Danes (Germanic tribe)

The Danes were a North Germanic tribe residing in what more or less comprise modern day Denmark during the Nordic Iron Age. They are mentioned in the 6th century in Jordanes' Getica, by Procopius, and by Gregory of Tours. The Danes spoke the Old Norse language which was called dǫnsk tunga and was shared by the Danes, the peoples in Norway and Sweden and later Iceland.[1]

In his description of Scandza, Jordanes says that the Dani were of the same stock as the Suetidi and expelled the Heruli and took their lands.[2]

According to the 12th century author Sven Aggesen, the mythical King Dan gave name to the Danes.

The Old English poems Widsith and Beowulf, as well as works by later Scandinavian writers—notably by Saxo Grammaticus (c. 1200)—provide some of the references to Danes.

Viking Age

Further information: Viking Age

During the Viking Age, the Danes were based on the Jutland Peninsula, the island of Zealand, and the southern part of present-day Sweden including Scania. In the early 11th century, King Canute the Great (died 1035) ruled Denmark, England and Norway as a single realm (North Sea Empire) for almost 20 years.

Dane law

Beginning about AD 800, the Danes began a long era of well organized raids across the coasts and rivers of Europe. Some of the raids were followed by a gradual succession of Danish settlers. In the British Isles, the Danes began settling England in 865, when brothers Halfdan Ragnarsson and Ivar the Boneless wintered in East Anglia. Halfdan and Ivar moved north and captured Northumbria in 867 and York as well. Danelaw - a special rule of law - was soon established in the settled areas and shaped the local cultures there for centuries. Cultural remains are still noticeable today.[3] The Danes invaded Ireland in 853 and were followed by Danish settlers who gradually assimilated with the local population and adopted Christianity.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Anderson, Carl Edlund. "The Danish Tongue and Scandinavian Identity" (PDF). p. 1. Retrieved 4 November 2013. Icelandic writers (who provide the bulk of our surviving documentation)commonly employed the term dǫnsk tunga (literally “Danish tongue”) to identify the language not just of those who were ruled by the Dana konungr, but of all Germanic-speaking Scandinavians.
  2. ↑ Jordanes. Mierow (1908), ed. Getica III (23).
  3. ↑ Flores Historiarum: Rogeri de Wendover, Chronica sive flores historiarum, p. 298-9. ed. H. Coxe, Rolls Series, 84 (4 vols, 1841-42)