The first Germanic-speaking tribes emerge in northern Europe. We explore the connection between these tribes and the original Indo-Europeans. We then look at the expansion of the Germanic tribes into the Celtic region of central Europe and their early conflicts with the Romans. Latin words pass into these early Germanic languages, including the dialects of the continental Anglo-Saxons.
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The failure of the Romans to conquer all the Germanic tribes completely changed the history of Europe. The Reformation takes place in the areas of Germany and N. Europe that the Romans failed to conquer.
The German Tribes are important in my family’s history on both my father’s side and my mother’s side. On my mother’s side I am descended from the Franks, Alemanni, Suebi, Visigoths, Thuringians, Burgundians, continental Saxons, and Lombards. I am also descended from Charlemagne on my mother’s side. Finally, on my mother’s side, I am also descended from Roman Legionnaires, or soldiers, of ancient ethnic Roman physical descent. The German tribes on my mother’s side intermarried in later centuries with the descendants of the Roman Legionnaires. On my father’s side I am descended from the Anglo-Saxons of England. I wouldn’t be me without the merging of the Roman Legionnaires and the German Tribes. The German Tribes accomplished more than people give them credit for.
To the best of my recollection, my high school history class spent very little time on the Germanic tribes, and only mentioned then in the context of the fall of the Western Roman Empire. I wanted to expand on the history and culture of those tribes in the podcast to illustrate their important contributions to both European languages and early European history.
LOL, yeah right.. what’s your source? Your mom told you?
You’re not special: https://www.theguardian.com/science/commentisfree/2015/may/24/business-genetic-ancestry-charlemagne-adam-rutherford
Literally every European is related to Charlemagne.
The article says something very different: If you are descended from Charlemagne, you ARE very, very special. Like everyone else. Meanwhile, keep listening to the podcast, and hopefully “literally” will be defined for you, to prevent further power games.
Wow, way to be super snarky and offer no value whatsoever to these comments.
If you know anything about genes I think you’ll find we all are.
On the word “mead” as to be a derivate of PIE “médʰu” root word meaning “honey based alcohol drink”. In Slavic languages this word (i.e. “miód” in Polish) has a broader meaning, covering both “honey” and “mead” meanings in modern English. PIE root word probably also had this broader meaning, not only referring to the drink.
Otherwise, wonderful podcast, especially for the non-native English speaker 🙂
20 episodes in and this is just fantastic listening all the way. Being a Scot of Swedish ancestry (male line) and having learned a good bit of modern Greek from my seven years in Messinia I had thought I knew a bit about the subjects covered so far. Well I do now!