An investigation into the mysterious Frisians, drawing together evidence from linguistic, textual and archaeological sources.From as early as the first century AD, learned Romans knew of more than one group of people living in north-western Europe beyond their Empire's Gallic provinces whose names contained the element that gives us modern "Frisian". These were apparently Celtic-speaking peoples, but that population was probably completely replaced in the course of the convulsions that Europe underwent during the fourth and fifth centuries. While the importance of linguisticallyGermanic Frisians as neighbours of the Anglo-Saxons, Franks, Saxons and Danes in the centuries immediately following the fall of the Roman Empire in the West is widely recognized, these folk themselves remain enigmatic, the details of their culture and organization unfamiliar to many. The Frisian population and their lands, including all the coastal communities of the North sea region and their connections with the Baltic shores, form the focal pointof this volume, though viewed often through comparison with, or even through the eyes of, their neighbours. The essays present the most up-to-date discoveries, research and interpretation, combining and integrating linguistic, textual and archaeological evidence; they follow the story of the various Frisians through from the Roman Period to the next great period of disruption and change introduced by the Viking Scandinavians. John Hines is Professor of Archaeology at Cardiff University; Nelleke IJssennagger is Curator of Archaeological and Medieval Collections at the Museum of Friesland. Contributors: Elzbieta Adamczyk, Iris Aufderhaar, Pieterjan Deckers, Menno Dijkstra, John Hines, Nelleke Ijssennagger, Hauke Jöns, Egge Knol, Jan de Koning, Johan Nicolay, Han Nijdam, Tim Pestell, Peter Schrijver, Arjen Versloot, Gaby Waxenberger, Christiane Zimmermann.

Introduction: The Frisians - who, when, where, why? - John Hines and Paleogeography and people: historical Frisians in an archaeological light - Nelleke IJssennagger-van der Pluijm and Egge KnolThe Anglo-Frisian question - John HinesFrisian between the Roman and the Early Medieval Period: language contact, Celts and Romans - Peter Schrijver'All quiet on the Western Front'? The western Netherlands and the 'North Sea Culture' in the Migration Period - Menno Dijkstra'All quiet on the Western Front'? The western Netherlands and the 'North Sea Culture' in the Migration Period - Jan de KoningPower and identity in the southern North Sea area: the Migration and Merovingian Periods - Johan NicolayHow 'English' is the Early Frisian Runic Corpus? The evidence of sounds and forms - Gaby WaxenbergerGeography and Dialects of Old Saxon: River basin communication networks and the distributional patterns of North Sea Germanic features in Old Saxon - Arjen VerlsootGeography and Dialects of Old Saxon: River basin communication networks and the distributional patterns of North Sea Germanic features in Old Saxon - Elzbieta AdamczykBetween Sievern and Gudendorf: enclosed sites in the north-western Elbe-Weser triangle and their significance in respect of society, communication and migration during the Roman Iron Age and Migration Period - Iris AufderhaarCultural convergence in a maritime context: language and material culture as parallel phenomena in the Early-medieval southern North Sea region - Pieterjan DeckersThe kingdom of East Anglia, Frisia and Continental connections c. 600 900 - Tim PestellA comparison of the injury tariffs in the early Kentish and the Frisian law codes - Han NijdamCultural contacts between the western Baltic, the North Sea region, and Scandinavia: attributing runic finds to runic traditions and corpora of the Early Viking Age - Hauke JönsCultural contacts between the western Baltic, the North Sea region, and Scandinavia: attributing runic finds to runic traditions and corpora of the Early Viking Age - Christiane Zimmermann