Tribes, peoples and their leaders

[David Kiltz]

I'm mostly referring to Ualarauans excellent little exposé on the  
formation of Germanic (and Indo-European) "leader" names and the  
(original) meaning of *_kuningaz_:

> Isn't it *þeuðanaz (Go. thiudans, ON þjo:ðann, OE þeoden, OS thiodan
> etc.) which was the true PG name for "king" as the "head of a tribe
> (*þeuðô)"? It has a transparent IE word-forming pattern: "collective
> noun" + suffix –ano-/-ino- expressing more or less the meaning "head
> of ..." We have a number of Germanic terms shaped in this way:
> *druxtinaz (ON dro:ttinn, OE dryhten, OS druhtin, OHG truhtin
> etc.) "military leader", lit. "head of a *druxtiz (host of warriors,
> cf. Go. gadrauhts "warrior", lit. "member of the same *drauhts F.-i
> < *druxtiz)"; *kinðinaz (represented solely by Go. kindins, if it's
> not a Gothic new-making after the known pattern) "head of a *kinðiz"
> (< PIE *gentis, cf. Lat. gens; there must have been a Gothic word
> *kinds F.-i meaning "clan" or the like, as the Swedish examples
> cited by Ingemar show); *xarjanaz (ON Herjann, epithet of
> Odin), "head of a *xarjaz (army)"; and even *Wôðanaz himself,
> understood as "head of wôða- (if we take it as a collective noun
> meaning "the furious ones", in the sense of die Wilde Jagd, as Emile
> Benveniste suggested in his Vocabulary of the Indo-European
> Institutions). Outside Germania, we see Latin dominus ("head of
> domus, family house"), tribunus ("head of tribus") following the
> same model. A Germanic ethnonym rendered through a Celtic mediation
> was Teutoni ("kings"?). And we've got feminine Illyrian tautana in
> the sense "queen". Summing up, the word Go. thiudans is very very
> old in its reference to the leader of a tribe.
>
> Then, what about *kuningaz? It is formed from PG. *kunjan "kin"
> through adding the patronymic suffix –inga-, which is Germanic, not
> IE. The original meaning of *kuningaz must have been "descendant of
> a (noble) kin". That is, it didn't necessarily imply a sole person's
> leadership. It could have meant just "nobleman" in the beginning.
In this context, Tacitus chapter VII of his Germania) comes to mind:
"[Germani] Reges ex nobilitate, duces ex virtute sumunt". 'They  
choose their kings by birth, their generals for merit'. So, while  
there seems to have been some sort of inherited status, it apparently  
did not, originally, entail power or authority to rule, as a king  
would later in the middle ages. As Tacitus puts it:
"Nec regibus infinita aut libera potestas, et duces exemplo potius  
quam imperio, si prompti, si conspicui, si ante aciem agant,  
admiratione praesunt."
'These kings have not unlimited or arbitrary power, and the generals  
do more by example than by authority. If they are energetic, if they  
are conspicuous, if they fight in the front, they lead because they  
are admired.'

Formations on *_-i/anaz_ seem to refer to leaders (duces) of certain  
entities, such as *_xarjaz_ or *_theuðô_.
Now, what about the meaning of *_theuðô_ and *_xarjaz_? Judging from  
their Indo-European relatives authors such as Kim McCone and others  
have concluded we're dealing with two different groups here.  
Apparently, in Indo-European speaking societies of Europe, there were  
age-groups (a phenomenon well known around the world). According to  
those authors, the *_xarjaz_ consisted of young men, temporarily  
living outside or at the fringes of the tribal community. These  
'Jungmannschaften' would form bands of warriors and raid other  
territories.
They would also serve as a first line of defence in case of enemy  
incursions. A leader (dux) of such a band would be called a  
*_xarjanaz_. The _theuðô_ consisted of the older, married, settled  
members of a tribe. A wartime leader of that entity would be the  
*_theuðanaz_, possibly assuming command over the entire armed  
contingent of a 'tribe', if necessary. However, these were hardly  
permanent institutions.

While things become progressively more speculative here, we might see  
in the bifurcation (hereditary king - wartime leader) an olde  
inheritance from Indo-European times. It emerges e.g. from the Vedas,  
that there were peace chieftains and war chieftains (to use a North  
American term here). Typically (just as with North American Indians),  
the peace chieftain would administer the inner affairs in time of no  
or little conflict. His office was typically hereditary. In times of  
major conflict (relative to the size of such communities), military  
chieftains were chosen.

If we assume for a moment that the picture given above reflects, at  
least to some degree, the reality among Germanic tribes in the first  
few centuries AD, we might speculate that the Goths changed their  
leadership model to a permanent 'war chieftain' or _thiudans_. I.e.  
they adopted a slightly different model of governance. This seems to  
be confirmed, again, by Tacitus who writes: "Trans Lygios Gotones  
regnantur, paulo iam adductius quam ceterae Germanorum gentes, nondum  
tamen supra libertatem."
'Beyond the Lygians dwell the Gothones, under the rule of a King; and  
thence held in subjection somewhat stricter than the other German  
nations, yet not so strict as to extinguish all their liberty'. The  
Gothic _thiudans_ would thus seem to have acquired the status typical  
of a later, medieval 'king'. That process was later repeated in the  
West, but with the term *_kuningaz_/ king rising to prominence.

Lastly, _reiks_ (and its relatives) is probably an early loan from  
Celtic into Germanic. The word expressing a concept, possibly  
peculiar to a Celtic form of rule.

David Kiltz

P.S.
I'm sorry not to be able to give more precise references at the  
moment, as all my books are packed in cardboard boxes, ready to be  
moved...

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