Sub-Roman Britain (Cavalry etc)

[Alanus]

The old Brut used by Nennius even claimed the Britons descended from "Alanus, the first man in Europe."

"Meaning pre Germanic invasions...i.e Celtic or is Alan(us) a common Indo European root?"

Back to Conal and Dashydog,

It's probably a little late to define "Alanus,the first man in Europe." My thoughts are this: The Celts and Alans (and possibly the Taifali) may have been parallel cultures arising from an older one, aka the Indo-European "Homeland" somewhere between the northern coast of the Black Sea and Caspia. Thus "Alanus" may have been the progenitor, the first recorded man of the old tribe.

Interesting about the "rock." The Alans had a sacred location, White Mountain, now unknown. But this may have been the "rock," the place where they worshiped the progenitor. Or any artifical mound or "mundus" could take its place during migration. (This ritual was passed on to the Tyrfingi Goths) The proto-Celts could not haved been that far distant-- in the 7th century BC, they were living in Rumania and the Carpatians. The two cultures used chariots/spoked-wheels and chainmail; and both were oft led into battle by queens. This is not seen in other cultures, albeit the spoked wheel was certainly borrowed.

Nennius used two copies of the Brut, which he called "the ancient books of our ancestors" (Nennius, III, 17). He was accessing the very root of tribal memory. And coincidentally, this gives some credence to Geoffrey of Monmouth's statement about his own use of an "ancient book in the British tongue."

If my theory is correct, then the British Celts (and Armorican Brits) were not so distant culturally from the Alans, both having the probable same progenitor. Other cultural likenesses between these two tribes existed: they weaved similar tweeds, spoke similar languages, worshiped water fairies, venerated the stag, and produced women warriors. Hard to find other cultures, such as the Germans, Romans, Greeks, etc. that had the same affinities.

Personally I agree with Herwig Wolfram-- the Taifali were Sarmatians, probably an Alanic subtribe that attached itself to the Tryfingi at an early date, and thus gave that branch of the Goths the practice of sword worship. :wink:

I think the name "Alan" arrived in Scotland through the Fitzalans who came over with William the Bastard. Somebody brought it at a late date, and I got stuck with it. :lol: