Belgrad on the Bodensee

PublishedJuly 5, 2023 Post authortorino

We previously mentioned Belgrad on the coast of the Bodensee (Lacus Veneticus aka Lacus Moesius or Mursianus?). Here is a 19th century map showing the same. Now, the Serbian Belgrad came under the Habsburgs in the 18th century so could this be related? It seems the earliest mention of the town is from 1794.

As one of the commenters below notes, Belgrad (White Town) on the above map is next to Schönengardt (Pretty Town) which has a, strikingly corresponding – though not exactly the same – meaning.

Perhaps even more interesting is the fact that Belgrad could be read to have the same meaning as another “White Town”, that is, Vindobona. Vindobona was, of course, supposedly the Celtic town whose name in Suavic would be Belgrad/Białogród and which refers to Vienna (Czech Wídeń, supposedly itself from Vindobona). Of course, the area in question is not exactly close to Vienna but it was the site of the Roman war with Vindelici.

Of course, Belgrad is not the only Suavic sounding name in the area. We have:

Grod
Kremle, originally, Cremln
Bettnau, originally, Betnów
Hattnau, originally Hattenów
the regional center Lindau was first registered as Lintowa
Schreckenmanklitz, Ruppenmanklitz, earlier Manklitz or Mantlis
Reutenen, earlier Rútinen (compare Ruciane)
Reutin, but earlier Rúti but too Rúty
likewise Oberreutin, earlier Obrarútinen as well as Obrorúty and Unterreute, earlier Niderruti or Niderreuttin
Köchlin, earlier Kechli but elsewhere by Beuron you have a similar Koechlin in a land register
Scheffau, earlier Scheffów
Schmallenberger, earlier Smalinberg
Schönau, earlier Schönnowe
Edelitz, earlier Medelitz
Itzlings, earlier Izilinz, Yczlins, Nytzlis but also Mitzlitz, Mytzlis
Menzen, earlier Menzin
Scharfentöbele, earlier Töbelin
Schache, earlier Birscachin
Rehlings, earlier Röwlin
Schweinebach, earlier Swinobach, Swinibach

Of course, most or even all of these may not be of Suavic origin. Nevertheless, it would seem that serious study of the matter might be worthwhile here.

Turkic Scandinavians

PublishedJuly 4, 2023 Post authortorino

An interesting thing about the various bracteates found in Poland is how quickly people are ready to ascribe them to various Scandinavian cultures. This is so even in instances where you have runic writing on them which fails to at least is hard to square with any known Germanic language.

We have the runes of Soschychne written SDIRALIT (compare Russian сдира́ли, Polish zdzierać, etc.) which has been read backwards (right to left) to produce TILARIDS and invent a Germanic word not attested anywhere else. The possibility of the Suavic is ignored.

As Oskar Bandle, ‎Lennart Elmevik, ‎Gun Widmark note in “The Nordic Languages”:

“tilarids has been taken to be an East Germanic form and is etymologically more obscure. Its meaning is supposed to be ‘goal-rider’ or ‘attacker’, hence containing the same verbal root as ON rida ‘ride’, or less probably tilraedi n. ‘attack, assault (cf. Lehmann 1986, 345).'”

We have the rune on the spear from Dahmsdorf-Müncheberg which supposedly reads RANJA where the possibility of a connection with the Suavic ranić (to wound) or the Suavic tribe Rani are each ignored.

We have the Rozwadów spear where something that may read RPAs has been read as KRLAS or IK ERULS.

However, my personal favorite is the writing on a bracteate from Wapno, Wągrowiec district, Greater Poland Voivodeship:

What does that say? Well, reading right to left it says SABAR. Now what does that mean? This has been interpreted by Elmer Antonsen (a rather controversial runologist) as “SABA” which, apparently, could be force read to refer to the “Wise One” in some language or other so that must mean Odin. There are a number of issues with this, not the least of which is that the writing (if, indeed, reading it right-to-left is the correct way) is SABAR not SABA.

So what could SABAR mean?

Assuming you eliminate the Sabar people of Indian Bengal (Odisha though earlier Udra and Odra), a reference to a follower of Rāma from Ramayana and the idea that this refers to a Senegalese drum, you have one very interesting possibility that this is a reference to the Sabir (Σάβιροι) people, a Turkic group that lived north of the Caucasus between the 5th and 7th century – perhaps later absorbed by the Khazars. They are mentioned by Priscus as well as by a bunch of Byzantine authors. The Syriac translation of Pseudo-Zacharias Rhetor’s Ecclesiastical History refers to them as people who “live in tents, earn their living on the meat of livestock and fish, of wild animals and by their weapons (i.e., who plunder).”

But this is a problem because the rider here is typically interpreted as Odin (note the popular swastika that is found on many bracteates and, incidentally, on the very first attested Polish coin). Of course, we know that Odin came from the East… Of course this raises the question of who the Scandinavians really worshipped in Roman times. After all the earliest mention of Odin – if that is the sane person as Wadon or Wodan – is in Jonas of Bobbio’s “The Life of Columban“.

As a side note, the Suavic zbir refers to a “ruffian” but… supposedly comes from the Italian sbirro (same meaning, compare with Spanish esbirro – “henchman”. Of course, there is the question of how these words came to Italian (Spanish) – perhaps from Latin birrus (a cloak that a ruffian would wear) but were there any Sabirs in the Hunnic horde? Is there any attestation of this word prior to the Hunnic invasion? Honestly, we do not know. Was the word borrowed from Gaulish as some claim?

The bracteate was found in 1850 in a clay urn together with three other bracteates (one like the SABAR bracteate and two others made from another stamp) and a bunch of rings. They “found their way” to Berlin’s Charlottenburg Museum from which they “disappeared” after WWII only to magically “reappear” in the Pushkin Museum in Moscow. One of the SABAR bracteates was then reacquired by the Germans.

Galician Lelia Doura

PublishedDecember 26, 2022 Post authortorino

An interesting Divine Name appearing in Długosz’s Pantheon is Dzidzilela (a mispronounciation of a Baltic Didis Lela?). Indeed, in addition to Yassa, Lado and Nia, we frequently see in the earliest sources the Name Lela or Leli. Długosz characterized Dzidzilela as the Polish Venus. And indeed, it appears that Venus in its function as the Moon’s (Jasień’s) companion may be connected with Lela. As discussed, the Polish Leliwa coat of arms features the crescent moon and what appears to be a star but is likely Venus. More broadly, in European (and not only) languages, the leli sound is frequently associated with the night (for example, think of a lullaby). Curiously, layl in Arabic and layla in Hebrew each mean “night”.

Of course, the Alcis are the Lugian Castor and Pollux as per Tacitus (the alleged Polish Lel and Polel) while elkas in Latvian and alkas in Lithuanian may refer to an idol. Then, we have the Polish lalki for puppets/dolls (though lala may also mean a young, attractive woman). All these have been connected with the supposed IE Horse Twins.

We’ve discussed some of this before.

Who is Lela? In Suavic vocabulary the name most frequently refers to an aunt or an older female relation. Although Lada has been identified as the mother of Lel and Polel (supposedly being the same with the Greek Leda) a question arises: could the Horse Twins be the children of Lela instead in her function as the, well, Mother of the Gods (meaning the Horse Twins)?

Plenty of ink may be happily spilled answering that question (likely to no avail) but, in the meantime, let us note something strange. A curious refrain from a 13th century Galician poem by Pedro Eanes Solaz speaks these very same names in much the same way as the words Leli, Leli or Lado, Lado were sang by Suavic peasant farmers.

The poem has been preserved in three copies written down sometime in the 16th century as part of a compendium of other early Portuguese poetic works.

The Portuguese text is as follows (generally following Cohen and Corriente) in eight strophes:

Eu velida non dormia
lelia doura
e meu amigo venia
edoy lelia doura.

Non dormia e cuidava
lelia doura
e meu amigo chegava
edoy lelia doura.

O meu amigo venia
lelia doura
e d’amor tan ben dizia
edoy lelia doura.

O meu amigo chegava
lelia doura
e d’amor tan ben cantava
edoi lelia doura.

Muito desejei, amigo,
lelia doura
que vos tevesse comigo
edoy lelia doura.

Muito desejei, amado,
lelia doura
que vos tevess’a meu lado
edoy lelia doura.

Leli, leli, par Deus, lely
Lelia doura
Ben sei eu que<n> non diz leli
Edoy lelia doura

Ben sei eu qu<n> non diz lely
Lelia doura
Demo x’ é quen non diz leli
Edoy lelia doura

Here is a copy from the Cancioneiro da Biblioteca Nacional aka the Cancioneiro Colocci-Brancuti (codex 10991, number 829).

An English translation of the text is as follows (from 2005’s Songs of a Friend: Love Lyrics of Medieval Portugal: Selections from Cantigas de Amigo):

I the lovely one, didn’t sleep,
lelia doura,
but my friend was wont to come to me,
e doi lelia doura.

I didn’t sleep and was always grieved,
lelia doura,
but my friend was wont to arrive for me,
e doi lelia doura.

My friend was wont to come to me,
lelia doura,
and he’d speak so beautifully of love,
e doi lelia doura.

And my friend was wont to arrive for me,
lelia doura,
and he’d sing so beautifully of love,
e doi lelia doura.

I ardently desired, my friend,
lelia doura,
that you would be together with me,
e doi lelia doura.

I ardently desired, my love,
lelia doura,
that you would be close at my side,
e doi lelia doura.

Leli, leli, by God, leli,
lelia doura,
I know very well who doesn’t say leli,
e doi lelia doura.

I know very well who doesn’t say leli,
lelia doura.
A demon is he who doesn’t say leli,
e doi lelia doura.

And here is the same in the Cancionerio Vaticano (codex Latinus 4803, number 415).

The refrain was not intelligible to those who discovered these manuscripts in the 19th centuries and so much has been written about its meaning. Two theories prevail. First, that the refrain is onomatopeic or, in this case, basically meaningless singalong gibberish. However, more recently, a theory has been put forward that it is of Arabic origin. This was suggested in 1964 by Brian Dutton (“Lelia Doura, Edo y Lelia Doura, An Arabic Refrain in a Thirteenth-Century Galician Poem?”) and reproposed in 2002 by Rip Cohen and Federico Corriente (“Lelia Doura Revisited”). Lelia Doura would mean something like the “night turns”. Why Arabic? Well, as mentioned above, layl refers to night or nighttime and we know that Muslims had conquered portions of the Iberian peninsula at some point.

But this is rather strange. The poet in question is Galician and Galicia had never been conquered by the Muslims. The local Muslim population was nonexistent save for Muslim serfs captured by Galician rulers raiding parts of Al-Andalus to the south (serfs who may well have been Christian in any event). Perhaps most well-known was Alfonso II who more or less successfully fought off both Muslim marauders only to succumb for a time to Charlemagne.

It is safe to say that of all parts of the Iberian Peninsula the Asturian Kingdom of Galicia seems the oddest choice for preserving fragments of the Arabic language. And this is even more so if we are talking about the 13th century when the poem was composed by Pedro.

Galicia, however, had been, the home of:

Celtic Luggones
briefly of the Hasdingi Vandals (of whom the Lugii are suspected to have been a part), and
Suevi

In the south Al-Andalus was also a major site of Suavic slave trade and, later, integrated many of the imported Suavic slaves into the local polity.

So a Central European connection seems better suited as an explanation of this refrain. Leli may not refer to “my night” but rather to either the Great Lela or, perhaps, Her Divine Twins.

Why Great Lela? Well, Didis Lado was supposed to mean Great Lado in Lithuanian but we also have Dzidzilela, perhaps a rendition of Didis Lela. It is interesting that the Polish word for “large” , “great” or “big” is durzy or, feminine, durza (see here, for example). This might be an explanation for the word doura. An alternative may be dobra meaning the “good”. And, frankly, these words may themselves bear a mutual relation.

Curiously, Cohen and Corriente use another poem by Pedro Eanes Solaz to conclude that the whole song has to do with a competition between two different women for the affections of a man. The other poem reads as follows:

Dizia la ben talhada:
“Agor’ a viss’ eu penada
Ond’ eu amor ei!”

A ben talhada dizia:
“Penad’ a ciss’ eu un dia
Ond’ eu amor ei!”

Ca, se a viss’ eu penada,
Non seria tan coitada
Ond’ eu amor ei!

Penada se a eu visse,
non á mal que eu sentisse
Ond’ eu amor ei!

Quen lh’ oje por mi dissesse
Que non tardass’ e veesse
Ond’ eu amor ei!

Quen lh’ oje por mi rogasse
Que non tardass’ e chegasse
Ond’ eu amor ei!

Thus, they render the following translation of both of these poems:

So sang the lovely girl:
“Now may I see her tormented
Whence I feel love!”

The lovely girl was singing:
“May I see her tormented one day
Whence I feel love!

For if I saw he tormented
I wouldn’t be so saddened
Whence I feel love.

If I saw her tormented
I wouldn’t be so saddened
Whence I feel love.

I wish someone would tell him for me
Not to tarry but to come
Whence I feel love.

I wish someone would beg him for me
Not to tarry but to arrive
Whence I feel love.”

Then the object of our discussion is translated thusly:

I, lovely girl, was not sleeping
(It’s my turn)
And my boyfriend was coming
(And today it’s my turn).

I wasn’t sleeping and was longing
(It’s my turn)
And my boyfriend was arriving
(And today it’s my turn).

My boyfriend was coming
(It’s my turn)
Any my boyfriend was arriving
(And today’s my turn).

My boyfriend was arriving
(It’s my turn)
And chanting so well of love
(And today’s my turn).

I really wanted, friend,
(It’s my turn)
To have you with me
(And today’s my turn).

I really wanted, beloved,
(It’s my turn)
To have you at my side
(And today’s my turn).

My night! My night! Bt God, my night!
(It’s my turn)
I know well who won’t say “my night!”
(And today’s my turn).

I know well who won’t say “my night!”
(It’s my turn)
She’s the devil who won’t say “my night!”
(And today’s my turn).

No this is curious because this love story (triangle?) is very similar to folk songs of Suavic lands where the name Leli as well as the word Lado come up. There is Queen Lela in Croatian and Serbian songs (see for example Vuk Stefanović Karadžić’s “Serbian National Songs” in Milan Milićević’s ethnological writings). We have “leliy, leliy, my lado” in Russian songs as per Karol Potkański. Or “Łado, my Lelu” (Chronicle of Stryjkowski). Similar songs were sung in Ukraine. Finally Leliwa may have been a reference to the planet Venus itself (the Star of Leli, as per Kazimierz Perkowski).

Beyond Suavic lands we have the Hittite Lelwani (eventually a female) whose name features the suffix -vani which may mean “desire” (comparable with Venus) and which was like Persephone/Proserpina connected with the underworld (Stanisław of Skalbmierz mentions the cults of Venus and Proserpina in Poland). Or, for that matter, we may also mention the Hindu Lalita.

In fact, a recent work on the Polish Dzidzilela concludes that the whole story of Lado and Leli may be summarized as a love affair whereby a God arrives (often a Moon God) and falls in love with a Goddess, betrays her with another and then is punished (either by the brothers of his love or by someone else). He is later reborn. While this myth has a clear connection to the vegetation cycle, it is also reminiscent of the myth of Jason and Medea (miedza?) or Iasion and Demeter that we have written so often about here. Did the Moon God betray his love with another celestial? If so was it Lela? Or was Lela, as the Name itself indicates perhaps an older sister or an aunt? Did the God of the Moon tarry on Earth as Łado/Mars and seduce Marzanna? Only then to return to His true love, the celestial Łada/Lela?

As an aside, it is worth noting that the word lada in Spanish also refers to a side. It is tempting to speculate that that meaning arose from the function (my dear) of one of the Divine Twins in relation to the latter, especially, since Lada and Jasień may have been responsible for different “sides” of the Year divided in two by Midsummer’s Eve. Lela may then have been the Mother of Both (and they, the Lelki or, in Lithuanian, Alcis).

For other discussions of pottential Suavic connections to the Iberian Peninsula see here, here, here, here, here and here.

And if you want a real mindtwister, recall that wyspa – earlier yspa – is the Polish word for an island. The etymology of Hispania is not fully understood so throw this possibility into the mix as well.

Green Holiday Celebrations From the Collection of Piotr from Miłosław

Published Post authortorino

Here are some quotes from the Sermones dominicales et festivales cum glossis Polonicis (from the so-called Collection of Piotr from Miłosław)

Aleksander Brueckner brought this to the scholarly world’s attention finding cantica lascivia wherein ladies “saltant ad sonum chori et cytharae concinnando swathky lyecze” (Archiv für slavische Philologie,14, 481 at 505),

Here are different versions of the same:

Jasna Góra Monastery Manuscript

“Sed quid locusta nisi fatuas virgines et mulieres signat, saltatrices, cantatrices et coreatrices, que hodie adinstar locuste saltant ad sonitum cytare concinantes szwanthki lecze, sed sunt immemores future hiemis vernis et dire, si quando dira mors eos.”

Polish National Library

“Sed quid locusta nisi fatuos viros et mulieres signat, saltatrices, cantatrices et coreatrices, que hodie adinstar locuste saltant ad sonitum cytare concinantes, sed sunt immemores future hiemis vernis et dire, si quando dira mors eos constriget.”

Another Manuscript
(as per Słownik pojęciowy języka staropolskiego)

“Sed quid locusta nisi fatuas virgines et mulieres significat saltatrices, cantatrices…, que hodie adinstar locuste saltant ad sonitum cithare concinantes wszytky latą [wszytki lata], sed sunt immemores future hiemis et dure, scilicest quando mors constringet swyaze [zwiąże]“

Poenitentiale Merseburgense

Published Post authortorino

Karl Heinrich Meyer notes in the appendix to his compendium on Suavic religion (Fontes historiae religionis Slavicae) certain passages from the Merseburg Penitential (Poenitentiale Merseburgense) which may or may not refer to Suavic customs. Nevertheless, given that some of these may in fact have a Suavic origin we include them here. The ones included are only the ones mentioned by Meyer and represent his choice of those that appeared to him to be most likely connected with Suavs.

For the complete penitential (which contains a total of 169 different punishable offenses (some quite, including those shown here, gross) see F.W.H. Wasserschleben’s Beitraege zur Geschichte der vorgratianischen Kirchenrechtsquellen (Leipzig, 1839, page 88) and also Die Bussordnungen der abendlaendischen Kirche (Halle, 1851, page 387) by the same author (which also includes other versions of similar penitentials).

The manuscript itself is Merseburger Dombibliothek nr. 103 (from the 9th century).

Cap. 22: Si quis sacrilegium fecerit, id est quod aruspici vocant, qui auguria colunt, sive per aves aut quocunque malo ingenio augeraverit, III ann. cum pane e.a. poen.

Cap. 23: Si quis per ariolos, quos divinos vocant, aliquas divinationes fecerit, quia hoc daemonum [or daemonicum] est, V ann. poenit., III ex his in pane et aqua.

Cap. 26: Si quis sortes sanctorum, quas contra rationem vocant [or Si quis sortes, quas sanctorum contra rationem vocant], vel alias sortes habuerit, vel qualecunque alium malum ingenium sortitus fuerit vel veneraberit, III ann. poen.

Cap. 27: Si quis ad arbores vel ad fontes, vel ad cancellos, vel ubicunque, exceptum in ecclesia, votum voverit aut solverit, III annn. cum pane et aqua poeniteat, quia et hoc sacrilegium vel daemonium est; et qui ibidem ederit aut biberit, annum integrum cum pane et aqua poeniteat.

Cap. 32: Si quis, quod in Kalend. Januar. multi faciunt, quod adhuc de paganis residit, in cervolum [o cervolo], quod dicitur, aut in vecola [or vetula] vadit, III ann. poen., quia hoc daemonum [or daemonicum] est.

Cap. 34: Si quis mathematicus fuerit, i.e., per invocationem daemonum mentes hominum tulerit aut debacante [or debacchantes] fecerit, V ann. poen., III ex his i.p.e.a.

Cap. 36: Si quis ligaturam fecerit in herbas vel quolibet ingenio malo incantaverit et super Christianum ligaverit, scias eum fidem Dei amisisse, III ann. poen., I ex his i.p.e.a.

Cap. 48: Si qui simul edunt festivitates in locis abuminandis more gentium, III ann. poen. i.p.e.a.

Cap. 50: Si quis secundo et tertio idolis immolaverit per vim, III annn. poen., II sine oblatione communicet.

Cap. 74: Si quis sanguinem animalium manducaberit nesciens, aut morticinum aut idolis immolatum, IV menses poen., i.p.e.a., si autem scit, II ann. sine vino et carne.

Cap. 103: Si qua mulier semen viri sui in cibum miscens, aut inlicitas causas fecerit, ut inde plus ejus amore suscipiat, III ann. poen.

Cap. 108: Si quis [or aliquis] infans per ignorantiam gustaberit idolis immolatum aut morticinum, aut aliquid abhuminabile, III ebdom. poen.

Cap. 167: Si quis emissor tempestatum fuerit, VII ann. poen., III ex his i.p.e.a.

Wiltzi vs the Huns & Goths – Osantrix & Dietrich of Bern – Part I

PublishedMarch 3, 2022 Post authortorino

In those days there erupted a quarrel between Dietrich’s two new friends: Etzel the king of the Huns and Osantrix the mighty king of the Wiltzi. The reason for this quarrel was as follows.

As Etzel searched year after year for a wife, [his advisors] suggested Helke the daughter of King Osantrix. He, therefore, sent ambsassadors to the king of the Wiltzi to plead his case. The proud Osantrix, however, refused the Hun the hand of his daughter and the envoys were forced to return having failed in their task.

Among the leaders of these envoys there was a young duke by the name Rodolf who had had the opportunity to see Osantrix’ both daughters: Helke the older one and the younger Bertha who was just fifteen. Since he grew particularly fond of the recently bloomed Bertha, he announced to Etzel that there could not be found on the whole Earth more beautfiul maidens as the two royal daughters.

So Etzel thought to try again and sent for Rüdiger the duke of Bechelaren [Rüdiger von Bechelaren or Rytygier?], who was considered as the smartest and most cunning man among all the heroes of the Huns and who, already as a young man, had come to know Osantrix Etzle entrusted him with the task and ordered him to head out north once again and to have an honest talk with the king of the Wiltzi. “But if Osantrix should refuse this time as well” Etzel concluded his speech “you should not hide from him that he should then quickly prepare his kingdom for my army of Huns.”

Osantrix received his old friend Rüdiger graciously and hosted him with great honors for three days. But in the morning of the fourth day, Rüdiger wnet before the king’s throne and spoke thus: “Allow me, o’ king that I should fulfill my embassy from the land of the Huns. King Etzel, whose rule is greatly respected in all the lands, sends you greetings through me and wishes you and your kingdom God’s blessing. He is so inflamed with love for your daughter that he cannot be held back from her and for this reason asks through me once more for he hand. By reason of his great heroism, Etzel has become most famous among kings and it would certainly make sense to have him as a friend and son in law.”

“You choose your words well Rüdiger,” answered Osantrix, “and fulfills your master’s embassy well but it does not sit well with me that I should give my daughter to the king of the Huns who is of much lower birth than me, especially since I love my child more than all my kingdom and country. You are always welcome in my hall old friend but king Etzel should not hold out hope to become my son in law and my heir!”

“If you refuse the king of the Huns your daughter’s hand great lord,” replied Rüdiger darkly, “then you should expect that he will cause great harm to your lands. Thus, be prepared that he should move against your with his armies.”

“You are a brave man, Rüdiger,” said Osantrix laughing, “you faithfully fulfill the tasks that are given to you and you shall not come to harm from that. The king of the Huns may come when he pleases, we fear him not! He will soon come to feel that the men of the Wiltzi have sharp swords and use them often.”

As Rüdiger returned with this message, Etzel commanded to blast the war horn and quickly gathered his troops so as to avenge humiliation done unto him. Very shortly he had collected more than ten thousand men, with whom he went out, without tarrying, against Osantrix. With sword and pike he crossed the borderlands and ravaged and burned everywhere he came.

Given the unexpected swiftness of the assault, Osantrix was at first able to send only a small army against Etzel which army was led by king Aspilian who owed Osantrix allegiance. Yet with this host were Aspilian’s three giant brothers – Aventrod, Etgir and Widold – each of whom possessed the strength of fifty men. Trusting in his giants, Aspilian bravely faced the numerically superior Hun army. The giants bested many men – Widold alone killed three hundred – but eventually they were overcome by the great numbers and had to seek safety in flight. King Etzel had his men gave chase and most of the remnants of Aspilian’s army were destroyed – yet the three brothers escaped for they ran faster than even the nimble stallions of the Huns. They went to Osantrix and announced to him the approach of the victroious Huns. On hearing this, the king immediately raised all able-bodied men of his land and moved towards the enemy with more than fifteen thousand fighters. The three brothers went ahead of the host and, upon encountering the Huns, used their heavy iron rods to strike down all who stood in their way. Osantrix drove bravely forth and so it happened that as the day came to an end, Etzel had lost the battle and had to flee into the thicket of the nearby woods. Osantrix pursued him to the edge of the forest but did not think it wise to enter the dense woods in the middle of the dark night. So he ordered his tents erected close to the border of the forest in order to continue the chase in the morning.

Among Etzel’s warriors there was in the first row the bold duke Rodolf who had pleaded Etzel’s case for Helke and who spoke the language of the Wiltzi. It was he with three hundred of the best Hunnic riders who crept in the middle of the night to the edge of the forest and slew Osantrix’ watch. With that done, he stormed into the middle of Osantrix’ camp together with his Hun warriors, all armed to the teeth. Blowing loud horns and screaming wild cries he brought down all that came his way. The Wiltzi were taken by surprise and in their dismay were only slowly gathering themselves. And so it passed that Rodolf and his men were able to slay a thousand without losing a single man.

Thereupon Rodolf returned to Etzel in the woods and so through his boldness achieved that Osantrix and his confused army could not continue their pursuit of the Huns come next morning but rather had to first arrange themselves. And so Etzel could complete his escape untouched. But Rodolf did not accompany him. Rather with Etzel’s agreement he took his three hundred swords and surreptitiously followed the Wiltzi host. For he thought to try one more time to obtain Helke and to achieve that with cunning which force failed to bring about. And as he became aware that Osantrix turned back to his capital, he stopped in a great and thick forest and so spoke to his companions: “This wood is uninhabited and no human tracks are visible anywhere nearby. You can take a rest here and turn one of these rock heights into a watchtower in which you can wait until I return. I plan, for the benefit of our master, to make my way into Osantrix’ fortress under the guise of a traveling knight. But if when winter has passed and the spring comes to this country I had not yet returned then you should return home and bring news to King Etzel that I have found death in his service.”

He left them his rich clothes and almost all the gold and silver, put on an old soldier’s uniform and rode away without companions, his head hidden by the deep fallen rim of a hat. AS he came in the vicinity of the Wiltzi fortress, he combed his hair in the fashion of an old man and smeared his face with the juice of a certain root so that he had the appearance of a very old man.Bent deeply over his steed’s neck, he rode to the king’s hall and humbly asked permission to enter. As this was allowed, he walked at a slow pace to Osantrix’ throne and spoke so: “Grant me an audience, by your royal grace, o’ mighty lord!” Thereupon the king answered suspiciously: “You speak our language with a foreign accent, just like a Hun. Who are you and what do you desire here?” “I was born in the Hunlands,” answered Rodolf, “and was a respected man there like my father. I am called Sigurd and I have fled Etzel’s wrath. Since we refused to ride with him, he cursed out our entire clan: he had laid low with the sword both of my brothers and had the same fate prepared for me had I not fled his wrath. Though before I departed the Hunlands, I burned down five of King Etzel’s outposts and killed all the living there. I then came here for I knew that you hate the king of the Huns as much as I do.”

“You performed a good deed there,” replied Osantrix, “if this is so, I shall give you property in my country and will take you up among my companions.”

“I will gladly remain at your court,” said Rodolf, “if you grant me a house and a position and if your entourage should prove friendly towards me.” The king thought this was well spoken and took him in among his men. Rodolf spent the entire winter there under the name ‘Sigurd of the Hunlands’ and earned the king’s full trust. Yet his goal of seeing and speaking to the king’s daughters he did not achieve for the maidens were very carefully guarded in a tower and were and were never allowed to come down to the court.

At the beginning of spring, there arrived a king from Swabia by the name of Nordung who intended to lobby for the hand of Helke, the older of the daughters. Nordung was a mighty and brave king in the prime of his manhood and Osantrix was not averse to granting him Helke’s hand for therewith he could gain an ally against the treacherous Etzel. To the king – who did not wish to have anything to do with female matters – there seemed no one more suitable to bring up this matter with his daughter as the old Sigurd of the Hunlands – a man who had always proven himself extraordinarily polite and skillful. And so he spoke to Sigurd thusly: “You have earned the full trust of my heart, o’ Sigurd, for you have always shown yourself here to be a wise, virtuous man. Indeed, you have proven more faithful and more discrete than any other of my entourage. Thus, I have chosen you as an important messenger. You will go to the tower to my daughter Helke and you will investigate her heart to see whether she would be inclined to accept king Nordung’s request. I have selected you so that nothing should prematurely become known of this whole matter. Take heed that no one should learn of this affair!”

Sigurd was thrilled to have been selected for this task but he did not let on and asked the king rather to send another for, as he said, he garb and weaponry were not of the kind that would allow him to enter into the presence of a king’s daughter. Thereupon, Osantrix quickly gave him the most exquisite garments and weapons and thus endowed did Sigurd make his way towards the tower. When Helke heard that a messenger was coming to her sent by her father, she received him, surrounded by her female servants, exceptionally well and spoke: “You must be a wise and a clever man if my father had sent you, a foreigner, to me; very well, tell us the message that the that the king gave you!” To this Sigurd answered: “The king, o’ noble maiden, had sent me with a matter that no one should know other than you and your sister Bertha. For this reason, I ask you should promise us your silence and come with me down there to the garden. Your servants can see us there talking but none will be able to hear us.”

On hearing this, to listen to Sigurd’s message, Helke asked her sister to take two cushions to the garden and walked down with Bertha and the messenger to a shady tree under which there stood a stone bench. After both maidens had been sworn to silence, Sigurd announced then Nordung’s purpose but, since he saw that Bertha did not seem pleased with this news, he stood up straight, tossed aside the hair that had been covering his brow and spoke with flashing eyes and trembling voice thusly: “Now can you finally learn the whole truth, beautiful ladies! Till now I have deceived men and women, deceived your father, deceived king Nordung and deceived the two of you. I am not Sigurd the Old but Rodolf the duke and emissary of king Etzel. Once already have I witnessed your great beauty and have reported that there is no one on man’s Earth that can be compared to you, whether in grace, in virtue or in charm. That is why he had sent me once more to you, Helke and I have pledged my life to win both of you for you should know that I am enflamed with love for your sister Bertha and I will either have her or perish. Bertha grew red as she heard this confession but Helke was pale in surprise and anger. “Do you hear what this traitor says, sister?” she cried out, “he is notSigurd but Rodolf, Etzel’s man who had previously slain five hundred of our greatest heroes and who now wants to deceive our father and us. Hurry up and call our father, so that he should take this fabulist prisoner and have him hanged from the highest tower of the castle!”

“Before this should pass and you have broken your promise to me,” cried Rodolf with a threatening voice and grasping his sword, “you will die both with me. So think this over well high queens and do not refuse me an agreement to take to Etzel. You do not need to sit forever in a lonely tower for he will give you all that you could want: beautiful, great palaces, many virtuous knights and high-born ladies in waiting. Dukes will carry your clothes so that you will become the first Queen of the world.”

Slavish Slavic Slackademics

PublishedFebruary 3, 2022 Post authortorino

An interesting aspect of the discussion about the veracity of the depiction of Polish Gods as relayed by Długosz is the pathetic timidity of the Polish academic response to the abuses perpetrated on the “Polish Pantheon” by the confabulist in chief, Aleksander Brückner. Łowmiański, Gieysztor and many others have been caught up in a slavish, Stockholm syndrome-like trance by the vehemence of Brückner’s attacks on the idea of Polish paganism flourishing into the 15th century to such an extent that, even when they dared to deviate from Brückner on other topics, they were rendered incapable of independent thought when it came to discussing Polish Gods. Whether because of intellectual laziness, for lack of cojones or as a result of some combination of both, they did not deviate from the party line set by the cantakerous German curmudgeon more than a century ago.

This is particularly shameful given that Brückner’s arguments fail so transparently that it is difficult not to suspect ill will on the part of the Berlin professor. His primary argument was that there could be no paganism that survived into the 15th century. Why? Because the Church did such a good job quashing them for 500 years.

Yet, pagan customs is precisely what church leaders describe in plentiful writings of the period. Brückner says that the clergy had no idea what they were describing and only erroneously believed that what they were seeing were pagan practices as opposed to, as Brückner would have it, mere marriage rites. (As an aside, apparently, Brückner was asleep when God was invoked during his own wedding, as per standard Christian recitations). In other words, Brückner from his 20th century Berlin academic perch was better able to understand 15th century Polish peasant customs than all the 15th century Polish parish priests combined. At least according to Brückner.

But if Catholic clergy was so stupid as to misunderstand common Slavic words as names of deities, how could such clergy been able to crush pagan worship prior to such time? Were they just uniquely incompetent in the 15th century? Neurotoxins in the Holy Water or the wafers?

And, if they were competent in crushing idolatry (just overzealous in seeing idolatry everywhere) then why did they still fail to crush Polish idolatry right then and there? After all, had Brückner read Kolberg’s ethnographic studies of the 19th century he would have found appellations of Łado, Łado. He also would have noticed that, by far, the most common protagonist of peasant songs in Poland at that time was Jasień. There you have your Yassa and Lado. And that is half a millenium after the 15th century sermons. In other words, if Poland was converted to Christianity in 966 then even more time passed since the aforementioned 15th century priestly remonstrations against worshipping “idols” to Brückner’s and Kolberg’s time as had passed from such alleged conversion to the 15th century.

The truth is that the Church organization in Poland was not strong enough to even begin to root out paganism until the Polish state afforded the Church some stability. And the state could not afford stability for the Church until the state itself became stable. That, in turn, did not begin in earnest until the 14th century. In other words, it is entirely possible that the Church was neither able to convert nor even interested in converting the peasant masses to its faith until such time. And, as noted above, even afterwards the songs, refrains, midsummer night dances and fires continued well into the 19th, 20th and, in places, even to this day.

Crónica Albeldense

PublishedJanuary 3, 2022 Post authortorino

Here is a short mention of the Suavs in the Asturian Crónica Albeldense.

64. Eraclius rg. an. XXXVI. Sclaui Greciam Romanis tulerunt, Persi Siriam et Egyptum. In Spania quoque Sisebutus Gotorum rex quasdam eiusdem Romane militie urbes cepit et ludeos regni sui subditos ad Xpi fidem conuertit. Eclesiam quoque sancte Leocadie Toleto mire fundabit. Post quem Suintila princeps ceptum regnum Romanis peregit celerique uictoria totius Spanie monarciam obtinuit. Reges quoque Gotorum a Suintilane usque Cintilane eo imperante fuerunt.

Sclaui Greciam Romanis tulerunt, Persi Siriam et Egyptum translates roughly as: “The Suavs handed Greece over to the Romans and the Persians [handed over] Syria and Egypt.”

The “Romans” are, of course, Byzantines and this refers to the events during the reign of Heraclius (610-641). The Suavs in question are likely Serbs though maybe also Croats. Both (or at least their rulers) were converted to Christianity during the reign of Heraclius.

The oldest preserved copy is in the Códice Vigilano or Albeldense aka Escorialensis d I 2 from the 9th/10th century and contains, in addition to the first known Arabic numerals written in the West, a bunch of cool pictures. However, that one was not available so the above pictures are from a few others.

On Raunonia

PublishedDecember 26, 2021 Post authortorino

We discussed Pliny the Elder and his Veneti a few years ago here. But there was a section that preceded the text cited that we did not mention as it, seemingly, did not have anything to do with the Veneti. On closer examination, however, perhaps it is worth bringing it up:

“We must now leave the Euxine to describe the outer portions of Europe. After passing the Riphæan mountains we have now to follow the shores of the Northern Ocean on the left, until we arrive at Gades. In this direction a great number of islands are said to exist that have no name; among which there is one which lies opposite to Scythia, mentioned under the name of Raunonia, and said to be at a distance of the day’s sail from the mainland; and upon which, according to Timæus, amber is thrown up by the waves in the spring season. As to the remaining parts of these shores, they are only known from reports of doubtful authority. With reference to the Septentrional or Northern Ocean; Hecatæus calls it, after we have passed the mouth of the river Parapanisus, where it washes the Scythian shores, the Amalchian sea, the word ‘Amalchian’ signifying in the language of these races, frozen. Philemon again says that it is called Morimarusa or the “Dead Sea” by the Cimbri, as far as the Promontory of Rubeas, beyond which it has the name of the Cronian Sea. Xenophon of Lampsacus tells us that at a distance of three days’ sail from the shores of Scythia, there is an island of immense size called Baltia, which by Pytheas is called Basilia. Some islands called Oönæ are said to be here, the inhabitants of which live on the eggs of birds and oats; and others again upon which human beings are produced with the feet of horses, thence called Hippopodes. Some other islands are also mentioned as those of the Panotii, the people of which have ears of such extraordinary size as to cover the rest of the body, which is otherwise left naked.”

(translation after John Bostock & H.T. Riley (1855) from http://www.perseus.tufts.edu)

Now Baltia is likely the name responsible for the Visigothic dynasty of the Balti and perhaps also for the Baltic Sea. The Cronian Sea is likely the sea around Kurland. The Baltic itself may well be referred to as the Dead Sea by the Cimbri. Which brings us to Raunonia. This island, associated with amber by Pliny, brings to mind Rana or the Suavic name for the island of Rügen whose Suavic occupants were called the Rani and where the temple of Svantovit once stood. Raunonia lies opposite of Scythia, where there is amber and Pliny mentions it immediately before describing what appears to be the rest of the Baltic Sea heading East.

Also noteworthy are Pliny’s Riphaean Mountains which run West-East here with what is described regarding the Baltic coming after one passes over these mountains. This suggests the Sudetes perhaps together with the Carpathians. Strangely, the first Czechs are said to have settled on Mount Říp which is just south of the Sudetes. Now Rügen is not a day’s sail from the mainland – it’s considerably closer – still, this seems a small objection given all the other factors.

Jecha, Nohra, Kraja

PublishedNovember 26, 2021 Post authortorino

To the east of Sondershausen in Thuringia lies the village of Jecha. We discussed it here (as well elsewhere occasionally) very briefly. On the other, western, side of Sondershausen we find the Jechaburg. The recorded names of the place are:

Gigenberg 1128
Jechaburg 1148, 1196
Gechenburg 1197

Other names may have included Gigeburg, Jechaborg (12th century), and Jecheburg as well as Jichaborg, Jechaborg, Gicheburg and Jechaburc in the 13th century. In 1360 the name appears as Jhecheburgk.

Legend has it that the name is of a pagan goddess that the ancient locals, presumably Thuringians, worshipped here. Why goddess? Well, maybe because the Jechaburg is at the foot of the Frauenberg mountain.

Based on a reading of Widukind as well as Annalista Saxo, it has been conjectured that it was here that the Hungarians were beaten by Henry I in the year 933 and 934.

Curiously, Jecha could have a Hungarian connection. Gyeücsa or Gyeusa was a Hungarian prince who, however, was born around 940, that is after these events.

Are there any Suavic names nearby?

Well, there is Trebra to the South, Nohra to the NW and, if you keep going West, there is Kraja. You would think Kraja at least should be Suavic. But if Trebra and Nohra are too then what about Bebra or Nebra (of the Sky Disk)? This seems tenuous. And yet Kraja?

On older maps, like this one you can see Poelede which, however, is, probably not Suavic, to the West. If you move east you come, some ways off, across Kolleda (today’s Kölleda) and then Burchwenden. Still, this is very little. Only when you cross the Unstrut you get Mart Roelicz, Ochnicz (today’s Oechlitz?), Schletta and, of course, Cracou.

Other Suavic towns appear here as well: Zscheiplitz, Gleina, Nissmitz, etc. If you go further South, Suavic names project further West (as far as the area of Erfurt) but at this latitude, this is likely it. So, is it possible that this Jechelburg and Jecha are Suavic? Sure but given the distances to Suavic settlements we can say possible but not very certain.