Insider, Updates

[Jericho]

Russian is Slavic? I figured it would be Germanic, like the ancient Rus.

The Rus were not Germanic last time i check. They were east-Slavic tribes centered around what is now Kiev. The name Rus is said to have been given to them by Swedish vikings after a place called Roslagen when they united them and formed the Rus kingdoms (this is just a theory as far as i know but it's quite prevalent were i studied history. But I'm from Sweden so it might be biased).

[discord]

the ancient Rus were basically vikings(correction, varangians, slight difference there.)but they got genetically outbreed by the locals, same with the language, russian is slavic, as are the people really.

[Jericho]

the ancient Rus were basically vikings(correction, varangians, slight difference there.)but they got genetically outbreed by the locals, same with the language, russian is slavic, as are the people really.

True i forgot that vikings were Germanic. We usually refer to them as Scandinavian (nationalist pride and all that ). But i don't think there were that big of a difference between varangians and vikings. The name was given to them i think by the byzantine empire and i thinks it's the origin of the word vanguard varangian-guard the emperors bodyguards wielding great axes. But essentially vikings who stuck around long enough to change their name.

[cacambo43]

One of the galactic maps shows the approximate location of the Well of Souls near Historian space and the Umiak. Is this going to play any role in the story, or is it just there as an "Ooh, neat, look, there is a Well of Souls there!" type of thing?



CJSF

P.S.
I have no idea where I originally linked to this image. It took me forever to find its URL. Can someone point me to the page it's linked from?

[discord]

jericho: close but no cigar, many of the vikings that settled in the byzantine area joined the varangian guard, but not all in the varangian guard were viking, problem lies in the meaning of the word.

varangian, best translation is probably 'foreigner that takes service' although the varangian guard was dominated by 'viking' or northern germanic tribes, there were other foreigner savages in it like irish and scots....biggest problem though is that the word varangian was applied to ALL viking kind of guys by the greek(and east slavs, but they don't count).

so the varangians that settled into the rus were probably not varangian GUARD, and therefor probably mostly scandinavian(predominantly swedish.) and we all know what happens every time someone tries to invade russia....

[Jericho]

so the varangians that settled into the rus were probably not varangian GUARD, and therefor probably mostly scandinavian(predominantly swedish.) and we all know what happens every time someone tries to invade russia....

Well luckily they didn't invade Russia as it didn't exist at the time but they were instrumental in founding the nation which is ironic because the swedes created the very enemy that ended our era of major power in the north, talk about your self-made enemy.

[junk]

the ancient Rus were basically vikings(correction, varangians, slight difference there.)but they got genetically outbreed by the locals, same with the language, russian is slavic, as are the people really.

It really depends - remember that russia is a huge huge place that while having mostly one language has loads of ethnic groups. WIth fairly large germanic pockets, asian, slavic and many others.

[Timefly]

the ancient Rus were basically vikings(correction, varangians, slight difference there.)but they got genetically outbreed by the locals, same with the language, russian is slavic, as are the people really.

It really depends - remember that russia is a huge huge place that while having mostly one language has loads of ethnic groups. WIth fairly large germanic pockets, asian, slavic and many others.

Russian is definitely a slavic language, not germanic, but he Russian Czars and higher classes 100+ years ago had significant ties to European royal houses (French, German, British; others all over, too, I'm sure), and there was quite a bit of cultural exchange before the revolution put an end to all that.

As to cursing, Russian has an entire sublanguage for foul swearing. The foulest stream of extremely filthy sentences in English probably doesn't come close, so it is not something you'd ever want to be caught using if you wish to maintain your reputation in good company. My wife (who is Russian) just grins and shakes her head when I try to see how filthy I can talk. Not even close, she says. I think Russian wins on that count, but after two or three bottles of vodka, I'm sure there'd be no guarantee what comes out of my mouth.

As to German, it offers some creative options for swearing, but I'm not certain how much better it really is at that than English. It's been too many years since I've had practice swearing in German.

[Arioch]

The fellow who told me he felt German was the best language to swear in is Russian.

[Charlie]

I a bit of German because I can speak Afrikaans. Russian, I learned enough of to identify basic swearing.

While I can attest there are there are more ways to call someone some foul, that I know of, in Russian. German, for me anyway, seems like an angry language it sounds angry. Not to say every German is a large angry man that only wishes to bludgeon your ears to death with his better grasp of German, but you know... he could be.

[Absalom]

so the varangians that settled into the rus were probably not varangian GUARD, and therefor probably mostly scandinavian(predominantly swedish.) and we all know what happens every time someone tries to invade russia....

Well luckily they didn't invade Russia as it didn't exist at the time but they were instrumental in founding the nation which is ironic because the swedes created the very enemy that ended our era of major power in the north, talk about your self-made enemy.

Unwelcome form though it may be, you can always say that creating both a thing, and it's countermeasure, is at least efficient.

I a bit of German because I can speak Afrikaans. Russian, I learned enough of to identify basic swearing.

While I can attest there are there are more ways to call someone some foul, that I know of, in Russian. German, for me anyway, seems like an angry language it sounds angry. Not to say every German is a large angry man that only wishes to bludgeon your ears to death with his better grasp of German, but you know... he could be.

Yeah, there does seem to be some value in a language being pronounceable in an "unrefined rock and stone" form when it comes to the field verbally stabbing someone. If someone was to actually study the subject of weaponized language for a few decades, maybe we could even reenact the Dune movies with it.

[junk]

the ancient Rus were basically vikings(correction, varangians, slight difference there.)but they got genetically outbreed by the locals, same with the language, russian is slavic, as are the people really.

It really depends - remember that russia is a huge huge place that while having mostly one language has loads of ethnic groups. WIth fairly large germanic pockets, asian, slavic and many others.

Russian is definitely a slavic language, not germanic, but he Russian Czars and higher classes 100+ years ago had significant ties to European royal houses (French, German, British; others all over, too, I'm sure), and there was quite a bit of cultural exchange before the revolution put an end to all that.

As to cursing, Russian has an entire sublanguage for foul swearing. The foulest stream of extremely filthy sentences in English probably doesn't come close, so it is not something you'd ever want to be caught using if you wish to maintain your reputation in good company. My wife (who is Russian) just grins and shakes her head when I try to see how filthy I can talk. Not even close, she says. I think Russian wins on that count, but after two or three bottles of vodka, I'm sure there'd be no guarantee what comes out of my mouth.

As to German, it offers some creative options for swearing, but I'm not certain how much better it really is at that than English. It's been too many years since I've had practice swearing in German.

Oh I didn't mean Russian as in being a germanic based language. I just meant the ethnic groups. Russian pretty much replaced most of the languages ni the place.

As far as slavic languages go as well, I think I know mine pretty well being billingual czech|german.