A severe case of inattentional blindness: the Frisian tribe’s name
The name Frisii for a people living on the southern coast of the North Sea is old. Very old. It dates from the Late Antiquity. Today we call them Frisians. Roman and Greek historians and bureaucrats have written down the tribe’s name of this Germanic or Celtic people in many texts. With that, modern FrisiansContinue reading “A severe case of inattentional blindness: the Frisian tribe’s name”
From Patriot to Insurgent: John Fries and the huslotha tax rebellions
On Facebook page ‘Frisian Americans‘ the question popped up what role certain Frisians played in the Whiskey Rebellion in Pennsylvania in 1794. We checked, and the short answer is: none. The Whiskey Rebellion was a revolt of the so-called Pennsylvania Dutch farmers resisting the taxation of whiskey. It was crushed, without ice, by the federalContinue reading “From Patriot to Insurgent: John Fries and the huslotha tax rebellions”
Joan of Arc an inspiration for Land Wursten
In the year 1500 a girl by the name Tjede Peckes was born in the hamlet of Padingbüttel in Land Wursten, on the eastern banks of the River Weser. A salt marsh area the Wurstfriesen ‘Wurst-Frisians’ had managed to embank and cultivate. For centuries they had enjoyed living in a lord-free farmers republic. Toward theContinue reading “Joan of Arc an inspiration for Land Wursten”
To the end where it all began: Ribbon Ribe
Let’s go to the omega, the end of the Frisia Coast Trail. To Ribe in southern Jutland, Denmark. The oldest town of Scandinavia. A town located on the banks of the river Ribe Å. A modest river that flows out into the Wadden Sea opposite the islands Fanø and Mandø. It started as a seasonalContinue reading “To the end where it all began: Ribbon Ribe”
Dissolute Elisabeth and her Devil
In the Middle Age lived a once promiscuous girl named Elisabeth. She had come to repentance, found honourable employ as a maid, and had established herself at the hamlet of Vrieswijc, modern Friezenwijk. Hamlet Friezenwijk is situated nearby the scenic village of Heukelum in the region Batavia (viz. region Betuwe) in province Gelderland, the Netherlands.Continue reading “Dissolute Elisabeth and her Devil”
Walfrid, You’ll Never Walk Alone.
This post is not about Aindreas Ó Céirín (1840-1915), better known as Brother Walfrid from Ireland and who founded the Scottish football club Celtic. No, this post is about the original. The Frisian named Walfrid. Who was murdered by a bunch of roaming Vikings in the late tenth century. These atrocities took place at theContinue reading “Walfrid, You’ll Never Walk Alone.”
Harbours, Hookers, Heroines and Women in Masquerade
Dockyards, quays, terminals, pilots, warehouses, wharves, anchorages, lighthouses and beacons, craftsmen, shipping companies, customs and other port authorities, fish auctions, boarding houses, lodgings, packing facilities etc. Seaports respond to the needs of everything that comes from the sea, or that leaves for it. Besides the needs of commerce, ports traditionally cater the demand for sexContinue reading “Harbours, Hookers, Heroines and Women in Masquerade”
Filmstar Ben-Hur made peace with Frisian raiders
Who does not know the epic movie Ben-Hur released on the screens in 1959? The movie in which masculine Hollywood actor, and civil rights activist, Charlton Heston played the role of Judah Ben-Hur. A role for which he was awarded an Oscar. Six years later, Heston played the role of Chrysagon in the movie TheContinue reading “Filmstar Ben-Hur made peace with Frisian raiders”
A Horsewoman from Harlingen in the Scottish Highlands
May 2017. One of the Frisian bastards hiked the Cape Wrath Trail. A hike of about 300 kilometers through the remote Northwest Highlands of Scotland. Starting at Inbhir Garadh (Invergarry) all the way to the isolated lighthouse on the cliffs of Cape Wrath, and its café The Ozone. One might say, at the end ofContinue reading “A Horsewoman from Harlingen in the Scottish Highlands”
Pagare il fio
Pagare il fio is Italian for ‘paying the penalty’. More literally, it means ‘paying the fee’. It is an expression the Italian language inherited from the Barbarians from the North when they toppled the Western Roman Empire. The English word fee originates from Old English feoh, which means ‘cattle’. The Mid-Frisian word for cattle stillContinue reading “Pagare il fio”
Rescuing Rolling Sheep
Hiking needs careful preparation, including personal safety. What do you put in your First Aid Kit? Do you possess basic first aid skills to manage an accident? Unless you go wondering on your own on the Wadden Sea mudflats, being on the Frisia Coast Trail help is never far away. Therefore, provided you have aContinue reading “Rescuing Rolling Sheep”
They want you as a new recruit
‘In the navy’, is a song of village people. Of the small villages along the southern coast of the North Sea. A water people once united in the mythical Seven Sealands. And, a people who laid the foundations of two of history’s most impressive navies. That of England, and that of the Republic of theContinue reading “They want you as a new recruit”
Like Father, Unlike Son
The Battle of Tours in 732 was a turning point in the wars against the Umayyad Caliphate. The Caliphate was one of the biggest empires in history, but it lost this battle. At the confluence of the rivers Clain and Vienne, the Franks, led by statesman maior domo Charles Martel, only just managed to defeatContinue reading “Like Father, Unlike Son”
The Thing is…
The heart of western democracies is the joint assembly of parliament, cabinet and high councils of state. Its Germanic origin is the thing, also called ting, ding, ðing or þing in other writings. Today, national assemblies in Scandinavian countries still refer to this ancient tradition. For example, the parliament the Faroes Løgting, of Greenland Landsting,Continue reading “The Thing is…”
A Frontier known as Watery Mess: the Coast of Flanders
At the end of the eighth century, by decree of Charlemagne and under supervision of the wise men Wlemar and Saxmund, customary law of the Frisians was codified. It is the Lex Frisionum. Its jurisdiction was, among other, the land inter Flehum et Sincfalam fluvium ‘between Vlie and Sincfalam river’. The river Flehum flowed intoContinue reading “A Frontier known as Watery Mess: the Coast of Flanders”
10 words to travel 1,500 years and miles across the Frisian shores
Are these white letters on the wall encrypted gibberish to you? With learning a handful of keywords, you’ll have deciphered them in no time. Even better, tens of thousands of town names will hold no longer any secrets for you. Each placename will reveal its unique story to you. You will make a great impressionContinue reading “10 words to travel 1,500 years and miles across the Frisian shores”
The Raider’s Portrait of Appels
In the year 1934, while dredging upstream the River Scheldt near the village of Appels in the region of Flanders, an extraordinary ship’s figurehead (see featured image above) was found. It is dated around the year AD 400. Among scholars there seems agreement it is Germanic and that it originates from the southern North SeaContinue reading “The Raider’s Portrait of Appels”
Wa bin ik, wa bist do en wa bin wy?
“If you don’t care about your own history, you may as well leave the classroom.” Words from the geography teacher at high school Simon Vestdijk in the port town of Harlingen in 1988. We, the two Frisian bastards, were about sixteen years old and in the fifth grade of VWO (i.e. pre-university education). The annoyedContinue reading “Wa bin ik, wa bist do en wa bin wy?”
More Flying ‘Dutchmen’
On the first of February 2020, one of the Frisian bastards of the Frisia Coast Trail tramped the trail section from the town of Bad Nieuweschans to the village of Termunten. It is a hike of 30 kilometres along the southern shores of the Dollart Bay. The day before, in the evening, the bastard arrivedContinue reading “More Flying ‘Dutchmen’”
Happy Hunting Grounds in the Arctic
If you want to find out who is responsible for killing the whale, the Frisia Coast Trail area is the prime spot to look. When you stop people on the streets in this coastal region to ask them if they have knowledge of who did it, they probably will respond with: “I hear nothing, IContinue reading “Happy Hunting Grounds in the Arctic”
Yet another wayward archipelago
Peoples of islands and archipelagos do not let others dictate how to live their life. One of those archipelagos that meets these criteria as well, is the Wadden Sea. For centuries it is from here where sea explorers, tax evaders, sturdy Arctic whalers, self-righteous women, pirates, privateers, and other vagabonds came from. An archipelago whichContinue reading “Yet another wayward archipelago”
With a Noose through the Norsemen’s Door
Although the conversion was a slow and cumbersome process, and only succeeded in-depth in the course of the tenth century, Frisia subsequently turned into the richest ecclesiastical area of Europe. Nowhere else were that many monasteries and churches packed together. Even though nearly all the monasteries have been dismantled with the advent of Protestantism, toContinue reading “With a Noose through the Norsemen’s Door”
Frisia, a Viking Graveyard
When reading about the famous deeds of great Viking warriors, often not much attention is given to the moments of failure. Not much is written about where and when the glorious men, and women, died. As it turns out, the coast of Frisia is one big Viking graveyard. It is here, in the (still) smellyContinue reading “Frisia, a Viking Graveyard”
History is written by the victors – a history of the credits
New York City, the Capitol of the World. Other names are Gotham, Modern Gomorrah, The Big Apple, Empire City and Bagdad-on-the-Subway. With Times Square being the self-proclaimed Centre of the Universe. Amidst all this grandeur and bigness, portraits of two seventeenth-century men from the small villages Peperga and Koudum in the south of province Friesland,Continue reading “History is written by the victors – a history of the credits”
Presence of mind to ask the right question
‘The path will provide,’ is a familiar saying among hikers while on the trail. The flipside of this attitude is you might not have the keenness to recognize an exceptional opportunity. Your mind gets lazy. It is exactly what happened to one of the Frisian bastards during his solo-hike through the harsh mountains of Corsica.Continue reading “Presence of mind to ask the right question”
A Wadden Sea Guide and His Twelve Disciples
For those outdoor freaks who consider hiking the mud flats of the Wadden Sea, it is essential to know this is, in fact, not a worldly journey but a spiritual one. The whole Frisia Coast in a way is a spiritual belt. Protecting the southern coast of the North Sea against northern darkness, according toContinue reading “A Wadden Sea Guide and His Twelve Disciples”
Expelled from Regal Grounds
July 1987. The two bastards, both being sixteen years old at the time, went to the village of Wijnaldum, or Winaem in Mid-Frisian language. The reason for it was twofold. Firstly, the yearly street-kaatsen tournament was taking place. Secondly, one of their classmates Gerda lived closed to the village, and this was a good excuseContinue reading “Expelled from Regal Grounds”
The Killing Fields, of the Celts
About 2,000 years ago a tragedy unfolded. A sixteen-years-old girl, who suffered during her young life from scoliosis, was killed. Her red hair was shaved off on one side, she was stabbed at the base of her neck on the right shoulder, and strangled with a woolen rope. The rope was still around her neck.Continue reading “The Killing Fields, of the Celts”
Rowing souls of the dead to Britain: the ferryman of Solleveld
In 2004, a unique discovery was made at the early-medieval grave field of Solleveld, just south of the city of The Hague: a boat grave. Exactly two hundred kilometers, perfectly east, across the North Sea, of the legendary boat burial of Sutton Hoo. With this one-of-a-kind found, the Netherlands joined the ranks of ship-burial-countries. AContinue reading “Rowing souls of the dead to Britain: the ferryman of Solleveld”
It all began with piracy
The arrival of the Romans in northwest Europe at the beginning of the era, with the River Rhine as frontier, was the starting signal for five centuries of widespread piracy. Piracy that not only affected the coasts of Britannia and Gaul. It stirred things up even as far as the coasts of the Mediterranean andContinue reading “It all began with piracy”
Out of averting the inevitable a community was born
March 25, 2020 today. The COVID-19 pandemic is climbing towards its second peak. Uncertainty of how destructive the pandemic is going to be in the long run. How many family members and loved ones will it take? A phenomenon of chaos and destruction that confronts us with the limitations of an engineered world. Some peopleContinue reading “Out of averting the inevitable a community was born”
With the White Rabbit down the Hole
R1b/Hg1/Eu18; R-M213; R-M9; R1b-M45; R-M207; R-M173; R-M343; R-L278; R-L754; R-L389/R1b1a1; R-M415; R-P297/R1b1a1a; R-M269/R1b1a1a2; R-M520; R-L23; R-M412; R-L11; R-S21/U106/M405/R1b1a1a1a2a1a1… Knock Knock… Wake up Neo… Follow the White Rabbit… | These serial numbers, chronologically arranged, represent groups and subgroups of people who genetically share one common ancestor. Pulling these protein strands is like going down the RabbitContinue reading “With the White Rabbit down the Hole”
Make way for the dead!
High in the Swiss Alps in the region Bernese Oberland, many men, women and children have experienced the great horror of dead Frisians marching back to their homeland under the dark of night. The path the walkers follow is called The Frisians Way. Connecting the Haslital ‘Hasli valley’ in the Bernese Oberland with the shoresContinue reading “Make way for the dead!”
Latið meg ei á Frísaland fordervast!
Latið meg ei á Frísaland fordervast! ‘Do not let me perish in Friesland!’ A cry-out of a Faroese young woman when she was being kidnapped by Frisian pirates in the Middle Ages. The question of this post is not about how on earth it was possible that young people of the Faroes had such aContinue reading “Latið meg ei á Frísaland fordervast!”
Sailors escaped from Cyclops
“The reason I am late for class? Well, there was a strange cat in our barn this morning, and I stepped in its poop. Therefore, I first had to clean my shoes before I could go to school. That’s the reason. Really!” A similar pretext was made in the year 1040, by a bunch ofContinue reading “Sailors escaped from Cyclops”
The Batwing Doors of Northwest Europe
“Is seaport the Maasvlakte the gateway of northwestern Europe? No? Is it Europoort then? No? Is it the Botlek port area? Is it Vlaardingen? No? Surely it’s the city of Rotterdam! Say what? Okay, final guess. Since you guys only talk and brag about Frisia, is it the town of Vreeswijk, perhaps?” Sorry to disappointContinue reading “The Batwing Doors of Northwest Europe”
Merciless medieval merchants
The earliest proof of Frisian merchants, or kāpmon in Old Frisian language, trading in slaves dates from the seventh century. It was Venerable Bede himself, the Father of English history, who documented this criminal act. It was a merchant doing business on the London markets, who also traded in slaves. In this post we shedContinue reading “Merciless medieval merchants”
A Theelacht. What a great idea!
Halfway the ninth century, Vikings had established more or less permanent presence in Frisia in the former district called Nordendi, also named Norditi. By 884, the Frisians were fed up with it. They forged swords and axes, raised an army and drove the Norsemen out. For good. It took exactly 10,377 lives on the sideContinue reading “A Theelacht. What a great idea!”
Atlantis found! Wait, there is another one, or 7, wait 12 in total… No, 19!
Atlantis found! Wait, there is another one, or 7, wait 12 in total… No, 19! Frisia could easily claim the title: land of Atlantis. 19 inhabited islands and 244 villages drowned along the old Frisian coast trail in the past 1,500 years. We bet there are more out there… Atlantis emerged in the writings ofContinue reading “Atlantis found! Wait, there is another one, or 7, wait 12 in total… No, 19!”
Rats with wings or Masters of the Sky
Over the last years we have written about the tall and weird-looking people living in the twilight zone of sea and land: the coastal strip along the southern shores of the North Sea. Recently, repetitive long-calls made us aware we developed a blind spot. We forgot all about the animal that inhabits the same coastalContinue reading “Rats with wings or Masters of the Sky”
Shipwrecked people of the salt marshes
Tidal marshlands and Frisians. A dual entity. The Chauci and the Frisians (Frisii) had learned to adapt to this unprotected, hospitable salty environment. A vast area of treeless, tidal marshlands. No rocks, no wood, not much sweetwater, and frequently flooded by the sea. But where these tribes nonetheless prospered at the time the ‘civilized’ RomansContinue reading “Shipwrecked people of the salt marshes”
Attingahem Bridge
Brooklyn. Named after the village of Breukelen in the Netherlands. Its original Frisian name was Attingahem. With only a twist of history Brooklyn would have been named Attingahem today, and the Brooklyn Bridge therefore the Attingahem Bridge. The streets of Brooklyn, the set of movies like The Warriors (’79), The French Connection (’71), Once UponContinue reading “Attingahem Bridge”
Donkey King of the Paulme Game
Rex illiteratus est quasi asinus coronatus, ‘an illiterate king is like a crowned donkey’. Or, if you prefer the alternative translation, ‘is like a crowned arse’. These are almost thousand-year-old words of the bishop-philosopher-diplomat John of Salisbury, expressing the notion kings and other rulers in general should be educated in order to perform their task.Continue reading “Donkey King of the Paulme Game”
Magnus’ Choice. The Origins of the Frisian Freedom
According to medieval legends, around the year 800 Charlemagne and pope Leo came into conflict with the citizens of Rome. The pope was being attacked and fled the city. It was an army of ‘naked’ Frisians headed by Magnus that retook the citadel and the eternal city. In return Charlemagne offered wealth, weapons, treasure andContinue reading “Magnus’ Choice. The Origins of the Frisian Freedom”
Groove is in the Hearth
The hearth was in pre- and early-medieval times the holy of holies, the heart of the family. Where you would lay back and groove. Groove on the sound of the endless rains on the thatched roof, or on the sound of the sea water at your feet below. Sloshing against the grassy slopes of yourContinue reading “Groove is in the Hearth”
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Frisia Coast Trail 