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Tracing a Germanic Knotwork

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Tracing a Germanic Knotwork Malcolm Todd. The Early Germans. Malden: Blackwell Publishers, 2004. xvi + 266 pp. $32.95, paper, ISBN 978-1-4051-1714-2. Reviewed by Christopher LeCluyse Published on H-German (November, 2005) In this edition of The Early Germans, Malcolm people, nation, or group of tribes" and would Todd revises and expands his original 1992 publi‐ more likely identify themselves as coming from a cation. As the author explains, advances in the particular subgroup, "'Langobard', 'Vandal', study of ancient Germanic peoples and increased 'Frisian' or 'Goth', not 'Germanus'" (pp. 8, 9). In access to archaeological fnds in the former East‐ Todd's presentation, even these subgroups do not ern Bloc warrant the relatively quick turnaround represent hard and fast ethnic or tribal affilia‐ between the two editions. Todd frst offers a com‐ tions. Choosing his labels carefully, Todd calls the prehensive overview of ancient Germanic social Franks a "confederacy" of different peoples, the organization, artifacts, burial practices, trade, and Saxons a "grouping," and the Goths "a very hetero‐ religion. The second part of the book then treats geneous gathering" (pp. 56, 139). By making these the various Germanic subgroups in greater detail. prudent distinctions, Todd treats ethnicity and Combining documentary and archaeological fnd‐ culture functionally and opposes the tendency of ings, Todd compares evidence on (or rather, in) German nationalists to credit these early peoples the ground with accounts derived mainly from with a prescient and inclusive sense of common Roman sources. Throughout this informative identity. work he cautions against making hasty or overly As an archaeologist, Todd is similarly cautious broad generalizations regarding the early Ger‐ about too closely associating cultures manifest in mans and models a careful balance of history and the archaeological record with particular ethnic archaeology. groups. Particularly when discussing possible Early in the book Todd cautions against as‐ Germanic settlement in what is now eastern Eu‐ cribing some kind of overarching ethnic identity rope, he foregrounds the hybrid nature of groups to the people we now group together as Germanic. such as the Bastarnae and the Zarubintsy culture, As he explains, the Germanic peoples "had no col‐ which he argues represent polyethnic complexes lective consciousness of themselves as a separate H-Net Reviews that included Slavs, Sarmatians, and other peo‐ a specific ethnic group only in the presence of ples (pp. 23-24). compelling evidence, is likely to feel a bit burned Even for groups with a more certain German‐ as a result. ic make-up, Todd fully presents the extent of The book's illustrations are by and large ap‐ Celtic and Roman cultural influence. The author propriate and effective. Most useful are illustra‐ demonstrates the extensive distribution of Roman tions of artifacts and schematics of particular trade goods to the farthest reaches of northern finds; further illustrations of this nature--such as and eastern Europe and the significant adoption of the anthropomorphic fgures found at Braak, of Roman political, military, and social practices, Possendorf, and Oberdorla--would help present especially among Germanic peoples living in and Germanic culture in more concrete terms. What near the Roman frontier. As Todd explains, the illustrations there are could also be presented advance of Rome presented a significant chal‐ more with the reader in mind, both through the lenge to the Germanic tribal system and provided use of cross-references and the consistent inclu‐ new means of social advancement for Germanic sion of map keys (absent from figure 5). leaders. From the late third century, Germanic The only other drawback to this otherwise ex‐ warriors helped Rome realize its imperial ambi‐ cellent book results perhaps from what Todd calls tions by joining its increasingly barbarian army, the "mongrel text" of his manuscript for the ex‐ and Rome helped such men realize their Personal panded edition. In several places it is clear that ambitions by promoting them to the highest levels new material has been added without consulting of leadership. By focusing on Roman influences, the existing text. In some chapters the same infor‐ Todd makes the best use of the historical record, mation is repeated twice with the same degree of which is after all written largely from a Roman detail, as if the frst mention had not occurred. perspective. Such is the case with the introduction of Tacitus's In keeping with his principled assertion that Germania and Pliny the Elder's now lost German the archaeological record does not speak for itself, Wars (pp. 4-6), Ulfila's Gothic translation of the Todd usually starts each discussion of a particular Bible (pp. 11 and 13), and the human remains aspect of Germanic culture or of a particular Ger‐ found at Tollund and Dätgen (pp. 110-113). More manic group with a review of the historical careful editing would have eliminated these dis‐ record. He then surveys archaeological evidence tracting double-takes. to demonstrate to what extent it corroborates doc‐ As a whole, however, The Early Germans umentary evidence. Problems arise only when sheds light on the origins both of better-known this pattern is reversed. For example, Todd begins Germanic peoples such as the Franks and Saxons his fourth chapter, "The Living and the Dead," and more obscure groups like the Gepids. Placed with a description of Terpen, burial mounds in the cultural, historical, and archaeological con‐ found in Friesland and northern Germany. Be‐ text established in the frst half of the book, Todd's cause he does not identify what ethnic group profiles of particular Germanic peoples present these mounds represent, it is not clear that the an introduction to "Germanic Europe" that is as mounds were built by Germanic people until detailed as it is comprehensive. three pages into the chapter. This disorienting move does a disservice to the novices most likely to benefit from the book. The reader unfamiliar with Germanic archaeology, instructed by Todd's cautious example to equate a particular fnd with 2 H-Net Reviews If there is additional discussion of this review, you may access it through the network, at https://networks.h-net.org/h-german Citation: Christopher LeCluyse. Review of Todd, Malcolm. The Early Germans. H-German, H-Net Reviews. November, 2005. URL: https://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=11262 This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. 3.
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