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The three native peoples inhabiting the 500-kilometre-long Wadden Sea coast since the Early Middle Ages are the Jutes, the Frisians, and the Saxons. This blog post focuses on the latter, the Saxons. These were adventurous types who often lived off piracy. Many migrated from the Weser–Elbe Triangle to Frisia and on to England after the fall of the Western Roman Empire, where they also left something of a mark. However, not all of them left their Stedt. North of the River Elbe

The temperament of the 东弗里斯兰人 (Ostfriesen or East Frisians) knows neither highs nor lows. Emotions are rarely expressed openly. Ideally, when looking out the window, they prefer to see a lightly overcast, grey, and treeless landscape—no spectacle, no fuss. Perhaps a bit dull to outsiders, but to the Ostfriesen it feels wonderfully stable. They themselves are equally restrained in their habits: at most a glass of Küm or Korn in the evening and a shrimp sandwich on the weekend.

Imagine a time unlike ours. When there were no engines, amplifiers, and speakers, and the sounds you heard were made by the actions of men, beasts, or the elements of nature. Be quiet and listen. Can you hear the chatter of children and vendors, and the hooves of horses on the streets? Can you hear the loose sails of docked ships flapping, drying in the wind? A time when communities, villages, and towns were of manageable size. This soundscape was a world where the sound of t

On 28 August 1944, a desperate Hitler ordered the construction of a massive defensive line in northern Germany, stretching from the Netherlands to Denmark. Intended as a safeguard in case the Allies opened a fourth front, it followed the model of the Atlantikwall and was named der Friesenwall. The name also reflected the twisted Nazi myth of the so-called strong Frisians of pure Aryan descent. The wall, planned to run roughly 240 kilometers, was never completed. After just fo

The much-celebrated Frisian Freedom refers to the period roughly between 1250 and 1500, when the Frisian terrae ('lands')—bearing beautiful, exotic names like Drechterland, Vier Noorder Koggen, Westergo, Oostergo, Humsterland, Hunsingo, Fivelingo, Rheiderland, Emsingo, Federgo, Norderland, Harlingerland, Wangerland, Östringen, Rüstringen, Wursten, and Butjadingen—were small, self-governing communities. A chain of so-called marsh republics stretched along the Wadden Sea coast

There are theories suggesting that the tribal name 'Frisians' originates from the Old Frisian word frisle , meaning ‘lock of hair’—a term that may itself derive from Latin (Van Renswoude 2012). Compare, for instance, the French verb friser , meaning ‘to curl’. While this etymology is incorrect—the true origin relates more to hauling earth and manure (see our blog post A Severe Case of Inattentional Blindness: The Frisian Tribe’s Name )—it is still intriguing how many early-me

Man-made hills to dwell upon. Long thought of as typically Frisian, but they are anything but unique. Consider the Kincaid Mounds of the Mississippian people along the Cumberland and Mississippi rivers in the United States. Or the lomas (‘hills’) deep in Bolivia’s Beni district, raised above the Amazon’s seasonal floodwaters to provide ground for living and farming. Think too of the chinampas, the ingenious ‘floating gardens’ of the Aztec in Central America. And closer to our

Like everywhere along the Wadden Sea shores in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, the small republics of the tidal marshlands fought battle after battle against foreign aggressors seeking to subdue them. Counts, bishops, and cities alike tried to lay their hands on these fertile and strategically located lands. And if the threat was not from outside, it came from local headmen striving to establish dominion over a republic. The region of Butjadingen und Stadland, at the

When re-enactors bring early-medieval Frisia to life, they are often seen wearing a small iron hammer on a leather cord around their neck—symbolizing Mjölnir, the mighty weapon of the Norse god Thor. We regret to inform them that Mjölnir was not at all fashionable along the southern shores of the North Sea—not on either side of the Southern Bight. Instead, it was Huginn and Muninn who were the true pop idols. These names belonged to the two black ravens of Odin, another Norse

It is at the inn The Prancing Pony in the village of Bree that the Hobbits find refuge from the screeching Nazgûl on their coal-black horses. It is also here that they encounter Strider, the mysterious wanderer who is later revealed to be Aragorn—future king of the Reunited Kingdom. Horses, wanderers, fugitive royalty, shifting alliances, the forging of armies, and the rise of kings—these are also the hallmarks of the epic North Sea saga of Hengist and Horsa. A tale set 1,600

The fate of tribes and their names in the age of the Great Migration, between the fourth and sixth centuries, was anything but certain. Most simply disappeared. Celtic and Germanic peoples alike faded from the stage of history—some crushed by alliances of stronger tribes, others absorbed into new tribes, and still others vanishing without a trace, leaving us to wonder what became of them. The Frisians were the exception: their name endured, miraculously, for 2,000 years, and

What is the use of celebrating only the battles you have won? Feeling proud and superior as a nation over others, with the differences emphasized in the process. Why not follow the example of the Scots? Every year, they commemorate their defeat at the Battle of Culloden on April 16, 1746—fought between the Jacobite Army and the British Army. An estimated 1,350 soldiers died that day. Women, children, and (elderly) men from nearby villages are not included in that count, as th

Katniss Everdeen, portrayed by American actress Jennifer Lawrence, is both a survivor and victor of The Hunger Games . She comes from District 12, the impoverished mining region of the country called Panem. In fact, Katniss was never meant to be a tribute in the games. Her younger sister was originally chosen, but Katniss volunteered to take her place. Each year, twenty-four residents—known as tributes—were selected by lottery from the twelve districts of Panem to fight to th

For many turbulent centuries, the town of Stavoren was a tightrope walker before it finally settled as a small harbour at the Lake IJsselmeer. Living in retirement from well-to-do owners of white yachts, sailing boats, and other pleasure vessels. Now it looks back on when Saint Odulf arrived in the ninth century to convert the Frisians, and where one of Frisia’s most illustrious monasteries drowned in the sea. How the town rose to be a renowned trading port and received the o

lighthouse Kleine Preuße 'little Prussian' at the marsh near Wremem, Land Wursten Near a terp called Fallward, close to the village of Wremen in the region of Land Wursten, archaeologists uncovered a remarkable site that opens a rare window onto life during the Migration Period—the world of the so-called ‘Old Saxons’ who once inhabited the tidal marshes of the Wadden Sea at the mouth of the River Weser. Excavations at the Fallward terp revealed two burial grounds dating from

Despite the fact that some Frisian forenames still find their way into modern name-giving, like Bente, Dirk, Doutzen, Eske, Femke/Famke, Fenna, Finn, Froukje, Gemma, Hauk, Hiske, Jildou, Jitske, Sjoerd, Tammo, Treintje, Ubbo, etc., on the whole, authentic Frisian names are losing ground. It is a shame because the name-giving culture of Frisia is actually extremely rich. In this blog post, we present a random collection of 179 Frisian forenames—and many more variants thereof—t

Carving runes into combs and stones is basically the same as spraying tags on subway cars and bicycle tunnels, including the Bansky Tunnel (see featured image above) in London. Those who create runes or graffiti are called writers. More precisely, rune writers and graffiti writers. The word graffiti stems from the Italian word graffio, which means 'scratch' and invented in the context of the Pompeii excavations. That is why we speak of runic graphs. Just as graffiti pieces ar

Beauty is the best guarantee for quality and success. At least, this is how farmers in the province of Friesland thought of dairy cattle for (too) long. The better the exterieur ‘exterior’ of a cow, the better its milk yield. Velvety hide, size, expressive head, straight back, strong legs, sharply defined black and white spotted markings, fine horns, clear teats, etc. All features considered signs of good productive cattle. Even when evidence was piling up that the black-pied

To understand the ‘greatness’ of Great Pier, we decided to look into his ‘achievements’. As a freedom fighter (or pirate, if you like) his core business was to ransack ships and towns. If you listen or read about the places Great Pier sacked the area and number are quite impressive. Considering Great Pier was only active for some four years, his ‘productivity’ is huge or deceiving. To name a few examples of anecdotal places Great Pier ‘paid a visit’. Recently, a friend inform

In our recent blog post Barbarians Riding to the Capital to Claim Rights on Farmland , we recounted the famous story of the two Frisian kings who travelled to Rome 2,000 years ago to seek an audience with Emperor Nero. In this blog post, the roles are reversed. Nearly two centuries ago, a delegate from Rome journeyed to the barbarians in the north to parley with their king in the city of The Hague. “ Je suis Frison, et je suis plus têtu que vous! ” (I am Frisian, and I am mor