List of Germanic peoples

List of Germanic peoples

This is a list of Germanic peoples.

Classical philosophy

The Greeks assigned names to populations they considered distinct based on the city-state ("polis") to which they belonged. Intermingled with this system was an earlier one derived from the idea of a family tree. They grouped primary families into clans and the clans into tribes. The highest unit was the "ethnos", i.e. people, or race, which they believed descended from a single ancestor. If they couldn't identify the ancestor, they simply invented them.

As a result, the classical historians conceived of history as a story unfolding between ethnic identities led by heroic men. They always named the identity: a Roman, a Germanic tribesman, the Thracians, the Carthaginians, an Athenian. It was operant even though sometimes not factual as understood: an individual behaved in a certain way because he was a Germanic tribesman and not a Roman or vice versa. Moreover these identities are often still operant today or have been replaced by those that are. The individual learns their expected behaviors and attendant lore as part of the socialization process growing up, just as an actor would learn to play a role.

The main article on this topic is about one such identity, the Germanic. The article attempts to define it and to present some of the associated ideology. This is not an idle exercise, as history and national politics are still to a large extent viewed as a story of the interactions between such groups.

Scholars divide Germanic identities into the historical and the contemporary. There is some overlap, as many of the ancient have descended to the contemporary.

Ancient and Medieval

The ethnic names below come from ancient and mediaeval sources dating from the late 1st millennium BC to the early 2nd millennium AD. They do not necessarily represent contemporaneous, distinct or Germanic-speaking populations or have common ancestral populations. Some closely fit the concept of a tribe. Others are confederations or even unions of tribes. Some may not have spoken Germanic at all, but were bundled by the sources with the Germanic speakers.

Some were undoubtedly of mixed culture. They may have assimilated to Germanic or to other cultures from Germanic. Long-lasting ethnic identities changed population base and language over the centuries. As for genetic characteristics, they must be considered unrelated to these names.

Apart from these limitations, it is probably safe to assume that, on the whole, most of these populations spoke some branch of Germanic and contributed to pools of descendants who currently live in the Germanic-speaking countries.Fact|date=October 2007 Many of the names descend to modern place names.

Alphabetic list

A

Adogit, Aelvaeones, Aeragnaricii, Ahelmil, Alamanni or Alemanni, Ambrones, Ampsivarii or Ampsivari, Angles, Angrivarii or Angrivari, Arochi, Augandzi, Avarpi, Aviones

B

Baemi, Banochaemae, Batavii or Batavi today known by Batavians, Batini, Bavarii, Bergio, Brisgavi, Brondings, Bructeri, Burgundiones, Buri

C

Calucones, Canninefates, Casuari, Caritni, Chaedini, Chaemae, Chaetuori, Chali, Chamavi, Charudes, Chasuarii, Chattuarii, Chauci, Cherusci, Chatti, Cobandi, Condrusi, Corconti, Curiones

D

Danduti, Dani, Dauciones, Diduni, Dulgubnii, Dutch, Danes

E

Eburones, English, Eudoses, Eunixi, Evagre,

F

Faroese, Favonae, Fervir, Finni, Firaesi, Flemish, Forsi, Franks, Frisians, Fundusi

G

Gall-Gaidheal, Gambrivii, Gauthigoth, Geats, Gepidae, Goths, Gutar Grannii

H

Hallin, Harii, Harudes, Hasdingi, Helisii, Helveconae, Heruli, Hermunduri, Hilleviones, Horder

I

Ingriones, Ingvaeones (North Sea Germans), Intuergi, Irminones (Elbe Germans), Istvaeones (Rhine-Weser Germans)
Icelanders

J

Jutes, Juthungi

L

Lacringi, Landi, Lemovii, Levoni, Lombards or Langobardes, Liothida, Lugii

M

Manimi, Marcomanni, Marsi, Marsaci, Marsigni, Marvingi, Mattiaci, Mixi, Mugilones

N

Naharvali, Narisci or Naristi, Nemetes, Nertereanes, Nervii, Njars, Norn, Nuitones, Norwegians

O

Ostrogoths, Otingis

P

Pharodini

Q

Quadi

R

Racatae, Racatriae, Ranii, Raumarici, Reudigni, Rugii, Ruticli

S

Sabalingi, Saxons, Scirii, Segni, Semnoni or Semnones, Sibini, Sidini, Sigulones, Silingi, Sitones, Suarini or Suardones, Suebi or Suevi, Suetidi, Suiones, Sugambri

T

Taetel, Tencteri, Teuriochaemae, Teutonoari, Teutons, Theustes, Thuringii, Toxandri, Treveri, Triboci, Tubantes, Tungri, Turcilingi, Turoni

U

Ubii, Ulmerugi, Usipetes, Usipi or Usippi

V

Vagoth, Vandals, Vangiones, Vargiones, Varini, Varisci, Vinoviloth, Viruni, Visburgi, Visigoths, Vispi

Z

Zumi

Mythical founders

The preserved mythical founders and namesakes of some Germanic tribes:
*Angul — Angles (the Kings of Mercia, according to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, other Anglo-Saxon dynasties are derived from other descendants of Woden)
*Burgundus — Burgundians
*Cibidus — Cibidi
*Dan — Danes
*Nór — Norwegians
*Gothus — Goths
*Ingve — Ynglings
*Irmin — Irminones
*Gambara — Lombards
*Seaxnēat — Saxons
*Valagothus — Valagoths
*Suiones — Suiones (Svear)
*Thüringer — Thuringii

Contemporary

Although they lack the idea of being a single ethnic group like the ancient and medieval Germanic peoples, there are many modern Germanic-speaking ethnic groups that at least in see themselves as descendants of the ancient Germanic cultural groups (such as Anglo-Saxons, Franks and Alamanni).

*Dutch people
**Flemish people
**Afrikaners (mostly of Dutch ancestry, but also partly of German and French descent)
*Germans/German-speaking peoples
**Austrians
**Swiss Germans
**Germans of Germany
*Luxembourgers
*English people
*Frisian people
*Norse
**Danes
**Norwegians
**Swedes
**Faroese people
**Icelanders
*Ashkenazi Jews historically speak Yiddish, although they are largely seen as Semites or at least a cultural blend. There are also many Ashkenazis in Slavic speaking countries.
*The Celts of the United Kingdom (Irish people, Scottish people, Manx people, Welsh people and Cornish people) largely speak English. The Scots also speak the Germanic Scottish, not to be confused with Scottish Gaelic, due to the fact that the eastern lowland Scots are traditionally Germanic in culture and culturally similar to the northern English of Northumbria and Sunderland.
*The Celts in France (Bretons), on the other hand, mostly speak French, a Romance language.
*French people are a Romance-speaking group, but are identified as a mix of Latin, Frankish (Germanic) and Gallic (Celtic) people [http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/3842.htm]
*Many migrants to the United Kingdom and Germany (British Asians, Turks in Germany, etc.) speak Germanic languages

Links to maps

Some tribal maps of Germania can be found at:

* [http://www.ourcivilisation.com/smartboard/shop/tacitusc/germany/map.htm Germania of Tacitus]
* [http://www.reisenett.no/map_collection/historical/Ancient_Germania.jpgA speculative Findlay map of 1849]

These maps or any other maps represent an interpretation of the information available to the map-maker. Typically the ancients did not know or did not leave enough information for us to locate them exactly. The maps only give us a rough idea of the features and ethnic locations of Germania. In addition, some of tribes, e.g. the Bastarnae are not identified as Germanic with any certainty and large areas in Central Europe the Germanic tribes probably only constituted a newly arrived minority among Slavs and remaining Celts. Wolfram (1990:91f), for instance, points out that the early Visigoths, called "Tervingi" also comprised many Taifalans (unknown origin) and Alans (Iranians). The Alans became so Gothicized that non-Germanic people considered them to be Goths.

See also

* Confederations of Germanic Tribes
* Ethnic group
* Germania
* Germanic Europe
* Germanic peoples
* German clan
* Norse clans
* Sippe


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать курсовую

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Germanic peoples — The Germanic peoples are a historical group of Indo European speaking peoples, originating in Northern Europe and identified by their use of the Germanic languages which diversified out of Common Germanic in the course of the Pre Roman Iron Age.… …   Wikipedia

  • List of Germanic deities — A scene from one of the Merseburg Incantations: the Germanic gods Wodan and Balder stand before the goddesses Sunna, Sinthgunt, Volla and Friia (Emil Doepler, 1905) In Germanic paganism, the indigenous religion of the ancient Germanic peo …   Wikipedia

  • Germanic — may refer to* The Germanic languages, descended from Proto Germanic. * The Germanic peoples **List of Germanic peoples **Confederations of Germanic tribes * Germanic Europe * S/S Germanic , a White Star Line steamshipee also* Gothic… …   Wikipedia

  • List of confederations of Germanic tribes — The following are some historical Germanic Confederations: 230 BC Bastarnae, a mixture of Germanic tribes, at the Black Sea; they participated in the siege of Olbia (modern South Ukraine) in 220 BC. 109 BC Huge confederation composed of the… …   Wikipedia

  • List of lists of ethnic groups — The following is a list of lists of ethnic groups: By region * Africa ** North Africa ** Horn of Africa ** Sub Saharan Africa * Americas (indigenous) ** Brazil ** USA *** Alaska *** Hawaii ** Canada * Asia ** Southeast Asia *** Vietnam *** Laos… …   Wikipedia

  • Germanic Christianity — The Germanic peoples underwent gradual Christianization in the course of Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages. By the 8th century, most of England and the Frankish Empire was de jure Christian, and by AD 1100, Germanic paganism had also… …   Wikipedia

  • List of Pagans — This is a list of historical individuals notable for their Pagan religion (as opposed to Abrahamic religions), and modern individuals who self describe as adherents of some form of Paganism or Neopaganism. AncientThe original meaning of pagan is… …   Wikipedia

  • List of German expressions in English — This is a list of German expressions used in English; some relatively common (e.g. hamburger ), most comparatively rare. In many cases, the German borrowing in English has assumed a meaning substantially different from its German forebear.English …   Wikipedia

  • List of English words of French origin — Great number of words of French origin have entered the English language to the extent that around 30% of its vocabulary is of French origin. It is via French that many Latin words have come to the English language. Most of the French vocabulary… …   Wikipedia

  • Germanic languages — Infobox Language family name = Germanic altname = Teutonic region = Originally in northern, western and central Europe; today worldwide familycolor = Indo European fam1 = Indo European child1 = East Germanic child2 = North Germanic child3 = West… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”