As we already know most of the readers of this blog are Europeans living in the New World, in the land with the Latinized Scandinavian name America, from Heimrik (“Powerful Home”). Your forebears left geographical Europe, for different reasons, and left you living in a land with not much history.
Europe on the other hand has much history, but as we can expect; much of what we think we know about history is not even close to being true. Alas! Some even claim that everything we think we know about history is false.
What we think we know about history though tells us that France used to be a very important country in Europe ever since Antiquity, and remained a very important country ever since.
If you look at an old map of what is today France you will see the same names that they still use in France today: Paris is named after a tribe called (by the Romans, I guess) Parisii, who participated in the Vercingetorix-lead uprising against the international Romans in 52 BC. The region where I used to live before, Auvergne, is named after Vercingetorix’ own tribe, the Arverni. The region where I live today, Limousin, is – just like the region’s capital, Limoges – named after a tribe known as Lemovici. About 10.000 Lemovician warriors are said to have fought against the Romans in the Battle of Alesia. Gaul fell that day, in 52 BC, and became a Roman province, but the population remained largely the same.
In the West of Gaul large numbers of Welshmen fled to Brittany during the so-called Anglo-Saxon invasions of the British Isles in the 5th century, but racially and culturally they were probably close to identical to the Gaulls already living there, so it didn’t change much. Many claim they even spoke the same language as well. The population remained Gallic.
The Scandinavian Franks conquerred most of Gaul in the 6th century, and established the kingdom that we today know as France, and – again – the population remained largely the same. Only the nobility in France was really Scandinavian. The rest of the population remained mainly Gallic.
In the so-called Viking Age large numbers of Danes and also some Norwegians were invited by the French king to settle in (what is because of that today known as) Normandie, to protect France from the attacks of other Danes and Norwegians. They were, like Scandinavians usually are, easily assimilated, by the Gallic native population, and became Frenchmen in about one generation. It made the Normands a bit fairer than the other Frenchmen, but it didn’t really change much.
France (i. e. the French population) today is made up of a few Scandinavian nobles, a few descendants of the Romans, but first of all Gauls.
So who were the Gauls?
The Roman historian Ammianus Marcellinus said this about the Gauls:
“Nearly all the Gauls are of a lofty stature, fair and ruddy complexion: terrible from the sternness of their eyes, very quarrelsome, and of great pride and insolence. A whole troup of foreigners would not be able to withstand a single Gaul if he called his wife to his assistance who is usually very strong and with blue eyes...”
Like other European peoples the Gauls produced magnificent art, had advanced medicine – including surgery and herbal medicine – and enjoyed a healthy life in harmony with (also their own) nature. They were of course so-called Pagans, i. e. Europeans in mind, body and spirit!
Examples of Gallic Art
The mail shirt is a Gallic invention that remained in wide use until the late Middle Ages; in other words for thousands of years!
This is the Gaul I moved to in 2010. Behind all the more modern and alien influence poisoning Gaul today, the real Gaul is still alive. The values, the ideas and most importantly; the people itself are all alive! The revolution of 1789 changes the surface, but underneath Gaul is still and will still remain Gaul.
Any growth without strong roots can easily be uprooted and cast aside. Just like that. Even if it is poisonous. Even if it is parasitical. Just uproot the growth and throw it in the bin, where it belongs. Problem solved.
HailaR WôðanaR!
