Division of Frankish Empire and its linguistic consequences

The Frankish Empire was the territory inhabited and ruled by the Franks from the 3rd to the 10th century. Under the nearly continuous campaigns of Charles Martel, Pepin the Short, and Charlemagne—father, son, grandson—the greatest expansion of the Frankish empire was secured by the early 9th century.

Charlemagne had several sons, but only one survived him. This son, Louis the Pious, followed his father as the ruler of a united empire. But sole inheritance remained a matter of chance, rather than intent. When Louis died in 840, the Carolingians adhered to the custom of partible inheritance, and after a brief civil war between the three grandsons, they made an agreement in 843, the Treaty of Verdun, which divided the empire in three:

1. Louis' eldest surviving son Lothair I became Emperor in name but de facto only the ruler of the Middle Frankish Kingdom, or Middle Francia or King of the Central or Middle Franks. His three sons in turn divided this kingdom between them into Lotharingia (centered on Lorraine), Burgundy and (Northern) Italy Lombardy. These areas with different cultures, peoples and traditions would later vanish as separate kingdoms, which would eventually become Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Lorraine, Switzerland, Lombardy

2. Louis' second son, Louis the German, became King of the East Frankish Kingdom or East Francia. This area formed the kernel of the later Holy Roman Empire by way of the Kingdom of Germany enlarged with some additional territories from Lothair's Middle Frankish Realm — much of these territories eventually evolved into modern Austria, Switzerland and Germany.

3. His third son Charles the Bald became King of the West Franks, of the West Frankish Kingdom or West Francia. This area, most of today's southern and western France, became the foundation for the later France under the House of Capet.

The expansion and consequent division of the Frankish Empire had a big influence on the development of languages in that region. As the Empire was gaining new territories it brought the franconian language to them, and overtime the substratum language became overshadowed, resulting in phonetical, lexical and grammatical changes. With the division of the Empire the whole new countries were created, and it set off the development of new languages.

German mythology and beliefs.

Continental Germanic mythology is a subset of Germanic mythology, going back to Proto-Germanic polytheism as practiced in parts of Central Europe before gradual Christianization during the 6th to 8th centuries, and continued in the legends, and Middle High German epics during the Middle Ages, also continued although in a recharacterized and less sacred fashion in European folklore and fairy tales. It includes the mythology of many tribes of Germanic peoples:

• Lombards
• Alamanni
• Thuringii
• Saxons
• Frisians

Unlike North Germanic, and to a lesser extent Anglo-Saxon mythology, the attestation of Continental Germanic paganism is extremely fragmentary. Besides a handful of brief Elder Futhark inscriptions, the lone genuinely pagan Continental Germanic documents are the short Old High German Merseburg Incantations. Mythological elements were however preserved in later literature, notably in Middle High German epic poetry, but also in German, Swiss, and Dutch folklore.

Gods and heroes The major gods can be identified by their influence on the English weekday names Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday which come from Tiw, Wóden, Þunor, and Fríge respectively, through the Old English names Tíwesdæg, Wédnesdæg, Þunresdæg and Frígedæg.

The Osses correspond to the Norse Æsir: Woden, the leader of the Wild Hunt and the one who carries off the dead. He was one of the chief gods of the Angles and Saxons before the Christian era. He was held to be the ancestor of Hengist and Horsa, two legendary figures from early English history and most of the early Anglo-Saxon kings claimed descent from Woden. He gives us the modern Wednesday ("Woden's day").

Thunor, (AS Þunor). He is the god of thunder, who rules the storms and sky. He also protects mankind from the giants. He was the god of the common people within the heathen community. His name gives rise to the modern Thursday.

Fríge is the goddess of love, and is the wife of Woden. She is one of the most powerful Goddesses, this position being threatened only by Freyja. Her day is Friday, due to her associations with Venus.

Tiw is the god of warfare and battle, and gives us Tuesday. There is some speculation that he is a sky-god figure and formerly the chief god, displaced over the years by Woden.

The Wones correspond to the Vanir: Ingui Fréa was one of the most popular Gods, after Thunor and Woden. He is above all the God of fertility, bringing abundance (wone) and fruitfulness to the crops, herds, and the Folk. Though he is a fertility God, he is also connected to warfare to a degree; however, this warfare is defensive, as opposed to offensive, and is not to create strife and havoc. After all, peace is necessary for a good harvest and a productive community, while needless warfare destroys any prospect of peace and abundance. The Yngling royal line of Sweden claimed descent from him.

Freo is said to be the most beautiful of all the goddesses, and is therefore described as the Goddess of Love. She is not to be mistaken with Frige, however; Freo's dominion is erotic love, whereas Frige's is romantic love. Being a goddess of unbridled passion, she also takes half the slain of the battlefield, with the other half taken by Woden. Like her brother, Fréa, she is connected to abundance and wealth; however, her wealth is primarily in precious metals and gems. She is also a Goddess of Magic, having taught Woden seiðr.

Neorð is Frea and Freo's father, and is the God of the seas and commerce. He is called upon by fishermen and sailors who depend upon good seas. Like his son and daughter, his realm is that of wealth; namely, the wealth of the sea. He married the giantess Sceadu, though the marriage was not successful as neither of them could tolerate the other's element; Sceadu her mountains, and Neorð his sea.

Eorðe, whose name means "Earth," is the wife of Woden, by whom she gave birth to Þunor. She is also the daughter of the Goddess Niht. Her worship is generally passive, as opposed to active, though she is called on for "might and main." Her latent strength can be seen in her son, Þunor.

Eostre, according to Bede, is a Goddess tied with the "growing light of spring," ^{[1] [2]} and embodies purity, youth, and beauty, as well as the traditional rebirth and renewal concepts ^{[1] [3]}. Her symbols are hares ^[1] and eggs ^{[2] [3] [4]}, which symbolize the beginning of life and fertility. The current Christian festival of Easter is thought to contain elements of a pre-Christian festival in honour of Eostre ^{[1] [4]}; hence the name Easter ^{[1] [3]}.

Niht is the Goddess of Night, and also the mother of Eorðe. The Norse night was the daughter of Narvi. She was married three times; the first to Naglfari by whom she had Aud; the second, to Annar by whom she had Eorðe; and the third to Dellinger Daeg.

Sigel is a goddess associated with the sun. Sunday means "day of the sun," and may refer specifically to the goddess, or only to the star.

Weyland, Wayland, or Welund - a mythic smith.

Agil - a legenday bowman, brother to Weyland.

Earendel - a name for a star and also a Germanic hero.

Hengest and Horsa

Weisse Frauen

Nix

Gods, days of week, months.

Balder was the god of light. He was the son of Odin and Frigga. Other important gods were Ragnarok, Hoenir, Vidhavoc and Vali, all very brave gods. Odin’s battle maidens were called the Valkyries; they protected his favourite warriors and granted them victory. Odin held his court at Valhalla. This was the place where all brave warriors went when they died. Odin was usually pictured with a raven upon each shoulder. These birds were called Hugin and Munnin. They whispered into Odin’s ears all things they saw and heard in thei flights around the world. Odin had only one eye. It was thought that he had given up one of his eyes to gain more knowledge. Loki was a great godlike giant, ‘the spirit of evil’. He was always ended up doing cruel and destructive things. Loki had 3 children. They were the serpent Fenris, the wolf Midgart, and Hela, death.

Sunday	OE sunne – the sun The first day of the week was named for the sun god	OE Sunnan + OE dæхь = Sunnandeхь
Monday	OE mona – the moon Was devoted to the goddess of the moon	OE Monandeхь
Tuesday	OE Tiw – the war-god Named in honour of the Anglo-Saxon god of war (ON Tyr)	OE Tiwesdeхь
Wednesday	OE Wodan – the god of divination and the dead Was named for the chief god and the giver of wisdom (ON Odin)	OE Wednesdeхь
Thursday	OE Thunor – the storm-god Was named in honour of the ancient Germ. God of thunder	OE Thore’sdeхь
Friday	OE Fri – the fertility goddess (ON Frigda), goddess of the household and marriage, Oddin’s wife. Later became as Freya, goddess of the Earth	OE Frideхь
Saturday	OE Setern – Saturn, Jupiter’s father, the god of agriculture and sowing of seeds in Roman mythology. His feast, called the Saturnalia, began on December 17 and was a time of rejoicing and feasting.	OE Seternesdeхь

There were different versions of old Germanic names of months (eg, louprîsi in ancient Switzerland, ie, "the month of falling leaves" - November), but in general they reflect the economical activities of the Germans. Title winnemanoth (May, ie, "month grazing") was used in the Netherlands, for July (weidemaand); April was called grasmaand («a month of grass"). In Frisians hewimanot («hay month) already sounds like heimoanne, the Germans - Heumond, in the Netherlands - howmaen. In the early Middle Ages in many areas of Western Europe Germanic-speaking winnemanoth often interchange bisemânôt (ie, "the time when the cows like mad, galloping across the meadow"). Anglo thrimilci meant "the time when the cows three times a day, give milk". Farming has been reflected in the names brachmanoth (June - "the time of sowing after the harvest of the first harvest»), aranmanoth (July - "the month of harvest"). Months were devoted to the gods: April (eosturmanoth, ôstarmanoth) - the goddess Ostara, March (hredmanoth) - goddess Hrede etc.

Very soon, along with starogermanskimi names of months have been used in Latin (and later all regions of Europe, in Iceland, from the XIII century.), For example: February - mensis Plutonis (mensis purgatorius), April - mensis venustus or mensis novarum, May - mensis Mariae, June - mensis magnus, July - mensis fenalis, August - mensis messionum etc.

The Epoque of Vikings

The Vikings who invaded western and eastern Europe were chiefly from Denmark, Norway and Sweden. They also settled the Faroe Islands, Iceland, Caithness in Scotland, Greenland and (briefly) North America.

Their language became the mother-tongue of present-day Nordic languages. By 801, a strong central authority appears to have been established in Jutland, and the Danish were beginning to look beyond their own territory for land, trade and plunder.

In Norway, mountainous terrain and fjords formed strong natural boundaries. Communities there remained independent of each other, unlike the situation in Denmark which is lowland. By 800, some 30 small kingdoms existed in Norway.

The sea was the easiest way of communication between the Norwegian kingdoms and the outside world. It was in the eighth century that Scandinavians began to build ships of war and send them on raiding expeditions to initiate the Viking Age. The northern sea rovers were traders, colonizers and explorers as well as plunderers.

The earliest date given for a Viking raid is 787 AD when, according to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, a group of men from Norway sailed to Portland, in Dorset. There, they were mistaken for merchants by a royal official. They murdered him when he tried to get them to accompany him to the king's manor to pay a trading tax on their goods.

The beginning of the Viking Age in the British Isles is, however, often given as 793. It was recorded in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle that the Northmen raided the important island monastery of Lindisfarne.

In 794, according to the Annals of Ulster, there was a serious attack on Lindisfarne's mother-house of Iona, which was followed in 795 by raids upon the northern coast of Ireland. From bases there, the Norsemen attacked Iona again in 802, causing great slaughter amongst the Céli Dé Brethren, and burning the abbey to the ground.

The end of the Viking Age is traditionally marked in England by the failed invasion attempted by the Norwegian king Harald III (Haraldr Harðráði), who was defeated by Saxon King Harold Godwinson in 1066 at the Battle of Stamford Bridge; in Ireland, the capture of Dublin by Strongbow and his Hiberno-Norman forces in 1171; and 1263 in Scotland by the defeat of King Hákon Hákonarson at the Battle of Largs by troops loyal to Alexander III. Godwinson was subsequently defeated within a month by another Viking descendant, William, Duke of Normandy (Normandy had been acquired by Vikings (Normans) in 911). Scotland took its present form when it regained territory from the Norse between the thirteenth and the fifteenth centuries.

The traditional definition is no longer accepted by most Scandinavian historians and archaeologists. Instead, the Viking age is thought to have ended with the establishment of royal authority in the Scandinavian countries and the establishment of Christianity as the dominant religion. The date is usually put somewhere in the early 11th century in all three Scandinavian countries.

The end of the Viking-era in Norway is marked by the Battle of Stiklestad in 1030. They proclaimed Norway as a Christian nation, and Norwegians could no longer be called Vikings.

The clinker-built longships used by the Scandinavians were uniquely suited to both deep and shallow waters. They extended the reach of Norse raiders, traders and settlers along coastlines and along the major river valleys of northwestern Europe. Rurik also expanded to the east and in 859 became ruler either by conquest or invitation by local people of the city of Novgorod (which means "new city") on the Volkhov River. His successors moved further, founding the state of Kievan Rus with the capital in Kiev. This persisted until 1240, the time of Mongol invasion.

Other Norse people, particularly those from the area that is now modern-day Sweden and Norway, continued south to the Black Sea and then on to Constantinople. Whenever these Viking ships ran aground in shallow waters, the Vikings would reportedly turn them on their sides and drag them across the land into deeper waters.

The Kingdom of the Franks under Charlemagne was particularly hard-hit by these raiders, who could sail down the Seine with near impunity. Near the end of Charlemagne's reign (and throughout the reigns of his sons and grandsons), a string of Norse raids began, culminating in a gradual Scandinavian conquest and settlement of the region now known as Normandy.

In 911, French King Charles the Simple was able to make an agreement with the Viking warleader Rollo, a chieftain of disputed Norwegian or Danish origins.^[7] Charles gave Rollo the title of duke and granted him and his followers possession of Normandy. In return, Rollo swore fealty to Charles, converted to Christianity, and undertook to defend the northern region of France against the incursions of other Viking groups. Several generations later, the Norman descendants of these Viking settlers not only identified themselves as French but carried the French language, and their variant of the French culture, into England in 1066. With the Norman Conquest, they became the ruling aristocracy of Anglo-Saxon England.