them played an important role in Rommel’s Afrika Corps, while the eldest even bore the Christian name Sixt. However, the meaning of the name itself is obscure, as there appear to be no provinces, towns, mountains, or battles of consequence (the usual determining factors for the von honor) in modern Germany that bear the name, whatever spelling one uses — and this raises the interesting question of whether the von was intended, in this case, not to imply the usual geographical connection, but instead as a link to a distant ancestor, Sixt Arnem. —C.C.
† “… unadorned steel plate helmet …” Remarkable as it may seem, little to nothing is known definitively about what “Dark Age warriors” employed for helmets and armor; and, while we know a little more about their weapons, it is only a little, forcing us to rely on the descriptions of these items in texts such as the Broken Manuscript — which, thankfully, is (as we shall see), unusually rich in its descriptions of these items, the crafting of which forms a very central part of the tale. We can divine, for instance, that this particular reference is to the basic helmet design of the early Middle Ages, which was developed among the Germanic tribes, called the Spangenhelm, spangen referring to the clasps of the metal framework of the helmet, to which varying numbers of steel plates were either welded or riveted. It became the basis for the similar Norman helmets (also unadorned, for the most part), as well as for the helmets of many other non-Germanic tribes, during this period, although just how many we cannot, of course say; but we can add that the number of plates often depended, not only on the shape of the helmet’s dome, but on how many metal “flaps” (movable parts that were tied during battle, and swung free at other times, alternately giving protection and allowing access to the neck, ears, cheeks, nose, etc.) were incorporated into the particular design. —C.C.
† khotor See note for p. 00 on the military organization of the Broken army, above. —C.C.
‡ Torganian Gibbon writes, “Surely this word ‘Torganian’ is little more than a dialectal cousin of Thuringian, being as the only modern forest which closely resembles ‘Davon Wood’ in scale, impassability, and proximity to Broken (or Brocken) is that which today gives the fabled region of Thuringia its name: a wilderness which, in the period under consideration, was likely far more vast than is the already enormous woodland that we encounter in the area today. ‘Torganian’ also suggests an interesting etymology in Middle (and likely Old High) German, some melding of the concepts of ‘gateway’ and ‘pass’ or ‘passageway’: geographic features that would have been much prized, in such a landscape. The Thuringian people are thought to have been displaced by Frankish tribes in the sixth century, but whether they or anyone else ever inhabited the deepest Thuringian Forest is unclear. We do know that, at the height of Broken’s power, the dislocation of the Thuringians by the Franks had occurred south of the Erz Mountains (‘the Tombs’), from whence the ‘Torganian raiders’ seem to have originated. Thus, even if the raiders herein described as attacking Broken by way of passes through the Tombs were Franks, it is logical and perhaps even probable that so isolated a society as Broken’s would have been unaware of the shift in populations, and would have assumed that the new invaders were simply the latest generation of their ancient enemy. Whatever the case, we can only marvel at how stalwart this Arnem must indeed have been, if he could rally his men to fend off such renownedly ruthless and capable warriors as the Thuringians and the Franks for an entire winter amid high mountain snows!”
† Herwald Korsar A particularly interesting name, korsar still being a German word for “corsair” or “pirate,” but Herwald being an archaic name, its meaning apparently lost to time along with its use. Following the common system for determining the origin of such appellations, especially in the early and high Middle Ages, we are forced to conclude that Herwald Korsar came from a family of river- or seafaring adventurers — but whether they acted on behalf of the kingdom of Broken, or were among the enemies who agreed to join the kingdom at the time of its unification under Oxmontrot, is a question that must remain, for the moment, unanswered. —C.C.
‡ Amalberta Korsar Gibbon writes, “The appearance of the name Amalberta is significant in helping us determine the various influences of surrounding societies on that of Broken. Amal, which appears with respectable frequency in early Germanic writings, is believed by some scholars to connote a representative of the eastern [Ostro-] Gothic royal family known as the Amelungen; whereas berta, of course, is simply another variation on the group of modern names centered on Bertha that imply ‘radiance,’ or ‘golden.’ Together, these components raise the rather interesting possibility that this wife of the supreme commander of the army of Broken — a woman who is acknowledged to be ‘foreign-born’—may in fact have been a Gothic princess of some importance.”
† “‘… some dog-bitten lunatic …’” This last word, when used by the soldiers and citizens of Broken, naturally has an especially pejorative connotation, its root almost certainly having been, in the Broken dialect as in English, luna, or “moon,” both based on the Latin lunaticus, or “moonstruck,” reflecting the ancient notion — which Kafrans would have highlighted, given the Bane tribe’s (as well as their own ancient) worship of that heavenly body — that the moon’s powers included the ability to cause mental illness. —C.C.
† “Home to the God-King …” Gibbon writes, “One cannot help but pay special attention to this idea of the ‘God-Kings’ of Broken, particularly given the location of the kingdom and the historical era during which it achieved its zenith of power: Germanic tribes of the Barbarian Age were well known for electing their leaders, whether they called them ‘kings’ or ‘barons.’ Such leaders, obviously, were not yet what we know as ‘divine right’ kings, nor was their power hereditary. Once again, then, the people of Broken anticipated European institutions and styles of rank by generations, if not centuries — no small accomplishment!”
‡ Oxmontrot Of the many interesting silences that punctuate Gibbon’s comments on the Manuscript, none is more eloquent than his apparent refusal or inability to even attempt to determine the origin of this name. The most obvious and literal explanation, if we make allowances for the influence of Gothic and Old High German on the Broken dialect — which, as we have already seen and will see many more times, often reverted to what Gibbon called “phonetic approximations”—is that Oxmontrot meant simply “man as strong as three oxen,” or perhaps “man as fast as three oxen,” although this last seems less likely, as oxen have never been renowned for their speed, but rather for their plodding pace and power. But if we allow other possible meanings of the name’s components to enter the question, we find that the first two syllables in Oxmontrot may originate with either the Gothic Audawakrs and its German counterpart, Odovocar, both of which mean “wealthy and vigilant”; or with the Old German equivalent of Old English’s Oswald, “the rule of God”; or, finally, with Oskar, the still-used German equivalent of Oscar, translated either as “deer lover” or “godly spear.” The determining factor would seem to be what meaning we ascribe to the third syllable. It may be descriptive, based in early German phrasings and spellings of rostrot, or “russet, auburn.” One immediately thinks of the crusader and Holy Roman Emperor Friedrich I, also called Friedrich Barbarossa, or “Redbeard,” although the likelihood of any inspirational connection vanishes when we consider that Friedrich did not rule until the twelfth century; still, Adolf Hitler thought enough of Friedrich’s zealous attempts to rid the world of the “racially inferior” Muslims to code-name his invasion of Russia “Operation Barbarossa”—and when one considers Oxmontrot’s policies in Broken, one cannot help but wonder if Friedrich’s name was not meant to recall, in some way, the founding king of Broken, and whether there is, therefore, a link between all three names. Or, the final syllable may relate to the more literal trott, a jogging pace. Lastly, trot may simply reach back to the early development of not only German, but to the Germanic languages of Saxon and Old English, as well, and translate as the number and quantity “three.” Why this should be significant, however, is obscure: much like the ruler himself. —C.C.
† Lumun-jan Gibbon writes, “We can be in no doubt that the ‘vast empire’ to which the narrator refers was Rome, despite the fact that the name Lumun- jan does not seem to appear in most Germanic dialects.” Gibbon could not have known, of course, that he was looking in the wrong place; if we turn to the Gothic vocabulary, we find that lumun is a root common to various terms for “light,” or in this case “lightning,” while jan is a suffix incorporated into many words which imply “protection”—especially “shield.” The tribes who eventually made up the kingdom of Broken before (perhaps long before) the fifth century included
