FORGETTING ONE’S ANCESTORS IS TO BE A TREE WITHOUT A ROOT
A look at my German tribal roots and a general look at one’s ancestry.
I wasn’t exactly sure where this short project would lead me. I have wondered about when my ancestors roamed the and similar to the Native Americans for whom I have more knowledge. This seems rather backwards to me. Seems in our education system, at least the one I was exposed to, we really didn’t spend anytime on what is termed prehistory. I recall taking an Anthropology class way back in college where we learned of Austrailpithicus, but no time was devoted to our tribal identity. This time far surpassed our modern time. So I tried to make up a lesson for my edification from the writings of the Roman Tacitus of the German Tribes. Family DNA indicates I’m mostly German in ancestry and the test indicates an origin in the Elba River area of northern Germany. My surname is more English but my blood is mostly German. So my study became a project personalized to me and my family. Perhaps it might have value for others as well.
The best reference from the writings of Tacitus that I found on the German Tribes full of footnotes can be found with this link.
My acrostic free verse is as follows:
FORGETTING ONE’S ANCESTORS IS TO BE A TREE WITHOUT A ROOT
For today I wish to look back upon my ancestors as far as I’m able,
Of the time far back, and on my mother’s side which is German,
Reason being my father’s side is a mystery; my DNA is mostly German, Given what science can allude to, my ancestors were in Germany,
Each one perhaps a tribal member of the Suebi tribe,
Given the Elba River included such Suebi people as Marcomanni, Quadi…,
To the Hermunduri, Semnones, and Lombards; certainly someone,
Totally someone was my tribal ancestor back in the time of Christ,
In the Roman Tacitus came written descriptions of such people,
Now so what you may think, I only wish to know as it seems important,
Going back in time and space today is my only goal; I hope for the best.
Of that far back distant time, I’m so far removed from,
Nothing perhaps can prevent me from knowing better,
Each new morsel of information only makes me more understanding.
‘ You are the fairy tale told by your ancestors.’ - Toba Beta,*
Sometimes, or often actually, I’ve perceived myself as a tribal member.
And apparently most of the Suebi were fearsome warriors,
Now the male warriors had their women sometimes in the fight,
Crusading Romans met their match in the German tribes,
Each young German male stayed a virgin until age 20 or so,
So their wife would have to be a virgin, no exceptions allowed,
To the Suebi, war was the most serious of affairs always,
Of these Germanic ancestors I really have no great pride of,
Revile them or revere, I do not, it as only that my DNA is attached to theirs,
So today I only wish to imagine myself in their shoes, if they wore shoes.
I abhor any white supremists who might study the same as I do today,
Somehow they lived well enough to help me come into existence.
The time long ago, these Germans would attack in war in the nighttime,
Of these warriors they mostly carried clubs with little iron to speak of.
Because of their ferocity, and weren’t Christian, they’re called Barbarians, Each of these tribal people lived in scattered huts with firebreak space.
And so I’ve theorized as much as I can of my ancestors in that time.
Trump’s ancestors may have been Suebi in the form of the Marcomanni,
Really this strikes me as probable because I’ve always seen him as he is,
Even though it matters really not too much by this time,
Every one like Trump would have been quickly snuffed out back them.
What of this tribal society we have lost to our detriment I often wonder,
I spent only a momentary moment Googling of Trump’s ancestors,
Trump’s heritage is only a stain, but I thought it might be of interest,
How were my ancestors back then, I can only imagine it seems,
Of their trials, were any of them top warriors, or were they pagan priests,
Understand that my own particular idiosyncrasies may have been present,
The ancestry seems to me to be more important than we now realize.
And to not really this background back along the Elba River bothers me.
Really I’m probably only an oddball to think too much of this ignorance,
Of course it probably doesn’t really matter, as long as I stay honorable,
On this evening I’ve tried to cast my gaze through time and space,
To those who may come after me I hope that they’ll not wonder as I have.
“To forget one’s ancestors is to be a brook without a source, a tree without a root.”
— Chinese Proverb.
*Toba Beta - Born in Dairi, Indonesia on April 1972.
“It is profit to study the ancients.”
— Earl Rivers.
Anthony Woodville, 2nd Earl Rivers KG (c. 1440 – 25 June 1483), was an English nobleman, courtier, bibliophile and writer. He was the brother of Queen Elizabeth Woodville who married King Edward IV. He was one of the leading members of the Woodville family, which came to prominence during the reign of King Edward IV. After Edward's death, he was arrested and then executed by the Duke of Gloucester (the future King Richard III) as part of a power struggle between Richard and the Woodvilles. His English translation of The Dictes and Sayings of the Philosophers is one of the first books printed in England. He is known to have been a great tournament champion, and once fought a two-day "duel" with Antoine, bastard of Burgundy.
“Pride of ancestry is a natural and ennobling sentiment; and the man who does not feel it will contribute nothing of which posterity will be able to boast.”
— Thomas Kinsella.
Thomas Kinsella (December 31, 1832 – February 11, 1884) was an American printer and politician who served one term as a United States representative from New York from 1871 to 1873. He established the Brooklyn Sunday Sun in 1874; it afterward combined with the Daily Eagle, which he edited until his death in Brooklyn, 1884.
I found some very interesting quotes on ancestry and ancestors from a variety of perspectives.
“People will not look forward to posterity, who never look backward to their ancestors.”
— Edmund Burke
Edmund Burke (12 January 1729 – 9 July 1797) was an Anglo-Irish statesman and philosopher who spent most of his career in Great Britain. Born in Dublin, Burke served as a member of Parliament (MP) between 1766 and 1794 in the House of Commons of Great Britain with the Whig Party. In the 19th century, Burke was praised by both conservatives and liberals. Subsequently, in the 20th century, he became widely regarded, especially in the United States, as the philosophical founder of conservatism.
“We revere the ancients.”
— Plautus.
Titus Maccius Plautus (c. 254 – 184 BC) was a Roman playwright of the Old Latin period. His comedies are the earliest Latin literary works to have survived in their entirety. He wrote Palliata comoedia, the genre devised by Livius Andronicus, the innovator of Latin literature. The word Plautine refers to both Plautus's own works and works similar to or influenced by his. The historical context within which Plautus wrote can be seen, to some extent, in his comments on contemporary events and persons. Plautus was a popular comedic playwright while Roman theatre was still in its infancy and still largely undeveloped.
“Those who depend on the merits of their ancestors, may be said to search in the roots of the tree for those fruits which the branches ought to produce.”
— I. Barrow.
Isaac Barrow (October 1630 – 4 May 1677) was an English Christian theologian and mathematician who is generally given credit for his early role in the development of infinitesimal calculus; in particular, for proof of the fundamental theorem of calculus. His work centered on the properties of the tangent; Barrow was the first to calculate the tangents of the kappa curve. He is also notable for being the inaugural holder of the prestigious Lucasian Professorship of Mathematics, a post later held by his student, Isaac Newton. He was known for his courageousness. Particularly noted is the occasion of his having saved the ship he was upon, by the merits of his own prowess, from capture by pirates.
“Those who do not look upon themselves as a link, connecting the past with the future, do not perform their duty to the world.”
– Daniel Webster
Daniel Webster (January 18, 1782 – October 24, 1852) was an American lawyer and statesman who represented New Hampshire and Massachusetts in the U.S. Congress and served as the 14th and 19th U.S. Secretary of State under Presidents William Henry Harrison, John Tyler, and Millard Fillmore. Webster was one of the most prominent American lawyers of the 19th century, arguing over 200 cases before the United States Supreme Court in his career. During his life, Webster had been a member of the Federalist Party, the National Republican Party, and the Whig Party. He was among the three members of the Great Triumvirate along with Henry Clay and John C. Calhoun.
“You live as long as you are remembered.”
– Russian Proverb
“Why stand in awe of the ancients?”
— Confucius.
“If you can revive the ancient and use it to understand the modern, then you’re worthy to be a teacher.”
— Confucius
Confucius (lit. 'Master Kong'; c. 551 – c. 479 BCE), born Kong Qiu (孔丘), was a Chinese philosopher of the Spring and Autumn period who is traditionally considered the paragon of Chinese sages. Confucius's teachings and philosophy underpin the East Asian culture and society, and remain influential across China and East Asia to this day. His philosophical teachings, called Confucianism, emphasized personal and governmental morality, correctness of social relationships, justice, kindness, sincerity, and a ruler's responsibilities to lead by virtue.
“High birth is a thing which I never knew any one to disparage except those who had it not; and I never knew any one to make a boast of it who had anything else to be proud of.”
- Bishop Warburton.
William Warburton (24 December 1698 – 7 June 1779) was an English writer, literary critic and churchman, Bishop of Gloucester from 1759 until his death. He edited editions of the works of his friend Alexander Pope, and of William Shakespeare. In 1762 he launched a vigorous attack on Methodism under the title of The Doctrine of Grace. He also engaged in a keen controversy with Robert Lowth, later bishop of London, on the book of Job, in which Lowth brought home charges of lack of scholarship and of insolence that admitted of no denial.
“In all of us there is a hunger, marrow-deep, to know our heritage, to know who we are and where we came from.”
— Alex Haley
Alexander Murray Palmer Haley (August 11, 1921 – February 10, 1992) was an American writer and the author of the 1976 book Roots: The Saga of an American Family. ABC adapted the book as a television miniseries of the same name and aired it in 1977 to a record-breaking audience of 130 million viewers. In the United States, the book and miniseries raised the public awareness of black American history and inspired a broad interest in genealogy and family history.
“We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children.”
— Black Elk
Heȟáka Sápa, commonly known as Black Elk (baptized Nicholas; December 1, 1863 – August 19, 1950), was a wičháša wakȟáŋ ("medicine man, holy man") and heyoka of the Oglala Lakota people. He was a second cousin of the war leader Crazy Horse and fought with him in the Battle of Little Bighorn. He survived the Wounded Knee Massacre in 1890. He toured and performed in Europe as part of Buffalo Bill's Wild West. Black Elk is best known for his interviews with poet John Neihardt, where he discussed his religious views, visions, and events from his life. Neihardt published these in his book Black Elk Speaks in 1932. This book has since been published in numerous editions, most recently in 2008. Near the end of his life, he also spoke to American ethnologist Joseph Epes Brown for his 1947 book The Sacred Pipe. There has been great interest in these works among diverse people interested in Native American religions, notably those in the pan-Indian movement.
"To be ignorant of what occurred before you were born is to remain always a child. For what is the worth of human life, unless it is woven into the life of our ancestors by the records of history?"
— Tacitus
Publius Cornelius Tacitus, known simply as Tacitus (c. AD 56 – c. 120), was a Roman historian and politician. Tacitus is widely regarded as one of the greatest Roman historians by modern scholars. He served in the provinces from c. 89 to c. 93, either in command of a legion or in a civilian post. He and his property survived Domitian's reign of terror (81–96), but the experience left him jaded and perhaps ashamed at his own complicity, installing in him the hatred of tyranny evident in his works. The Agricola, chs. 44–45, is illustrative:
“Agricola was spared those later years during which Domitian, leaving now no interval or breathing space of time, but, as it were, with one continuous blow, drained the life-blood of the Commonwealth... It was not long before our hands dragged Helvidius to prison, before we gazed on the dying looks of Mauricus and Rusticus, before we were steeped in Senecio's innocent blood. Even Nero turned his eyes away, and did not gaze upon the atrocities which he ordered; with Domitian it was the chief part of our miseries to see and to be seen, to know that our sighs were being recorded…”
I will finish with a pseudo sonnet, trying to latch into my thoughts from my brief study of the German tribes and ancestors in general.
German Scars
I fancy myself in these later years wise,
But were many before me wiser than me,
Of course I am all wrapped up in what will be,
I wished to explore my kin back in the tribe,
Twenty First Century can’t truly disguise,
Blood has been the quite same dripping from the tree,
My sudden imagination running free,
If transported back - would there be a surprise?
A stout German I suppose is what I am,
My mother would not truly say so back then,
There was a disgrace and one could not pretend,
As a kid and playing soldier shooting blam,
Time has erased all the scars of the big war,
But fears of another shudder at my core.
I hope you found this interesting enough to read to this place. I have a better understanding now of my past from taking the time to do this.
181st Posting, March 20, 2024.