Germanic culture

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Germanic culture is a term referring to the culture of Germanic peoples, and can be used to refer to a range of time periods and nationalities, but is most commonly used in either a historical or contemporary context to denote groups that derive from the Proto-Germanic language, which is generally thought to have emerged as a distinct language after 500 BC. Germanic culture had many notable influences from the Roman Empire, [1] who gave the tribe its Latin name, Germani. [2] Over time the various different local and regional dialects of the language have diverged and each has adopted several distinct geographical and national properties, with an estimated 37 Germanic languages [3] and around 500 million speakers worldwide. [4]

Contents

Origins

There is much debate over the exact period that Germanic culture became a distinct cultural group within Europe. With the first recorded annotations written by Tacitus, the Roman historian [5] most agree that the culture’s roots were present from about 1–400 AD onward. [6] The ancestors of the medieval Germanic peoples are believed to be genealogical descendants of the Jastorf Culture. For this reason, Germanic mythology and that of the Norse pantheon having a striking resemblance resulting in several identical myths and legends. [7]

Language

The first emergence of a linguistically distinct Germanic language is thought to be around 500 B.C., however since the only written records of the time are from Tacitus, it is difficult to establish a clear progression of the language’s trajectory. While there is no written evidence to suggest that most tribes were able to converse with each other, it is likely that they were multilingual as almost every one of the dialects has its roots within the mother (PIE) language. Until around the 5th century AD, most dialects were diverse enough in their structure, syntax and content that any attempts at reconciling the two could not be done. By then, Germanic languages had picked up extensive amounts of Latin from their exposure to the Roman empire. [8] This signalled the transition to the varied modern Germanic languages prevalent today, with features such as its differing characters (i.e. umlaut), its declarative sentence structure (subject, verb, other) and its emphasis on "strong" and "weak" verbs, that make it functionally different from many other languages that are comparable around Europe. [9]

Religion and folklore

The Germanic tribes were polytheistic. However, each tribe or group would belong to a different sect, one formed through interaction with other societies and religions. [10] One of the largest influences upon Germanic religion has been its encounters with other cultural groups such as the Celts and Romans, who inhabited western and southern Europe, respectively. There is archaeological evidence to suggest that these religions / customs traded iconography and myth freely amongst themselves. [11] The afterlife within their religion was similar to the Norse, as an emphasis on dying a glorious death in battle was seen as a sacrifice given to the gods to please them. For example, deities worshipped by Germanic cultures (such as Wotan, or Donar) share the same etymological root and function as the gods of the Norse.

Germanic religion also had many crossovers with that of the Romans. Notably their shared ritual practices, particularly the culture’s fascination with nature and their position within the world: primarily with a patriarchal worldview concerning men’s position within the religion: having men as the executors of rituals, akin to a family priest or shaman. While spiritual duties were traditionally carried out by men, there are historical examples of Germanic priestesses in Roman writings, women who would take the role of a religious leader and would usually be involved in the performance of executions. Their folklore has always been one that has directly reflected their physical environments: gnomes, who lived underground: woodland elves who inhabited the forests, and basilisks, living in the seas. [12] Elements of these traditions have endured into the modern day, and are still told as contemporary fairy tales. [13] The transition to Christianity began in the early middle ages. The most popular religion in modern Germanic culture is Christianity, most notably the Protestant Church in Germany and Catholicism. [14] [15]

List of historical cultures

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Germanic languages</span> Branch of the Indo-European language family

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, English, is also the world's most widely spoken language with an estimated 2 billion speakers. All Germanic languages are derived from Proto-Germanic, spoken in Iron Age Scandinavia, Iron Age Northern Germany and along the North Sea and Baltic coasts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Germanic peoples</span> Historical group of European people

The Germanic peoples were tribal groups who lived in Northern Europe in Classical Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages. In modern scholarship, they typically include not only the Roman-era Germani who lived in both Germania and parts of the Roman empire, but also all Germanic speaking peoples from this era, irrespective of where they lived, most notably the Goths. Another term, ancient Germans, is considered problematic by many scholars since it suggests identity with present-day Germans. Although the first Roman descriptions of Germani involved tribes west of the Rhine, their homeland of Germania was portrayed as stretching east of the Rhine, to southern Scandinavia and the Vistula in the east, and to the upper Danube in the south. Other Germanic speakers, such as the Bastarnae and Goths, lived further east in what is now Moldova and Ukraine. The term Germani is generally only used to refer to historical peoples from the 1st to 4th centuries CE.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Suebi</span> Historical ethnic grouping of Germanic tribes

The Suebi 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 such as the Marcomanni, Quadi, Hermunduri, Semnones, and Lombards. New groupings formed later, such as the Alamanni and Bavarians, and two kingdoms in the Migration Period were simply referred to as Suebian.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Irminones</span> A division of the Germanic peoples of mainland Europe

The Irminones, also referred to as Herminones or Hermiones, 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 included the large sub-group of the Suevi, that itself contained many different tribal groups, but the Irminones also included for example the Chatti.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rugii</span> Ancient Germanic people

The Rugii, Rogi or Rugians, were one of the smaller Germanic peoples of Late Antiquity who are best known for their short-lived 5th-century kingdom upon the Roman frontier, near present-day Krems an der Donau in Austria. This kingdom, like those of the neighbouring Heruli and Scirii, first appears in records after the death of Attila in 453. The Rugii, Heruli, Scirii and others are believed to have moved into this region from distant homelands under pressure from the Huns, and become part of Attila's Hunnic empire which also moved and came to be based in this region. The Rugii were subsequently part of the alliance which defeated Attila's sons and the Ostrogoths at the Battle of Nedao in 454, giving their kingdom independence. In 469 they were part of a similar alliance who lost to the Ostrogoths at the Battle of Bolia, weakening their kingdom significantly.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Migration Period</span> Period from the fourth to the sixth centuries

The Migration Period, also known as the Barbarian Invasions, 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 kingdoms.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Swedes (tribe)</span> North Germanic tribe

The Swedes were a North Germanic tribe who inhabited Svealand in central Sweden and one of the progenitor groups of modern Swedes, along with Geats and Gutes. They had their tribal centre in Gamla Uppsala.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Proto-Germanic language</span> Ancestor of the Germanic languages

Proto-Germanic is the reconstructed proto-language of the Germanic branch of the Indo-European languages.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Germania</span> Historical region in north-central Europe

Germania, also more specifically called Magna Germania, Germania Libera, or Germanic Barbaricum to distinguish it from the Roman provinces of Germania Inferior and Germania Superior, was a historical region in north-central Europe during the Roman era, which was associated by Roman authors with the Germanic peoples. According to Roman geographers, this region stretched roughly from the Rhine in the west to the Vistula in the east, and to the Upper Danube in the south, and the known parts of southern Scandinavia in the north. Archaeologically, these people correspond roughly to the Roman Iron Age of those regions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Germanic mythology</span>

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Istvaeones</span> Historical ethnic group

The 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 Ingaevones on the North Sea coast, and the Herminones, living inland of these groups.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nerthus</span> Deity in Germanic paganism

In Germanic paganism, Nerthus is a goddess associated with a ceremonial wagon procession. Nerthus is attested by first century A.D. Roman historian Tacitus in his ethnographic work Germania as a "Mother Earth".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Old Norse religion</span> Historical religious tradition

Old Norse religion, also known as Norse paganism, is 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 peoples. It was replaced by Christianity and forgotten during the Christianisation of Scandinavia. Scholars reconstruct aspects of North Germanic Religion by historical linguistics, archaeology, toponymy, and records left by North Germanic peoples, such as runic inscriptions in the Younger Futhark, a distinctly North Germanic extension of the runic alphabet. Numerous Old Norse works dated to the 13th-century record Norse mythology, a component of North Germanic religion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rune</span> Ancient Germanic letter

A rune is a letter in a set of related alphabets known as runic alphabets native to the Germanic peoples. Runes were used to write Germanic languages before they adopted the Latin alphabet, and for specialised purposes thereafter. In addition to representing a sound value, runes can be used to represent the concepts after which they are named (ideographs). Scholars refer to instances of the latter as Begriffsrunen. The Scandinavian variants are also known as fuþark, or futhark; this name is derived from the first six letters of the script, ⟨ᚠ⟩, ⟨ᚢ⟩, ⟨ᚦ⟩, ⟨ᚨ⟩/⟨ᚬi>futhorc, or fuþorc, due to changes in Old English of the sounds represented by the fourth letter, ⟨ᚨ⟩/⟨ᚩ⟩.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Germanic paganism</span> Traditional religion of Germanic peoples

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 Germany, the Netherlands, and at times other parts of Europe, the beliefs and practices of Germanic paganism varied. Scholars typically assume some degree of continuity between Roman-era beliefs and those found in Norse paganism, as well as between Germanic religion and reconstructed Indo-European religion and post-conversion folklore, though the precise degree and details of this continuity are subjects of debate. Germanic religion was influenced by neighboring cultures, including that of the Celts, the Romans, and, later, by the Christian religion. Very few sources exist that were written by pagan adherents themselves; instead, most were written by outsiders and can thus present problems for reconstructing authentic Germanic beliefs and practices.

The Alcis or Alci were a pair of divine young brothers worshipped by the Naharvali, an ancient Germanic tribe from Central Europe. The Alcis are solely attested by Roman historian and senator Tacitus in his ethnography Germania, written around 98 AD.

The Germani cisrhenani, or "Left bank Germani", were a group of Germanic peoples who lived west of the Lower Rhine at the time of the Gallic Wars in the mid-1st century BC.

North Germanic peoples, Nordic peoples and in a medieval context Norsemen, were a Germanic linguistic group originating from the Scandinavian Peninsula. They are identified by their cultural similarities, common ancestry and common use of the Proto-Norse language from around 200 AD, a language that around 800 AD became the Old Norse language, which in turn later became the North Germanic languages of today.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elbe Germanic peoples</span> Modern proposed category of peoples speaking dialects ancestral to High German

The Elbe Germans or Elbe Germanic peoples were Germanic tribes whose settlement area, based on archaeological finds, lay either side of the Elbe estuary on both sides of the river and which extended as far as Bohemia and Moravia, clearly the result of a migration up the Elbe river from the northwest in advance of the main Migration Period until the individual groups ran into the Roman Danube Limes around 200 AD.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Early Germanic culture</span> Early culture of the Germanic peoples

Early Germanic culture was the culture of the early Germanic peoples. The Germanic culture started to exist in the Jastorf culture. It came under significant external influence during the Migration Period, particularly from ancient Rome.

References

  1. ↑ Brogan, O., 1936. Trade between the Roman Empire and the free Germans. The Journal of Roman Studies, 26(2), pp. 195–222.
  2. ↑ Gummere, F.B., 1892. Germanic origins. Рипол Классик. pp. 22–23 (can access this on Google Books)
  3. ↑ Harbert, W., 2006. The Germanic Languages. Cambridge University Press. pp. 1–20
  4. ↑ König, Ekkehard; van der Auwera, Johan, 1994. The Germanic Languages. London: Routledge
  5. ↑ Beare, W., 1964. Tacitus on the Germans. Greece & Rome, 11(1), pp. 64–76.
  6. ↑ Hedeager, L., 1988. The evolution of Germanic society 1-400 AD. RAF Jones et al, 85.
  7. ↑ Owen, Francis (1960). The Germanic People. New York: Bookman Associates
  8. ↑ Wolfram, H., 1997. The Roman empire and its germanic peoples. Univ of California Press.
  9. ↑ Meillet, A. and Dismukes, W.P., 1970. General characteristics of the Germanic languages. Coral Gables, FL: University of Miami Press.
  10. ↑ Jones, P. and Pennick, N., 2013. A history of pagan Europe. Routledge.pp. 2–3
  11. ↑ Ewing, Thor (2010). Gods and Worshippers in the Viking and Germanic World. pp.1–18
  12. ↑ Lecouteux, C., 2016. Encyclopedia of Norse and Germanic folklore, mythology, and magic. Simon and Schuster.
  13. ↑ MacGregor, Neil (28 September 2014). "The country with one people and 1,200 sausages". BBC.
  14. ↑ "Official membership statistics of the Roman Catholic Church in Germany 2016" (PDF). Sekretariat der Deutschen Bischofskonferenz. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 October 2017. Retrieved 20 June 2017.
  15. ↑ "Official membership statistics of the Evangelical Church in Germany 2016" (PDF). Evangelischen Kirche in Deutschland. Archived (PDF) from the original on 10 October 2017. Retrieved 5 June 2017.

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