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Archives'Alan' and the Alans
Your entry on 'Alan' says that the name came to England with Bretons who followed William of Normandy, but is uncertain about what the name means in Breton. I think it's possible that the name is not originally Breton, but is a reference to the Sarmatian (Iranian) tribe known as the Alans, who lived for a time in Gaul, based in Orleans. Most of them moved south, to Spain and into Africa, but surely some stayed behind. I can easily imagine an Alan reaching Brittany from Orleans and the locals, finding his Sarmatian name unpronounceable, calling him 'Alan'. I've found references in a few online works that say flat out that the Sarmatian Alans are the source of the name 'Alan' in Western Europe. The Alans were nomads who rode horses and introduced the idea of hunting on horseback assisted by pack of dogs to Europe. There's a breed of dogs in France and Spain that's still known as the Alano breed today.
Is there any evidence one way or the other on this idea?
Thanks!
Is there any evidence one way or the other on this idea?
Thanks!
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Replies
I've never heard of anything like it, in all my research - perhaps you could post the links to those online works so we can check them out?
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Here are some links, with especially relevant sections quoted:
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http://home.btconnect.com/CAIS/Religions/iranian/Zarathushtrian/Oric.Basirov/origin_of_the_iranians.htm
From the mid fifth century A.D. onwards, Alans, now fully Christianised, gradually lost their Iranian language, and were eventually absorbed into the population of medieval Europe; as late as 575 one still comes across Iranian names, such as Gersasp in southern France, and Aspidius (Aspapati, Asppat) in northern Spain, and of course the word Alan itself, which is still a very popular name in western Europe [14]
footnote 14 is: Bachrach, B.S., "A History of the Alans in the West", UMP (1973), pp. 92, 102,107.
*****
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alans
About 370 CE the Alans were overwhelmed by the Huns . They were divided into two groups. One group fled westward. These 'western' Alani joined the Germanic nations in their invasion of Gaul. Gregory of Tours mentions that their king Respendial saved the day for the Vandals in an armed encounter with the Franks at the crossing of the Rhine (c. 407). Although some of the Alani perhaps invaded England or settled in Spain and Portugal, and others settled near Orléans and Valence, most went to Spain and eventually North Africa with the Vandals.
Following the fortunes of the Vandals into Spain, the separate ethnic identity of the western Alans dissolved. In 426, the western Alan king, Attaces, was killed in battle against the Visigoths , and this branch of the Alans subsequently appealed to the Vandal king Gunderic to accept the Alan crown. Later Vandal kings in North Africa styled themselves Rex Wandalorum et Alanorum (King of the Vandals and Alans).
*****
http://home.btconnect.com/CAIS/Religions/iranian/Zarathushtrian/Oric.Basirov/origin_of_the_iranians.htm
From the mid fifth century A.D. onwards, Alans, now fully Christianised, gradually lost their Iranian language, and were eventually absorbed into the population of medieval Europe; as late as 575 one still comes across Iranian names, such as Gersasp in southern France, and Aspidius (Aspapati, Asppat) in northern Spain, and of course the word Alan itself, which is still a very popular name in western Europe [14]
footnote 14 is: Bachrach, B.S., "A History of the Alans in the West", UMP (1973), pp. 92, 102,107.
*****
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alans
About 370 CE the Alans were overwhelmed by the Huns . They were divided into two groups. One group fled westward. These 'western' Alani joined the Germanic nations in their invasion of Gaul. Gregory of Tours mentions that their king Respendial saved the day for the Vandals in an armed encounter with the Franks at the crossing of the Rhine (c. 407). Although some of the Alani perhaps invaded England or settled in Spain and Portugal, and others settled near Orléans and Valence, most went to Spain and eventually North Africa with the Vandals.
Following the fortunes of the Vandals into Spain, the separate ethnic identity of the western Alans dissolved. In 426, the western Alan king, Attaces, was killed in battle against the Visigoths , and this branch of the Alans subsequently appealed to the Vandal king Gunderic to accept the Alan crown. Later Vandal kings in North Africa styled themselves Rex Wandalorum et Alanorum (King of the Vandals and Alans).
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Wow, ok, lots of links! I'll have to look into all that when I've got loads of time :-)
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