Sub-Roman Britain (Cavalry etc)

[Alanus]

I trust your power is still on!
Taifali...In years of Sarmatian studies I have never heard them mentioned in any record until they appear in company of the Goths in the latter's Pontus state.

First I'd like to thank John Conyard for stopping by. His visits are always welcome!
Actually the power did go off here in Maine, but back on. Here is early Taifali stuff:
I know they were with Cniva, AD 251 at Abritum. AD 267, Goths, Taifals, and "other Germanic peoples" pillage Athens (Kenny, p. 684). AD 289, "Tervingi, pars alia Gothorum, adiuncta manu Taifalorum, adversum Vandalos Gipedesque" (Genethlius, Max. 17. 1.) AD 360 "nunc Taifali, Victohali, et Tervingi habent...." (Eutropius, Brev. 8.2.2.)

"Peoples of the forested west" ??? Sarmatians??? Nope. Cant support that. Not many trees East of the Euxine Meer! They might have picked up a bear tradition from the Goths in the latter days, though.

See F.I. Metz, two articles on the "Aryan Bears." Shows half dozen round-bottomed "grail" cups, also cauldron, all with bear handles. "Thus apart from South Urals, traces of the "Aryan bears" might be followed in the East Aral basin, in the Middle Don, and in the interfluve of the Dnestr and Prut." See Golden Deer of Eurasia, Korolkova, illus. and discussion, p.61-63; Fedorov, Wooden Vessels of Nomads and the Cult of Soma, Hauma, p.65-66. Looks to me like other way around: bear cult from Finno-Ugrian (forest peoples) to Sarmatians (aka Taifals), possibly to Goths, but assuredly to the Arthurian romances.

When you saids "monk in Brtanny", did you mean Britanny or Armorica?

Yes, the monk or hermit was in Armorica. It was rumored by an Italian in the Spanish court that he finally moved to America, somewhat like Armorica but more like "New New Britain," or as it became-- New England, narrowing it down to MAINE (almost French) where I'm freezing my a-- off! :evil:

Skythians worshipped swords too and in a very grisly way. OK Skythians merged with Sarmatians but they were both at the sword thing before they merged. I always though the sword symbol waqs interesting as a Cross symbol of Christianity..potentially.

The Scythian tripart structure of sword worship (Herodotus, IV, 62) is identical to the tripart "sword in the stone" (anon, Vulgate Merlin). Also see Ammianus, XXI, 2. 23. The Tyrfingi took their name from the same ceremony, "the incarnation of the people and the land, and who also manifested himself in the shape of a sword" (Wolfram, p.27). Also see Cox, "Hence we are led to expect that the special emblam under which Tyr was worshiped would be the sword" (Sir George W. Cox, 1882, Mythology of the Aryan Nations, p.195)-- clickity-click, stomp stomp, yavool herr General-- not exactly politically correct in these modern, post-Aryan times! :roll:

Since you mention it. Yes, the classic Crusader cruxiform sword is a direct descendant of the Black Sea style, not the Viking or Saxon sword. In turn, the Black Sea style appears from duel origins-- 1) the Sarmatian straight traverse hilt, also welded "damascus" steel. 2) the swords made in the Province of Pontus by the Chalybes-- "ex"= "from the" and "chalybis"= "Chalybean steel." AKA-- Exchalybur. Strange, on the other hand, that no famed or even mediocre swordmakers are recorded in either Roman Britain or sub-Roman Britain. hock:

One last thing. Sarmatian was not dead until fairly recently. It was a recognised language of Jayzyges in the 1600 1700.s

Good info. Thanks! And now I'm going back to writing a histro-sci-fi novel about the End of Times (11:59 plus 59 seconds).