- INVASIO BARBARORVM III -

[Charerg]

Updated map:



So, the list of Germanic settlement names keeps growing, although there are several tricky ones left. Major notes:

- I changed the settlement names in Jutland into Proto-Germanic for now. If we'll end up using PWGmc (Proto-West-Germanic, the ancestor of languages like Old English, Old Saxon and OHG) it won't make sense to use Old English here. With that in mind, I switched Lincoln (Lincylene) into its (probable) Celtic name Lind Colun.

- Hedeby (Heath-town) is now *Haithiburgz, and Ribe is *Ripiz (riverbank, similar to Latin Riparia). With Arhus I'm not sure, the Old Norse version of the name (Aros/Arus) means "rivermouth" so maybe some kind of PGmc name could be constructed, but for now I kept the meaning as "Home of the Jutes".

- I changed Madgeburg into *Mariskaburgz (marsh-city), as a possible PGmc form of Ptolemy's Mersovium.

- AoC's Halberstadt changed into Saalfeld. The town is thought to have been founded in the 7th century, but at least the river name is probably ancient, from PIE *seles (marsh). I'm not sure what the PGmc name for the Saale was, but I reconstructed it as *Saahlfelthaz.

- For Erfurt, it first appears in 742 under the name "Erphesfurt", although the place has been settled since Neolithic times. The closest I could get to a plausible PGmc name was *Aibrafurduz (Bitterford), at least somewhat similar to Ptolemy's Bicurgium.

- For AoC's Paderborn I went with a river-based name (Ptolemy has Amisia, after the Ems river). The etymology is hard to construct, but I think it's similar to Thames, coming from "dim" (PGmc *Thimaz). Since the Latin name for the river is Amisius, I went with *Aimsafelthaz (Emsfield).

- Finally with AoC's Buraburg I based the name on Marburg, with the meaning of "Border-city": *Markoburgz.

- Oh, and Hamburg is named as *Hammaburgz (ankle-city), this is one possible etymology for the name. Another option would be "Home-city": *Haimaburgz. In any case, the name Hammaburg is attested as the name of a castle Charlemagne ordered to be constructed on the site in 808. That said, there were prior settlements (Ptolemy's Treva), so maybe something like "tree-city" (*Trewaburgz) or "wooden city" (*Triwinaburgz) based on Ptolemy might work.

[Boyar Son]

I played Africa Vandalorum many years ago. I enjoyed it very much and was hoping you'd make a mod for Attila ever since it was announced!

[Charerg]

I updated the province names:



The names are in PGmc (for now), some notes:
- Angralanda (meadow-land) based on the later Angria
- Similarly Austrafuldo (East-fold) named after the later Eastphalia
- Sunthramarko (South-mark) I named "mark" because it's a borderland
- Boijohaimaz (Boii-home)
- Juthungalanda named after the Juthungi, which may have been an alternative name for the Semnones who occupied the area during the 2nd century (mentioned in Tacitus and Ptolemy).

[Magister Militum Flavius Aetius]

The Iuthungi seem to have been the leading "tribe" of the Alemanni. Aetius defeated them in 430 after which they disappear, probably assimilated just under the term "Alamanni".

[Charerg]

Well, I guess I'll have to cook up some other name for the province then.

As a sidenote I named Fabiranum (modern Bremen) as *Waisarhabno (Weser-haven or Weser-harbour) after the Weser river (Latin Visurgis), since I couldn't come up with any plausible PGmc etymology for the names Bremen or Fabiranum. Unfortunately several other (as yet unnamed) settlements may have to do with similar names since it doesn't look like it's possible to derive a Germanic etymology from all the Latin names.

[Charerg]

On the settlement naming front I added two more names:
- *Astafelthaz (Branch-field), based on Ptolemy's Astuia
- *Aluzaburgz (Alder-city) based on Aleisos

Of those, the latter could even be called fairly plausible, at least if Ptolemy's names were actually based on native Germanic names. So, this is what the settlement map looks like so far:



Edit:
I changed *Aimsafelthaz into *Airmanbergaz (Erman-mount), since the area was the site of a hill castle (modern Eresburg) built on a hill called Eresberg. Additionally, this is one of the likely sites of the Irminsul, the religious center of Pagan Saxons during Charlemagne's time. The name *Airman I based on the Gothic name of Ermanaric: Airmanareiks.

Additionally, I named Eburum (modern Brno) as *Baioburgz (Boii-city), following the pattern that "Bohemia" is derived from the name of the Celtic tribe Boii.

On the provinces, I changed Boijohaimaz into *Baiohaimaz, since the name Bavarii is thought to derive from *Baio-warioz (men of Bohemia). Also, I renamed Juthungalanda into *Bardagawi after the Langobards, and since there existed a Medieval county in Saxony under the name Bardengau.

[Charerg]

Ok, I finished up the Germanic settlement names. Here's the final results for the settlements and the provinces:

Provinces:


Settlements:


For the final settlements I didn't really find any plausible Germanic etymologies, and since the areas were occupied by the Slavs after the migration era, it's not possible to use the names of modern settlements. So, I had to "improvise", again.

- I changed the term for Jutes to PGmc *Eutaz, so now it's *Eutingahaimaz and *Eutalanda. An alternative would be to use the PGmc equivalent of Arhus, which would *Ahwo-auri (roughly meaning "river-mouth"), probably *Ahwauri as a compound word.

- I decided to use Gothic for the province of Bohemia, since it's occupied by East Germanic tribes. I changed the name into Baijohaims (and renamed *Baioburgz into Baijoburgs). Tryggvi can probably weight in if *Baijo- is a plausible Gothic term for the Boii. For the settlement names, since Casurgis (modern Praha) was the likely seat of the Marcomannic rulers, I named it Reikisals, meaning "Kinghall". For Nomisterium I didn't find anything Germanic, so I simply named it "new city": Niujaburgs.

- Finally, I named Susudata as *Stainadaljo (stone-dell) and Colancorum as *Glasaburgz (amber-city), the latter in reference to one of the main trade goods coming from the Baltic.

With the Proto-Germanic names completed, it shouldn't be too difficult to change them into a desired later Germanic language. Perhaps the most attractive solution (to my eyes, anyway) would be to divide the Germanic tribes into West and East Germanic groups, and use Proto-West-Germanic (PWGmc) for the prior and Gothic for the latter. Tryggvi was kind enough to provide a document which goes through the proposed sound changes from PGmc into PWGmc (although there's no dictionary), and also I think most PWGmc forms can be derived through comparing Old English, Old Saxon and Old High German words to each other.

Some useful PWGmc terms I picked up while browsing through the aforementioned document were *kneht (retainer), *werud (troop, warband), *gasintha (companion, follower) and *sagi (retainer). All in all, I think there's enough material that using PWGmc is an option, though since there are no real dictionaries it will be slightly more tricky than using OSaxon, OEng and OHGerman terminology.

PS.
The "burgs" in Gothic settlement names should actually be baurgs, but I'm too lazy to upload a new picture.

[Tryggvi]

*Ahwo-auri (roughly meaning "river-mouth"), probably *Ahwauri as a compound word.

Well, Gothic can't help here because we haven't examples of the compound words where the secong root has initial vowel. As for other morphemes, it allows any combination, e.g. gaaukan.
But there was vowel elision in Proto-Norse/Old Norse.
So, I guess, both Ahwoauri and Ahwauri are possible.
However, I don't know what the origin of -auri is. If Wiki is right, then the second root originates from -os that is PGmc ṓsaz and the first root has Genitive form that is ahwōz. Then, there should be Ahwozosaz. It seems to me not euphonic though. Also, it could be changed a little to sound more Nordic. I mean the rhotacism. Then we have Ahworosar (AhwoRosaR, if you use the Proto-Norse R-symbol).
It's just a suggestion. Hope, it will be useful.

Baijohaims (and renamed *Baioburgz into Baijoburgs)

Rather just Bajahaims and Bajabaurgs. Transition o>a is quite usual in PGmc.

Reikisals, meaning "Kinghall"

Reiki is power, realm. You should use reiks. Gothic has too little examples of consonant-stem compound words that are quite contradictory and can't help to derive a definite rule. So, there could be both Reikbaurgs and Reikabaurgs.

[Charerg]

You're right that the etymology actually comes from *Ahwō-ōzaz, I got it mixed up with *auri (riverbank, sandbank). I'm thinking it might be an option to use Proto-Norse for this name, but unfortunately there's no dictionaries for it. That said, the OHG/OSaxon word was aha (gen. ahō), Old Norse á (gen. ár) and Old English ēa (gen. ēa, īe). On the other hand, *ōzaz only appears in Old Norse óss and Old English ōr.

Pehaps one might speculate that *ahwō was *ah in Proto-Norse, and the genitive could be *ahr, since based on the surviving examples, it seems the -w- part of the word was lost first (except in East Germanic, as Gothic has ahwa).

That said, the Ringe-Taylor document (the one you sent via pm) reconstructs the PWGmc>OE evolution as *ahu>*æhu>*eahu>ēa. The Old English and Old Norse words are so similar that perhaps *ahu would serve as the Proto-Norse reconstruction as well. I still think the genitive would be *ahr, though.

With *ōzaz, I think the form you proposed (*osar) seems most logical for Proto-Norse, since the OE ōr suggests that the word was indeed rhotacized. So, maybe either *Ahurosar, or *Ahrosar? Although if we were to use Proto-Norse for Arhus, it would also make sense to use the language for the Jutes in general, and it's a bit of extra work to do so for a single (minor) faction, especially since we don't know if they spoke an Ingaevonic or Proto-Norse dialect.

Re: Gothic settlement names
I agree that "Baja" sounds plausible, I'll change the names to reflect that spelling. Also, I changed Reikisals into Reiksals, I'd prefer not to use baurgs here since I don't want the same term to appear in every settlement name within the province (which already has Bajabaurgs and Niujabaurgs). The word *sals isn't directly attested to Gothic (as far as I know), but likely existed since we have Italian/Portuguese/Spanish sala (thought to be Germanic loans).

[Tryggvi]

Charerg, now I've got it, sorry.
The first form is entirely PGmc, right? Then it should be Ahwoauriz. Or possibly Ahwauriz.
As for Proto-Norse (if you need): speaking of early loss of w, you're right but it's is transition from Proto-Norse to Old Norse. The could be a form *ahor, but I can't say whether there was a form *ahr. I suggest, the whole transition of the genitive form was alike: PGmc ahwoz > PN ahwoR > ahoR > ahar > aar > ON ar. So *Ahorosar, if you want.

Although if we were to use Proto-Norse for Arhus, it would also make sense to use the language for the Jutes in general

Well, I guess, it's quite an unnecessary work. The game treats the Jutes as Nordic people, the etymology of Arhus is also Nordic.

I'd prefer not to use baurgs here since I don't want the same term to appear in every settlement name within the province (which already has Bajabaurgs and Niujabaurgs).

Recalling gardingi and ingardjans, you can also use gards. Then, Reikgards, king's yard, court.

I'm thinking it might be an option to use Proto-Norse for this name, but unfortunately there's no dictionaries for it.

The situation is no better than with Proto-West-Germanic, indeed.

[Charerg]

Right, I've changed Reiksals into Reikgards, however I decided to keep Eutingahaimaz, and treat the Jutes as West Germanic, for now. They might be changed into Proto-Norse later on, but first I'll concentrate on shaping up the West Germanic rosters/titles, and changing the settlement names into PWGmc. So, this is the more or less "final" map, with the caveat that the PGmc names are likely to change a little.



As a sidenote it might be interesting to start thinking which factions should be playable (I understand AoC has a "practical limit" of 12 playable factions, since that's what can fit into the faction selection menu), and also perhaps a bit about playstyle and such. I think the Huns should be implemented somewhat akin to the vanilla Sassanids (who get bonuses to tribute extracted from puppet states, and can levy extra troops from their vassals), and have a relatively limited "native roster" that needs to be supplemented by levies from their vassals if they want a balanced army. They should be economically dependent on maintaining their "overlordship" over the Germanic tribes, with their measly two starting territories. In sort, the Huns should generally gain more income from subjugating a faction rather than outright conquest, so their campaign would be more about establishing a grand tribal alliance where the Huns are the overlords. I'm not sure what the situation was in 443, but I'd guess at least the Amali Goths and the Gepids would start as Hunnic vassals.

Also, here is a limited list of what I think are "must have" playable factions for the campaign:
1. Romans
2. Huns
3. Amali Goths
4. Balthi Goths
5. Hasdingi Vandals
6. Suebi
7. Franks

The other faction slots are open, but pehaps something like the following:

8. Ingaevonic faction (Angles, Saxons or Jutes)
9. Irminonic or East Germanic faction (Alamanni, Burgundians, Langobards or Thuringians)
10. Alans?
11. Romano-Briton faction (Ebrauc, Powys or the "Romano-Britons")
12. Celtic faction?

[♠ Thomas Cochrane ♠]

Also, here is a limited list of what I think are "must have" playable factions for the campaign:
1. Romans
2. Huns
3. Amali Goths
4. Balthi Goths
5. Hasdingi Vandals
6. Suebi
7. Franks

The other faction slots are open, but pehaps something like the following:

8. Ingaevonic faction (Angles, Saxons or Jutes)
9. Irminonic or East Germanic faction (Alamanni, Burgundians, Langobards or Thuringians)
10. Alans?
11. Romano-Briton faction (Ebrauc, Powys or the "Romano-Britons")
12. Celtic faction?

I'd say definitely the Romano-Britons. There's a lot of potential for gameplay to follow the Ambrosius Aurelianus / Arthur / Groans of the Britons storyline. It would also be good to have a faction whose campaign will be dominated by invasion by a single enemy group (Anglo-Saxons), much like those of the vanilla AoC vis-a-vis the vikings.

[Charerg]

I'd say definitely the Romano-Britons. There's a lot of potential for gameplay to follow the Ambrosius Aurelianus / Arthur / Groans of the Britons storyline. It would also be good to have a faction whose campaign will be dominated by invasion by a single enemy group (Anglo-Saxons), much like those of the vanilla AoC vis-a-vis the vikings.

Keep in mind that this campaign takes place ca. 440-460, so characters like "Arthur" definitely fall beyound the scope of that (even if they were based on real figures). I guess the playable Roman-Briton faction will be Powys (Vortigern's line), while the "Romano-Briton" faction will be named something like "Concilium Britannorum" (as in IB II: Conquestus Britanniae). Although all this might change if some new info turns up, since the political situation in Britain seems quite confused during this period.

[Magister Militum Flavius Aetius]

8. Ingaevonic faction (Angles, Saxons or Jutes)
9. Irminonic or East Germanic faction (Alamanni, Burgundians, Langobards or Thuringians)
10. Alans?
11. Romano-Briton faction (Ebrauc, Powys or the "Romano-Britons")
12. Celtic faction?

8. Saxons
9. Burgundians
10. Thuringians
11. Powys
12. Picts

[Charerg]

The Picts are a possibility, but I think an Irish faction could be interesting as well, since St. Patrick supposedly spread Christianity into Ireland ca. 450. It would give the player the choice of sticking with the druids or adopting christianity, and there would also be the quest of becoming the "High King" of Ireland.

With the Picts I understand they raided Northern Britain (and the Anglo-Saxon foederati were first brought in to fight the Picts, right?), but overall an Irish faction might be a bit more interesting. Just my opinion, though.

Also, I think the problem with the Saxons is that they're maybe a bit too powerful to be playable. I feel it might be best to make the Angles the playable Ingaevonic faction, since their strong neighbour (Saxons) kind of prevents them from expanding their continental domains, and makes overseas expansion a better option. For the Saxons I don't see such a strong motivation (from a gameplay PoV) to invade Britain.

[Magister Militum Flavius Aetius]

Hmm... you could put the Saxons at war with the Franks and Thuringians, seeking to expand their continental domains as well.

[Charerg]

On a slight note on Gothic names, Valamir is reconstructed as deriving from Waila-meri (praiseworthy) in Ringe-Taylor, so the Gothc name should probably be Wailamer.

[Tryggvi]

Valamir is reconstructed as deriving from Waila-meri (praiseworthy) in Ringe-Taylor, so the Gothc name should probably be Wailamer.

Where did you find this reconstruction? Just interesting.
I saw only a Walamers variant. The first root could be from waljan - to choose.

[Charerg]

Where did you find this reconstruction? Just interesting.
I saw only a Walamers variant. The first root could be from waljan - to choose.

It's on page 26/560 of the pdf document (the Ringe-Taylor, the one you posted me), here's the quote:

PGmc *mērijaz ‘famous’ (Goth. neut. waila-meri ‘praiseworthy’) > PNWGmc *mārijaz > ON mærr, OE mæ¯re, OS, OHG māri.

I assume this refers to Valamir, though it's not directly stated.

Since we're on the topic of the Huns, I've actually been thinking a bit about them as well. Imo probably the best bet is to make use of steppe Bulgar (in other words, Bulgar language) titles, since the Bulgars are considered to have been a Successor state of the Huns. Ideally Oghur Turkic (or rather, a reconstruction of Oghur Turkic) could be used for the names, but I don't think there's any dictionaries, and the material is likely to be scarce in general. In any case, at least some of the Bulgar titles could have been plausibly used by the Huns, for example:

Bagain (lower nobility)
Bagatur (meaning "hero")
Tarkhan (a military rank)
Kolober (probably a priest, according to Peter Golden, qolabur, Oghuric version of qulabuz, meaning "guide")

And yes, as Tryggvi stated, Hunnic is extremely poorly known (ie. pretty much only from names), though Oghur Turkic is probably the best candidate, since several Hunnic names have a Turkic etymology (Qaraton, also Attila perhaps similar to the Turkic name for the Volga, Atil, to give a few examples). Also, Attila's sons Ellac (from Turkic illig, prince) and Ernak (check out wikipedia for the etymology).

[Majorian]

Hopefully, you release a IB III mod, waiting for this