This blog post is not about Aindreas Ó Céirín (1840–1915), better known as Brother Walfrid, the Irish founder of the Scottish football club Celtic F.C.. No, this post is about the original — the one and only: the Frisian Walfrid. The one who, according to legend, was murdered by a band of roaming Vikings inContinue reading “Walfrid, You’ll Never Walk Alone”
Tag Archives: history
Harbours, Hookers, Heroines, and Women in Masquerade
Dockyards, quays, terminals, warehouses, wharves, anchorages, lighthouses, and beacons. Craftsmen, shipping companies, customs offices, pilot services, and other port authorities. Fish auctions, boarding houses, lodgings, packing sheds — you name it. Seaports exist to meet the needs of everything that arrives from the sea or sets out to it. But beyond commerce, ports have traditionallyContinue reading “Harbours, Hookers, Heroines, and Women in Masquerade”
Movie Star Ben-Hur Made Peace With Frisian Raiders
Who does not know the epic film Ben-Hur, released on the big screen in 1959? In this classic, Hollywood actor and civil rights activist Charlton Heston (1923–2008) portrayed Judah Ben-Hur, a performance that earned him an Oscar. Six years later, Heston took on the role of Chrysagon in The War Lord — a much braverContinue reading “Movie Star Ben-Hur Made Peace With Frisian Raiders”
Pagare il Fio. How the Romans Fared in the Wet Woodlands and Salt Marshes
Pagare il fio is Italian for ‘paying the penalty,’ though literally it means ‘paying the fee,’ a phrase inherited from the northern peoples — the so-called Barbarians — who toppled the Western Roman Empire. The English word fee comes from Old English feoh, which survives as fee in Mid Frisian, vee in Dutch, and ViehContinue reading “Pagare il Fio. How the Romans Fared in the Wet Woodlands and Salt Marshes”
♪ They Want You as a New Recruit ♪
‘In the navy’, a song by the Village People. Of the small villages along the southern coast of the North Sea. A water people once united in the mythical Seven Sealands. Moreover, a people who laid the foundations of two of history’s most impressive navies: that of the Kingdom of England and that of theContinue reading “♪ They Want You as a New Recruit ♪”
Like Father, Unlike Son — Un Saint Frison en France
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 majordomo Charles Martel, only just managed to defeat theContinue reading “Like Father, Unlike Son — Un Saint Frison en France”
Well, the ‘Thing’ Is… Speaking From the Moral High Ground of Old
The heart of Western democracies is the joint assembly of Parliament, Cabinet, and High Councils of State. Its Celtic-Germanic origin is the thing, also called ting, ding, or þing in other writings. Today, national assemblies in Scandinavian countries still refer to this ancient tradition. For example, the parliaments of the Faroes Løgting, of Greenland Landsting,Continue reading “Well, the ‘Thing’ Is… Speaking From the Moral High Ground of Old”
A Frontier Known as Watery Mess: The Coast of Flanders
At the end of the eighth century, by decree of Charlemagne and under the supervision of the wise men Wlemar and Saxmund, the customary law of the Frisians was codified. It is called the Lex Frisionum. Its jurisdiction included the land between Flehum and Sincfalam, between the rivers Vlie and Sincfalam river. The River FlehumContinue reading “A Frontier Known as Watery Mess: The Coast of Flanders”
A Raider’s Portrait From Appels. The Water World of the Migration Period
In 1934, while dredging the River Scheldt near the village of Appels in the region of Flanders, workers unearthed an extraordinary ship’s figurehead (see featured image above). Dated to around AD 400, scholars generally agree it is Germanic in origin and hails from the southern North Sea coast. Yet, to this day, no people orContinue reading “A Raider’s Portrait From Appels. The Water World of the Migration Period”
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, that is, pre-university education. TheContinue reading “Wa Bin Ik, Wa Bist Do en Wa Bin Wy?”
Frisia Coast Trail 