How long was a hundred?
How long was a hundred?
It's come to my attention that the word "hundred" once meant 120, rather than 100. Called the "long hundred",https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_hundred#cite_ref-1", what we write as "120" fell out of use after a while, in favour with what we write as "100". This seems to be a feature of the Germanic languages, where the number ten was not the base number, but rather twelve. If the Fryas had the same number system, it means the Yule would last 7200 years, rather than 6000 years. This also means that 680 extra years would have to be added between the sinking of Atland, and the letter from Hidde to Okke in the OLB (Twenty years would have to be added to every "100" years)
Brea, bûter en griene tsiis is goed Ingelsk en goed Frysk
Re: How long was a hundred?
In Norse saga research community the issue of 100 vs 120 is a topic of discussion, though obviously the basic term 'hundred' can't refer to 120 other than in a military unit size context, as there would be no way to refer to a 100 then. Germanic military leader title Hunno may refer to the same of 100 or 120 (hundred, hundare) the same way a Roman centurio leads a hundred men of a centuria (satakunta in Finnish).
The Germanic base 12 system in OL narrative is present via the 6000, which is half of that and connects to the 12 or 24 hour day system (also 12 months in a year). Whether there once existed a Germanic concept of double-cycle of full 12000 years is unknown to me. By comparison Finnish Bock family saga uses a 10000 year long cycle count (full lenght attained and thus count zeroed in AD 1984 Christian time) and the Asian cultures have vastly longer cycles (please see here and here).
That Germanic peoples too had concepts of such super long cycles is supported by the Norse Valhalla mythos, that includes the numerical riddle of 800 warriors and 540 doors, which is 432000 - a numerical or astronomical cycle as noted already by academics in 1920s and again in 1960s (1929 quote here, 1965 separate mention in this book). The riddle works mathematically only if 'hundred' is understood as 100 and not 120 (átta hundruð einherja 'eight hundred Einherjar').
Edit:The standard OL chronology reading of 6000 years and catastrophe at c. 2194 BC works out well with a variety of sources from Dutch calendars to Biblical and Sumerian dynasty name lists assumed to refer to c. 2000 BC era with same names as in OL related Norse sagas (link, another example). There is thus a strong argument in favour of a shared Eurasian 6000/2194 BC understanding and if there was any corruption or error in it, it must have come about already in old times.
The Germanic base 12 system in OL narrative is present via the 6000, which is half of that and connects to the 12 or 24 hour day system (also 12 months in a year). Whether there once existed a Germanic concept of double-cycle of full 12000 years is unknown to me. By comparison Finnish Bock family saga uses a 10000 year long cycle count (full lenght attained and thus count zeroed in AD 1984 Christian time) and the Asian cultures have vastly longer cycles (please see here and here).
That Germanic peoples too had concepts of such super long cycles is supported by the Norse Valhalla mythos, that includes the numerical riddle of 800 warriors and 540 doors, which is 432000 - a numerical or astronomical cycle as noted already by academics in 1920s and again in 1960s (1929 quote here, 1965 separate mention in this book). The riddle works mathematically only if 'hundred' is understood as 100 and not 120 (átta hundruð einherja 'eight hundred Einherjar').
Edit:The standard OL chronology reading of 6000 years and catastrophe at c. 2194 BC works out well with a variety of sources from Dutch calendars to Biblical and Sumerian dynasty name lists assumed to refer to c. 2000 BC era with same names as in OL related Norse sagas (link, another example). There is thus a strong argument in favour of a shared Eurasian 6000/2194 BC understanding and if there was any corruption or error in it, it must have come about already in old times.