say something about ... yourself!

[Dead Winter]

The dark complected skin I would assume is basically due to quite literally having a tan for five months out of the year due to being unable to escape the sun, then passing that on for hundreds and hundreds of years. You also have to remember, John, that the earth tilts on an axis and that the top of said axis leans towards the sun in the summer months. When I was in Alaska, the temperature never got above 85-90 in the summer months in Anchorage (which is in the southern part of Alaska along the coast and is warmer than Canada), but staying out in it for just a couple of hours would give you a serious sunburn. There was nearly zero humidity and the weather was perfect and so comfortable, but you had to be more careful there than in a tropical place due to being quite literally closer to the sun.

Now, travel straight north to Cold Bay, Alaska along the northern shore where they have months of endless sunlight and in some places the snow never melts (which is the equivalent to northern Finland, Sweden, Norway, and Russia), and expose yourself to constant sunlight for literally months on end. Eskimos and Saami/Lapplanders are practically cousins.

 

[Det Som Engang Var]

I see! Thanks for explaining that, makes sense now!

Also, I was using Mongoloid in the other sense

"Mongoloid[1] is a term sometimes used by forensic anthropologists and physical anthropologists to refer to populations that share certain phenotypic traits such as epicanthic fold and shovel-shaped incisors and other physical traits common in East Asia, Southeast Asia, the Americas and the Arctic."

 

[derek]

Yep, 'twas clear to me, Johnny boy!

 

[Liverslapper]

you said boy....and Johnny.

 

[Det Som Engang Var]

I wish there was a Norwegian here, I have so many questions.

-Is it true a Big Mac meal cost $15? Holy shit.
-Why the fuck does Norwegian have so many similar words to English?

 

[derek]

I can answer those questions:

Norway is expensive to visit. I paid 3 to 4 times more for a bottle of cola than I ever have anywhere else.

Norwegian and English both come from the same language group (Indo-European -> Germanic). The Germanic languages feature lots of similarities. English has been affected a bit more by the romance languages (French in particular) but they still have the same roots, ergo many similar words.

 

[El Stormo]

Norwegian and English both come from the same language group (Indo-European -> Germanic). The Germanic languages feature lots of similarities.

In fact, if you compare my language, Norwegian, and Old English, they're almost the same.

I can read most of Norwegian even though I've never learned the language.

 

[Det Som Engang Var]

Norwegian is similar to Old English?

What were they speaking around 1000 AD?

 

[El Stormo]

Norwegian is similar to Old English?

What were they speaking around 1000 AD?

Old English. If you read Beowulf, it's practically Flemish.

 

[Det Som Engang Var]

Why were they speaking Old English? Why not something more similar to German or Danish?

 

[El Stormo]

Why were they speaking Old English? Why not something more similar to German or Danish?

... because they lived in England and not Germany or Danmark?

 

[Det Som Engang Var]

I mean Norwegians. Why did they speak Old English?

 

[Mr.Sister]

They didn't speak Old English, they spoke an old Germanic Language like Old English. Old English is very close to German.

 

[Det Som Engang Var]

Ok, that's what I thought, thanks.

Last thing is, why were Germans considered celtic? Why aren't they Norse if they have the same gods and a similar language?

 

[Mr.Sister]

Germans aren't celtic and not norse. It's the other way around. Celtics and norse are both german.
The term "German" was used by the Romans to describe all tribes in the north of the empire, so also all norse and some celtic tribes. Today "German" or better "Germanic" tribes are defined by the language they used, and norse and celtics both spoke a Germanic language, before especially the celtic tribes in France got latinized by the Roman Empire.
Germany was for most of the history an undefined area of many different tribes, that's why we needed so long to become one nation, and why Germany has so many different names in different languages. e.g.: English: Germany, the tribe of the Germans. French: Allemagne, the tribe of the Alemanni. German: Deutschland (once Teutschland), the tribe of the teutones. So it's difficult to give a definition of which tribe is really a German one and which not, since everyone of 'em had a different historical evolution, especially the celtics.

 

[derek]

Yep, a lot of it comes to down labels. It's part of the season it can be a bit confusing. Something which adds to the confusion was the mass immigration to other parts of the European continent that these large tribal groups were prone to.

 

[El Stormo]

They didn't speak Old English, they spoke an old Germanic Language like Old English. Old English is very close to German.

Right. Because Beowulf wasn't written in Old English?

 

[Dead Winter]

This is exactly why I love living in Europe. I'm gonna take a 2 hour flight in any direction for 50 bucks and wherever I land, people will have a different culture, language, and history.

 

[Mr.Sister]

Right. Because Beowulf wasn't written in Old English?

Of course it's written in Old English. It's an english poem.

 

[Det Som Engang Var]

I see, thanks Mr.Sister.

This is exactly why I love living in Europe. I'm gonna take a 2 hour flight in any direction for 50 bucks and wherever I land, people will have a different culture, language, and history.

I envy you so much...

I'll get out of America if it kills me.