The term "Barbarian" is Greek in origin. The Greeks originally levied it at the peoples of Northern Europe because to them, the harsh "barking" sound of their speech sounded to them like "Bar-bar-bar." Since these strangers from the north did not understand classic Greek, the Greeks believed them to be "illiterate." The term also came to mean "stranger" or "wanderer," since most of the Barbarians with which they came in contact were nomadic (the Goths, for example).

To the people of ancient Greece and Rome, a Barbarian was anyone who was not of their extraction or culture.

Because most of these "strangers" regularly practiced raids upon these civilizations, the term Barbarian gradually evolved into a perjorative term: a person who was sub-human, uncivilized, and regularly practiced the most vile and inhuman acts imaginable. Nothing could have been farther from the truth.

In ancient times, people from the Near East, migrated their way across the continents of Asia and Europe. Known in later generations as the Indo-Aryan people, some of them settled in the regions of the Caucasus mountains and of Persia (present-day Iran); others in the fertile crescent of Mesopotamia, Philistia, and Sumeria; yet others in what is now known as the Balkan states of Macedonia, Bulgaria, and Romania, and others pouring further into the lands of Northern Europe into what is now present-day Germany, Scandinavia, France, Spain, and Britain.

They were a tall, fierce, fair- haired and fair-skinned people, in contrast to their swarthy counterparts from whence they had traveled.

They displaced or assimilated the indigenous people of the regions they entered, they never truly settled anywhere, ever-moving as their needs and resources changed. Eventually they did settle and create homes and lifestyles for themselves, yet their culture was never elaborate.

Those who they came in contact with considered them uncivilized, and yet were fascinated by their strength, stamina, force of will, charisma, and versatility. They were respected by those they befriended, and feared by those who opposed them. Even within their own society, they fought amongst themselves, seeking supremacy of power and controllership of the lands they acquired.

In Northern Europe they became known as the Teutons, Norse, Goths, and Celts, and within those tribes arose many sub-tribes. Settling deep in the regions of Northern Europe, they were forgotten by the various civilizations to the South and East such as Greece, Assyria, Persia, and Egypt. It was not until the end of the Bronze age and the onset of the Iron Age that the cultures would re-emerge, clashing with those civilizations fronting the Mediterranean Sea; Greece, and Rome.

Reviled by the Greeks, and both respected and feared by the Romans, these people would time and again engage in battles against those civilizations. Those of Teutony proved to be indomitable, and even the ones conquered by Rome did not remain under Roman rule for long. Their fierce, warlike nature and coarse behaviors earned them the name.



Invasions and Migrations

167 - Germans invade Italy and Greece.

200 - Visigoths and Ostrogoths move to Russia.

367 - Picts and Scots invade England.

370 - Huns invade Europe.

406 - Vandals, Alans and Suevis invade Gaul (France).

410 - Visigoths capture Rome, settle in Spain and southern France.

421 - Angles and Saxons invade Britain.

429 - Vandals invade north Africa. Burgundians and Franks invade France and Italy.

451 - Huns invade France, but retreat.

455 - Vandals conquer Rome.



In general, the lifestyle of the Northern European barbarians was a simple one.

Their daily routine varied from season to season and tribe to tribe, but generally included some form of work (the bulk of the day), eating, play, sex, and sleep.

There were three main types of barbarian cultures: landed, nomadic, and maritime.

The landed cultures tended to settle in what is now North Central Europe (Great Britain, France, Spain, Germany, Switzerland, Northern Italy, Austria, and Poland), and included the Gauls, Celts, Picts, Franks, Burgundians, Swabians, Alemanni, Marcomanni, Lombardi (Langobards), Cherusci, and Saxons (later Anglo-Saxons).

The nomadic cultures dwelt generally in the Eastern and Southern European areas, including what is now Western Russia (Byelorus and Moldavia), the Balkan States, Northern Greece and Italy, southern France, and the Iberian Peninsula, and included the Goths (Ostrogoths and Visigoths), Allans, and Huns.

Maritime barbarians settled near coastal regions of Europe and Northern Africa, consisting of the Frisians (Dutch), Juts (Danes), Norsemen (and eventually Normans), Inglings (Swedes), Vandals (Spain and Northern Africa), and Anglo-Saxons (Northern Germany and, eventually, England).

The life of most barbarians was a harsh and lonely one. Living predominantly in the cold northern climates, barbarians had to work long and hard to eke out a meager existence. Quite often, wilderness barbarians would live miles from any other human habitations.



BARBARIAN LEADERS

Alaric

One of the most famous barbarians, Alaric the Goth (allegedly born on the coast of the Black Sea, at the mouth of the Danube River on the isle of Peuce, on December 18, 371 C.E.), was the first barbarian to successfully capture the city Rome in 410 C.E.

Although his troops spared most of the residents and the architecture (Alaric was a known lover of beauty and literature) they pretty well looted the place.� Interestingly enough, a vision of his some 15 years before had predicted that he would successfully capture Rome.

After the capture, he traveled south with the intention of crossing over into Africa, but was hindered by the storms along the Mediterranean coast.

Allegedly he took ill suddenly and died during this expedition, and is supposedly buried near the river Busento. However, legends and some historical evidence also claims that he "faked" his death to save his people from capture from the Romans and Vandals, and went "underground" so to speak, where he continued to "rule" the later Visigothic kingdoms for several decades, dying of old age finally in the year 470 C.E. (he would have been 98 years old!).

His descendants, the Visigoths, migrated to the Iberian peninsula, and eventually became the Spaniards; an indication of their heritage lies in the fair hair and blue eyes of the Northern Spaniards.



Attila the Hun

One of the most feared and notorious barbarians of all time, Attila, was not a Germanic or Celtic barbarian, but Hunnish.� Believed to be of distant Mongol stock, he ravaged much of the European continent during the 5th century C.E. Apparently Attila was as great a menace to the Teutonic tribespeople as he was to the Romans; he and his forces were finally defeated by both Germans and Romans working together (!) in 451 C.E. Attila supposedly died soon after. The rumors of his cannibalistic practices are not unfounded; he is supposed to have eaten two of his sons, even. He actually does make a cameo appearance in the Volsung saga, as Gutrune's second husband after Sigurd's death.



Boadicea (Boudicca)

Not all of the famous barbarians were male. The warrior queen of the Celts, Boadicea, who reigned the tuath Iceni in what is now England during the 1st century C.E., was one such female barbarian. In 61 C.E., she led a revolt against the Roman invaion of Britain in retaliation for the rape of her daughters by the Roman soldiers (under order from their superiors.) Her army of Celts was victorious at first and pushed the Romans back to London, which Boadicea and her forces sacked and burned to the ground, killing almost all of the Roman citizens therein.�� Her luck held until the battle of Mancetter, where she and her army was defeated by the Roman general Suetonius Paulinus. She allegedly died by taking poison administered by one of her faithful druids, rather than suffer the ignominy of capture by her hated enemies.



Carolus Magnus (Charlemagne)

The grandson of Charles Martel (see below), Charles I of France (April 2, 742-814 C.E.), the last of the Frankish Barbarian kings, conquered much of Continental Europe, including the areas of France, Germany, Poland, Austria, Hungary, some of the Balkan states, and parts of Italy.

He was crowned Holy Roman Emperor in 800 C.E. by Pope Leo III, and was supposedly surprised at the Coronation; Pope Leo having devised it on the sly. He never learned to read or write, although was very learned by listening to visiting scholars and monks read to him from the ancient works.

Although the Carolingian dynasty lasted only one generation after Charlemagne, the Empire lasted 1,118 years until the year 1918 C.E., when the last Holy Roman (Hapsburg) Emperor, Karl, was defeated at the end of World War I. Among other cultural reforms, Charlemagne was the first to establish the idea of the Divine Right of succession, in which the King was considered to be an avatar of the Christian God, as was his heir apparent.

Most of the constitutional traditions of continental European kingdoms were derived from the reign of Charlemagne.



Charles Martel

A Frankish barbarian of the eastern Frankish kingdom of Austrasia, Charles Martel (688 - 741 C.E.) was most famous for the Battle of Tours (732 C.E.), near Poitiers, in which he successfully defeated the Saracen Moors in their invasion of France, thus preserving Christian Europe from the encroachment of Islam. He held the title of Mayor of the Palace of Austrasia, but in actuality wielded the power of a king. His byname, "Martel," meant "hammer" and was used to describe the way he indefatigably drove back the Moorish invasion.



Genseric (Gaiseric)

The Vandal king, Genseric, or Gaiseric as he was also known, was one of the more notorious Barbarians, and is probably largely the cause of the word "Vandal" becoming a derogatory term in modern language. He was harsh and cruel, both toward his subjects and towards the Romans, and was a rabid Christian of a radical sect, violently opposed to any other expression of Christianity or Paganism.

Allegedly born on December 11, 390 C.E. in Gaul, Genseric was proclaimed king of the Vandals in 428, deposing (and disposing of) his brother.

In 439, he and his troops seized the Roman city of Carthage on the North African coast, and established a barbarian stronghold there, becoming an independent ruler of North Africa in 442.

He established treaties with the Romans, which he later breached, and in 455, succeeded in sacking and looting Rome itself.

From 455 to his death (of old age!) in 477, the Vandals, under Genseric's leadership, were the rulers of the Mediterranean sea; providing one of the first examples of Barbarian maritime warpower.

Many of Genseric's people remained in southern Spain as well, along with the Visigoths (who actually ran many of the Vandals out of Hispania and into North Africa). The region was known as "Vandalus" until the invasion of the Islamic Moors in 711 C.E., when they overran the region and renamed it "Al-Andalus." Today, the Spanish region "Andalusia" bears the name and ancient culture derived from both of these civilizations.



Gundahar (Gunthur)

The Burgundian king Gundahar actually existed, although his legendary account is more famous, thanks to Wagner. He reigned in the court of Worms in what is now southwestern Germany, along the Rhine. In the legends of the Volsung saga and the Nibelungenleid, he is the brother of Gudrun, wife of Sigurd (Sigifried) the Dragon-slayer; and husband of Brunhildde. Because of the treachery in which he and his half-brother Hagan slayed Sigurd, he was doomed to defeat at the hands of Attila in 436. Whether or not the legend is fully true, King Gundahar did die at the hands of Attila and his forces, along with 20,000 of his Burgundian warriors.� His descendents became part of the French nation; Bourgogne is one of the main divisions of France to this day.



Hermann/Arminius

A drighten of the Cherusci, Hermann served under General Varus during the Roman campaign to conquer Germany. Known as Arminius to the Romans, he secretly plotted against them with his tribesmen and led the Roman armies into a deadly trap in the Teutoberg Forest in the year 9 C.E. His armies could not withstand the Roman legion formation, but in the Black and Teutoberg Forests, the Romans were forced to abandon their military formations and march single file, in which guise they were easy prey for the furious Cheruscans and Alamanni. So many of the Roman soldiers were killed or captured that Varus, in shame, committed suicide by falling on his sword. Rome withdrew its forces back across the Rhine, and did not attempt any further invasions of the Teutonic territories.



Odoacer

The Herulian Odoacer is credited with being the barbarian who brought about the end of the Roman Empire. In 476 C.E., he forced the last of the Western emperors to abdicate. Odoacer was a rash and arrogant fellow, though, with little concern for others. It was no one's grief when he was slain by Theoderic in 489 C.E., although the manner of his death was fairly grisly; Theoderic clove him from the shoulder down to the groin with his sword.



Stilicho

The Vandal Stilicho was the arch-enemy of Alaric the Goth. The barbarian governor of the northern Roman province, he and Alaric would cross forces 4 times between 392 and 402 C.E. No one understands why, in three different instances, that Stilicho did not crush Alaric when he so easily could have.� Historians have speculated counter-treaties and "back-stabbing" against Rome, but no concrete evidence was ever found to support any of these theories. It seems that Stilicho only wanted to keep Alaric at bay, not to destroy him.

Perhaps he hoped to team up with him at a later time when he felt that Rome was weak. Stilicho's most heinous attack against Alaric came on Good Friday, April 4, 402, when the Christian Goths were celebrating their mass.

The "Good Friday" massacre very nearly wiped out the Goths, but through negotiations, Alaric was able to maintain his forces. Again, Stilicho could have wiped him out, but didn't. Stilicho was executed by the Romans on August 22, 408, for suspected treason against Rome, along with thousands of barbarians who were living peacefully in Rome. It was this last crime against the barbarian people, it is believed, that gave Alaric his needed "in" for being able to sack the city of Rome in 410.



Theoderic (Dietrich)

Theoderic the Great, ruler of the Ostrogoths, was one of the last barbarians at the fall of the Roman Empire. After Rome was utterly defeated, he established treaties with all of the other Germanic tribes, and ruled over sort of a "pax gothica" until his death during the 6th century C.E. After his death the Goths fell into squabbles and inter-tribal battles, and were eventually defeated by the Byzantine empire under Narses around 555 C.E. No more is heard about the Goths after that time; supposedly they intermingled with the resident cultures.

This site maintains a text of Theodoric's (Theoderic's) Letters. They show him to be a man of wisdom and fair dealing with others.



Vercingetorix

During Julius Caesar's occupation of Gaul (now much of which is France) in the first century B.C.E., things were going fairly smoothly for the Romans until this upstart Swabian Barbarian named Ariovistus came moseying across the Rhine to see what was going on. In fury, Julius Caesar chased him and his troops back across into Germany (58 B.C.E) and proceeded to pursue the occupation of Gaul much more aggressively than before.

In anger, many of the Gallic barbarian tribes, such as the Averni, rose up in revolt against the harsh Roman treatment. A feisty young barbarian named Vercingetorix (pronounced Ver-sin-JEH-toh-ricks) was adamant that Caesar and the Romans would be driven out of Gaul. His people raised him to kingship in 52 B.C.E. Under his leadership, the Gallic tribes were very largely successful in quashing the Roman occupation, until the fateful batttle of Alesia, where Vercingetorix and his troops were forced to yield to Julius Caesar. Vercingetorix was captured as a prisoner of war, taken back to Rome by the victorius Julius Caesar, imprisoned there, and later executed by crucifixion in 45 B.C.E.� Of course, Caesar himself was assassinated the next year by his own people, so "what goes around, comes around."



Vortigern

Vortigern was a warlord in Britain during the 5th century C.E. By all accounts, Vortigern appeared to be a usurper and a pretender to the rule of Britain, and was shown to be a man of low character and inclinations. He achieved his position through assassination and treachery, killing even the young king, Constans, to whom he was an advisor.

Constans' younger brother, Uther, was unknown to Vortigern and so escaped his treachery.� Vortigern ruled Britain with the aid of Saxon mercenaries who kept him in power until he, too, dealt with them harshly. The Saxons eventually turned on him and Vortigern met his death in a blazing castle tower in Wales at the hands of Geoffrey of Monmouth, although some sources claim that the tower was mysteriously struck by lightning, catching it on fire. After Geoffrey's rule of Britain, Constans' brother, Uther Pendragon, became ruler of Britain, and Uther Pendragon was the father of the legendary King Arthur.



Not all of the famous barbarians were male. The warrior queen of the Celts, was one such female barbarian. In 61 C.E., she led a revolt against the Roman invaion of Britain in retaliation for the rape of her daughters by the Roman soldiers (under order from their superiors.) Her army of Celts was victorious at first and pushed the Romans back to London, which Boadicea and her forces sacked and burned to the ground, killing almost all of the Roman citizens.



Culture

As a race of people, the ancient Norse, Celts, and Germans espoused very strong family values.

Except for very rare circumstances, the standard male-female relationship was the norm in this culture.

Depending on the sophistication of the tribal culture and the class level of the couple, marriages were either arranged by the parents (generally for political alliances, as was the custom during Iron-Age and Medieval Europe), or were decided by the bride and groom themselves.

Nomadic barbarians such as the Goths were more prone to marriage by "capture." (Celts were prone to use this method as well.) A young barbarian male would raid a village in which his beloved lived and carry her off to be his bride.� This method of "capture" was generally performed by the male, with aid from his closest friends and kin.

There were times of the year, however, when a barbarian girl, with the aid of her friends and family, could capture the male of her desire by "netting" him (generally when he was asleep or bathing). It was acceptable for women to do this during the festivals of Imbolc (Disting, around Jan 31- Feb 2), Walpurgis (April 30), and Winternights (Oct 31-Nov 2). (In later eras even into modern times, it was acceptable for women to propose to men on Leap Year or other special days as well).

In the more settled or "landed" barbarian cultures, such as those of the Alamanni, Gauls, Cherusci, Lombards, Burgundians, Saxons, Frisians, Danes (Juts), and Norse, the more common people would marry out of love, although quite often parents had a strong hand in helping arrange the marriages, often with the aid of the local druid, godhi or gydhia (priest/ess), or vikti (wizard).

To these people, courtship was not materially different from the way it is now. The couple would be given the opportunity to meet and adjust to each other.

Often the young male, especially in a war- or hunting-based tribe such as the Saxons, Cherusci, or Alomanni, would be expected to perform a feat of heroism before he would be allowed to marry.

In part, the girl would be expected to perform some task proving her worth, such as sewing her bridal dress or making a fur cloak for her beloved.

Quite often, the barbarian male would be expected to hunt and kill an animal, such as an auroch (a now-extinct form of wild European ox or buffalo) with his bare hands.

Assuming that he successfully accomplished his task (and lived to prove it) and she successfully completed hers, the marriage was honored and sanctified, often sealed with a very simple ceremony such as "jumping a broom."

Among the barbarian nobility (the Drighten / King classes), marriages were almost always arranged except in extreme circumstances (wartime, death of parents, etc.).

Marriages were less for love and more for political connections, especially in the latter part of the Iron Age (5th-8th centuries C.E.). This was an established practice in almost all European civilizations during this era, including those of Greece, Rome, and Byzantium. Often, marriages were arranged while the parties were still children, with the bride and groom having little or no say in the matter. (Quite often, the marriages would take place with the couple at mid-to-late adolescence [14-17] ).

Monogamy as a marital structure was the norm among the western barbarian people. Among the Eastern nomadic barbarians (Ostrogoths, in particular) polygamy gained popularity over time, especially with the Goths being influenced by Byzantine philosophies and standards. In a polygamous setup, one bride would be chosen as the "head wife"; with several concubines under her supervision.� Even among the Ostrogoths, who were notorioius for being overly impressionable and easily influenced by the presiding culture, polygamy never caught on as a norm, and it was virtually unheard of west of the Carpathian mountains.

After the marriage was consummated, it was customary for the groom to settle a gift upon his bride; generally money or jewels. This "reverse dowry" custom actually had a grim implication; by opening his bride to the possibility of pregnancy and childbirth, the groom presented the gift in compensation to her for the risk to her own life. (Not that the gift would had helped if anything DID go wrong with childbirth, but it was a token to her that he respected and honored her for her potential sacrifice.)

Marriage for the barbarians was generally for life. Only in extreme cases were wives or husbands ever "put aside" (divorced). An example in literature is Sigimund in the Volsung Saga, who divorces his wife Borghilda after she poisons his son Svenfjotli upon learning that Svenfjotli brought about the death of one of her kinsman in a fair duel.

Rare was the barbarian who never married. Only those who worked with magic, called vitki (wizards) and spae-crafters (seers or mystics) would live solitary lives in order to better devote themselves to their magic.

Rarer yet was the practice of homosexuality in barbarian culture. Relations between members of the same sex was not looked down upon for moral reasons such as the Christians espoused, but for sheer practical ones: in a culture with very few resources, the reproduction of the race was paramount. Again, it was generally the vitki and spae-workers, if any, who engaged in such practices (mainly for magical workings), and they were both venerated and feared for their activities (both sexual and magical).



Regardless of class or level of sophistication, barbarians loved and cherished their offspring. Recognizing that children were synonymous with their future, barbarian parents did their best to raise their children to be able to survive and thrive in the harsh conditions of their society and environment. Discipline was strict, but not harsh, and tempered with mercy. It was not until many centuries later, after the introduction of Christianity and the power of the Medieval Church to these people, that they developed the concept of children being "born in sin" and "inherently evil", in which discipline became harsh and even cruel and abusive.




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