Faroese: A Little Known Relative of English

In the North Atlantic lies a group of islands called the Faroe Islands. The Faroe Islands are a part of the Kingdom of Denmark, but they have been self governing since a short time after World War Two ended. The population is "about" 50,000. There is more than a 600 mile distance between the islands and continental Denmark. The language of the Faroe Islands is not Danish, but rather "Faroese," a language from the North Germanic branch of the Germanic language family, with its closest linguistic relative being Icelandic, and Danish being a somewhat more distant linguistic cousin. Of course Faroese is related to the other Germanic languages, including English, although I would guess many English speakers, especially those outside of the British Isles, have no idea that such a language even exists. Like its close cousin Icelandic, Faroese has not had as many influences from other languages; thus, it has remained somewhat more consistent over time. "The Oxford Companion to the English Language" makes note that English and Faroese have not had much influence on one another.

Here are a few numbers in Faroese: ein (one), fýra (four), seks (six), hundrað (hundred), túsund (thousand).  

* "The Oxford Companion to the English Language," edited by Tom McArthur, Oxford University Press, Oxford, England; American edition printed in the United States in New York, 1992

The flag of the Faroe Islands ...

  

WORD HISTORY:

Meadow (Mead, not the drink 'mead,' which is unrelated to 'mead,' meaning meadow or pasture)-"Meadow/Mead" are closely related forms related to "math" (NOT the shortened form of "mathematics," rather as in the second part of "aftermath") and to "mow" ("to cut grass"), both from the Germanic roots of English. They go back to the Indo European root "me" (not the same as our word "me" today), with the notion of "cutting down grass or grain," with the suffixed form "met/maet." This gave Old Germanic "maetha," meaning, "place of mowed grass, place to be mowed;" thus, "grassy area;" thus, "pasture, meadow." This produced West Germanic "medwo," meaning, "meadow, pasture." This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "mæd," which meant, "meadow, grassy area."^ This then became "mede," before the "mead" spelling. The accusative/dative form of Old English "mæd" was "mædwe," which came to stand on its own and then morphed into "meadow." Relatives in the other West Germanic languages: German has "Matte," meaning "highland meadow, pasture," which, like its close English cousin "mead," tends to be used more in high style writings and poetry in modern times; Low German (in Old Saxon) once had "matha/maða" ('ð' essentially=th), but this doesn't "seem" to have been a stand alone word, but rather it was used in geographical names. It's unclear to me exactly what happened with forms in Low German, as "mede" seems to be the last trace of the word, and that's been more than a couple of centuries ago; Dutch had "made/mede" up until a couple of hundred years ago, but I cannot a form in modern Dutch; West Frisian doesn't "seem" to have a stand alone word anymore, but it does have "miede" as part of a compound, and it means, "(grassy) field."     

     
^ The Old Germanic form also gave Old English the noun "mæþ," which meant, "grass that has been cut, crops that are cut down;" thus also, "harvested food produce."    

Danish Sandwich with Egg & Shrimp: Smørrebrød med æg og rejer

This open-faced sandwich uses Danish rye bread (rugbrød), which is dark, but unfortunately it is not available to many people outside of Denmark, unless you check online, or if you happen to have a local bakery that makes this as a specialty bread. So... you can substitute the much more easily found pumpernickel, and German or German-style pumpernickel is more like Danish rye, but any good pumpernickel should be fine. Extra small cooked shrimp of 61 to 70 per pound or small cooked shrimp of 51 to 60 per pound are best for this, but the day I went to the seafood shop, they were out of extra small shrimp, so the choice was made for me. In Sweden, they do a very similar shrimp sandwich, but they often use cucumber slices as one of the ingredients, but I don't believe they use watercress or arugula. In the U.S., depending upon where you live, watercress might be difficult to find, but arugula is a good substitute and easier to find. Watercress was once sold in many produce markets, but its availability has declined in the U.S. 

Ingredients (4 servings):

4 slices pumpernickel bread or Danish rye bread (rugbrød)
4 lettuce leaves (head lettuce or romaine lettuce)
4 hard boiled eggs
extra small or small cooked shrimp(s) * (see preparation below for amounts)
juice of one lemon
2 tomatoes, cut into quarters
some arugula or watercress, rinsed and drained on paper towels  
4 pats of butter (at room temperature, to spread easily)
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
black pepper to taste
salt to taste

Boil the eggs for 7 minutes, pour off the hot water, rinse the eggs in cool water, and let them cool, then remove the shells. Slice the eggs (if you have an egg slicer, that's perfect). Butter each slice of bread with a pat of butter, then cover each bread slice with a leaf of lettuce. Put the egg slices of one egg onto each slice of lettuce. Put some mayonnaise on top of the egg slices, add some shrimps to each slice of bread,** then add 2 tomato quarters to each sandwich. Sprinkle a little lemon juice onto each open "sandwich," then add a little watercress to each and finish with salt and pepper to taste.

*  In the U.S., the plural "shrimps" is seldom heard, as "shrimp" is overwhelmingly used as both singular and plural.  

** If you get the extra small shrimps, with 61 to 70 shrimps per pound (often called "salad shrimp" in the U.S.), use about 8 or 10 per slice of bread, or the small shrimps, with 51 to 60 shrimps per pound, use about 6 or 7 per slice of bread.

 This is German-style pumpernickel bread...similar to Danish rye bread... 

WORD HISTORY:
Weir-While not all that commonly used today in American English (it might still be used more often in some parts of Britain), it is still around in place names, although sometimes spelled "war(r)," as in "Warwick" (meaning "settlement by a weir"), and also as a family name.^ It goes back to Indo European "wer," which meant "to cover, to shut off." The notion of "cover/shut off" gave Old Germanic "warjanan," which meant "protect;" thus also, "defend." This same meaning continued in the various Germanic dialects, including Old English, which had "awerian" (to defend against) and "bewerian" ("to guard, to protect"), but it also often took on the meaning in the West Germanic languages (English is West Germanic) of "dam up;" that is, "protect from water by shutting it in." In Old English this was represented in the verb form "werian,"^^ ("to dam up") and there was the noun "wer," which meant "a dam, an embankment, an enclosed area of water;" as well as the noun, "wering," meaning "the process of damming up water." Related forms in the other Germanic languages are numerous, but some are: German noun "Wehr," meaning, "military force, weapon, shield, enclosed water area for keeping fish, a dammed off area of water;"^^^ the noun "Abwehr," meaning "defense;" the verb "bewehren" meaning, "to arm with weapons, to reinforce;" the verb "wehren" meaning, "to defend, to offer resistance to"; Low German has the verb "wehren" meaning "to defend, to offer resistance to," the noun "Wehr" meaning, "dammed off area of water"; Dutch has the verb "weren" meaning, "to fend off, to repulse;" the noun "weer" meaning, "defense, a dammed off area of water"; West Frisian "ferwaarje" meaning, "to defend, to offer resistance to," the noun "ferwar" meaning "defense, dike"; the Danish noun "værge" meaning "guardian"; the Swedish noun "värja" meaning "sword," and the verb "värja" (same as the noun) meaning "to defend, to protect"; Icelandic verb "verja" meaning, "to guard, to defend."

^ The family name "Weir" isn't exclusively derived from the word "weir," as some families have the name from a different source.

^^ Old Saxon, the Saxon dialect/language that remained in northern Germany after part of the Saxons went to Britain, where they helped to found England, also had "werian."

^^^  For history buffs, "Wehr" is the same word in German "Wehrmacht," the term Hitler used for his armed forces; with the "macht" part being the close relative of the English noun "might" (strength, power, force).  

Danish Liver Pâté: Leverpostej

"Leverpostej" is pronounced like: "layver-post-eye."

You don't have to chop the liver, pork fat and onion into some exact size, just into somewhat smaller pieces, as these will all be put into the grinder or food processor. And please don't cringe if you don't like anchovies. This is not a pizza. The anchovies are blended into the mixture and you will not get the strong taste, at all.

Often served on Danish whole rye bread (rugbrød),* with all or some combination of pickled beets, fried mushrooms and bacon. Finding Danish whole rye bread outside of Denmark will likely be a problem, although "perhaps" some specialty bakeshops may have it, or similar. Of course you should be able to get it online, but German "Vollkornbrot" ** is "essentially" the same thing (if I were running for dog catcher in Copenhagen, I just lost), and it is available in some stores in parts of the U.S. and Canada, including here in Cleveland. Some Vollkornbrot is imported from Germany (typically it comes sliced), while others are made in Canada or the United States (usually sliced, but in larger loaves). Both Danish "rugbrød" and German "Vollkornbrot" are types of dark rye bread with various cracked grains and seeds in them. 

Ingredients:

2 pounds pork liver, cut into somewhat smaller pieces
1/3 pound pork fat, cut into smaller pieces
2 1/2 cups roughly chopped onion
2 eggs
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons flour
6 anchovies
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons black pepper

Grind the liver, pork fat and onions to a fine consistency. The ground mixture will be runny and will look yucky. Add the other ingredients and mix in well. Put mixture into a loaf pan or loaf pans. Put the pan (or pans, if preparing all together) into a shallow pan and add some warm water to make a water bath for the loaf pan, also known as a "bain-marie" (see Word History, below) Bake in a 350 F degree oven. The baking time will solely depend upon the size loaf pan or pans you use, so it might take 45 minutes for a small pan, but 60 to 90 minutes, or even 2 hours, for a larger pan. The juices from the leverpostej should be fairly clear to signal that the dish is done. During baking, if the top of the leverpostej begins to become too dark, just lay a piece of foil over it. Danes at times use small disposable aluminum baking pans for their leverpostej and they fill some such pans and then freeze them. They need only remove a pan from the freezer and bake it, when desired. 

* The words of the Danish compound "rugbrød" are closely related to English "rye bread," as both words are Germanic in derivation, and English is from the West Germanic branch of Germanic and Danish is from the North Germanic branch. "Rye" was once spelled with a "g" in English, but the sound morphed into "ay/eye" sound, as happened similarly (somewhat different sound of simply 'ay') in a number of other English words like, "may," the verb, once spelled "mæg," and "day," which was once spelled "dæg."

** "Vollkornbrot" is literally "full corn bread" in English, but in English we say "whole grain bread." In North American English the word "corn" has come to mean the usually yellow kernels from a cob (synonym: maize) during the last couple of hundred years or so, but this word is from Germanic and it has long been the general word for grain throughout the Germanic languages, and it still retains that meaning in the UK, where "corn" and "grain" are essentially synonyms. The word "grain" is not an original English word, but it is rather a Latin-derived word, that was borrowed into English.
    
Slice of whole rye bread (I used Vollkornbrot) with "leverpostej," topped with bacon, with pickled beets and fried mushrooms on the side ...

WORD HISTORY: 
Bain-marie-This term is used for "a water bath of a large, shallow pan of water with one or more smaller containers of food placed inside the pan, then put into an oven to cook gently and with less threat of the food sticking to the pan(s)." English borrowed the term from the same expression in French in the first half of the 1800s. This was the French rendering of Latin "balneum Mariae" ("bath of Maria"). French "bain" was derived from the verb "baigner" (to bathe, to have/take a bath), from Latin "balneare," with the same meaning, derived from the Latin noun "bal(i)neum" (a bath), which had been borrowed from Greek "balaneion," which meant, "warm water bath;" thus also, "a place for bathing, a bathroom." Where Greek got the word is unknown. The use of "Marie" seemingly goes to "Maria the Jewess," who was an alchemist in Egypt some time in the early centuries of the Christian Era. Such water baths were used in science, and she seems to have been mistakenly credited with the invention of these baths, at the time, so her name was applied to the process. "Marie" is simply the French rendering of "Maria."  

German Fish Goulash (Helgoländer Fischgulasch)

Heligoland is a two island German archipelago in the North Sea, about 30 miles from the German mainland. In German, it is "Helgoland" and it is part of the German state of Schleswig-Holstein. During most of the 1800s, Heligoland was a British possession, having been seized by Britain from Denmark during the Napoleonic Wars. Denmark was Napoleon's ally. In 1890 the British and the Germans reached an agreement giving control of the archipelago to Germany in exchange for some German territories in Africa. The fact that Britain's Queen Victoria was the grandmother of the then German Kaiser, Wilhelm II, likely helped move the deal along.

The main island is only about a half square mile in size, while the second island, "Düne," lying just a very short distance to the east, is only about a quarter square mile in size. Heligoland is essentially motor vehicle and bicycle free, by law, except for authorized vehicles, like for emergencies. Heligoland is known for its beaches and sunbathing areas, its geological rock formations and red sandstone cliffs, its use as a stopping point by seals and a number of birds, making it a great place for bird watching (a bird observatory is there). Heligoland's airport is located on Düne. The actual population of Heligoland is less than 1400, many of whom are Frisians, and they speak a form of North Frisian, alongside standard German, and likely, Low German. From what I understand, a couple hundred thousand tourists visit Heligoland each year. By the way, Heligoland is exempted from collecting European Union taxes and duties on purchases, which means... CHEAP BOOZE! Ah, I mean, reasonably priced alcoholic beverages.

Food wise, Heligoland is famous for its lobsters, but naturally other seafood is common there too (hey, it's in the North Sea). This recipe from Heligoland is subtle, unlike many of the dishes I tend to like, which have strong flavors, but it cannot be highly seasoned, lest the mild taste of the seafood be overwhelmed, although there are other German recipes for fish goulash with much stronger flavors. In this recipe, however, the taste of the seafood shines through so much, you may just have a wish for some "German Egg Grog" to top off your lunch or dinner. (Here is the link to the recipe for grog: https://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2018/06/german-egg-grog-eiergrog.html  

Ingredients:

1 pound cod (or substitute the cheaper pollock fillets)
1/2 pound small shrimp, shelled
1/2 pound crab meat
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon white pepper
juice of 1 lemon
2 tablespoons butter
5 green onions, including some green, chopped
2 potatoes, diced
2/3 cup dry white wine
3/4 cup fish broth or clam broth
6 white peppercorns
3 juniper berries, crushed
1 cucumber, halved lengthwise, seeds scooped out, then sliced
2 to 3 tablespoons dill
1/2 cup sour cream (or creme fraiche)

Cut the fish into chunks (like bite-sized or a little larger), put in a bowl, then season with salt, ground white pepper, salt and lemon juice; set aside. In a pan over low heat, melt the butter and immediately add the chopped green onion. Cook for about 2 minutes, stirring enough to make sure that neither the onion nor the butter brown. Add the potatoes, the white wine, the fish broth, the white peppercorns and the juniper berries. Cook for 3 minutes, then add the cucumber. Cook until both the potatoes and cucumber are tender, but not falling apart. Add the fish, the shrimp and the crab (along with any of the lemon juice collected in the bowl), stir well. Cook until the fish and the shrimp are just cooked through, then stir in the dill and the sour cream. Remove from the heat after about a minute or so.
 
Click the photo to enlarge it

WORD HISTORY: 
Cod/Cuttle-The history of these "seemingly" related words is shaky, at best, but there does seem to be some logic to what I've compiled here. They seem to go back to Indo European "gewt," which meant, "to bend, to bow;" thus also, "sack, bag." This gave Old Germanic "kuddon," meaning, "bag, sack." This gave Old English "codd," meaning, "bag, sack;" thus also, "husk for a pod." This then became "codde," before the modern version. The name "seems" to have been applied to a number of similar fish in the North Sea area in the late 1200s, with the theory being that Englishmen back then thought the fish looked like a pod husk. "Cuttle" has the same origins, but it was "cudele" in Old English and it was the name for the "cuttlefish." It then became "cutil," before the modern form. Forms in the other Germanic languages include: German "Kudele," for "cuttlefish," but the German word is now confined to some dialects (the standard German word for "cuttlefish" is "Tintenfisch; literally, "ink fish"); I found references to Dutch "kodde" being a term for "scrotum," which certainly fits in with the "sack, bag" meaning in Germanic, but "apparently" this usage is dialectal or archaic; likewise with Danish "kodde," which seems to be an archaic term for "scrotum" or "testicle;" Swedish "kudde," meaning, "pillow" (a bag stuffed with feathers, straw or rags); likewise with Icelandic "koddi," which also means "pillow."   

The German Question, Part One Hundred Forty

"Hitler Rules Germany" Part Two/C
"Germany In World War Two" Part Two/B
"Hitler Rules Western Europe" Part Two: "More Territorial Adjustments"

With Germany in control of much of western Europe,* Hitler made border adjustments: the small Eupen-Malmedy region, ceded by Germany to Belgium after World War One, and with a substantial German percentage of the population, again became a part of Germany. Alsace-Lorraine (in French terminology, the departments of Bas-Rhin, Haut-Rhin, and Moselle), the centuries' long contested region along the Franco-German border, was annexed to Germany. It had last been ceded to France at the end of World War One. Luxembourg at first was simply occupied, and it wasn't annexed to Germany until 1942. Luxembourg had been a German state in the Old German Empire (Holy Roman Empire) and also later belonged to the German Confederation. It later became an independent entity in the late 1830s, as a "personal possession" of the king of the Netherlands, who was simultaneously "Grand Duke of Luxembourg;" however, it kept close economic ties with Germany by maintaining its membership in the German Customs Union ("Zollverein") until the end of World War One.

* Prior to the German offensive in western Europe, the Germans invaded both Denmark and Norway. There was little fighting in Denmark, which kept a "certain degree" of self government under the German occupying forces, and in fact, the Danish king remained in Denmark. German occupation policy in Denmark took a much stricter position from 1943 until the end of the war. There was no territorial adjustment with Denmark, although the German minority in North Schleswig wanted the area annexed to Germany. There was serious fighting in Norway, with the Allies also sending an expeditionary force, but in the end, the German military prevailed, and Norway fell under German occupation.

WORD HISTORY:
Set-There are two words in English with this spelling, so first I'll deal with the one that is related to "sit," which was covered in the previous article ("set," the noun, will be in the next article, as its history is totally different). Like its close relative "sit," it goes back to Indo European "sed," meaning "to sit." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "satjanan," which was the causative form of Old Germanic "sitjanan," the ancestor of "sit." "Causative" means just that, something that "causes or brings about an action," and "satjanan" meant "to place something, to fix something in place, make firm, to make or cause to sit." This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "settan," with the same basic meanings. While primarily a verb, it can also be an adjective, "a set pattern," with the notion of a "fixed pattern," for instance. Later in English it became "setten," before the modern spelling. This is another common word in the other German languages, except Frisian: German has "setzen" (originally "sezzen"), and where English uses "Let's sit down," German uses "Setzen wir uns," literally, "Set ourselves," with the notion of "cause" obviously present. Low German Saxon has "setten," Dutch has "zetten," Icelandic has "setja," Swedish has "sätta," Danish has "sætte," and Norwegian has "sette."

The German Question, Part Ninety-Four

"A Divisive Treaty" Part Six/A
"Territorial Changes/Western and Northern Germany"

Germany ceded control of the provinces of Alsace and Lorraine to France. The overall region had somewhere around 1.8 million people. There was no vote of the population on this territorial transfer.* North Schleswig, along with more than 160,000 people, was ceded to Denmark after a plebiscite (referendum) brought in a vote of 75% of the region voting to rejoin Denmark. A fairly small area, called Eupen-Malmedy, with about 35,000 people, was "temporarily" ceded to Belgium, pending a plebiscite. When the vote was held, it was NOT done by secret ballot, but rather opponents of Belgium's annexation had to register their objection by name in their village town hall. So, we'll never know how a secret ballot vote would have gone, but under the circumstances, there were few objectors.

Part B will cover the situation with Austria.

* Just to keep some perspective on this hotly contested territory, there had never been a vote of the population regarding its many divisions and transfers, although under the monarchical systems of those times, the voice of the people was not considered to be important.

WORD HISTORY:
Flesh-The origins of this word are unclear, although it seemingly comes from Indo European, with the Indo European root being in dispute, but it may trace back to the Indo European base "pel/fel," which meant "skin or hide;" that is a "covering," in this case, a "covering of the bones." Or it may go back to Indo European "plehk," which meant "to cut or peel off." It may be related to English "flitch," which means "side of cured pork, bacon" (see related Germanic word meanings below), a term rarely seen in North American English, and to "fleck," "a spot, a mark, a piece or fragment." It traces back to a Germanic form "flaiskan/flaiskon," which meant "meat," but also could be used in reference to "close kin" (we still say "flesh and blood" in this sense to this day). This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "flaesc," with the same meaning. This was the main English word for "meat" until overtaken by the word "meat" between the 1200s and 1300s. The spelling changed during that general era to "flesh." Old High German had "Fleisk," which has become modern German "Fleisch," and it also means "flesh," including for fruits and vegetables, as in English, but it is also the general word for "meat." Low German Saxon has "Fleesch," Dutch has "vlees," West Frisian has "fleis;" all with the meaning "meat, flesh," Danish "flaesk," meaning "bacon," Icelandic and Norwegian "flesk," meaning "bacon," and Swedish "fläsk," meaning "pork, bacon."

The German Question, Part Fifty-Eight

Bismarck" Part Five/C "Bismarck as Chancellor & A Treaty With 'Contentious Relatives' "

"Ethnic Minorities in Bismarckian Germany/(North)West"

In the western part of Germany, there were tens of thousands of Danes living in the northern part of Schleswig, called "Nordschleswig," in German, and "Sønderjylland," in Danish; that is, "South Jutland" (see earlier articles in this series about Schleswig). The region borders on Denmark, and the main city in the area was Flensburg. Danish language newspapers were common in the area, and as it had not been all that long since this area came under Prussian rule (then a few years later under a united Germany), there was still strong pro-Danish sentiment among the Danish minority (in some local areas, there was a Danish majority). Just as it was with other minorities, these Danes were now German citizens and were protected by the German Constitution.* Former Danish inhabitants of Schleswig with strong pro-Denmark feelings came back over the border into Schleswig (now we're talking about non-German citizens NOT protected by the constitution), some taking jobs with the Danish language newspapers.** As part of the crackdown by Bismarck and his government, they were often expelled from Germany or arrested. Gradually, German became the only language of instruction in schools, but Danish did not falter as much as German officials had hoped, and North Schleswig remained Danish in character, although German settlers from other parts of Germany began to be more of a presence in Danish areas. While this is getting ahead of sequence, just to sort of tie this up, after World War One, a public vote was held in the northern and central regions of Schleswig to determine if the border between Denmark and Germany should be altered (southern Schleswig was heavily German, and no vote was needed). The vote in the north was 75% for return to Denmark (the 25% shows the inroads Germans had made, however), while in the central area, which included Flensburg, it was 80% for remaining with Germany. In 1920, the northern region was ceded by Germany to Denmark, along with a fairly small German minority. It has remained this way ever since, although eventually both Germany and Denmark both permitted their respective minorities to use their own language without persecution. (A Word History is below the notes)

* When I was growing up in the 1950s and 1960s, the United States had many people who had come here as immigrants, especially from Europe. Some came here as far back as around 1900, give or take a few years. There was a tendency to use the term "nationality" in reference to a person's "background," but often this term was incorrect, at least as to how it was often meant back then. A person's "nationality" simply means the country (nation) where you have citizenship. A little later, the term "ethnic background" became more popular, and this was often what many Americans had previously meant when they used "nationality." In the previous segment, I covered the Poles living in Germany. Their "nationality" was "German," as they were German citizens, but their "ethnic background" was "Polish." In a country as large as the United States, and with most people having come here of their own free will (with the huge exception during the time of slavery) it is easy to forget that in other parts of the world, like Europe, national borders were seldom set by "ethnicity," and often many different "ethnic groups" lived relatively close to one another, even overlapping. "King XYZ of Pneumonia" wanted the iron ore of "Prince ABC of Diphtheria," and he got possession of it by a deal or by war. The population's "ethnic background" was immaterial, and they became "citizens" of "Pneumonia" (what's that deep cough I hear?). Hm, I wonder what the "Duke of Tuberculosis" had? (Hey, there's a hacking cough.) During the 1800s and later, "ethnicity" began to matter much more to people in Europe, as we saw in the fairly recent articles I did in this series about the Austrian Empire, where its minorities wanted either independence, or, like the Italian minority, wanted to become part of Italy. All in all, the term "nationality" is still misused at times.

** When Prussia took control of Schleswig, many thousands of Danes chose to move into Denmark. Later some of these people, unhappy with their situations, crossed back into Schleswig. Who knows how many, but it certainly would not seem to be unreasonable to assume "most" hoped for a return of Danish rule to Schleswig.

WORD HISTORY:
Schön/Sheen-Since I did "Danke" in the last segment, this word is often paired with it, and in fact, there was a famous American song by Wayne Newton called "Danke Schön" (pronounced similarly, but not exactly, like "shane," and it can also be spelled "Schoen"). Many of you may already know that it is the German equivalent to "Thank you very much." Anyway, you get two words again (Hey, I'm going to have to start charging double...let's see...what's 2 x 0?"). There are differing opinions about the ultimate origin of these words. Some believe them to be related to "shine" ("Schein" in German, for all practical purposes pronounced just like its English cousin), and certainly "sheen/schön" are similar in appearance and meaning to "shine." For those unaware, "sheen" means "lustre, gleam, glistening beauty." Its German relative, "schön," means "beautiful (of objects, and also for women), handsome (for men), nice, pretty." The German word is still used far, far more than we use "sheen" in English, and it is used in many expressions, just like "Danke schön," to add emphasis ("danke schön," literally "thanks beautifully," but really, "thanks a lot"). Other linguists feel there is no connection between "sheen/schön" and "shine," except coincidence. You can take your pick, but I tend to favor the idea that there is a relationship, but that's just my opinion. It seems Shakespeare is given credit for using "sheen" (then spelled "sheene") in the noun form, circa 1600. Both "sheen/schön" go back to Old Germanic "skaunaz/skauniz," which then gave Old English "sciene/scene" (the "sc" being pronounced as modern "sh"), and Old High German "sconi/skoni." Later in English the spelling became "shene," while in German it became "schoen." All sources agree that the Old Germanic form came from Indo European, but which root is the question. I prefer "skeu." "Skeu" had the notion of "look at, pay attention to, be aware of." It is the original source of "shine" and "show," which, by the way, in German is "schau(en)," in the verb form ("Schau" as a noun). The idea is, a person would be "aware of, pay attention to," something that "shines, glistens, is beautiful." There are various forms in the Germanic languages besides English "sheen" and German "schön:" Low German has "schöön," "Dutch has "schoon," Norwegian has "skjønn," Swedish has "skön," Danish has "skøn." I could not find a form in either Icelandic nor West Frisian (although Old Norse had "skjoni" and Frisian once had "skene"). By the way, "sheen/schön" are related to English "scone," the cake/cookie, which seems to have come from Scottish English from Dutch "schoonbroot," or "fine, glistening bread." Of course, in this case, English uses the hard "c" sound. Hey, now that's THREE words! What's 3 x 0?

The German Question, Part Forty-Six

"German Unification" Part One/B "Wars With Denmark"

I will be covering Otto von Bismarck's rise next, but first I want to finish the "Wars With Denmark." This will require in this article that I skip ahead to the time when Bismarck had already become the Minister President of Prussia. Further, as I noted in the first part of this section, the history of this whole conflict over Schleswig and Holstein is extremely complex, but the "devil is in the details," and try though I might, it is difficult to keep this simple.*

The question of Danish succession still lingered as the childless King Frederick VII grew older. The Danes believed that Schleswig was governed by Danish law and, therefore, Danish succession. The German view remained that any heir had to be male and passed on by the male line, not the female line. Holstein was not really in contention on this matter, as it was a member of the German Confederation, although it was a possession of Denmark (see further below). A complicated set of actions eventually conferred the future crown of Denmark AND Schleswig upon Christian of Glücksburg (who would become King Christian IX), but he was not a direct male heir, as he was related from the female line, and initially he had not been an heir to the throne of any country or province. King Frederick VII, whose childlessness had brought the whole matter to such a fever pitch, approved Christian as his heir. From the point of view of the Danes, the matter was settled.

Not long after the "First Schleswig War" ended, Frederick VII "granted" (decreed is a better word) a constitution that really did little to change his overall power. Later, the Danish assembly (or parliament) passed their own version of a constitution, also covering the Danish provinces outside of Denmark. This was rejected by Prussia and Austria on technicalities, and later also by the entire German Confederation, as the aim of the Germans was to continue to pry the provinces, especially Schleswig, away from any kind of Danish rule. The Danes had the opposite aim; that is, to tie Schleswig, and for some Danish nationalists, even Holstein, more closely to Denmark. There were numerous claims and counter claims during the years, but there was an agreement in London among several of Europe's powers, that Holstein and Lauenburg would have a new line of succession when King Frederick passed on, and not that of Frederick's heir. However, the two provinces would remain as Danish possessions. Schleswig, on the other hand, would be bound by the Danish succession law, but the Danes could not tie the province closer to Denmark than was Holstein.

In 1863, Frederick VII died, bringing Christian to the throne, as King Christian IX. A new Danish constitution awaited the new monarch's signature. The problem was, the constitution stipulated that parliament would govern both Denmark AND Schleswig. While Schleswig would still have its own provincial legislative body, this all amounted to an annexation of Schleswig to Denamrk. This violated the agreement between the various European powers made in London a number of years prior. This king signed on the dotted line. Frederick of Augustenburg ("Augustenborg" in Danish) was to become "Duke Of Holstein." Years earlier, when the contentious issue of Danish succession was being debated, he claimed Schleswig also, but later renounced that claim for a financial settlement. Now, here came Frederick again, claiming title to Schleswig.** In late 1863, the German Confederation, supported by Prussian Minister-President Bismarck, sent troops into Holstein to hold the province until matters were resolved (remember, Holstein was a member of the German Confederation, but a possession of the Danish crown). Bismarck got Austria to agree to resolve the Schleswig issue jointly with Prussia. Bismarck demanded that Denmark rescind its annexation, but that was rejected. Prussian and Austrian troops marched into Schleswig in early 1864. Bismarck's ultimate goal was annexation of the provinces to Prussia, as they were adjacent to Prussia, but Austria would not have participated in the war knowing that fact.

With German public sentiment strongly in favor of Schleswig and Holstein becoming independent of Denmark as a combined entity, Bismarck held the upper hand with fellow German power, Austria, whose leaders were concerned about Prussia's ever escalating power in German affairs, to the detriment of Austria. Overall German public opinion made it impossible for Austria to oppose the "public" Prussian position of independence for the provinces.

The two German powers defeated Denmark, with their forces actually entering Denmark itself. The war ("The Second Schleswig War") was over by August 1864, with a treaty signed in Vienna in October. Denmark renounced claim to the provinces, and it ceded control of the provinces, plus even more territory, to the administration of Austria and Prussia. Denmark lost approximately one million subjects, with as many as two hundred thousand being Danes. With Schleswig and Holstein detached from Denmark, German unification took another step forward. (A Word History is below the notes)

* I think back to my American History class in college, where the instructor (then in the process of earning his doctorate), when he came to the Civil War, was asked why he didn't get into the details of the war. He said it was all too complex, but that he could simplify it in three words, "The South lost." Of course in college, there was a separate class for those interested in just the Civil War.

** Frederick was pro-German, although he had been born in Copenhagen, Denmark. His pro-German position "might" have been taken because the Germans were more than willing to support his claim on Schleswig, an issue very sensitive to Denmark and to the Danish monarchy. Let's see, first he took a payoff to renounce his initial claim from prior years, now he's back renouncing his former "renouncement." You don't think Frederick was after anything or everything he could lay his hands on do you? Na, I can't believe that.

WORD HISTORY:
Throne-This goes back to Indo European "dher," and an alteration "dhrono," which had the notion of "support." The idea of support gave Greek "thronos," meaning "a seat, chair," which seems to have also developed the meaning "elevated seat, seat of honor;" thus, "throne." Latin borrowed the term from Greek as "thronus," which then passed to Latin-based Old French as "trone," and then in the 1200s, English borrowed the word as "throne." Just a note, German also borrowed the word from Old French and modern German has "Thron" (it is masculine; so, "der Thron").

The German Question, Part Forty-Five

“German Unification” Part One/ "Wars With Denmark"

First: The history of Schleswig-Holstein is far more complicated than what I will write about here, so if your background traces back to one of these areas, or to Denmark, I hope you won't feel slighted. Even with my generalizations, I hope no one will become too confused, as it is quite complex. Second: Remember the basics of feudalism; the lower level, vassals, pledged fealty and service (often militarily) to the upper level, a lord, who provided some sort of protection or basic living conditions. That lord's property, or area of control, was called a "fief" (no "To Catch a Fief" or "Fief Of Baghdad" jokes, please). This system had many levels, with lower level nobles/landowners pledging service to higher nobles, and at times, those nobles then doing the same with even higher nobles, even eventually reaching to the level of kings or emperors.

In the far northern part of what is now Germany (and near Denmark), there were two provinces, Schleswig and Holstein (now most commonly referred to in the combined "Schleswig-Holstein"), that were a center of controversy. Both regions had long, but somewhat varied, associations with Danish kings, who also carried the titles of (Danish) "Duke of Schleswig" and (German) "Count of Holstein" (Count=Graf, in German).* Centuries before, Schleswig had been considered a part of Denmark, but that changed during the Middle Ages, when it was a fief of the Danish king. Holstein, while a possession of the Danish king, was a fief of the German emperor (as mentioned about feudalism in the opening above), and it was a part of the Old German Empire (Holy Roman Empire), and later, it was a member of the German Confederation (the era where we are now in this series). Holstein was almost exclusively German in background (language and custom), but while Schleswig had a German majority, there was a minority of the population that considered themselves to be Danes, and a somewhat smaller percentage that were Frisian.** To complicate matters, in the 1400s, there had been an agreement between the Danish king and a number of German nobles stipulating that Holstein could not be annexed to Denmark, but giving the king the title of "duke," regarding Schleswig. It seems that the German nobles felt that with the separate title of duke, the province would retain some independence of the Danes, and indeed that happened, although it took a couple of centuries (see Note 2, below). Further, the two provinces were declared to be "forever undivided."*** (Separate note: There was actually a third province, (German) Saxe-Lauenburg, involved in some of these disputes, but only at times. It was a part of the German Confederation, but it too was a possession of the Danish king. It had been the king's possession since being handed over to Denmark by Sweden, which had gotten it from Prussia, following Napoleon's first defeat, in 1814. The province was exclusively German in population. [Told you, this stuff is confusing. No wonder they fought so many wars.])

The ouster of Napoleon from Germany inspired German nationalism, and that included German nationalism in Schleswig. The German population of the province began to make it known that they wanted to be part of any new German nation, which at that time appeared to be more imminent than it actually proved to be. The Danish population of the northern part of Schleswig (where they were a majority) likewise made it known that they didn't want to become German subjects. To keep this somewhat simple, the revolutions that erupted in 1848 led the Danish king to grant a constitution. As part of the Danish reorganization, the king and Danish nationalists wanted Schleswig to be incorporated into Denmark proper, although with a great deal of independence. This brought open challenges by the German population, which gained the support of Prussia.**** Further, there was that treaty from the 1400s, which the Germans now used to their advantage, since it stated that Schleswig could not be annexed to Denmark, and that Schleswig and Holstein could not be separated. The Danes in Denmark and the Danish population in Schleswig essentially wanted Schleswig and Holstein to be separated, with the boundary between the two provinces also becoming the boundary between Denmark and the German Confederation, or any new German state. The Germans argued that the old treaty didn't permit the two provinces to be separated, and that Schleswig should become part of the German Confederation, as Holstein already was. On their side, the Danes had a treaty from the 1700s where some European governments declared that the Danish king would always also assume the title of "Duke of Schleswig." As if these issues were not enough, there was much controversy over the succession to the Danish throne. Laws going back many centuries throughout the German states and Denmark did not permit female succession as rulers. The Danes had been debating allowing female succession, as one of their kings, Frederick VII, was childless. If the existing (traditional) law prevailed, this would have permitted a German-leaning noble to rule in Schleswig and Holstein. Danes wanted a new Danish law to prevail which permitted female succession, including in their possessions, Schleswig and Holstein, and there was a declaration of such a law by the Danes. Germans, of course, opposed the decree. This all added more fuel to the fire.

German nationalists in Schleswig and Holstein rose against Danish rule in 1848, establishing a separate government. In support, Prussia sent troops into the area which precipitated a war with Denmark (called "The First Schleswig War"). Prussia's action gave a boost to its prestige among most Germans, except mainly the Habsburgs of Austria, who wanted to see Prussia's influence over Germans diminished, so as to retain their own standing among Germans. The war dragged on for three years, including numerous ceasefires and negotiations (other European powers participated in the negotiations), before European powers got Prussia to agree to return Schleswig and Holstein to Danish possession, with Denmark essentially agreeing not to annex Schleswig. This was basically a Danish victory, but the actual issues remained unresolved.

To be continued.... (A Word History is below the notes)

* For those who have been following this series, and just for example, remember that the kings of England were also hereditary rulers of Hanover (Germany), but Hanover was not a part of England. Hanover was entitled to a vote in the election of the German emperor, so you had the King of England voting on who became German emperor. Remember too, King George I of England did not speak English, rather German, but his successors did speak English. In the case above, the King of Denmark had a seat in the German Confederation due to his possession of Holstein, which was a German state. Confused yet?

** The population of Schleswig had been becoming more and more "German" in nature. The spread of Lutheranism brought German language religious services to much of Schleswig, and also, over the course of a couple of centuries, German officials tended to run many of the local bureaucracies. Gradually, Low German overtook Danish in what had been majority Danish speaking parts of the province, but again, the province seems to have had at least a scant German majority for much of its history, even before this advance by German. While population patterns may not always work out this way, in the case of Schleswig, it was very reasonable, with increasing percentages of people considering themselves Danes, the closer an area was to Denmark proper.

*** This was an interesting situation. Since Schleswig was a fief of the king, his role as duke of the province made him a vassal to himself in his role as king. The "forever undivided" clause is difficult to understand (at least for me, duh!). Schleswig was considered Danish, while Holstein was conceded to be German. While both were possessions of the Danish king, they were in different spheres of influence right from the start. Since the agreement specifically forbade Denmark to annex Schleswig, the same had to be true of Holstein, simply by implication. If what happened to one, had to happen to the other, this was a controversy just waiting to develop. The text above will show how this played out.

**** By this time, Prussia dominated much of northern Germany, and the German populations of both Schleswig and Holstein felt an attachment to Prussia, and therefore, both wanted any new German nation to be led by Prussia and not Austria, a south German state. This certainly gave Prussia an incentive to help with the German situation in Schleswig.

WORD HISTORY:
Brat-Not as in "you little brat," but rather the shortened form of "bratwurst," which is commonly used in American English, usually in the plural, "brats." I'm not certain about usage in the rest of the English speaking world. "Wurst" was covered in a previous Word History. "Brat" goes back to Indo European "bhreue," which had to do with "cooking, heating, boiling, burning." This then gave Old Germanic "bredon/bredan," which meant "roast meat, roast flesh." This then gave Old High German "brado/brato/praten," with the same meaning. (By the way, it also gave Old English "braede," which meant "meat" and "braed" which meant "flesh," both of which later died out. The same base also gave German "Braten," meaning "roast.") This then gave German "Brät," meaning "lean meat, finely chopped veal or swine." By putting "lean, chopped veal or pork" into casings, this gave German "Bratwurst," the sausage we all know today. "Supposedly" the word was first borrowed into English from German in the early 1900s.