La 4e de couv. indique : "As early as the 1st century AD, learned Romans knew of more than one group of people living in north-western Europe beyond their Empire's Gallic provinces whose names contained the element that gives us modern "Frisian". Those apparently were Celtic-speaking peoples, but that population seems to have completely replaced in the course of the convulsions that Europe underwent at the transition from the Ancient world to the Early Medieval in the 4th and 5th centuries. The importance of linguistically Germanic Frisians as neighbours of the Anglo-Saxons, Franks, Saxons and Danes in the centuries immediately following the fall of the Roman Empire in the West is widely recognized, and yet these folk themselves remain enigmatic, and the details of their culture and organization unfamiliar to many. The Frisian population and their lands are the focal point of this volume, although, as is shown, we often have to approach and to understand these people through comparison with, or even through the eyes of, their neighbours. Empirically, this perspective embraces all of the coastal communities of the North Sea region, and their connexions with the Baltic shores. Twelve separate but complementary papers present the most up-to-date discoveries, research and interpretations, following the story of the various Frisians through from the Roman Period to the next great period of disruption and change introduced by the Viking Scandinavians. Methodologically, the thorough combination and integration of linguistic, textual and archaeological evidence offers a new multidisciplinary template and sets new standards for Early Medieval studies."

Multi-disciplinary approaches shed fresh light on the Frisian people and their changing cultures.

Die Germanische Altertumskunde Online wird – wie bereits das in ihr aufgegangene Reallexikon – durch Ergänzungsbände begleitet. Diese Reihe umfasst Monographien ebenso wie Sammelbände zu spezifischen Themen aus Archäologie, Geschichte und Literaturwissenschaft. Damit wird der Inhalt der Datenbank um jene Aspekte erweitert, die einer ausführlichen Analyse bedürfen. Inzwischen sind bereits mehr als 100 Bände erschienen von Germanenproblemen in heutiger Sicht bis zur Germanischen Altertumskunde im Wandel.

Die Germanische Altertumskunde Online wird – wie bereits das in ihr aufgegangene Reallexikon – durch Ergänzungsbände begleitet. Diese Reihe umfasst Monographien ebenso wie Sammelbände zu spezifischen Themen aus Archäologie, Geschichte und Literaturwissenschaft. Damit wird der Inhalt der Datenbank um jene Aspekte erweitert, die einer ausführlichen Analyse bedürfen. Inzwischen sind bereits mehr als 100 Bände erschienen von Germanenproblemen in heutiger Sicht bis zur Germanischen Altertumskunde im Wandel.

Vikings and Frisians. Inhabitants of the North Sea coasts. Blond and sturdy, with shared cultural characteristics and a similar language. Almost like family. Or were they? From 810 AD onwards Frisia, at that time part of the Frankish empire, suffered fierce Viking raids. What were the consequences of these devastating dragon ship attacks on Frisia, the elongated coastal area between the Zwin and the Weser? Were all Frisians opposed to Viking aggression, or did they occasionally turn Viking themselves? Critically questioning accustomed sources, We Vikings aims to unearth fresh material from a long-lost landscape and to offer a new perspective on existing ideas.

This volume offers the first comprehensive account of the monetary logic that guided the payment of wergild and blood money in early medieval conflict resolution. In the early middle ages, wergild played multiple roles: it was used to measure a person’s status, to prevent and end conflicts, and to negotiate between an individual and the agents of statehood. This collection of interlocking essays by historians, philologists and jurists represents a major contribution to the study of law and society in Western Europe during the early Middle Ages. Contributors are Lukas Bothe, Warren Brown, Stefan Esders, Wolfgang Haubrichs, Paul Hyams, Tom Lambert, Ralph W. Mathisen, Rob Meens, Han Nijdam, Lisi Oliver, Harald Siems, Karl Ubl, and Helle Vogt. See inside the book.

This pioneering work explores epigraphic evidence for the development of English before the Anglo-Saxon period, bringing together linguistic, historical and archaeological perspectives on early inscriptions, making them more accessible to a wider audience. The volume offers a new account of the Germanic development of Anglo-Saxon England, beginning with an examination of the earliest inscriptions from northern Europe and the oldest inscriptions preserving Germanic names, many of which have only been discovered since the 1980s. The book charts the origins of key terms such as Angle, Saxon and Jute and early writing systems used by Germanic peoples. Drawing on epigraphic evidence from northwestern Germany through to southwestern Denmark and sub-Roman Britain, Mees situates the analysis within historical and linguistic frameworks but also provides archaeological contextualisations, assessed chronologically, for the inscriptions. Taken together, the work re-examines existing models of the early development of English through the lens of contemporary approaches, opening paths for new directions in research on historical dialectology. This book is key reading for students and scholars interested in the history of English and historical linguistics.

"An examination of the transformations in lowland Britain's material culture over the course of the long fifth century CE during the late Roman regime and its end"--

From the beginning of history to the present, a sweep of the world's oceans and seas and how they have shaped the course of civilization. From the author of the acclaimed The Great Sea, ("Magnificent . . . radiates scholarship and a sense of wonder and fun," Simon Sebag Montefiore; Book of the Year, The Economist), David Abulafia's new book guides readers along the world's greatest bodies of water to reveal their primary role in human history. The main protagonists are the three major oceans--the Atlantic, the Pacific, and the Indian--which together comprise the majority of the earth's water and cover over half of its surface. Over time, as passage through them gradually extended and expanded, linking first islands and then continents, maritime networks developed, evolving from local exploration to lines of regional communication and commerce and eventually to major arteries. These waterways carried goods, plants, livestock, and of course people--free and enslaved--across vast expanses, transforming and ultimately linking irrevocably the economies and cultures of Africa, Europe, Asia, and the Americas. Far more than merely another history of exploration, The Boundless Sea shows how maritime networks gradually formed a continuum of interaction and interconnection. Working chronologically, Abulafia moves from the earliest forays of peoples taking hand-hewn canoes into uncharted waters, to the routes taken daily by supertankers in the thousands. History on the grandest scale and scope, written with passion and precision, this is a project few could have undertaken. Abulafia, whom The Atlantic calls "superb writer with a gift for lucid compression and an eye for the telling detail," proves again why he ranks as one of the world's greatest storytellers.