I heard the term Barbarian the other day. Well, of course, I got to thinking about that. I actually hadn\u2019t heard the word for some time, but I think I\u2019ve heard it most, if not all, my life.\u00a0
The dictionary defines barbarian as:
1. of or relating to a land, culture, or people alien and usually believed to be inferior to another land, culture or people.
2. lacking refinement, learning. or artistic or literary culture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When the Roman Empire fell (in the fifth century) the entire empire was overrun by barbarians. Some historians say that Rome was on the verge of falling anyway, even before the barbarians moved in, but the barbarians got the credit\/blame.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The original Greek word was applied to strangers who didn\u2019t speak Greek. The word supposedly imitates what the unintelligible foreigners sounded like \u2014 \u201cbar-bar-bar\u201d (kind of like \u201cblah, blah, blah\u201d.) If that\u2019s true, I guess every non-Greek civilization is barbarian. But \u2014 are barbarians more violent than their civilized neighbors? The Romans made their reputation sacking cities, beheading enemies, and sometimes slaughtering children. They made public entertainment out of killing Christians, Jews and slaves in all sort of imaginative ways. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
When pagan tribes began to invade the Roman Empire, some of them settled in and became part of the community. They brought fresh ideas, flexibility, tools, and skills with them, and passed them on to the new civilizations that followed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A little extensive research came up with some of the nice<\/em> things that were passed along from \u201cbarbarians.\u201d Most people would have trouble staying on a charging horse \u2014 much less wielding a weapon \u2014 without a saddle or stirrups. Barbarian warriors brought both of those to Europe. In fact, it\u2019s said that invading Goths beat the Roman infantry because Goth horseman had stirrups. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Saint Bede the Venerable, an eighth century theologian and historian, wrote that Easter has its roots in the pagan Anglo-Saxon spring equinox festival, around March 20-21. The spring festival was called Eostre after a goddess of spring and of beauty. The barbarian practice of coloring eggs, and their respect for rabbits (both revered as fertility images) were also incorporated into the Christian celebration. An interesting sidebar\u2026. Bede the Venerable is the one that got everybody started dating events B.C and A. D. \u2014 before and after the year he mistakenly thought Jesus was born. (Maybe another good topic for this blog\u2026..)<\/p>\n\n\n\n May Day celebrations is something else that came from barbarian rites. Dancing around a gaily decorated maypole was originally intended to encourage fertility in crops and animals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Winter solstice was celebrated by tribal people in December. Solstice festivals honored vegetation gods, and included decorating with greenery, fir trees, and mistletoe, which symbolized fertility and long life. Northern tribes came up with the Yule log, feasts featuring a boar\u2019s head or ham \u2014 and \u2014 the exchange of gifts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Even today\u2019s Santa Claus is loosely based on the chief Norse god Odin, who was said to ride all around the world every winter giving out gifts and punishments. Odin was especially generous to children who put out treats for his eight-legged horse, Slepnir. <\/p>\n\n\n\n So barbarians kind\u00a0 of get a bad rap, but they probably weren\u2019t such a bad bunch after all. Although maybe an eight-legged horse doesn\u2019t have the same charm as a reindeer with a red nose\u2026.. I heard the term Barbarian the other day. Well, of course, I got to thinking about that. I actually hadn\u2019t heard the word for some time, but I think I\u2019ve heard it most, if not all, my life.\u00a0The dictionary defines … Continue reading
The Germanic tribes were farmers, and in some locations they revolutionized agriculture. They knew how to build a plow that worked better than those used in the heavy soil of northern Britain. That allowed land that formerly had to be plowed twice to be tilled much deeper and much faster. Those invaders soon became lords of great estates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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