There's nothing like being there!

This past fall my husband and I were fortunate enough to visit the area of Germany I have been writing about. What a thrill to stand on the banks of the Rhine, tour ruins of Roman fortifications, and walk through the Black Forest.

We spent one day in Rottenburg am Neckar, a lovely town on the banks of the River Neckar. This is the site of the Fortress Hill and Berand's settlement.















               Rottenburg am Neckar

















          A hilltop overlooking the Black Forest
                just east of Baden-Baden

There was too much to absorb in the short 2 weeks were there. We'll just have to go back!

 Alemanni Territory, AD 260

Gallia and Italia, AD 260

Illustration: Sword and Dagger

The illustration featuring Berand's sword Wolf-tooth and his gilt-handled dagger also shows a ghosting in of Wotan, the Alemanni's god of war. He was also god of poetry, royalty, knowledge of the runes, and spell-casting. Quite a resume!

Wotan was often imagined as a wanderer wearing a wide-brimmed hat and leaning on a staff. His weapon was a spear named Gungnir. Sometimes he rode a flying, eight-legged horse named Sleipnir between the land of the living and the underworld. His other familiars were two ravens and two wolves that would travel the world and bring the god all the news of his realm. He is shown with one eye. According to Teutonic mythology, he sacrificed his other eye at the Well of Knowledge in exchange for wisdom.

Wotan's name was invoked by warriors before every battle, but he was a fickle deity, sometimes choosing to turn his back on his supplicants and give victory to the enemy.

At the time of my story, Wotan had gained popularity over Tiwas, the original ruler of the pantheon, who was worshiped more in connection with law and order, although he, too, was a god of war.

Wotan gradually lost favor with the Alemanni when they were subdued by the Franks and were converted to Christianity beginning in about the fifth century AD. Wotan continued under the name of Odin with the Vikings and the Scandinavians as late as the twelfth century AD.

          The Lorica Segmentata

     The first illustration in White Horse, Black Raven is of a Roman legionary wearing  the type of body armor common during the era of Roman called the Principate, roughly 27 BC - 284 AD.  It was constructed of a series of soft iron plates held together with leather straps and fastenings made of copper alloy.  It weighed approximately twenty pounds and provided excellent protection for the upper arms and shoulders. Unfortunately, it also was a little restrictive for deep breathing.

     The segmentata could fit a range of body sizes and it could collapse down on itself for easier packing and transport. The strips of iron plating could be replaced without too much difficulty if they were damaged. This made the armor a little less expensive to maintain.  On the other hand, the copper of the fittings set up a chemical reaction with the iron plates causing corrosion, and they seemed to break easily.  There a many examples of fittings found in Roman military sites.

     Archaeologists and historians had known of the segmentata for centuries but had never known how they were constructed. Then the bits and pieces of six segmentata were found in a box buried near a fort on Hadrian's Wall.  From these remnants archaeologists were able to reconstruct the armor.

     The Alemanni did not make their own armor.  Instead it would have come as spoils of war, taken from slain Roman soldiers or from armories of captured forts and military bases.

SEX

    ( Got your attention, didn't I.)

     In the Author's Notes for White Horse, Black Raven I wrote about the virtues I attributed to the Alemanni.  One of the reasons I chose those five virtues - honor, honesty, fidelity, loyalty, and courage - is because of the writings of Tacitus, the Roman historian of the first century AD. His Germania is the only known work describing the attitudes and daily actions of the Germanic tribes albeit one hundred plus years before the Alemanni became a known people.
     The choice of fidelity comes from Tacitus' description of the Germans' attitudes toward sex. Tacitus spends three chapters on the subject extolling the tribal custom of remaining chaste until marriage - both men and women. Apparently premarital sex was not allowed and adultery was all but unheard of. 
     In Chapter 18, Tacitus writes that a man took only one wife unless he was of the highest rank and therefore pressed with many offers of marriage as political alliances.  Woman went into a marriage as full partners with their husbands, sharing all that came to them, both good and bad.  A dowry was brought to the bride's family and she in turn gave her groom similar gifts.
     In Chapter 19, Tacitus writes that adultery was severely punished and that "no one in Germany finds vice amusing, or calls it 'up-to-date' to seduce and be seduced."  Only virgins may marry and once married may not do so again even if they survive their husbands.
     Chapter 20 speaks of the physical maturity of young men and women when married and the importance of children in the German culture.

     Tacitus apparently used this information to make a social comment on what he apparently considered to be the immorality of Roman society.  One can tell from the tone of his writing that he did not approve of the loose sexual morals of his own culture.  It must be remembered that histories such as his were usually written to be read out loud to audiences in small social gatherings.  He would have used the opportunity to chide his fellows Romans on their loose morals by comparing them unfavorably with 'barbarians'.
     So both Berand and Inge would have been virgins on their wedding night - a little romanticized, perhaps, but within the realm of possibility according to Tacitus.

The King's Chain: White Horse, Black Raven Now Available in paperback and on Kindle. Visit my Author's Page at amazon.com/author/smglover

THE KING'S CHAIN

A story of love and hate, loyalty and betrayal, honor and deceit.

And above all, courage.

BOOK ONE: WHITE HORSE, BLACK RAVEN

            Don't let them take you alive! With this cry for victory or a glorious death in battle, the Alemanni warriors charge at their enemy. The year is AD 257, and the Crisis of the Third Century is about to get a whole lot worse for the Roman army.

        It is a time of upheaval in the Imperial Roman Empire. The Alemanni, a Germanic tribe, have pushed the Roman troops out of the territory they want for themselves. While usurpers claim Roman provinces and the young son of the emperor is brutally murdered, Berand, and Alemanni warrior destined for greatness, is gravely wounded in battle. It is up to the maiden he loves to heal him or follow him in death.

        But the Romans aren't the only enemy. The Alemanni are attacked by some of their own and are forced down a path of murder and revenge as they continue to battle Imperial Rome.

        In this novel set in an historical time, I bring to life the lives and traditions of a little-known Germanic tribe in a world where women are revered and men live to die in battle. Treachery must be dealt with and traditions will need to change to assure the survival and the freedom of a courageous and fiercely independent people.