaning that she was not permitted to participate in popular or tribal assemblies. She could be represented through her male relatives, and thus only exert influence from behind the scenes. Despite their lack of direct political influence, Roman writers note that Germanic women had much influence in their society. Some tribes believed that women possessed magical powers and were feared accordingly. Female priestesses had a major influence on decisions made by
Cimbri The Cimbri (Greek Κίμβροι, ''Kímbroi''; Latin ''Cimbri'') were an ancient tribe in Europe. Ancient authors described them variously as a Celtic people (or Gaulish), Germanic people, or even Cimmerian. Several ancient sources indicate that ...
and
Teutones The Teutons ( la, Teutones, , grc, Τεύτονες) were an ancient northern European tribe mentioned by Roman authors. The Teutons are best known for their participation, together with the Cimbri and other groups, in the Cimbrian War with th ...
during the
Cimbrian War The Cimbrian or Cimbric War (113–101 BC) was fought between the Roman Republic and the Germanic and Celtic tribes of the Cimbri and the Teutons, Ambrones and Tigurini, who migrated from the Jutland peninsula into Roman controlled territory, ...
, and
Ariovistus Ariovistus was a leader of the Suebi and other allied Germanic peoples in the second quarter of the 1st century BC. He and his followers took part in a war in Gaul, assisting the Arverni and Sequani in defeating their rivals, the Aedui. They t ...
during his war with Caesar. Germanic epics, such as the Nibelungenlied and Beowulf, describe the strong influence which royal women exerted in their society. Goddesses revered among the Germanic tribes include
Nerthus In Germanic paganism, Nerthus is a goddess associated with a ceremonial wagon procession. Nerthus is attested by first century AD Roman historian Tacitus in his ethnographic work ''Germania''. In ''Germania'', Tacitus records that a group of Germ ...
of the Ingvaeones and
Freya In Norse paganism, Freyja (Old Norse "(the) Lady") is a goddess associated with love, beauty, fertility, sex, war, gold, and seiðr (magic for seeing and influencing the future). Freyja is the owner of the necklace Brísingamen, rides a chario ...
. Tacitus describes how, during battles, Germanic warriors were encouraged and cared for by their wives and mothers. Germanic literature contains many references to mischief caused by women. Women playing a prominent role in Germanic literature include
Gudrun Gudrun ( ; non, Guðrún) or Kriemhild ( ; gmh, Kriemhilt) is the wife of Sigurd/Siegfried and a major figure in Germanic heroic legend and literature. She is believed to have her origins in Ildico, last wife of Attila the Hun, and two que ...
,
Brunhild Brunhild, also known as Brunhilda or Brynhild ( non, Brynhildr , gmh, Brünhilt, german: Brünhild , label=Modern German or ), is a female character from Germanic heroic legend. She may have her origins in the Visigothic princess Brunhilda o ...
and the wives of
Gunther Gundaharius or Gundahar (died 437), better known by his legendary names Gunther ( gmh, Gunther) or Gunnar ( non, Gunnarr), was a historical king of Burgundy in the early 5th century. Gundahar is attested as ruling his people shortly after they ...
and
Njáll Þorgeirsson Njáll Þorgeirsson (Old Norse: ; Modern Icelandic: ) was a 10th and early-11th-century Icelandic lawyer who lived at Bergþórshvoll in Landeyjar, Iceland. He was one of the main protagonists of ''Njáls saga'', a medieval Icelandic saga which de ...
.


Sexuality

Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, and ...
notes that early Germanic peoples believed
sexual abstinence Sexual abstinence or sexual restraint is the practice of refraining from some or all aspects of Human sexual activity, sexual activity for medical, psychological, legal, social, financial, philosophical, moral, or religious reasons. Sexual abstin ...
until adulthood increased physical growth and manliness. For a young Germanic man, having had sexual relations with a woman before the age of twenty was considered a disgrace:
Life is all in hunting and military exercise. From childhood they train for labor and hardship. They have great praise among them for those who remain longest without sexual experience. Some think this makes for height, muscle, and strength. Indeed to have had knowledge of a woman before age twenty they think very shameful, and there is no hiding it..."
Caesar further noted, to his amazement, that men and women would frequently bath naked together in lakes and rivers.


Marital relations


Process of marriage

Generally, there were two forms of marriage among the Germanic peoples, one involving the participation of the parents and the other, those that did not. Known as ''Friedelehe'', the latter form consisted of marriage between a free man and a free woman, since marriage between free persons and slaves was forbidden by law. Of note, Tacitus observed that "The
dowry A dowry is a payment, such as property or money, paid by the bride's family to the groom or his family at the time of marriage. Dowry contrasts with the related concepts of bride price and dower. While bride price or bride service is a payment b ...
is not brought by the wife to the husband but by the husband to the wife" and wedding gifts related to a marriage consisted of things like oxen, saddles and various armaments. The marriage of a daughter was typically arranged by her parents, although the wishes of the daughter was generally taken into considerations. Sometimes girls would be given away for marriage as a way to preserve the peace.


Marriageable age

The
age at first marriage This is a list of countries by age at first marriage. This list is current from contemporary surveys and does not treat the topic in history. Currency of information varies by country. Because the age distribution of people at first marriage is ...
among ancient Germanic tribes, according to Tacitus, was late for women compared to Roman women:
The young men are slow to mate, and reach manhood with unimpaired vigour. Nor are the virgins hurried into marriage. Being as old and as tall as the men, they are equal to their mates in age and strength, and the children inherit the robustness of their parents.
Where
Aristotle Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of phil ...
had set the prime of life at 37 years for men and 18 for women, the
Visigothic Code The ''Visigothic Code'' ( la, Forum Iudicum, Liber Iudiciorum; es, Fuero Juzgo, ''Book of the Judgements''), also called ''Lex Visigothorum'' (English: ''Law of the Visigoths''), is a set of laws first promulgated by king Chindasuinth (642–653 ...
of law in the 7th century placed the prime of life at twenty years for both men and women, after which both presumably married. Thus it can be presumed that ancient Germanic brides were on average about twenty and were roughly the same age as their husbands. Anglo-Saxon women, like those of other Germanic tribes, are marked as women from the age of twelve onward, based on archaeological finds, implying that the age of marriage coincided with
puberty Puberty is the process of physical changes through which a child's body matures into an adult body capable of sexual reproduction. It is initiated by hormonal signals from the brain to the gonads: the ovaries in a girl, the testes in a boy. ...
.


Monogamy vs. polygamy

Based on the writings of Tacitus, most of the Germanic men were content with one wife, which indicates a general trend towards
monogamy Monogamy ( ) is a form of dyadic relationship in which an individual has only one partner during their lifetime. Alternately, only one partner at any one time (serial monogamy) — as compared to the various forms of non-monogamy (e.g., polyga ...
. Tacitus notes that the Germanic tribes were strictly monogameous, and that adultery was severely punished:
Considering the great size of the population, adultery is very rare. The penalty for it is instant and left to the husband. He cuts off her hair, strips her naked in the presence of kinsmen, and flogs her all through the village. They have no mercy on a woman who prostitutes her chastity. Neither beauty, nor youth, nor wealth can find her another husband. In fact, no one there laughs about vice, nor is seducing and being seduced called "modern"... To limit the number of their children or to kill one of the later-born is regarded as a crime.
For those higher within their social hierarchy however,
polygamy Crimes Polygamy (from Late Greek (') "state of marriage to many spouses") is the practice of marrying multiple spouses. When a man is married to more than one wife at the same time, sociologists call this polygyny. When a woman is married ...
was sometimes solicited on account of their rank.


Intermarriage

For Germanic kings, warrior chieftains, senators and
Roman nobility The patricians (from la, patricius, Greek: πατρίκιος) were originally a group of ruling class families in ancient Rome. The distinction was highly significant in the Roman Kingdom, and the early Republic, but its relevance waned after ...
, a certain degree of intermarriage was undertaken to strengthen their ties to one another and to the Empire, making marriage or ''connubium'' as the Romans connoted the bond, an instrument of politics. Earlier treaty terms in the late 4th century CE had forbidden "foreign" Goths to intermarry with Romans. Some of the marriage attempts of the 6th century CE were deliberately planned for the sake of royal succession. Imperial policy had to be carefully charted between the Roman-Germanic claimants to kingship and the maintenance of Roman imperial administration, as the federated Germanic kings attempted to put their stamp on Roman rule and replace Roman armies with their own warriors. Roman leaders were not oblivious to the clever tactics (intermarriage and offspring) employed by Germanic chieftains and adopted creative treaties to either appease them or temper their ambitions.


Marriage roles

Upon being married, a Germanic woman fell under the guardianship of her husband. She became his property. If a man was proven guilty of being violent towards his wife, her family would in some cases begin feud against her husband. Such feuds are described vividly in the Icelandic sagas. Revealing the warlike nature of their society, Tacitus reported that wives came to their husbands as a partner in toils and dangers; to suffer and to dare equally with him, in peace and in war. Upon the death of their husbands and other male relatives on the battlefield and the defeat of their tribe, Germanic women are recorded by Roman historians as having killed their children and committed suicide. Such was the fate of the women of the Cimbri and Teutons after their defeat in the Cimbrian War. For Germanic women of later antiquity, marriage obviously had its appeal since it offered greater security and better placement in their social hierarchy. Evidence of Germanic
patriarchy Patriarchy is a social system in which positions of dominance and privilege are primarily held by men. It is used, both as a technical anthropological term for families or clans controlled by the father or eldest male or group of males a ...
is evident later in the 7th century CE
Edict of Rothari The ''Edictum Rothari'' (lit. ''Edict of Rothari''; also ''Edictus Rothari'' or ''Edictum Rotharis'') was the first written compilation of Lombards, Lombard law, codified and promulgated on 22 November 643 by King Rothari in Pavia by a gairethinx, ...
of the Lombards, which stated that women were not allowed to live of their own freewill and that they had to be subject to a man and if no one else, they were to be "under the power of the king". From the Icelandic sagas, it becomes evident that married women had almost complete control of household management. In the case of renowned leaders, their wives were sometimes burned alive with their dead husbands. This tradition is vividly described in the Germanic epics, and the wives who subjected themselves to immolation are praised for their loyalty to their husbands.


Divorce

In cases of divorce described in the Icelandic sagas, the purchase price for the woman had to be paid back to her parents, and she was permitted to retain property legally owned by her.


Archaeology

See the
Jastorf culture The Jastorf culture was an Iron Age material culture in what is now northern Germany and southern Scandinavia spanning the 6th to 1st centuries BC, forming part of the Pre-Roman Iron Age and associating with Germanic peoples. The culture evo ...
for a discussion of Germanic archaeology.


Art


Appearances


Sources

The practice of cremation by Germanic tribes of the Bronze Age and Pre-Roman Iron Age has made it difficult to ascertain the clothing of Germanic peoples during the initial years of the Iron Age. By the beginning of the
Roman Iron Age The archaeology of Northern Europe studies the prehistory of Scandinavia and the adjacent North European Plain, roughly corresponding to the territories of modern Sweden, Norway, Denmark, northern Germany, Poland and the Netherlands. The region ...
however, burial practices were again changing, although little clothing is generally preserved in burials. The clothing of Germanic criminals buried in the
moors The term Moor, derived from the ancient Mauri, is an exonym first used by Christian Europeans to designate the Muslim inhabitants of the Maghreb, the Iberian Peninsula, Sicily and Malta during the Middle Ages. Moors are not a distinct or ...
has however been well preserved due to the physical conditions. The descriptions by Roman writers, and particularly the depictions of Germanic warriors on Roman columns, provide valuable evidence of the clothing used by the early Germanic peoples.


Clothing


Male clothing

By the Roman Iron Age, as in the Bronze Age, Germanic peoples were wearing long-sleeved jackets reaching down the knees, and a skin or woolen mantle held at the neck with a brooch or safety pin. Contrary to the Bronze Age however, trousers were now being used. This custom had been adopted from the Celts, who in turn had adopted this custom from
nomads A nomad is a member of a community without fixed habitation who regularly moves to and from the same areas. Such groups include hunter-gatherers, pastoral nomads (owning livestock), tinkers and trader nomads. In the twentieth century, the popu ...
of the
steppes In physical geography, a steppe () is an ecoregion characterized by grassland plains without trees apart from those near rivers and lakes. Steppe biomes may include: * the montane grasslands and shrublands biome * the temperate grasslands, ...
. The adoption of this custom has been ascribed to climatic changes and the increased role of horsemanship in Germanic culture at the time. Caesar notes that the Suebi wore only skins, but Tacitus does not agree with this in his observations a hundred years later. While customs might have changed during this time, it is probable that Caesar based his observations strictly from warriors. Evidence from Roman columns and moor bodies substantiate Tacitus. Roman monuments typically depicts Germanic warriors as being naked from the waist up, except from a mantle worn over the shoulders. This was probably to achieve increased mobility. From about the 3rd century AD,
linen Linen () is a textile made from the fibers of the flax plant. Linen is very strong, absorbent, and dries faster than cotton. Because of these properties, linen is comfortable to wear in hot weather and is valued for use in garments. It also ...
clothing appears more frequently, which is a sign of increasing wealth. Jackets from the 3rd century AD were typically worn over a linen garment. Short knee trousers were also worn. This is shown from moor burials, and from the fact that such trousers began to be used by Roman soldiers at the time, probably as an imitation of Germanic warriors.


Female clothing

The dress of Germanic women changed considerably from the Bronze Age to the Iron Age. In particular, skirts were more ample and free-flowing. The girle-ornament of the Bronze Age was no longer worn. Tacitus writes that Germanic women more frequently wore linen garments than men. They wore long dresses that were generally dyed in red or other colors. This dress had a high waist and was generally sleeveless. The dress of Germanic women indicate a high degree of practical knowledge of the use of materials. Women must have had a knowledge of dying, and colors were certainly derived from plants. Germanic women are notably depicted in one Roman illustration with trousers and the upper part of the breast partly exposed. This is however not the case from moor burials and other illustrations. It is possible that this illustration was of a female figure symbolizing Germania rather than a typical Germanic woman.


Headgear

While Germanic males of the Bronze Age generally wore a helm-like cap, the Iron Age was characterized by leaving heads uncovered, whereas the head decorations of Germanic women varied considerably with the times. Women typically wore various kinds of "combs, hairpins and head decoration" as well as ornaments around the forehead; it was also customary for women to wear their hair long and short hair was considered "a mark of disgrace."


Shoes

Early Germanic peoples typically wore shoes of the
sandal Sandals are an open type of footwear, consisting of a sole held to the wearer's foot by straps going over the instep and around the ankle. Sandals can also have a heel. While the distinction between sandals and other types of footwear can some ...
type.


Hairstyles

By the Iron Age, Germanic warriors, particularly those of the Suebi, are known for wearing their hair in a so-called Suebian knot. By the 3rd century AD, significant changes had occurred with regards to the Germanic hairstyle. The custom of wearing the hair long had become prominent among such peoples as the Franks, among whom it became a sign of noble birth and eligibility for kingship. Germanic warriors are often depicted in Roman columns with full
beard A beard is the hair that grows on the jaw, chin, upper lip, lower lip, cheeks, and neck of humans and some non-human animals. In humans, usually pubescent or adult males are able to grow beards. Throughout the course of history, societal at ...
s, but this practice probably varied from tribe to tribe and period to period. Germanic women typically wore their hair long or plaited. Germanic women wore various types of hairpins and combs. It was considered disgraceful to wear the hair short.


Ornaments

The Germanic peoples of the Bronze Age are well known for their
ornaments An ornament is something used for decoration. Ornament may also refer to: Decoration *Ornament (art), any purely decorative element in architecture and the decorative arts *Biological ornament, a characteristic of animals that appear to serve on ...
. The same techniques were handed down to the craftsmen of the Iron Age. The display of ornaments played an important part in early Germanic culture. Products were made of both
bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals, such as phosphorus, or metalloids such ...
, gold and silver. Early Germanic literature reserves a prominent place for ornaments such as the
Brísingamen In Norse mythology, ''Brísingamen'' (or ''Brísinga men'') is the torc or necklace of the goddess Freyja. The name is an Old Norse compound ''brísinga-men'' whose second element is ''men'' "(ornamental) neck-ring (of precious metal), torc". The ...
of the goddess Freya, the
Nibelung The term Nibelung (German) or Niflungr (Old Norse) is a personal or clan name with several competing and contradictory uses in Germanic heroic legend. It has an unclear etymology, but is often connected to the root ''nebel'', meaning mist. The te ...
hoard and the heirlooms of Beowulf.


Recreational activities


Gambling

Roman writers note that Germanic peoples were extremely fond of gambling. Francis Owen note that these Roman observations were made from Germanic warriors, who were not necessarily representative of their communities as a whole.


Germanic studies

The
Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...
revived interest in pre-Christian
Classical Antiquity Classical antiquity (also the classical era, classical period or classical age) is the period of cultural history between the 8th century BC and the 5th century AD centred on the Mediterranean Sea, comprising the interlocking civilizations of ...
and only in a second phase in pre-Christian Northern Europe. The Germanic peoples of the Roman era were often lumped with the other agents of the "
barbarian A barbarian (or savage) is someone who is perceived to be either Civilization, uncivilized or primitive. The designation is usually applied as a generalization based on a popular stereotype; barbarians can be members of any nation judged by som ...
" invasions, the
Alans The Alans (Latin: ''Alani'') were an ancient and medieval Iranian nomadic pastoral people of the North Caucasus – generally regarded as part of the Sarmatians, and possibly related to the Massagetae. Modern historians have connected the Al ...
and the
Huns The Huns were a nomadic people who lived in Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Eastern Europe between the 4th and 6th century AD. According to European tradition, they were first reported living east of the Volga River, in an area that was part ...
, as opposed to the civilized "Roman" identity of the
Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a Polity, political entity in Western Europe, Western, Central Europe, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its Dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, dissolution i ...
. Early modern publications dealing with
Old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and t ...
culture appeared in the 16th century, e.g. ''Historia de gentibus septentrionalibus'' (
Olaus Magnus Olaus Magnus (October 1490 – 1 August 1557) was a Swedish writer, cartographer, and Catholic ecclesiastic. Biography Olaus Magnus (a Latin translation of his birth name Olof Månsson) was born in Linköping in October 1490. Like his elder ...
, 1555) and the first edition of the 13th century ''
Gesta Danorum ''Gesta Danorum'' ("Deeds of the Danes") is a patriotic work of Danish history, by the 12th-century author Saxo Grammaticus ("Saxo the Literate", literally "the Grammarian"). It is the most ambitious literary undertaking of medieval Denmark an ...
'' (Saxo Grammaticus), in 1514. Authors of the
German Renaissance The German Renaissance, part of the Northern Renaissance, was a cultural and artistic movement that spread among Germany, German thinkers in the 15th and 16th centuries, which developed from the Italian Renaissance. Many areas of the arts and ...
such as
Johannes Aventinus Johann Georg Turmair (or Thurmayr) (4 July 1477 – 9 January 1534), known by the pen name Johannes Aventinus (Latin for "John of Abensberg") or Aventin, was a Bavarian Renaissance humanist historian and philologist. He authored the 152 ...
discovered the ''Germani'' of Tacitus as the "Old Germans", whose virtue and unspoiled manhood, as it appears in the Roman accounts of
noble savage A noble savage is a literary stock character who embodies the concept of the indigene, outsider, wild human, an "other" who has not been "corrupted" by civilization, and therefore symbolizes humanity's innate goodness. Besides appearing in man ...
ry, they contrast with the decadence of their own day. The pace of publication increased during the 17th century with Latin translations of the Edda (notably Peder Resen's ''Edda Islandorum'' of 1665). The
Viking revival The Viking revival was a movement reflecting new interest in, and appreciation for Viking medieval history and culture. Interest was reawakened in the late 18th and 19th centuries, often with added heroic overtones typical of that Romantic era. T ...
of 18th century
Romanticism Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic, literary, musical, and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century, and in most areas was at its peak in the approximate ...
created a fascination with anything "Nordic" in disposition. The beginning of
Germanic philology Germanic philology is the philological study of the Germanic languages, particularly from a comparative or historical perspective. The beginnings of research into the Germanic languages began in the 16th century, with the discovery of literary tex ...
proper begins in the early 19th century, with
Rasmus Rask Rasmus Kristian Rask (; born Rasmus Christian Nielsen Rasch; 22 November 1787 – 14 November 1832) was a Danish linguist and philologist. He wrote several grammars and worked on comparative phonology and morphology. Rask traveled extensively to ...
's ''Icelandic Lexicon '' of 1814, and was in full bloom by the 1830s, with
Jacob Grimm Jacob Ludwig Karl Grimm (4 January 1785 – 20 September 1863), also known as Ludwig Karl, was a German author, linguist, philologist, jurist, and folklorist. He is known as the discoverer of Grimm's law of linguistics, the co-author of th ...
's ''
Deutsche Mythologie ''Deutsche Mythologie'' (, ''Teutonic Mythology'') is a treatise on Germanic mythology by Jacob Grimm. First published in Germany in 1835, the work is an exhaustive treatment of the subject, tracing the mythology and beliefs of the ancient German ...
'' giving an extensive account of reconstructed
Germanic mythology Germanic mythology consists of the body of myths native to the Germanic peoples, including Norse mythology, Anglo-Saxon mythology, and Continental Germanic mythology. It was a key element of Germanic paganism. Origins As the Germanic language ...
and composing a German dictionary (''
Deutsches Wörterbuch The ''Deutsches Wörterbuch'' (; "The German Dictionary"), abbreviated ''DWB'', is the largest and most comprehensive dictionary of the German language in existence.Germanic etymology. Jacob Grimm also coauthored with his brother
Wilhelm Wilhelm may refer to: People and fictional characters * William Charles John Pitcher, costume designer known professionally as "Wilhelm" * Wilhelm (name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or surname Other uses * Mount ...
, the famous
Grimm's Fairy Tales ''Grimms' Fairy Tales'', originally known as the ''Children's and Household Tales'' (german: Kinder- und Hausmärchen, lead=yes, ), is a German collection of fairy tales by the Grimm brothers or "Brothers Grimm", Jacob and Wilhelm, first publis ...
. Apart from linguistic studies, the subject of what became of the Roman era Germanic tribes, and how they influenced the
Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...
and the development of modern
Western culture Leonardo da Vinci's ''Vitruvian Man''. Based on the correlations of ideal Body proportions">human proportions with geometry described by the ancient Roman architect Vitruvius in Book III of his treatise ''De architectura''. image:Plato Pio-Cle ...
was a subject discussed during
the Enlightenment The Age of Enlightenment or the Enlightenment; german: Aufklärung, "Enlightenment"; it, L'Illuminismo, "Enlightenment"; pl, Oświecenie, "Enlightenment"; pt, Iluminismo, "Enlightenment"; es, La Ilustración, "Enlightenment" was an intel ...
by such as writers as
Montesquieu Charles Louis de Secondat, Baron de La Brède et de Montesquieu (; ; 18 January 168910 February 1755), generally referred to as simply Montesquieu, was a French judge, man of letters, historian, and political philosopher. He is the principa ...
and
Giambattista Vico Giambattista Vico (born Giovan Battista Vico ; ; 23 June 1668 – 23 January 1744) was an Italian philosopher, rhetorician, historian, and jurist during the Italian Enlightenment. He criticized the expansion and development of modern rationali ...
. The development of Germanic studies as an academic discipline in the 19th century ran parallel to the rise of
nationalism Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a in-group and out-group, group of peo ...
in Europe and the search for
national histories National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...
for the nascent
nation state A nation state is a political unit where the state and nation are congruent. It is a more precise concept than "country", since a country does not need to have a predominant ethnic group. A nation, in the sense of a common ethnicity, may inc ...
s developing after the
end End, END, Ending, or variation, may refer to: End *In mathematics: ** End (category theory) ** End (topology) **End (graph theory) ** End (group theory) (a subcase of the previous) **End (endomorphism) *In sports and games **End (gridiron footbal ...
of the
Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...
. A Germanic national ethnicity offered itself for the
unification of Germany The unification of Germany (, ) was the process of building the modern German nation state with federalism, federal features based on the concept of Lesser Germany (one without multinational Austria), which commenced on 18 August 1866 with ad ...
, contrasting the emerging
German Empire The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...
with its neighboring rivals of differing ancestry. The emergence of a German ethnic identity was subsequently founded upon
national myth A national myth is an inspiring narrative or anecdote about a nation's past. Such myths often serve as important national symbols and affirm a set of national values. A national myth may sometimes take the form of a national epic or be incorporate ...
s of Germanic antiquity. These tendencies culminated in a later
Pan-Germanism Pan-Germanism (german: Pangermanismus or '), also occasionally known as Pan-Germanicism, is a pan-nationalist political idea. Pan-Germanists originally sought to unify all the German-speaking people – and possibly also Germanic-speaking ...
, ' which had as its aim, the political unity of all of
German-speaking Europe This article details the geographical distribution of speakers of the German language, regardless of the legislative status within the countries where it is spoken. In addition to the German-speaking area (german: Deutscher Sprachraum) in Europe, ...
(all ''
Volksdeutsche In Nazi German terminology, ''Volksdeutsche'' () were "people whose language and culture had German origins but who did not hold German citizenship". The term is the nominalised plural of '' volksdeutsch'', with ''Volksdeutsche'' denoting a sin ...
'') into a Germanic nation state. Contemporary
Romantic nationalism Romantic nationalism (also national romanticism, organic nationalism, identity nationalism) is the form of nationalism in which the state claims its political legitimacy as an organic consequence of the unity of those it governs. This includes ...
in Scandinavia placed more weight on the
Viking Age The Viking Age () was the period during the Middle Ages when Norsemen known as Vikings undertook large-scale raiding, colonizing, conquest, and trading throughout Europe and reached North America. It followed the Migration Period and the Ger ...
, resulting in the movement known as
Scandinavism Scandinavism ( da, skandinavisme; no, skandinavisme; sv, skandinavism), also called Scandinavianism or pan-Scandinavianism,World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
there was a backlash against nationalism, and as a response, government support for the study of ancient Germanic history and culture was significantly reduced both in Germany and Scandinavia. In these years, what remained of Germanic studies was characterized by a reaction against nationalism. Archaeological attempts to assign an identity to early Germanic peoples was deliberately avoided. The uniqueness, common northern origins and antiquity of the early Germanic peoples were called into question. The movement gained particular momentum during the 1960s. It has been strongly associated with the so-called ''Vienna School'', which is associated with the
European Science Foundation The European Science Foundation (ESF) is an association of 11 member organizations devoted to scientific research in 8 European countries. ESF is an independent, non-governmental, non-profit organisation that promotes the highest quality science ...
and includes prominent members such as
Reinhard Wenskus Reinhard Wenskus (10 March 1916 – 5 July 2002) was a German historian who was Professor of Medieval History at the University of Göttingen. His theories on the identity of Germanic peoples have had a major influence on contemporary research by ...
,
Walter Pohl Walter Pohl (born 27 December 1953, in Vienna) is an Austrian historian who is Professor of Auxiliary Sciences of History and Medieval History at the University of Vienna. He is a leading member of the Vienna School of History. Biography Walter ...
,
Herwig Wolfram Herwig Wolfram (born 14 February 1934) is an Austrian historian who is Professor Emeritus of Medieval History and Auxiliary Sciences of History at the University of Vienna and the former Director of the . He is a leading member of the Vienna Scho ...
. These scholars employed
sociological Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of empirical investigation and ...
theories to reject the concept of
ethnicity An ethnic group or an ethnicity is a grouping of people who identify with each other on the basis of shared attributes that distinguish them from other groups. Those attributes can include common sets of traditions, ancestry, language, history, ...
entirely. While Wenskus earlier maintained that the early Germanic peoples held a certain core-tradition (), Pohl has later maintained that early Germanic peoples had no institutions or values of their own, and made no contribution to medieval Europe whatsoever. These views are seconded by Wolfram, who states that
Germans , native_name_lang = de , region1 = , pop1 = 72,650,269 , region2 = , pop2 = 534,000 , region3 = , pop3 = 157,000 3,322,405 , region4 = , pop4 = ...
and
Scandinavians Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Swede ...
"have as much a Germanic history" as "
Slavic nations Slavs are the largest European ethnolinguistic group. They speak the various Slavic languages, belonging to the larger Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European languages. Slavs are geographically distributed throughout northern Eurasia, main ...
,
Greeks The Greeks or Hellenes (; el, Έλληνες, ''Éllines'' ) are an ethnic group and nation indigenous to the Eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea regions, namely Greece, Cyprus, Albania, Italy, Turkey, Egypt, and, to a lesser extent, oth ...
,
Turks Turk or Turks may refer to: Communities and ethnic groups * Turkic peoples, a collection of ethnic groups who speak Turkic languages * Turkish people, or the Turks, a Turkic ethnic group and nation * Turkish citizen, a citizen of the Republic o ...
and even the
Tunisians Tunisians ( ar, تونسيون ''Tūnisiyyūn'', aeb, توانسة ''Twensa'') are the citizens and nationals of Tunisia in North Africa, who speak Tunisian Arabic and share a common Tunisian culture and identity. In addition, a Tunisian diaspo ...
and Maltese."
Wolf Liebeschuetz John Hugo Wolfgang Gideon Liebeschuetz (22 June 1927 - 11 July 2022) was a German-born British historian who specialized in late antiquity. Early life John Hugo Wolfgang Gideon Liebeschuetz was born in Hamburg on 22 June 1927, the son of histo ...
has characterized the theories of the Vienna School as "extraordinarily one-sided" and "dogmatism", and its proponents as having "a closed mind". More recently, an even more radical group has emerged, which also employs sociological theories to deconstruct Germanic peoples, while accusing the Vienna School of being "
crypto Crypto commonly refers to: * Cryptocurrency, a type of digital currency secured by cryptography and decentralization * Cryptography, the practice and study of hiding information Crypto or Krypto may also refer to: Cryptography * Cryptanalysis, ...
-
nationalists Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: The ...
".
Andrew Gillett Andrew Gillett is an Australian historian who is associate professor of history at the Department of Ancient History at Macquarie University. A protégé of Walter Goffart of the Toronto School of History, Gillett researches and teaches the field ...
has emerged as a leading figure among these scholars. According to them, linguistic evidence and Roman and early Germanic literature is unreliable, while archaeology "cannot be used to distinguish between peoples, and should not be used to trace migration". They state that Germanic culture was entirely derived from the Romans, and that there was therefore no Germanic contribution to medieval Europe." Gillett's theories have been dismissed by Liebeschuetz as "flawed because they depend on a dogmatic and selective use of the evidence" and "very strongly ideological". In modern times,
Malcolm Todd Malcolm Todd (27 November 19396 June 2013) was an English archaeologist. Born in Durham, England, the son of a miner, Todd was educated in classics and classical archaeology at St David's College, Lampeter and Brasenose College, Oxford. He s ...
writes, the ideologically motivated theories of the post-war era have lost currency. The origins of the Germanic peoples are again traced to the first millennium BC, or even the
Late Neolithic In the archaeology of Southwest Asia, the Late Neolithic, also known as the Ceramic Neolithic or Pottery Neolithic, is the final part of the Neolithic period, following on from the Pre-Pottery Neolithic and preceding the Chalcolithic. It is some ...
, in Northern Europe.


See also

*
Early Slavs The early Slavs were a diverse group of tribal societies who lived during the Migration Period and the Early Middle Ages (approximately the 5th to the 10th centuries AD) in Central and Eastern Europe and established the foundations for the S ...
*
Ancient Greece Ancient Greece ( el, Ἑλλάς, Hellás) was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity ( AD 600), that comprised a loose collection of cult ...
*
Ancient Rome In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–509 B ...
*
Scythians The Scythians or Scyths, and sometimes also referred to as the Classical Scythians and the Pontic Scythians, were an Ancient Iranian peoples, ancient Eastern Iranian languages, Eastern * : "In modern scholarship the name 'Sakas' is reserved f ...
*
Sarmatians The Sarmatians (; grc, Σαρμαται, Sarmatai; Latin: ) were a large confederation of Ancient Iranian peoples, ancient Eastern Iranian languages, Eastern Iranian peoples, Iranian Eurasian nomads, equestrian nomadic peoples of classical ant ...


Notes


References


Citations


Bibliography

* * * * Braunmüller, Kurt. "Was ist Germanisch heute?" ''Sprachwissenschaft'' 25 (2000): 271– 295. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Levison, Wilhelm. ''Vitae Sancti Bonifatii archiepiscopi moguntini''. Hannover: Hahn Verlag, 1905. * * * * * * * * Moltke, Erik. ''Runes and Their Origin: Denmark and Elsewhere''. Copenhagen: Nationalmuseets Forlag, 1985. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Ringe, Don. ''A Linguistic History of English: From Proto-Indo-European to Proto-Germanic''. New York: Oxford University Press, 2006. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *


Further reading

* * * * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Early Germanic culture Germanic
Early Early may refer to: History * The beginning or oldest part of a defined historical period, as opposed to middle or late periods, e.g.: ** Early Christianity ** Early modern Europe Places in the United States * Early, Iowa * Early, Texas * Early ...
Germanic