<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 11"><meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 11"><link style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CRon%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtml1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml"><style>
<!--
/* Font Definitions */
@font-face
{font-family:SimSun;
panose-1:2 1 6 0 3 1 1 1 1 1;
mso-font-alt:宋体;
mso-font-charset:134;
mso-generic-font-family:auto;
mso-font-pitch:variable;
mso-font-signature:3 135135232 16 0 262145 0;}
@font-face
{font-family:"\@SimSun";
panose-1:2 1 6 0 3 1 1 1 1 1;
mso-font-charset:134;
mso-generic-font-family:auto;
mso-font-pitch:variable;
mso-font-signature:3 135135232 16 0 262145 0;}
/* Style Definitions */
p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal
{mso-style-parent:"";
margin:0in;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-fareast-font-family:SimSun;}
a:link, span.MsoHyperlink
{color:blue;
text-decoration:underline;
text-underline:single;}
a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed
{color:purple;
text-decoration:underline;
text-underline:single;}
span.hccdpe
{mso-style-name:hccdpe;}
span.ep8xu
{mso-style-name:ep8xu;}
span.ldacoc
{mso-style-name:ldacoc;}
span.yshortcuts
{mso-style-name:yshortcuts;}
@page Section1
{size:8.5in 11.0in;
margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in;
mso-header-margin:.5in;
mso-footer-margin:.5in;
mso-paper-source:0;}
div.Section1
{page:Section1;}
-->
</style>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" align="center"><span style="font-size: 11pt;" lang="PT-BR">===========================================</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" align="center"><span style="font-size: 11pt;" lang="PT-BR">L O W L A N
D S - L - 01 March 2009 - Volume 05</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" align="center"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">===========================================</span></p>
<p style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p>
<p style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">From: <span class="ep8xu"><span style="color: rgb(121, 6, 25);">Wolfram Antepohl</span></span><span class="hccdpe"> </span><span class="ldacoc"><<a href="mailto:wolfram@antepohl.se">wolfram@antepohl.se</a>></span></span></p>
<p style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Subject: <span class="hccdpe">LL-L "History" 2009.03.01 (03) [E]</span></span></p>
<p style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style=""> </span></span></p>
<p style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Dear
friends!</span></p>
<p style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">It is
amazing how much the discussion about Sweden and the Swedes has engaged
many on the list. At times, I really found it hard to keep quiet, but lack of
time kept me from getting involved in the discussion myself. As a LL-exile in Sweden, I found
the discussion both interesting and relevant - and sometimes slightly
provoking. During recent years, I have sensed a new interest for languages in
this country. You pointed out that several langauges recently were recognized
as "Minority languages" here in Sweden, but that Aelvdalecarlian,
Jamtish and Scanian were not among them. Nonetheless, my impression is that
people (and many of them young ones) have started to become interested even in
those kanguages again. Fredrik Lindström, a Swedish linguist and popular
journalist - Sweden's
Melvyn Bragg - may well be one of those responsible for the trend - with his TV
shows and books about Swedish and its dialects (and yes he also raised the
issuue of language vs dialect). Swedes in general also tend to be both
interested in and aware of Swedish history and its more complex aspects -
involving everything from "crusades" around the shores of the Baltic
Sea to the Thirty Years War and from the "Warrior King" Charles XII
to Sweden's role in WWII. Again, a number of popular authors have contributed
greatly to this current awareness (Dick Harrisson, Peter Englund, Niclas
Sennerteg, Jan Guillou). </span></p>
<p style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p>
<p style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">As for the
Wulfingas, who may be the ones "responsible" for the creation of the
original Beowulf-poem, several scholars conisder them to originate from
"Östergötland" (Eastern Geatland or Eastern
Gothland or maybe Geats and Goths have the same origin), the
province I live in. A manor house close to Linköping where I live is known by
the name of "Ulvåsa" (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ulv%C3%A5sa%29" target="_blank">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ulv%C3%A5sa)</a>,
one of the many traces of a presumed wolf-clan (Ulvsätten) with potential
connections to both Beowulf and the Wulfingas.</span></p>
<p style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p>
<p style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">There was
also some input concerning the "Varangar" - the Swedish Vikings who
moved eastward. I found the possible connection between "Varangar"
and the Arab word for crucaders "Farangi" very interesting. An
amalgamatin of the cocepts for Franks and Vikings seems pretty reasonable ...</span></p>
<p style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p>
<p style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Finnally, a
little about LL-influence on Swedish, Sweden and the Swedes. A quotation
from Wikipedia to start with: "With the rise of Hanseatic power in the
late 13th and early 14th century, the influence of Middle Low German became
ever more present. The Hanseatic league
provided Swedish commerce and administration with a large number of German- and
Dutch-speaking immigrants. Many became quite influential members of Swedish
medieval society, and brought terms from their mother tongue into the
vocabulary. Besides a great number of loanwords for such areas as warfare,
trade and administration; general grammatical suffixes and even conjunctions
were imported. Almost all of the naval terms were also borrowed from
Dutch". Modern Swedish is considered to have borrowed about half of its vocabulary
and many gramatical features from LS. In practice, many medieval cities in Sweden were
actually more Low Saxon than Swedish. In order to guarantee the Swedish
minority at least som influence in the city councils, a law was passed that
required at least one (of two) mayor to be Swedish ... In the local museum here
in Östergötland, an exhibition illustrates the presumed "sound" of a
medieval market place in Söderköping - a major trade town during the middle
ages - by creating a background mumble that is entirely German. Unfortunately
it is modern High German and I am tempted to convince them to change that to
Middle Low Saxon ... </span></p>
<p style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p>
<p style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt;" lang="DA">God afton och god natt!</span></p>
<p style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt;" lang="DA"> </span></p>
<p style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Wolfram</span></p>
<p style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p>
<p style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">----------<br>
<br>
From: R. F. Hahn <<a href="mailto:sassisch@yahoo.com" target="_blank"><span class="yshortcuts">sassisch@yahoo.com</span></a>> <br>
Subject: History<br>
<br>
Dear Wolfram,<br>
<br>
Thank you very, very much for those informative notes on Sweden and Swedes in
history.<br>
<br>
I am pleased to know that the issue of indigenous Germanic languages vs
dialects is being discussed in Sweden
now. It should not surprise us, considering a general trend toward
open-mindedness and forward thinking in Sweden and the rest of the Nordic
Countries. They have always been my champions of balancing innovation with
conservation. And, as I said earlier, no country has an angelic past,
acceptance of which leads to a better future.<br>
<br>
You wrote about regulations limiting “German” representation in medieval Swedish
cities’ administrations. Apparently the same happened in Norway at the time where “German” representation
on councils had to be below 50%. I understand that this was more because of merchants' wealth
and influence than one of demographic proportions.<br>
<br>
Unfortunately, as you demonstrated in the case of the museum, most
Scandinavians today believe that the medieval “German” immigrants spoke
ancestral versions of German. I urge you and others to help dispel this myth.
Speakers of Balto-Finnic got it right; they referred to them as the Saxons
(Finnish <i>saksalaiset</i>, Estonian<i> sakslased</i>) those folks considered
themselves to be, and later this became words for Germans in general when the
Saxon parts were gobbled up by Germany.<br>
<br>
Thanks again, Wolfram.<br>
<br>
Regards,<br>
Reinhard/Ron<br>
Seattle, USA</span></p>
<p>
==============================END===================================
<p>
* Please submit postings to lowlands-l@listserv.linguistlist.org.
<p>
* Postings will be displayed unedited in digest form.
<p>
* Please display only the relevant parts of quotes in your replies.
<p>
* Commands for automated functions (including "signoff lowlands-l")
<p>
are to be sent to listserv@listserv.linguistlist.org or at
<p>
http://linguistlist.org/subscribing/sub-lowlands-l.html.
<p>
*********************************************************************