Who’s afraid of Jóða Fenris ‘the offspring of Fenrir’? Afraid of hund hrynsævar hræva ‘the hound of the roaring sea corpses’? Who, today, is afraid of the wolf? The dark creature that has lived for so long in the shadowy forests of the east, is on the rise again in Europe. Almost two centuries haveContinue reading “Who’s afraid of Voracious Woolf?”
Category Archives: anglo-saxons
♪ 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 ♪”
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”
Merciless medieval merchants
Earliest proof of Frisian merchants, or kāpmon in Old Frisian language, trading in slaves dates from the seventh century. Non other than Venerable Bede himself, Father of English history, who documented this criminal act. It was a merchant who was doing business on the London markets, and who also traded in slaves. In this postContinue reading “Merciless medieval merchants”
The Abbey of Egmond and the Rise of the Gerulfing Dynasty
Monk Ecgberht of Ripon was the driving force behind the Christianization of the headstrong heathens of Frisia. From the influential monastery Rath Melsigi in Ireland, he released salvo after salvo of monks, priests and other clergymen on Frisia. Monks Willibrord and Adalbert were yet another two of his spiritual soldiers. After having received their educationContinue reading “The Abbey of Egmond and the Rise of the Gerulfing Dynasty”
We’ll drive our ships to new land
In the series Myths of Nations we disclose to you this time that the Frisians, in fact, didn’t come from India, as the old legends tell us. A bummer, we know. And, what’s proven yet again in this post, we should listen more often to Led Zeppelin. In particular to their Immigrant Song. Install yourself,Continue reading “We’ll drive our ships to new land”
Have a Frisians Cocktail
With the coming seasonal festivities at the end of the year, it’s appropriate to serve you a flavorful cocktail. It’s a cocktail from the list ‘Myths of Nations’, namely the ‘Frisians Cocktail’. Its recipe isn’t as old as some people thought it was, or would like it to be, but it’s still a quite reasonableContinue reading “Have a Frisians Cocktail”
You killed a man? That’ll be 1 weregeld, please
High-medieval Frisia. An area stretching from the (former) river Vlie in the Netherlands to the river Weser in Germany, including Land Wursten. The title of this post was a verdict of around the year 1100, concerning the slaying of a man. The murderer had to pay a so-called weregeld. We shall explain in this postContinue reading “You killed a man? That’ll be 1 weregeld, please”
Liudger, the first Frisian apostle
Liudger succeeded where other evangelists failed. He finally managed to convert the pagan Frisians to Christianity, because he “spoke their language”. Did he really? A very thorough study from Hinne Wagenaar reveals quite a startling truth about this Frisian apostle. Some time ago I stumbled upon an article from Hinne Wagenaar, called “Liudger, apostle ofContinue reading “Liudger, the first Frisian apostle”
Frisia Coast Trail 