Germanic Scandinavian

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extract from: http://en.academic.ru/dic.nsf/enwiki/10878

The Lombards (Latin "Langobardi", whence the alternative names Langobards and Longobards) were a Germanic people originally from Northern Europe who settled in the valley of the Danube and from there invaded Byzantine Italy in 568 under the leadership of Alboin. They established a Kingdom of Italy which lasted until 774, when it was conquered by the Franks. Their influence on Italian political geography is plainly visible in the regional appellation Lombardy.

Early history

Legendary origins and name

The fullest account of Lombard origins, history, and practices is the "Historia gentis Langobardorum" ("History of the Lombards") of Paul the Deacon, written in the 8th century. Paul's chief source for Lombard origins, however, is the 7th-century "Origo Gentis Langobardorum" ("Origin of the People of the Lombards").

The "Origo" tells the story of a small tribe called the "Winnili" [Priester, 16. From the Old Germanic"Winnan", meaning "fighting", "winning".] dwelling in southern ScandinaviaHarrison, D. & Svensson, K. (2007). "Vikingaliv" FÃ¤lth & HÃ¤ssler, VÃ¤rnamo. 978-91-27-35725-9 p. 74] ("Scadanan") (The "Codex Gothanus" writes that the Winnili first dwelt near a river called "Vindilicus" on the extreme boundary of Gaul.) [CG, II.] The Winnili were split into three groups and one part left the native land to seek foreign fields. The reason for the exodus was probably overpopulation. [Menghin, 13.] The departing people were led by the brothers Ybor and Aio and their mother Gambara [Priester, 16. Grimm, "Deutsche Mythologie", I, 336. Old Germanic for "Strenuus", "Sybil".] and arrived in the lands of "Scoringa", perhaps the Baltic coast [Priester, 16] or the Bardengau on the banks of theElbe. [Hammerstein, 56.] Scoringa was ruled by the Wandals, and their chieftains, the brothers Ambri and Assi, who granted the Winnili a choice between tribute or war.

The Winnili were young and brave and refused to pay tribute, saying "It is better to maintain liberty by arms than to stain it by the payment of tribute." [PD, VII.] The Wandals prepared for war and consulted their god Godan (Odin), who answered that he would give the victory to those whom he would see first at sunrise. [PD, VIII.] The Winnili were fewer in number [PD, VII.] and Gambara sought help from Frea (Frigg), who advised that all Winnili women should tie their hair in front of their faces like beards and march in line with their husbands. So it came that Godan spotted the Winnili first, and asked, "Who are these long-beards?" and Frea replied, "My lord, thou hast given them the name, now give them also the victory." [OGL, appendix 11.] From that moment onwards, the Winnili were known as the "Langobards" (Latinised and Italianised as "Lombards").

When Paul the Deacon wrote the "Historia" between 787 and 796 he was a Catholic monk and devoted Christian. Therefore, he thought the pagan stories of his people "silly" and "laughable". [PD, VIII.] [Priester, 17] Paul explained that the name "Langobard" came from the length of their beards, that the Latin word "longus" meant "Lang" and "barba" meant "Bart". [PD, I, 9.] A modern theory suggests that the name "Langobard" comes from "LangbarÃ°r", a name of Odin. [Pohl and Erhart. Nedoma, 449–445.] Priester states that when the Winnili changed their name to "Lombards", they also changed their old agricultural fertility cult to a cult of Odin, thus creating a conscious tribal tradition. [Priester, 17.] FrÃ¶hlich inverts the order of events in Priester and states that with the Odin cult, the Lombards grew their beards in resemblance of the Odin of tradition and their new name reflected this. [FrÃ¶hlich, 19.] Bruckner remarks that the name of the Lombards stands in close relation to the worship of Odin, who wore the epithet "the Long-bearded" or "the Grey-bearded", and that the Lombard given name "Ansegranus" ("he with the beard of the gods") shows that the Lombards had this idea of their chief deity. [Bruckner, 30–33.]

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