Cladius started building roads through the Alps to the Donau border 49AC. He deported the Norician leaders, a Celtic people also called Hades. The inhabitants of Noreia, Teurnia and several other cities were deported 41-50AC. The Romans did they same in the province of Raetia (Modern Switzerland).
Dio Cassius wrote ca. 200AC about the history of the Roman Empire:
- Raetia had a large population of men who could fight and carry weapons, so the majority of military aged men had to be deported in order to make the area safer to travel through. Large areas were empty of people after the deportations. Cassius does not tell anything about were these people were sent, but those who were too old for military service, were used as slaves. (12). It is likely that they were sent where the Romans needed them the most.
THE EINANG STONE
Einangsteinen is a stone located in Slidre, Valdres (Norway). It’s got an inscription on it, written like this (translated into the latin letters):
DAGARTHARRUNOFAIHIDO
The Raetians and the Venetians used almost the same alphabet, but they used different languages. The Venetians started using points in between the words to seperate them. The Raetians dit not. That’s how you can see if an inscription is done by a Raetian or a Venetian. They inscription on the Einang stone haven’t got any points, it could be Raetian.
Ratroromansch is a language used by a minority in Switzerland today. By using a dictionary, one can seperate the sentence into the following words:
DA GARTHAR RUNO FAINIDO
Translation:
Da Garthar (Eng. Do watch , look after)
Runo (Eng. Field)
Fainido (Eng. Hay crop).
So the inscription means : DO WATCH THE FIELD AND THE HAY CROP
Professor Dr. Helmut Rix writes “It is certain to anyone who knows the alphabets used in Northern Italy the last centuries BC, that they are the source of the Germanic Runs.
Dr. Sybille Haynes writes “The Etruscan alphabet originated in Greece and spread to Central and Northern Italy, and northwards to the Germanic people, who called it Runs. “
(Sybille Haynes. Etruscan Civilization. British Museum Press 2000.)`
The inscription tell us about a people who had to leave a safe life in the Alpine valleys. These people risked their lives by starting from scratch. If the crop failed, the cattle would die, and the humans would follow. That’s why they prayed to their gods for assistance.
DID THE RAETIANS SETTLE DOWN IN NORWAY?
The –ar ending in “Garthar”, suggests that the dialect is from Lower Engadin. The dialect and the valley is called Vallader, which sounds a lot like Valdres, the valley in Norway.
The Romans annexed Raetia and the kingdom of Noricium during the reign of Keiser Augustus 15AC. He had roads built through the Alps to the Donau border. To make this area safer to travel trough, the Romans deported most men who could carry weapons. (Dio Cassius Cocceianus: Historia Romana LIV, 22.)
These men were trained as soldiers and a lot of them were sent to the support troops in England. The Raetians were common members of these troops.
Soldiers retired after 25 years of service. They were given a Roman citizenship, and the choice of a lump sum of money or a piece of land. Those who chose the latter were given it, where the Romans wanted a Roman-friendly population. The Raetians settled down in England, Norway, West-Sweden, Jutland (Denmark), Northern Germany and Holland.
The inscriptions at Einang could have been made by a Raetian who, after finished millitary service got a piece of land there. After the work of clearing the land, he would inscript a prayer to the gods. He would know the latin alphabet, being a Roman soldier.
The inscriptions in the Furtharch alphabet are found all over Norway. That means that these soldiers where placed all over the country.
Archaeological discoveries of soldier graves with Roman weapons are found in Norway. The weapons are those of a Roman support troop. It is unlikely that they were native Norwegians. A Roman support soldier could not have been a slave, and a Roman citizenship was necessary in order to be recruited. The Romans would also avoid using a country’s native inhabitants as soldiers, fighting against their own people (21).
RAETIAN VERSUS NORWEGIAN LANGUAGE
A language and place names can tell a lot about where a people has got its origins. The spelling and pronunciation do vary a lot between countries and even regions. But with a little bit of local knowledge, connections can be found. Here are some examples of similar sounding words in Raetian Romansch and Norwegian.
| Raetian / Romansch | Norwegian | Meaning |
| Schliere | Slidre | Where two valleys meet |
| Baito | Beito | Cabin |
| Lej Ra | Leira | Where a lake ends |
| Bagno | Bagn | |
| Ble | Blefjell | Ble – moor |
| Godbrenta | Gudbrandsdal | Forest valley |
| Lescha | Lesja | Entrance (door) |
| Tovre | Dovre | Windy place |
| Ota | Otta | Upper |
| Sel / Sil | Sel | Forest |
| Vaugod | Vågå | Where you cross a river |
| Sio-ch | Skjåk | Upper or highest |
| Vriun | Fron | Place of defence |
| Vintsra | Vinstra | Area – Val Venosta |
| Laugen | Lågen | River |
| Vaz | Vats | Place in Graubunden |
| Savogn / Sogn | Sogn | Sacred place |
| Peis | Peis | Fireplace |
| Vad / Vau | Vad | Where you cross the river |
| Bläss | Bless | White spot to mark the animals |
| Brascha | Brasa | Fire |
| Buordi | Byrde | Burden |
| Cherin | Kjerring | Wife / woman |
| Korv | Korp | Raven |
| Crösch | Krok | Crook or latch |
| Fliar | Fli | Getting dressed |
| Ingün | Ingen | Nobody |
| Maugliar | Maule | Eating |
| Muoch | Møkk | Dirt |
| Mort | Mørkt | Dark |
| Rar | Rar | Funny |
| Regla | Regle | Rime |
| Dret | Rett | Straight |
| Ria | Ri | Ride |
| Sön | Søvn | Sleep |
| Squit | Skvett | A little of milk or water |
| Cratschlar | Skrasle | Laugh |
| Stachar | Stakkar | Poor person |
| Tagliar | Telje | Axe |
| Trev | Trev | Beams |
| Truoch | Tråkk | Path |
| Ovazun | Ofsen | Overflow |
| Biestga | Beist | Animals |
| Vurdar | Vurder | To think |
| Trel | Træl | Someone who struggles |
| Scurv | Skurv | Hill |
| Schmievler | Smuler | Crumpets |
| Stizi | Sti | Path |
| Rond | Rondane | The big mounains |
| Fil | File | A mountain with a road through |
| Egga | Egga | Edge |
| Juf | Juv | Very narrow valley |
| Fly | Flya | Mountain Plateu |
| Eng | Eng | Field |
| Quinda | Kvinda | River name (Amden, St. Gallen) |
| Seere | Sire | A place with two farms |
| Grut | Grøt | Place name |
| Windeg | Vindegg | Place name |
Sources:
Bok a. : Oscar Peer: Dicziunari rumantsch ladin – tudais-ch.
Lia Rumantsch, Chur, Sveits. 1968.
Bok b. Reto Bezzola u. Rud. Tönjachen.
Dicziunari tudais-ch – rumantsch ladin. Lia Rumantscha 1944
Bok c. Bernardi, Decurtins, Eichenhofer, Saluz, Vögeli :
Handwörterbuch des Rätoromanischen.
Societa Retorumantscha und Verein f. Bündner Kulturforschung.
ISBN 3-907-495-57-8.
Brilliant work here
ReplyDeleteThe sentence on the stone does not sound raetic to me. And it is not rumantsch. Rumantsch and raetic are two different languages with almost no similarities except a few nouns and place names which were kept. Raetic was probably non Indo-European and went extinct in the 300s. The Raeti learned latin when they were conquered, but because of how isolated they were, the latin they spoke evolved into rumantsch, which obviously has similarities with other Indo-European languages. If norwegian had similarities with raetic, that would mean something, but norwegian is going to have the same similarities with rumantsch as with french or german or any other Indo-European language. And vallader just means from the valley in rumantsch. What alphabet was on the stone? Old norse or raetic? Because a sentence that doesn't sound raetic, written in norse runes in Norway seems to have nothing to do with the Raeti. Even if the elder futhark came directly from the raetic alphabet, I see no reason that this particular inscription was done by a Raeti. And it doesn't seem plausible that modern Norwegians are descended from Raeti, because they tend to look very different from people of raetic ancestry (see Alberto Giacometti) and even if some Raeti soldiers did settle down in Norway, there were no Raeti women there and after many generations there would be no more raetic blood left in the population.
ReplyDeleteThe Rhaeti, Veneti, and Latins are all descended from Riphath the son of Gomer; thus Cimmerians and of the Y male R1b-M269 DNA genetics and as the Veneti settle all over the Atlantic coast as the Bartonim; they also settled into the west coastlands of Norway and that is why the languages a have affinities and would attract later fraternal settlers as the Veteres of the Roman army. Bartonia is Brittany, France....
ReplyDeleteI am thinking the same thing, then searched and found this post. I am u 152 matched to 6 families in a rhaetian alpine area. I am English, and come from an area where a Rhaetian cohort served. My dna has links to tuscany, Germany and scandinavia. My name is Clackson, linking to Harold Klack perhaps. I think we are of Trojan/ Etruscan/ Raetian/ Scandinavian..danish lineage. Just a guess. I am no exoert...but....
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