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In the year 516, King Hygelac of the Geats, a tribe in, probably, the southeast of Sweden, raided Frisia. Back then, this part of the Netherlands was an impenetrable land with big rivers, little streams, swamps, peat bogs, and damp forests covered with moss and mould. Hygelac's expedition into Frisia was less fortunate, as he was killed and not one of the other Geatish raiders made it home with booty. From the Old English epic poem Beowulf , we know that King Hygelac was wear

Who has not dined at least once in an '80s Chinese restaurant that carried the name 万里长城 ('Great Wall of China')? Certainly, you have been at least once at one of these restaurants for take-away, with the white plastic boxes wrapped in paper sheets, with prawn crackers and a small cup of sambal sauce ('chili paste'). Oh yes, you have! Part of the interior is, of course, an aquarium with big orange and white goldfish, and a relief painting of the magnificent wall, gliding lik

The monk Ecgberht of Ripon was the driving force behind the Christianization of the defiant heathens of Frisia. From the influential monastery of Rath Melsigi in Ireland, he launched wave after wave of monks, priests, and other clergy toward the Frisian coast. Among his spiritual soldiers were the monks Willibrord and Adalbert. After receiving their education at Rath Melsigi, both were fired off as well, and landed on the windswept beaches of Frisia. Their spiritual D-Day was

At the intersection of land and sea—where it is hard to tell where one ends and the other begins—life is harsh. The corrosive salt of the sea is ruinous to most land species, which explains the formerly near-treeless, flat, and monotonous mudflats and tidal marshlands of Frisia. Conversely, most aquatic life cannot handle a sea that turns into land twice a day. Only the strangest of species can survive in this barren twilight zone. The same goes for the peculiar-looking human

In this blog post, we will argue that the Frisian lands might just as well be called the United Frisian Emirates. Granted, there are a few superficial differences with the modern United Arab Emirates. The Emiratis have camels and goats; the Frisians have cows and sheep. Their climate is hot and dry; the Frisians’ is wet and cold—for now. With global warming, palm trees may soon line the long dykes of the Wadden Sea and turn its barrier islands into Maldivian-style retreats. A

It was a Yankee by the name of Mary Mapes Dodge who wrote ‘Hans Brinker, or The Silver Skates: A Story of Life in Holland’. The book was published in New York in 1865. It is about poor, 15-year-old Hans and his sister, Gretel. Gretel wins the Silver Skates, the prize for winning an ice skating race. After that, everything turns out for the best, and the Brinkers are one big happy family. The book also contains the story of the Hero of Haarlem. It is the world-famous story of

We retrace our steps to the sixteenth century, a time when the potato was still an exotic newcomer. Today, children grow up on pasta,...

In the series Myths of Nations, we disclose to you this time that the Frisians, in fact, didn't come from India, as the old legends tell us. A bummer, we know. And, what's proven yet again in this post, we should listen more often to Led Zeppelin. In particular, to their Immigrant Song. Install yourself, click this link to listen to Robert Plant’s whining and crying voice, and, above all, read about the nonsense and truth behind the origin of nation myths. We come from the l

With the upcoming seasonal festivities at the end of the year, it is appropriate to serve you a flavourful cocktail. It is a cocktail from the list 'Myths of Nations', namely the 'Frisians Cocktail'. Its recipe is not as old as some people thought it was, or would like it to be, but it is still quite a reasonable drink to serve before, during, and after Christmas dinners, or as an aperitif on New Year's Eve! What the heck, on every Sunday morning with strawberries for breakfa

How to settle the scores in medieval Frisia when you killed someone: the function of a weregeld.

This blog is a virtual hike. Grab a coffee and go 200 kilometers per hour. When ploughing through piles of research on where the Frisians roamed, we stumbled upon interesting Frisian place names. A few weeks ago we, the two Frisian bastards, took another hike. We walked a track of 31 km along the river Vecht . In the early medieval times this river was the most important water highway between Dorestad and Scandinavia. In this period mostly Vikings and Frisian traders roamed

Liudger succeeded where other evangelists failed. He finally managed to convert the pagan Frisians to Christianity, because he “spoke their language”. Did he really? A very thorough study from Hinne Wagenaar reveals quite a startling truth about this Frisian apostle. Some time ago I stumbled upon an article from Hinne Wagenaar, called " Liudger, apostle of the Frisians ". A question in Cameroon sparked his interest in this Frisian apostle. As a professor in theology he was

Nordfriesland, or North Frisia, forms the western coastal and island zone of the cultural region of Schleswig. Extending from the Danish town of Tønder in the north to the River Eider in the south, it consists of a broad maritime strip together with fifteen offshore islands and Halligen , or Hallig islands. It is here that a distinctive bonfire celebration takes place every year on 21 February. Much speculation surrounds the (pagan) origins of these large communal fires and t

September 2018, one of the Frisian bastards hiked the Grande Randonnée 20 in Corsica. Or, as the French say, la GR-vingt . The GR20 is considered Europe’s toughest long-distance trail. And one of the most dangerous, as it turned out. The bastard wanted to experience the similarities of hiking trails that cover territories of Europe’s autochthonous minorities. In this case, comparing the GR20 on Corsica territory with that of the Frisia Coast Trail. And, like hiking the FCT,

Here are some maps that help you locate the Frisians in the early Middle Ages (500-800 AD). We combined old maps, archaeological finds, old scriptures and historical research. In our previous blog post we pinpointed several locations where the 5 Frisian kings set foot. In this blog post we focus on the Frisian territories of those kings. Here we go. When you look for maps to locate the Frisian territories around 500 and 800 AD you will often bump into the Magna Frisia map.