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CHAPTER II.

GERMANIC ORIGIN OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE.—THE IMMIGRANT TRIBES, AND THEIR RELATIONS TO EACH OTHER.

§ 15. By referring to §§ 3-12, it may be seen that out of the numerous tribes and nations of Germany, three in particular have been considered as the chief, if not the exclusive, sources of the present English, viz.: the Angles, the Saxons and the Jutes.

To criticise the evidence which derives the English in general from the Angles, the particular inhabitants of Sussex, Essex, Middlesex and Wessex, from the Saxons, and the Anglo-Saxon language from the Angle and Saxon would be superfluous; whilst to doubt the truth of the main facts which it attests would exhibit an unnecessary and unhealthy scepticism. That the Angles and Saxons formed at least seven-tenths of the Germanic invaders may be safely admitted. The Jute element, however, requires further notice.

§ 16. The Jutes.—Were any of the German immigrants Jutes? If so, what were their relations to the other German tribes?

a. Were there Jutes in England? That there was a Jute element in England is to be maintained, not upon the tradition that one of the three ships of Hengist and Horsa was manned by Jutes, but from the following extract from the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle:—

"Of Jotum comon Cantware and Wihtware, þæt is seo mæiað, þe nú eardaþ on Wiht, and þæt cynn on West-Sexum ðe man gyt hæt Iútnacynn. Of Eald-Seaxum comon Eást-Seaxan, and Suð-Seaxan, and West-Seaxan. Of Angle comon (se á siððan stód westig betwix Iútum and Seaxum) Eást-Engle, Middel-Angle, Mearce, and ealle Norðymbra."

From the Jutes came the inhabitants of Kent and of Wight, that is, the race that now dwells in Wight, and that tribe amongst the West-Saxons which is yet called the Jute tribe. From the Old-Saxons came the East-Saxons, and South-Saxons, and West-Saxons. From the Angles Land (which has since always stood waste betwixt the Jutes and Saxons) came the East-Angles, Middle-Angles, Mercians, and all the Northumbrians.

Here the words gyt hæt Iútnacynn constitute cotemporary evidence.

Still there is a flaw in it; since it is quite possible that the term Iútnacynn may have been no true denomination of a section of the Germans of England, but only the synonym of a different word, Wiht-sætan. Alfred writes—comon hi of þrym folcum þam strangestan Germaniæ; þæt of Seaxum, and of Angle, and of Geatum. Of Geatum fruman sindon Cantware and Wiht-sætan, þæt is seo þeód se Wiht þæt ealond on eardað—they came of three folk, the strongest of Germany; that of Saxons and of Angles, and of Geats. Of Geats originally are the Kent people and Wiht-set; that is the people which Wiht the Island live on.

This changes the reasoning, and leads us to the following facts.

a. The word in question is a compound=Wight=the name of the isle, + sætan=people; as Somer-set, and Dor-set.

b. The peninsula Jut-land was also called Vit-land, or With-land.

c. The wiht- in Wiht-sætan is, undoubtedly, no such element as the vit- in Vit-land=Jut-land; since it represents the older Celtic term, known to us in the Romanized form Vectis.

Putting all this together, it becomes possible (nay probable) that the whole doctrine of a Jute element in the Anglo-Saxon migration may have arisen out of the fact of there being a portion of the people of Southern England neighbours of the Saxons, and bearing the name Wiht-sætan; a fact which, taken along with the juxtaposition of the Vit-landers (Jut-landers) and Saxons on the Continent, suggested to the writers of a long later age the doctrine of a Jute migration.

§ 17. As this last objection impugns the evidence rather than the fact, the following question finds place:—

What were the Jutes of Germany? At present they are the natives of Jutland, and their language is Danish rather than German.

Neither is there reason to suppose that during the third and fourth centuries it was otherwise.

§ 18. This last circumstance detracts from the likelihood of the fact; since in no part of Kent, Sussex, Hants, nor even in the Isle of Wight—a likely place for a language to remain unchanged—have any traces of the old Jute been found.

§ 19. On the other hand the fact of Jutes, even though Danes, being members of a Germanic confederation is not only probable, but such was actually the case; at least for continental wars—subactis, cum Saxonibus, Euciis (Eutiis), qui se nobis (i.e., the Franks), propriâ voluntate tradiderunt ... usque in Oceani littoribus dominio nostro porrigitur.—Theodebert to the Emperor Justinian.—

"Quem Geta, Vasco tremunt, Danus, Eutheo,^[1] Saxo, Britannus,

Cum patre quos acie te domitasse patet."

Venantius Fortunatus ad Chilpericum regem.^[2]

§ 20. Inference.—Of the three following views—(1.) that the Jutes of Jutland in the fourth and fifth centuries spoke Saxon; (2.) that they spoke Danish at home, but lost their language after three or four centuries' residence in England; and (3.) that a later historian was induced by the similarity between the term Wiht-sætan, as applied to the people of the Isle of Wight, and Wit-land, as applied to Jutland, combined with the real probability of the fact supposed, to assume a Jute origin for the Saxons of the parts in question, the third is, in the mind of the present writer, the most probable.

§ 21. It has already been stated that concerning the Angles and Saxons, no reasonable man will put the question which was put in respect to the Jutes, viz., had they any real place among the Germanic invaders of England? Respecting, however, their relations to each other, and their respective geographical localities whilst occupants of Germany, anterior to their immigration into Britain, there is much that requires investigation. What were the Saxons of Germany—what the Angles?

§ 22. Difficulties respecting the identification of the Saxons.—There are two senses of the word Saxon, one of which causes difficulty by being too limited; the other by being too wide.

a. The limited sense of the word Saxon.—This is what we get from Ptolemy, the first author who names the Saxons, and who gives them a limited locality at the mouth of the Elbe, bounded by the Sigulones, the Sabalingi, the Kobandi, the Chali, the Phundusii, the Harudes, and other tribes of the Cimbric Peninsula, of which the Saxons just occupied the neck, and three small islands opposite—probably Fohr, Sylt, and Nordstand.

Now a sense of the word Saxon thus limited, would restrict the joint conquerors of Britain to the small area comprized between the Elbe and Eyder, of which they do not seem even to have held the whole.

b. The wide sense of the word Saxon.—The reader need scarcely be reminded that the present kingdom of Saxony is as far inland as the northern frontier of Bohemia. Laying this, however, out of the question, as the effect of an extension subsequent to the invasion of Britain, we still find Saxons in ancient Hanover, ancient Oldenburg, ancient Westphalia, and (speaking roughly) over the greater part of the country drained by the Weser, and of the area inclosed by the eastern feeders of the Lower Rhine, the Elbe, and the range of the Hartz.

Now as it is not likely that the limited Saxon area of Ptolemy should have supplied the whole of our Saxon population, so on the other hand, it is certain, that of a considerable portion of the Saxon area in its wider extent tribes other than the Saxons of England, were occupants.

§ 23. Difficulties respecting the word Angle.—The reader is referred to an extract from the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, in § 16, where it is stated, that "from the Angles' land (which has since always stood waste betwixt the Jutes and the Saxons) came the East-Angles, Middle-Angles, Mercians, and all the Northumbrians."

Thus to bring the great Angle population from an area no larger than the county of Rutland, is an objection—but it is not the chief one.

The chief objection to the Angles of England being derived from the little district of Anglen, in Sleswick, lies in the fact of there being mention of Angli in another part of Germany.

§ 24. This exposition of the elements of uncertainty will be followed by an enumeration of—

1. Those portions of the Germanic populations, which from their geographical position, are the likeliest, à priori, to have helped to people England.

2. Those portions of the Germanic population, which although not supposed to have contributed in any notable degree to the population of Britain, had such continental relations to the Angles and Saxons, as to help in fixing their localities.

These two scenes of facts, give us what may be called our preliminary apparatus criticus.

§ 25. Between the northern limits of the Celtic populations of Gaul and the southern boundary of the Scandinavians of Jutland, we find the area which is most likely to have given origin to the Germans of England. This is best considered under two heads.

a. That of the proper seaboard, or the coast from the Rhine to the Eyder.

b. That of the rivers, i.e., the communications between the ocean and the inland country.

This double division is sufficient, since it is not likely that Britain was peopled by any tribes which were not either maritime, or the occupants of a river.

On the other hand, it is necessary, since although the à priori view is in favour of the coast having supplied the British immigration, the chances of its having proceeded from the interior by the way of the large rivers Rhine, Weser, and Elbe, must also be taken into consideration.

The importance of this latter alternative, will soon be seen.

§ 26. The Menapians.—Locality, from the country of the Morini on the French side of the Straits of Dover, to the Scheldt. It is generally considered that these were not Germans but Celts. The fact, however, is by no means ascertained. If Germans, the Menapians were the tribes nearest to Britain. Again, supposing that the present Flemings of Belgium are the oldest inhabitants of the country, their origin is either wholly, or in part, Menapian. Mentioned by Cæsar.

§ 27. The Batavians.—Mentioned by Cæsar; locality, from the Maas to the Zuyder Zee. Conterminous with the Menapians on the south, and with the Frisians on the north. If the present Dutch of Holland be the inhabitants of the country from the time of Cæsar downwards, their origin is Batavian.

§ 28. The Frisians.—First known to the Romans during the campaign of Drusus—"tributum Frisiis transrhenano populo—Drusus jusserat modicum;"^[3] Tacitus, Ann. iv. 72. Extended, according to Ptolemy, as far north as the Ems—τὴν δὲ παρωκεανῖτιν κατέχουσιν ... οἱ Φρίσσιοι, μέχρι τοῦ Αμισίου ποταμοῦ.

Now, as the dialect of the modern province of Friesland differs in many important points from the Dutch of Holland and Flanders; and as there is every reason to believe that the same, or greater difference, existed between the old Frisians and the old Batavians, assuming each to have been the mother-tongues of the present Frisian and Dutch respectively, we may consider that in reaching the parts to the north of the Zuyder-Zee, we have come to a second sub-division of the Germanic dialects; nevertheless, it is not the division to which either the Angles or the Saxons belong, as may be ascertained by the difference of dialect, or rather language.

§ 29. The Chauci.—Connected with the Frisii.—Falling into two divisions—the lesser (?) Chauci, from the Ems to the Weser; the greater (?) Chauci from the Weser to the Elbe—μετὰ δὲ τούτους (the Frisians), Καῦχοι οἱ μικροὶ μέχρι τοῦ Οὐισούργιος ποταμοῦ, εἶτα Καῦχοι οἱ μειζοῦς, μέχρι τοῦ Ἄλβιος ποταμοῦ.

Tacitus describes the Chauci thus:—"Tam immensum terrarum spatium non tenent tantum Chauci, sed et implent; populus inter Germanos nobilissimus."

The Frisians, as has been stated, represent a separate subdivision of the German dialects, as opposed to the ancient Batavian, and the modern Dutch and Flemish. Did the Chauci represent a third, or were they part of the Frisian division?

The latter is the more likely, and that for the following reasons—Vestiges of Frisian dialects are to be found on the Continent, in Oldenburgh, and also in the island of Heligoland.

More important still is the North-Frisian dialect. North of the Elbe, in the Dutchy of Sleswick, and from the Eyder to Tondern, we find a tract of land called, by Saxo Grammaticus, Frisia Minor, and by other writers, Frisia Eydorensis.

Now, as there are no grounds for considering these North Frisians as other than indigenous to the tract in question, we get an additional reason for looking upon the intermediate line of coast as Frisian rather than either Angle or Saxon—or, at least, such parts of it as are not expressly stated to be otherwise.

§ 30. Inference.—As the whole coast south of the Elbe seems to have been occupied by tribes speaking either Frisian or Batavian dialects, and as neither of these sub-divisions represents the language of the Angles and Saxons, the original localities of those invaders must be sought for either north of the Elbe, or inland, along the course of the rivers, i.e.—inland.

§ 31. The Saxons and Nordalbingians.—North of the Elbe, and south of the Eyder (as stated in § 22), we meet the Saxons of Ptolemy; but that in a very circumscribed locality.

In the ninth century, the tribes of these parts are divided into three divisions:—

a. The Holtsati=the people of Holstein. Here holt=wood, whilst sat is the -set in Somer-set and Dor-set.

b. The Thiedmarsi=the people of Ditmarsh.

c. The Stormarii=the people of Stormar.

Besides the names of these three particular divisions the tribes between the Elbe and Eyder were called by the general name of Nordalbingii=i.e. people to the north of the Elbe.

§ 32. The people of Anglen—North of the Nordalbingii; Anglen being the name of a district between the Schlie and Flensburg.

§ 33. The Jutes.—In Jut-land, north of the Angles and the Northfrisians.

§ 34. The Saxons of Holstein, how large their area?—There is no reason for considering the Nordalbingian Holtsati, Thiedmarsi and Stormarii as other than Saxons; although the fact of the Northfrisians to the north, and of the Frisians of Hanover to the south of them, is a slight complication of the primâ facie view.

Neither is it necessary to identify the two divisions, and to consider the Saxons as Frisians, or the Frisians as Saxons, as is done by some authors.

It is only necessary to perceive the complication which the existence of the Northfrisians introduces, and to recognise the improbability of parts of the present dutchies of Holstein and Sleswick having constituted the whole of the Anglo-Saxon area.

In other words, we have to ascertain in what direction the Germanic population represented by the Saxons at the mouth of the Elbe extended itself—for some further extension there undoubtedly must have been.

§ 35. This brings us to the other series of preliminary facts, viz.: the consideration of the more important tribes of the middle and lower courses of the three great rivers, the Rhine, the Weser, and the Elbe.

§ 36. The Germans of the Middle Rhine.—Of the Germans of the Lower and Middle Rhine, it is only necessary to mention one—

The Franks.—We shall see that, taking the two terms in their widest sense, the Franks and the Saxons were in contact, a fact which makes it necessary to notice at least some portion of the Frank area.

a. Salian Franks.—If the element Sal- represent the -sel, in the name of the Dutch river Y-ssel, the locality of the Salian Franks was Overyssel and Guelderland, whilst their ethnological relations were most probably with the Batavians.

b. Chamavi.—In the Tabula Peutingeriana we find—Chamavi qui Elpranci (leg. et Franci). They were conterminous with the Salii—Ὑπεδεξάμην μὲν μοῖραν τοῦ Σαλίων ἔθνους, Χαμάβους δὲ ἐξήλασα.—Julian, Op. p. 280.—D.N.

The following extract is more important, as it shows that a Roman communication at least took place between the Rhine and Britain: Χαμάβων γὰρ μὴ βουλευομένων, ἀδύνατόν ἐστιν τὴν τῆς Βρεταννίκης νήσου σιτοπομπίαν ἐπὶ τὰ Ῥωμάϊκα φρούρία διαπέμπεσθαι.—Eunap. in Except. leg. ed., Bonn, p. 42.—D.N.

The name Chamavi is still preserved in that of the district of Hameland, near Deventer.—D.N. and G.D.S.

The Bructeri, Sigambri, and Ripuarian Franks bring us to the Franks of the Middle Rhine, a portion of the division which it is not necessary to follow.

§ 37. The Thuringians.—First mentioned in the beginning of the fourth century. Locality, between the Hartz, the Werra a feeder of the Weser, and the Sala a feeder of the Elbe. As early as the sixth century the Thuringians and Saxons are conterminous, and members of the same confederation against the Franks.—D.N.

§ 38. The Catti.—Locality, the valley of the Fulda, forming part of the Upper Weser. Conterminous with the Thuringi (from whom they were separated by the river Werra) on the east, and the Franks on the west. The modern form of the word Catti is Hesse, and the principality of Hesse is their old locality.—G.D.S.

§ 39. Geographical conditions of the Saxon area.—Southern and northern limits.—The Saxons were in league with the Thuringians and Jutes against the Franks.

By the Jutes they were limited on the north, by the Thuringians on the south-east, and by the Franks on the south-west; the middle portion of the southern frontier being formed by the Catti between the Franks and Thuringians.

This gives us a southern and a northern limit.

Western limit.—This is formed by the Batavians and Frisians of the sea-coast, i.e., by the Batavians of Holland, Guelderland, and Overyssel, and, afterwards, by the Frisians of West and East Friesland, and of Oldenburg.

Here, however, the breadth of the non-Saxon area is uncertain. Generally speaking, it is broadest in the southern, and narrowest in the northern portion. The Frisian line is narrower than the Batavian, whilst when we reach the Elbe the Saxons appear on the sea-coast. Perhaps they do so on the Weser as well.

§ 40. Eastern limit.—Preliminary remark.—Before the eastern limit of the Saxons is investigated, it will be well to indicate the extent to which it differs from the southern.

a. The Thuringians, Catti (or Hessians), and Franks, on the southern boundary of the Saxon area were Germans. Hence the line of demarcation between their language was no broad and definite line, like that between the English and the Welsh, but rather one representing a difference of dialect, like that between the Yorkshire and the Lowland Scotch. Hence, too, we ought not only not to be surprised, if we find dialects intermediate to the Frank and Saxon, the Saxon and Thuringian, &c., but we must expect to find them.

b. The same is the case with the Batavian and Frisian frontier.—We really find specimens of language which some writers call Saxon, and others Dutch (Batavian).

The eastern frontier, however, will be like the frontier between England and Wales, where the line of demarcation is broad and definite, where there are no intermediate and transitional dialects, and where the two contiguous languages belong to different philological classes.—The languages to the east of the Saxon area will be allied to the languages of Russia, Poland, and Bohemia; i.e., they will be not Germanic but Slavonic.

Note.—The northern frontier of the Saxon area is intermediate in character to the western and southern on one hand, and to the eastern on the other; the Danish of the Cimbric Peninsula being—though not German—Gothic.

We begin at the northern portion of the Saxon area, i.e., the south-eastern corner of the Cimbric Peninsula, and the parts about the Town of Lubeck; where the Dutchies of Mecklenburg Schwerin and Holstein join. The attention of the reader is particularly directed to the dates.

§ 41. Slavonians of Holstein, Mecklenburg, and Lauenburg.—The Polabi—From po=on, and Labe=the Elbe. Name Slavonic. Germanized by the addition of the termination—ing, and so become Po-lab-ing-i; just as in Kent we find the Kent-ing-s. Conterminous with the Nordalbingian Stormarii, from whom they are divided by the river Bille, a small confluent of the Elbe. Capital Ratzeburg. First mentioned by writers subsequent to the time of Charlemagne.—D.N.

§ 42. The Wagrians.—North of the Polabi, and within the Cimbric Peninsula, divided from the Danes by the Eyder, from the Non-Danish Nordalbingians by the Trave. Capital Oldenburg. The Isle of Femern was Wagrian. Authorities—chiefly writers of and subsequent to the time of Charlemagne. In one of these we learn that the town of Haðum (Sleswick) lies between the Angles, the Saxons, and the Wends.

Now, Wend is the German designation of the Slavonians; so that there must have been Slavonians in the Cimbric Peninsula at least as early as the ninth century.—D.N.

§ 43. Obotriti, written also Obotritæ, Abotriti, Abotridi; Apodritæ, Abatareni, Apdrede, Afdrege, and for the sake of distinction from a people of the same name, Nort-Obtrezi, occupants of the western part of Mecklenburg, and extended as far east as the Warnow, as far south as Schwerin. Called by Adam of Bremen, Reregi. The Obotrites were allies of the Franks against the Saxons, and after the defeat and partial removal of the latter, were transplanted to some of their localities.—"Saxones transtulit" (i.e., Charlemagne), "in Franciam et pagos transalbianos Abodritis dedit."—Eginhart Ann. A.D. 804.—D.N.

§ 44. The Lini—Slavonians on the left bank of the Elbe, and the first met with on that side of the river. Occupants of Danneburg, Luchow and Wustrow, in Luneburg. By the writers subsequent to the time of Charlemagne the Smeldengi (a German designation), and the Bethenici are mentioned along with the Lini (or Linones). Of this Slavonic a Paternoster may be seen in the Mithridates representing the dialect of the neighbourhood in Luchow in A.D. 1691. It is much mixed with the German. About the middle of the last century this (Cis-Albian Slavonic) dialect became extinct.—D.N.

§ 45. The Warnabi or Warnavi.—Locality. Parts about Grabow, Valley of the Elbe. This is the locality of the Varini of Tacitus, the Οὐΐρούνοι of Ptolemy, and the Werini of later writers, a tribe connected with the Angli, and generally considered as Germanic.—D.N.

§ 46. Morizani.—The district round the Moritz Lake.—D.N.

§ 47. Doxani.—Locality; the valley of the Dosse.—D.N.

§ 48. Hevelli.—Locality; the valley of the Hevel. These are the Slavonians of Brandenburg and Mittelmark.—D.N.

§ 49. Slavonians of Altmark.—In Altmark, as in Lunenburg, though on the German side of the Elbe we find the names of the places Slavonic, e.g., Klotze, Wrepke, Solpke, Blatz, Regatz, Colbitz, &c.; so that Altmark, like Lunenburg, was originally a Cis-Albian Slavonic locality.

§ 50. South of the Hevel we meet with the Sorabian, or Sorb Slavonians, the descendants of whom form at the present time part of the population of Lusatia and Silesia. It is not, however, necessary to follow these further, since the German frontier now begins to be Thuringian rather than Saxon.

§ 51. Saxon area.—From the preceding investigations we determine the area occupied by the Saxons of Germany to be nearly as follows:

a.—Ethnologically considered.—Tract bounded on the north by the North Frisian Germans and Jute Danes of Sleswick; on the north and north-east by the Slavonians of the Elbe, sometimes Trans-Albian like the Wagrians and Obotrites; sometimes Cis-Albian, like the Linones and the Slaves of Altmark; on the south by the Thuringians, Catti, and Franks; on the west by the Franks, Batavians, and Frisians.

b. Considered in relation to the ancient population that it comprised.—The country of the Saxons of Ptolemy; the Angli of Tacitus; the Langobardi of Tacitus; the Angrivarii; the Dulgubini; the Ampsivarii (?); the Bructeri Minores (?); the Fosi, and Cherusci; and probably part of the Cauci. Of populations mentioned by the later writers (i.e. of those between the seventh and eleventh centuries), the following belong to this area—the Stormarii, Thietmarsi, Hotsati (=the Nordalbingii, or Nordleudi), the Ostfali, (Osterluidi), Westfali, Angarii, and Eald-Seaxan (Old Saxons).

c. Considered in relation to its modern population.—Here it coincides most closely with the kingdom of Hanover, plus parts of the Dutchies of Holstein and Oldenburg, and parts of Altmark? Brunswick? and Westphalia, and minus the Frisian portion of East Friesland, and the Slavonic part of Luneburg.

d. River system.—By extending the Saxons of Westphalia as far as Cleves (which has been done by competent judges) we carry the western limit to the neighbourhood of the Rhine. This, however, is as far as it can safely be carried. In the respect to the Upper Ems, it was probably Saxon, the lower part being Frisian. The Weser is pre-eminently the river of the Saxons, with the water-system of which their area coincides more closely than with any other physical division. The Elbe was much in the same relation to the Germans and Slavonians, as the Rhine was to the Germans and the Gauls. Roughly speaking, it is the frontier—the Cis-Albian Slaves (the Linones and the Slavonians of Altmark) being quite as numerous as the Trans-Albian Germans, (the people of Stormar, Ditmarsh, and Holstein). The Eyder was perhaps equally Danish, Frisian, and Saxon.

e. Mountains.—The watershed of the Weser on the one side, and of the Ruhr and Lippe on the other, is the chief high land contained within the Saxon area, and is noticed as being the line most likely to form a subdivision of the Saxon population, either in the way of dialect or political relations—in case such a subdivision exists, a point which will be considered in the next chapter.

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