#lombardic

The Tuscany Brooch, Lombardic Italy, around 600 CE, The British Museum, London

The Langobards/Lombards/Longobards are an Italic-Germanic tribe with origins in southern Scandinavia around the first centuries B.C. and A.D.

Their steady migration southward can be retraced by archaeological artifacts, which show their Scandinavian origin.

Their early connections to (the geographical city of) Rome made them very influential in the Western Roman world; on financial, military, religious but also law practice and kingship levels.

The Lombards were quickly christened and were the founding fathers of many religious institutions in northern Italy, ruled Italy, and adapted/adopted Roman Law, making for a culturally rich period. Their capital Pavia is located in the Italian province of Lombardy, named after, you guessed it.

It has to be said (it sounds like a fake fact but it is not) that their name means “Long Beards”. In many European languages the descriptive name can be heard in “Langobard” also written as “Longobard”.

Image:

Langobardic radiate headed bow brooch

Ciborium Fragment. Langobardic. 8th to 9th Century CE.

18th November 2020

बँक

[băṅk], noun (feminine), plural बँका [băṅkā]

bank (financial institution)

बँक चार वाजता बंद होते, मग पाच वाजता दरोडा घालण्यात काय अर्थ आहे? băṅk cār vāztā baṅda hote, mag pāč vāztā daroḍā ghālṇyāt kāy artha āhe

The bank closes at four, so what’s the point of robbing it at five?

Origin: English ‘bank’, from Middle English banke, from Middle French banque, from Old Italian banca (counter, moneychanger's bench or table), from Lombardic bank (bench, counter), from Proto-West Germanic *banki, from Proto-Germanic *bankiz (“bench, counter”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeg- (“to turn, curve, bend, bow”).