Germanic Sources
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Fastidius c. 410 CE (!): Letter to a widow
***
Field Remedy: Old English Charm; From Swain Wodening:
Not many folks are aware that hidden away in one of the Anglo-Saxon charms is a prayer to Eorthe/Jordhr. The charm is variously known as the Aecer-Bot, "Field Remedy", and "For Unfruitful Land." As it was passed down to us, it is somewhat Christianized. However, by knocking out the Christian lines, the prayer portions of the charm can be restored (as has been done by such folk as Winifred Hodge). Below is the charm in its entirity with a rough translation. As you can see, even in the translation if you knock out the Christian sections, as well as the instructions, you are left with a galdor in the first section possibily invoking Woden (Old English drihten = Old Norse Drottin), followed by a prayer to Erce (which many believe to be the continental German goddess Herce), and finally a prayer to Eorthe herself.
Her ys seo bot, hu šu meaht žine ęceras betan gif hi
nellaž wel wexan ožže žęr hwilc ungedefe žing on gedon biš
on dry ošše on lyblace. Genim žonne on niht, ęr hyt
dagige, feower tyrf on feower healfa žęs landes, and gemearca
5 hu hy ęr stodon. Nim žonne ele and hunig and beorman,
and ęlces feos meolc že on žęm lande sy, and ęlces treow-
cynnes dęl že on žęm lande sy gewexen, butan heardan
beaman, and ęlcre namcužre wyrte dęl, butan glappan anon,
and do žonne haligwęter šęr on, and drype žonne žriwa on
10 žone stašol žara turfa, and cweže šonne šas word: Crescite,
wexe, et multiplicamini, and gemęnigfealda, et replete, and
gefylle, terre, žas eoršan. In nomine patris et filii et spiritus
sancti sit benedicti. And Pater Noster swa oft swa žęt ošer.
And bere sižžan ša turf to circean, and męssepreost asinge
15 feower męssan ofer žan turfon, and wende man žęt grene to
šan weofode, and sižžan gebringe man ža turf žęr hi ęr
węron ęr sunnan setlgange. And hębbe him gęworht of
cwicbeame feower Cristes męlo and awrite on ęlcon ende:
Matheus and Marcus, Lucas and Iohannes. Lege žęt
20 Cristes męl on žone pyt neožeweardne, cweše šonne: Crux
Matheus, crux Marcus, crux Lucas, crux sanctus Iohannes.
Nim šonne ža turf and sete šęr ufon on and cweže šonne
nigon sižon žas word, Crescite, and swa oft Pater Noster,
and wende že žonne eastweard, and onlut nigon sišon
25 eadmodlice, and cweš žonne žas word:
Eastweard ic stande, arena ic me bidde,
bidde ic žone męran domine, bidde šone miclan drihten,
bidde ic šone haligan heofonrices weard,
eoršan ic bidde and upheofon
30 and ša sožan sancta Marian
and heofones meaht and heahreced,
žęt ic mote žis gealdor mid gife drihtnes
tošum ontynan žurh trumne gežanc,
aweccan žas węstmas us to woruldnytte,
35 gefyllan žas foldan mid fęste geleafan,
wlitigigan žas wancgturf, swa se witega cwęš
žęt se hęfde are on eoržrice, se že ęlmyssan
dęlde domlice drihtnes žances.
Wende že žonne III sunganges, astrece žonne on andlang
40 and arim žęr letanias and cweš žonne: Sanctus, sanctus,
sanctus ož ende. Sing žonne Benedicite aženedon earmon
and Magnificat and Pater Noster III, and bebeod hit Criste
and sancta Marian and žęre halgan rode to lofe and to
weoržinga and to are žam že žęt land age and eallon žam že
45 him underšeodde synt. šonne žęt eall sie gedon, žonne
nime man uncuž sęd ęt ęlmesmannum and selle him twa
swylc, swylce man ęt him nime, and gegaderie ealle his
sulhgeteogo togędere; borige žonne on žam beame stor and
finol and gehalgode sapan and gehalgod sealt. Nim žonne
50 žęt sęd, sete on žęs sules bodig, cweš žonne:
Erce, Erce, Erce, eoržan modor,
geunne že se alwalda, ece drihten,
ęcera wexendra and wridendra,
eacniendra and elniendra,
55 sceafta hehra, scirra węstma,
and žęra bradan berewęstma,
and žęra hwitan hwętewęstma,
and ealra eoržan węstma.
Geunne him ece drihten
60 and his halige, že on heofonum synt,
žęt hys yrž si gefrižod wiš ealra feonda gehwęne,
and heo si geborgen wiš ealra bealwa gehwylc,
žara lyblaca geond land sawen.
Nu ic bidde šone waldend, se še šas woruld gesceop,
65 žęt ne sy nan to žęs cwidol wif ne to žęs cręftig man
žęt awendan ne męge word žus gecwedene.
žonne man ža sulh forš drife and ža forman furh onsceote,
cweš žonne:
Hal wes žu, folde, fira modor!
70 Beo žu growende on godes fęžme,
fodre gefylled firum to nytte.
Nim žonne ęlces cynnes melo and abacę man innewerdre
handa bradnę hlaf and gecned hine mid meolce and mid
haligwętere and lecge under ža forman furh. Cweže žonne:
75 Ful ęcer fodres fira cinne,
beorhtblowende, žu gebletsod weorž
žęs haligan noman že šas heofon gesceop
and šas eoržan že we on lifiaž;
se god, se žas grundas geworhte, geunne us growende gife,
80 žęt us corna gehwylc cume to nytte.
Cweš žonne III Crescite in nomine patris, sit benedicti.
Amen and Pater Noster žriwa.
Here is the remedy, how thou may amend the thine acers, if they will not wax ell, or if therein anything impropoer have been done, by sorcery, or witchcraft.
Take then at night, ere it dawn, four turfs on the four quarters of the land, and mark how they formerly stood. Then take oil and honey and barm and milk of every cattle which is grown on the land, and part of every kind of tree which is grown on the land except hard woods, and part of every wort known on the land except the buckbean (?) only, and add to them holy water, and then drop of it thrice upon the place of the turfs, and then say these words: Cresite' et multiplicamini, et replete, terram, (wax and mulitply and fill this earth). And say the Paternoster as often as the other formula, and after that bear the turfs to church and let a amss priest sing four masses over the turfs, and let the green surface be turned towards the altar, and then let the turfs be brought to the places where they were before ere the setting of the sun. And let the man have wrought for him four crosses of quickbeam, and let him wite upon each end, "Matthew, etc." Let him lay the corss of Christ upon the lower part of the pit, and then say etc. Then take the turfs and set them down therein, and say nine times: Cresite' et multiplicamini, et replete, terram, and the Paternoster as often, and then turn eastword and lout down nine times humbly, and then say these words:
Eastward I stand, Honour I bid,
I pray the glorious lord I bid the mighty drihten,
I bid the holy Hevenly kindom's ward,
Earth I bid And high heaven,
and the south Saint Mary,
anf heaven's might and high halls,
that I speak this galdor with the genorsity of the drihten,
thought my teeth with fast belief,
brighten this meadow land as the witega ("vitki") said,
that have honor in the earthly kingdom the alms
dealt out in the drithen's thanks.
Then turn thyself thrice according to the suns course, and thens tretch out along and there count the litanies, and then say the Tersancts to the end; then sing the Benedicticite wuth arms extended, and the Magnican, and the Paternoster, thrice, and to the Holy Rood, for love, and for reverence, and for grace for him who owns the land, and all them that are subject to him. When all that is done, then let one take strange seed of a begger, and give him twice as much as was taken from them, and gather all the plow equipment together, and bore a hole in the plow beam and put therein styrax and fennel and hallowed soap and hallowed slat, and take the seed as above and put it on the body of the plow, then say:
Erce, Erce, Erce, Earthen mother,
grant thee the almighty the eternal drihten,
waxing acres and flourishing,
increased and stronger,
shafts high brightly fruitful,
and threre broad barley corns,
and there whte wheat corns,
and all Earth's fruits.
Grant him Eternal drihten
and his holy ones that in heaven sent.
that his soil be warded against all fiends always
and be gaurded against all evil ones all
which a sorcer may in yonder land sow.
Now I bid thou wealend that this world shaped,
that no cunning wife that no crafty man
that may turn this word said.
Then let one drive the plow forth, and cut the first furrow and say:
Wassail Folde (Earth) Man's mother,
be you growing in the god's embrace,
filled with food Man to feed.
Then take all kinds of meal and bake a broad loaf, as will fit in two hands, an knead it with milk and with holy water, and lay it in the first furrow.
Then say:
Acres full of food for Mankind,
brightly blossoming blessed you became,
and this earth on which we live;
the god these ground wrought grant us growing gifts
that we get each corn that come to good.
Then say thrice:
Crescite in nomine patris, sit benedicti. Amen and Pater Noster žriwa.
***
Finnsburg Fragment
The Finnsburg Fragment
",,,,Gables are burning!"
Hnaef, new to strife announced his answer:
"Day is not dawning nor dragon soaring,
nor here in this hall high gables burn,
but now they bear forward. Birds are calling,
war-spears whining, and wolves howling;
shield answers shaft, shining moonlight
wanders over wasteland. Wicked deeds arise
that will form hatred in this forces heart.
But awaken now, warriors of mine;
take up your targes, determine on courage,
fight at the forefront, be firm in valor."
Gold-sudded Thanes girded on broadswords.
To the doors they dashed, daring fighters,
Sigeferth and Eaha, their swords in hand,
and at the other door Ordlaf and Guthlaf,
and behind hastened Hengest himself.
Then still Garuth urged Guthhere
not to venture assault and his so valued life
at the first onset on Finnsburg's hall
now the savage foe sought to take it.
Above the crowd he called, clearly, boldly,
demanding to know who manned the door.
"Sigeferth, my name, a Secgan cheiftain,
a well known wanderer. Wars and hardships
have I found in full. You may find here now
whichever you will get from me: good or evil."
Then was heard in the hall the havoc of slaughter;
champions shouldered their encased shieldguards;
horned helmets burst; the hallfloor pounded
untill Garulf sank in that grim battle,
first fightingman to fall of any,
son of Guthlaf- around him soldiers of worth,
the restless now corpses. The ravens circled,
swarthy, sallowbrown. Swords flashed alight
as if all Finnsborough were a flaring blaze.
I never heard of worthier in warfare than those,
sixty soldiers serving their chief,
and of no payment given for the pale mead drink
like that this troop of Hnaef's returned their leader.
Five days they fought so there fell not one
of the hall comrades, but they held the doors.
Then a wounded youth went from the conflict,
said that his breastmail was broken and torn,
hauberk worthless and his helmet pierced.
Then the people's prince plied him with questions
how the warriors fared, wounded in combat,
or which young soldiers....
***
Flaccus, Q. Horatius Odes (ed. John Conington):
book 4, poem 5
Who fears the Parthian or the Scythian horde, Or the rank growth that German forests yield, While Caesar lives?
***
Flavius Josephus; 29 (?), Antiquities of the Jews: 18.195, 19.194
The Wars of the Jews 4.491
Flavius Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews (ed. William Whiston, A.M.):
18.195
Now Agrippa stood in his bonds before the royal palace, and leaned on a certain tree for grief, with many others,. who were in bonds also; and as a certain bird sat upon the tree on which Agrippa leaned, the Romans call this bird bubo, an owl, one of those that were bound, a German by nation, saw him, and asked a soldier who that man in purple was; and when he was informed that his name was Agrippa, and that he was by nation a Jew, and one of the principal men of that nation, he asked leave of the soldier to whom he was bound, to let him come nearer to him, to speak with him; for that he had a mind to inquire of him about some things relating to his country; which liberty, when he had obtained, and as he stood near him, he said thus to him by an interpreter: This sudden change of thy condition, O young man!
So when the German had said this, he made Agrippa laugh at him as much as he afterwards appeared worthy of admiration.
19.114
When, therefore, these German guards understood that Caius was slain, they were very sorry for it, because they did not use their reason in judging about public affairs, but measured all by the advantages themselves received, Caius being beloved by them because of the money he gave them, by which he had purchased their kindness to him; so they drew their swords, and Sabinus led them on.
The Wars of the Jews, (ed. William Whiston, A.M.)
4.491
as also how Antonius Primus and Mucianus slew Vitellius, and his German legions, and thereby put an end to that civil war; I have omitted to give an exact account of them, because they are well known by all, and they are described by a great number of Greek and Roman authors;
Complete Works http://www.ccel.org/
***
Florus: Epitome of Roman History; ISBN 0674992547;
2.30.31 counts the Chatti among the peoples attacked by Drusus (!)
2.88 tells of the Varian Disaster
Latin: http://www.gmu.edu/departments/fld/CLASSICS/florus1.html
Epitomae (Book 2, 88) The Varian Disaster
(Augustus) could not have believed that conquering Germania paying would come at such high cost! Far more shameful was her loss than the glory of her conquest. But since he knew that his father C. (Iulius) Caesar had crossed the Rhine twice to start a war, he felt compelled to make it a province in honor (of his father); and it would have been done, if the savages could have stood our vices as well as our command (/authority).
Being sent to that province, Drusus was the first to subject the Usipetes, then overran the Tencteri and Chatti. Then he made up an artificial hill from the spoils and the standards of the Marcomanni just like a monument of triumph. From there he attacked the very strong tribes of the Cherusci, Suebi, and Sugambri equally, who after crucifying twenty centurions, started the war with this sacrifice as it were, with their confidence in victory being so strong, that they divided the spoils by making a contract in advance. The Cherusci chose the horses, the Suebi gold and silver, and the Sigambri the captives; but the result turned out the opposite. Being the winner, Drusus divided their horses, livestocks, torques, and themselves as spoils and sold them.
Further on, he founded bases and camps everywhere along the rivers Maas, Elbe, and Weser. On the banks of the Rhine he would have ordered more than fifty camps. He joined Bonna and Gesoriacum by erecting a bridge and protected them with fleets. He opened the German forest which was hostile and inaccessible those times. In the end, there was such a peace in Germania that it seemed the people had changed, the land was different, the climate itself had become more mild and friendly than it used to be. In the end, the Senate themselves, though they had done never before, gave the bravest young man his epithet not out of flattery, but because of his merits, after he had died there.
But it is even more difficult to hold a province than to conquer it; by force they are obtained, by law they are retained. Therefore there was only a short period of bliss. Of course, the Germans were more losers than lords, and they were watching our customs more suspiciously than (they had watched) our arms in the days of general Drusus; after he had died, they started to hate Quinctilius Varus' arbitrariness and arrogance as much as his cruelty. He dared to call assemblies, enacted decrees carelessly, as if he could hem the savages' brutality by using a lictor's rod and a herald's voice. But those people who mourned over their swords since long covered with rust and their idle horses, as soon as they encountered robes or laws hardened by arms, they rose in arms headed by Arminius.
Since Varus meanwhile had such confidence in peace that he did not get worried, after the conspiracy was revealed to him by Segestes, being the only one among the rulers. Therefore they revolted on the spur of the moment, and while he was unprepared and did not fear anything alike, when he - O confidence! - hurried to a tribunal, they attacked him; they took the camps (and) massacred three legions. It is said that Varus surrendered to fate the same way as Paulus did at Cannae and followed in his spirit.
There is nothing more bloody than that murdering through the marshes and the forests, nothing more intolerable than the savages' blasphemy, especially against the patrons (judges/highly ranked officers) - some were blinded, others had their hands cut off, they sewed the mouth of one after cutting off his tongue, and the savage holding it in his hand, said: "Finally you stop hissing, you viper!" Even the body of the consul (Varus) was dug up again, whom the soldiers had buried piously.
The savages captured the standards and two eagles; the standard bearer tore off the third one, before he would fall into the hands of an enemy squad, fixed it to both sides of his holster (?) and carrying it, he submerged himself in a bloody bog. That defeat made sure that the Empire which had not come to a standstill by the shore of the ocean, came to a standstill at the shores of the Rhine.
Germaniam quoque utinam vincere tanti non putasset! Magis turpiter amissa est quam gloriose adquisita. Sed quatenus sciebat patrem suum C. Caesarem bis transvectum ponte Rhenum quaesisse bellum, in illius honorem concupierant facere provinciam; et factum erat, si barbari tam vitia nostra quam imperia ferre potuisset.
Missus in eam provinciam Drusus primos domuit Vsipetes, inde Tencteros percucurrit et Chattos Nam (Tum?) Marcomannorum spoliis et insignibus quendam editum tumulumin tropaei modum excoluit. Inde validissimas nationes Cheruscos Suebosque et Sicambros pariter adgressus est, qui viginti centurionibus in crucemactis hoc velut sacramento sumpserant bellum, adeo certa victoriae spe, ut praedam in antecessum pactione diviserint. Cherusci equos, Suebi aurumet argentum, Sicambri captivos elegarant; sed omnia retrorsum. Victor namque Drusus equos, pecora, torques eorum ipsosque praedam divisit et vendidit.
Praeterea in tutelam provinciae praesidia atque custodias ubique disposuit per Mosam flumen, per Albin, per Visurgim. In Rheni quidem ripa quinquaginta amplius castella dixerit. Bonam et Gesoriacum pontibus iunxitclassibusque firmavit. Invisum atque inaccessum in id tempus Hercynium saltum patefecit. Ea denique in Germania pax erat, ut mutati homines, aliaterra, caelum ipsum mitius molliusque solito videretur. Denique non per adulationem, sed ex meritis, defuncto ibi fortissimo iuvene, ipse, quod numquam alias, senatus cognomen ex provincia dedit.
Sed difficilius est provincias optinere quam facere; viribus parantur, iure retinerentur. Igitur breve id gaudium. Quippe Germani victi magis quamdomini erant, moresque nostros magis quam arma sub imperatore Druso suspiciebant; postquam ille defunctus est, Vari Quintili libidinem ac superbiam haud secus quam saevitiam odisse coeperunt. Ausus ille agere conventum, et incautus edixerat, quasi violentiam barbarum lictoris virgis et praeconis voce posset inhibere. At illi, qui iam pridem robigine obsitos enses inertesque maererent equos, ut primum togas et saeviora armis iura viderunt, duce Arminio arma corripuit (Dripuerunt?).
Cum interim tanta erat Varo pacis fiducia, ut ne prodita quidem per Segesten unum principum coniuratione commoveretur. Itaque improvidum et nihil tale metuentem ex improviso adorti, cum ille - o securitas! - ad tribunal citaret, undique invadunt; castra rapiuntur, tres legiones opprimuntur. Varus perditas res eodem quo Cannensem diem Paulus et fato est animo secutus.
Nihil illa caede per paludes perque silvas cruentius, nihil insultatione barbarum intolerantius, praecipue tamen in causarum patronos. Aliis oculos, aliis manus amputabant, unius os sutum, recisa prius lingua, quam in manu tenens barbarus "tandem" ait, "vipera, sibilare desisti." Ipsius quoque consulis corpus, quod militum pietas humi abdiderat, effossum.
Signa et aquilas duas adhuc barbari possident, tertiam signifer, prius quam in manus hostium veniret, evulsit mersamque intra baltei sui latebras gerens in cruenta paludesic latuit. Hac clade factum, ut imperium, quod in litore Oceani non steterat, in ripa Rheni fluminis staret.
(Special thanks to Iris Kammerer for the Latin text and her translation)
***
Fredegar 660 CE: Chronicle; see From Roman to Merovingian Gaul, edited and translated by Alexander Callander Murray 2000; ISBN 1551111020
Chapter 12
Fredegar on Frankish History
The Chronicle of Fredegar is a compilation of historical materials intended to provide an outline of history from Adam down to the author's own time. The work is anonymous; it is now traditional to call the author 'Fredegar', though the name was first used only in the sixteenth century and is not likely to be a sound attribution.
Authorship of the chronicle has been controversial, but for another reason than the name. Many scholars have thought that there was more than one Fredegar, that is that the Chronicle, as it now exists, was gradually compiled over time by multiple authors. This view is now difficult to maintain.
Fredegar used an early abridgment of the Histories of Gregory of Tours (in six books) that ended with the death of Chilperic. He also composed (c. 660) an original chronicle for the period from 584 to his own day.
8. [587] Goths converted from Aryanism (not heathenism) to Christianity: King Reccared
15. [595] In this year, the army of Childebert fought fiercely with the Warni (Thuringians), who had attempted to rebel, and the Warni were cut up and defeated so badly that very few of them were left.
18. [599] In this year, in the Thunersee, into which the Aar river flows, warm water boiled so vigorously that it cooked a great many fish.
24. [604] Since Brunhild wanted to exalt him (Protadius) with honors in return for his sexual attentions,
25. [604] Landeric and his army surrounded Orleans and called on Bertoald to come out and fight. Bertoald answered from the walls "If you will consider waiting for me and keeping the rest of your army in check some distance away, the two of us may meet in single combat to be judged by God." Landeric refused.
31. [607] It was God's will that this plan not be realized. (Christian power play or a continuation of old beliefs transferred to a new god?)
35. [608] At this time Theudebert was married to Bilichild, whom Brunhild had purchased from merchants. (slave, wife, queen)
36. (The issue from concubines were recognized politically but detested by the church).
37. [610] In those days, also, the Alamanni invaded the region of Avenches beyond the Jura. As they were plundering the district, Counts Abbelen and Herpin, along with other counts of the region, led an army to intercept them. Battle was joined at Wangen. The Alamanni defeated the Transjurans and cut down a large number of them. They set much of the district of Avenches on fire, led away great numbers of people as captives, and headed back home with their plunder. Following these outrages, Theuderic gave his constant attention to planning how he could crush Theudebert.
In this year, Bilichild was killed by Theudebert. He took as his wife a girl by the name of Theudechild.
38. [612] Theudebert came against him (Theuderic), along with Saxons, Thuringians, and other peoples he could gather from across the Rhine.
42. (There are several instances where a king 'receives' an infant at the baptismal font and thereafter shows him 'affection'. Godfather?)
45. (The Lombards paid yearly tribute to the Franks.)
48. [623] The story of Samo, a Frankish merchant, who became king of the Slavs and successfully fought the Huns for many years. He had 12 wives.
51. [623] The story of Queen Gundeberga, who was wrongfully accused and successfully defended by a champion in single combat that decided the 'truth' of the matter.
55. [627] ..the bishops and all the leading men of (Chlothar's) kingdom assembled at Clichy for the well being of the king's affairs and the good of the country. While they were assembled, a man by the name of Ermarius (a vassal of Charibert) was killed by the retainers of Aighyna, a magnate of Saxon stock. The slaughter of a great many men would have come of this, but was curbed in the nick of time due to the intervention and forbearance of Chlothar. At Chlothar's command, Aighyna retired to the mount of Mercury (Montmartre) with a good-sized body of fighting men. Brodulf, Charibert's maternal uncle, gathered an army from all around, intending along with Charibert to attack Aighyna. Chlothar gave a special commission to the Burgundaefarones to crush promptly and forcefully whichever party tried to ignore his judgment. The fear this inspired caused both sides to quiet down at the king's command.
59. [630] Speaking of Dagobert: He surrendered himself to boundless sensuality. Three of his women were special and acted as queens and a great many more were concubines.
68. [631] In this year, the Slavs called Wends killed Frankish merchants in Samo's kingdom, along with a host of others, and despoiled them of their property. This was the beginning of a quarrel between Dagobert and Samo.
Dagobert sent Sichar as an envoy to Samo, asking Samo to compensate fairly for the merchants his people had killed and the property they had wrongly seized. Samo did not want to see Sichar and did not allow him to come to him. Sichar dressed himself up like a Slav and along with his men got into the presence of Samo. He conveyed all of his instructions to Samo. But, as is the way with the heathen and those deformed by pride, Samo made no amends for the deeds committed by his people. He wanted only to fix a day in which justice could be rendered by both sides in regard to this dispute and others that had arisen between the parties.
Sichar, like a foolish envoy, used unsuitable language, which he had not been instructed to use, and threatened Samo. He said that Samo and the people of his kingdom owed service to Dagobert.
Now insulted, Samo replied, "The land we have is Dagobert's and we ourselves are too, provided he is determined to maintain friendship with us."
"It is not possible," said Sichar, "for Christians and servants of God to establish friendship with dogs."
Samo said in rebuttal, "If you are God's servants and we are his dogs, as long as you continue to act against him, we have received permission to bite you."
Sichar was ejected from Samo's presence.
72. [631] In this year, in the kingdom of the Avars, also called Huns, in Pannonia, a serious dispute arose. The matter at issue concerned who should succeed to the kingdom. The parties to the dispute were, on one side, an Avar and, on the other side, a Bulgar. Both sides gathered their forces and attacked one another. In the end, the Avars beat the Bulgars.
The defeated Bulgars, amounting to nine thousand men along with women and children, were driven out. They sought out Dagobert, asking him to allow them to live in the land of the Franks. Dagobert ordered the Bavarians to take them in for the winter, while he discussed with the Franks what was to be done with them. When they had been dispersed among the holdings of the Bavarians for the winter, Dagobert, with the advice of the Franks, ordered all the Bavarians with Bulgars on their holdings to kill them on a given night, including wives and children. The order was immediately carried out by the Bavarians. Nor did any of the Bulgars survive except Alcioc who was saved in the Wendish March along with seven hundred husbands, wives, and children. Afterwards he lived along with his people for many years with Walluc, duke of the Wends.
74. [632] Dagobert was informed that an army of Wends had invaded Thuringia. He advanced from the city of Metz with an army drawn from the kingdom of the Austrasians, crossed the Ardennes, and came to Mainz, determined to cross the Rhine.
The Saxons sent messengers to Dagobert asking him to concede to them the tribute they paid to the authorities of the fisc. The Saxons for their part pledged to apply their energies and abilities to opposing the Wends and promised to guard the frontier of the Franks in their direction. Dagobert granted the request. The Saxons who had come to make these proposals took oaths on behalf of all their people, swearing the oaths, as was their custom, on weapons clashed together. But the promise produced little of consequence. The tribute however, which the Saxons were accustomed to render, was granted to them by the command of Dagobert. What Dagobert gave up was the five hundred cows of inferenda, which had been assessed by Chlothar I, and which the Saxons used to render each year.
75. [633] At Samo's command, the Wends, having repeatedly crossed the frontier, invaded Thuringia and other districts in a furious rage to pillage the kingdom of the Franks.
78 [636] Aighyna, a Saxon duke, aided in the subjection of the Gascony.
82. Concerns the Goths relationship with their rulers.
83. [641] Justice: A few days before, Ermenfred, who had married Aega's daughter, killed count Chainulf in the village of Augers during a judicial hearing. For this offense, Chainulf's relations, and many other people, were given leave by Queen Nantechild to destroy Ermenfred's property.
87. [641] Concerns the Thuringian revolt led by the duke Radulf against the Frankish king Sigibert.
'gave one another their right hand as a pledge' 'this promise came to nothing'
***
Frigeridus, Renatus Profuturus: probably wrote in the middle years of the fifth century, but unfortunately nothing more is known of him. His work has only partly survived through the passages of the Historia Francorum by Gregory of Tours. From these quotes we know that Frigeridus' work contained at least 12 books, as he quotes from that book when describing the person of Aetius. The last quotes from Frigeridus mention the death of Valentinian III, in the spring of 455, which provides us with a date for the publication.
see: http://www.vortigernstudies.org.uk/artsou/friger.htm
Gregory of Tours, Historia Francorum, Book 2.9, quoting Frigeridus:
"The tyrant Constantine summoned his son Constans, who was also a tyrant [i.e. he was made Augustus by his father] from Spain, so that they might confer together about affairs of state. As a result, Constans left his wife and the administrative affairs of his court in Saragossa, entrusted all his interests in Spain to Gerontius and hurried to meet his father by forced marches. They duly met. Quite a few days passed, but no news arrived from Italy to disturb Constantine. He therefore returned to his daily round of over-drinking and over-eating, and told his son that he might as well go back to Spain. No sooner had Constans sent his troops on ahead, while he himself lingered a little longer with his father, than messengers arrived from Spain to say that Gerontius had proclaimed Maximus, one of his own dependants, as Emperor. Maximus was supported by a horde of troops collected from various barbarian tribes and he was ready for any contingency. Constans and the Prefect Decimus Rusticus, one-time Master of the Offices [of Honorius], were very frightened by this news. They sent Edobech to contain the people of Germania and they themselves set out for Gaul, with the Franks, the Alamanni and a whole band of Soldiery, intending to return to Constantine as soon as they could."
"Constantine had been beleaguered for about four months when messengers arrived all of a sudden from northern Gaul to announce that Jovinus had assumed the rank of Emperor and was about to attack the besieging forces with the Burgundes, the Alamanni, the Franks, the Alani and a large [Roman] army. Things then moved very quickly. The city gates were opened and Constantine came out. He was immediately packed off to Italy, but the Emperor [Honorius] sent a band of assassins to meet him and he was beheaded up on the river Mincio."
***
From Roman to Merovingian Gaul: A Reader, ISBN 1551111020
a collection of hard to find source materials.
***
Funeral of Scyld Scefing from Beowulf
online at: http://www.kami.demon.co.uk/gesithas/readings/readings.html
From the translation by Francis B. Gummere
Forth he fared at the fated moment,
sturdy Scyld to the shelter of God.
Then they bore him over to ocean's billow,
loving clansmen, as late he charged them,
while wielded words the winsome Scyld,
the leader beloved who long had ruled....
In the roadstead rocked a ring-dight vessel,
ice-flecked, outbound, atheling's barge:
there laid they down their darling lord
on the breast of the boat, the breaker-of-rings,
by the mast the mighty one. Many a treasure
fetched from far was freighted with him.
No ship have I known so nobly dight
with weapons of war and weeds of battle,
with breastplate and blade: on his bosom lay
a heaped hoard that hence should go
far o'er the flood with him floating away.
No less these loaded the lordly gifts,
thanes' huge treasure, than those had done
who in former time forth had sent him
sole on the seas, a suckling child.
High o'er his head they hoist the standard,
a gold-wove banner; let billows take him,
gave him to ocean. Grave were their spirits,
mournful their mood. No man is able
to say in sooth, no son of the halls,
no hero 'neath heaven, -- who harbored that freight!
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