HUM 140 Lecture Notes - Lecture 18: Jutes, Prose Edda, Weregild
Document Summary
Norse culture - the lives of the north men. Humans first arrived around 45,000 years ago. The diaspora brought the original inhabitants from africa, who settled in cold, mountainous regions. The growing season was short and winters were brutal. The people lived in caves, which could be warmed with fire and adopted a diet that was mostly meat. They were the first to develop the bow and arrow. They domesticated dogs and trained them for hunting. The languages of early europe, and their mythologies, are created. The population of europe grew rapidly after 5000 bce. Raiding parties would sweep in without warning, kill the people in a farming village, eat their food, burn the village, and move onto the next. By the time metallurgy was developed, the regions that created the myths were heavily populated. One man could belong to several clans, at times requiring declarations of allegiance. Women identified with their father"s or husband"s clans.
