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8.20.6 Thule, at least as far as men know, lies at the furthest extremities of the Ocean toward the north. But the details concerning Brittania and Thule have been told by me in the preceding books; but the island of Brittia is inhabited by three very populous nations, and one king is set over each of them. 8.20.7 And the names given to these nations are Angili and Frissones and the Brittones, who are named after the island. 8.20.8 And so great does the populousness of these nations appear to be, that every year in large numbers they migrate from there with their women and chil8.20.9 dren and go to the Franks. And the latter settle them in what seems to be the more desolate part of their own land, 8.20.10 and from this they say they lay claim to the island. Indeed, not long ago the king of the Franks, when sending some of his intimates on an embassy to the Emperor Justinian in Byzantium, sent with them some men from the Angili, making a display of the fact that this island also is ruled by him. So, such are the facts concerning the island called Brittia. 8.20.11 Not long ago a certain man, Hermegisclus by name, was ruler of the Varni. This man, being eager to make his kingdom secure, took to wife the sister of Theudibert, the ruler of the Franks. 8.20.12 For his former wife had recently died, having been the mother of one child, whom she had left to his father, Radigis by name, for whom his father had arranged a marriage with a maiden of a Brittian family, whose brother was then king of the nation of the Angili, having given her great sums of money on account of the betrothal. 8.20.13 This man, while riding in a certain place with the most notable of the Varni, saw a certain bird sitting on a tree 8.20.14 and croaking loudly. And whether he understood the bird's voice, or knew something else, but pretended to understand the bird's prophecy, he immediately declared to those present that he would be dead forty 8.20.15 days later. For this, he said, the bird’s prophecy revealed to him. "I, therefore," he said, "looking ahead to how you might live most securely and in peace, both entered into a marriage-alliance with the Franks, bringing from there the wife who lives with me, and I have acquired for my son the Brittian betrothed. 8.20.16 But now, since I suspect I am about to die very soon, and I am childless of both male and female offspring, at least by this wife, and moreover my son is still unwed and unmarried, come, I will share my thought with you, and if it seems in no way disadvantageous to you, then, when I quickly reach the measure of my life, 8.20.17 with good fortune ratify and carry it out. I think, then, it will be more advantageous for the Varni to make the marriage-alliance with the Franks 8.20.18 rather than with the islanders. For the Brittii are not even able to mingle with you, except late and with difficulty; but the Varni and Franks have only this water of the Rhine between them, so that being very near neighbors to you, and having achieved a great degree of power, they have it readily in their hands both to do you good and to do you harm, whenever 8.20.19 they wish. And they will surely do you harm, unless the marriage-alliance is an obstacle to them. For the power of neighbors which surpasses their own is by nature oppressive to men and very prone to injustice, since for a powerful neighbor it is easy to contrive causes of war against those nearby who are doing no wrong. 8.20.20 Since, then, these things are so, let this boy's islander betrothed be dismissed by you, with all the money she happened to have received from us for this very purpose, carrying it away as compensation for the insult, as the common law of men wishes; and let the boy Radigis henceforth marry his own stepmother, just as our ancestral law permits." 8.20.21 Having said these things, on the fortieth day from the prophecy he fell ill and fulfilled his fate. And the son of Hermegisclus, having taken over the kingdom of the Varni, by the counsel of the notable men among these barbarians, began to carry out the will of the deceased

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8.20.6 Θούλη δὲ, ὅσα γε ἀνθρώπους εἰδέναι, ἐς Ὠκεανοῦ τοῦ πρὸς τῇ ἄρκτῳ τὰ ἔσχατα κεῖται. ἀλλὰ τὰ μὲν ἀμφὶ Βρεττανίᾳ καὶ Θούλῃ ἐν τοῖς ἔμπροσθέν μοι λόγοις ἐρρήθη· Βριττίαν δὲ τὴν νῆσον ἔθνη τρία πολυανθρωπότατα ἔχουσι, βασιλεύς τε εἷς αὐτῶν 8.20.7 ἑκάστῳ ἐφέστηκε. καὶ ὀνόματα κεῖται τοῖς ἔθνεσι τούτοις Ἀγγίλοι τε καὶ Φρίσσονες καὶ οἱ τῇ νήσῳ 8.20.8 ὁμώνυμοι Βρίττωνες. τοσαύτη δὲ ἡ τῶνδε τῶν ἐθνῶν πολυανθρωπία φαίνεται οὖσα, ὥστε ἀνὰ πᾶν ἔτος κατὰ πολλοὺς ἐνθένδε μετανιστάμενοι ξὺν γυναιξὶ καὶ παι8.20.9 σὶν ἐς Φράγγους χωροῦσιν. οἱ δὲ αὐτοὺς ἐνοικίζουσιν ἐς γῆς τῆς σφετέρας τὴν ἐρημοτέραν δοκοῦσαν εἶναι, 8.20.10 καὶ ἀπ' αὐτοῦ τὴν νῆσον προσποιεῖσθαί φασιν. ὥστε ἀμέλει οὐ πολλῷ πρότερον ὁ Φράγγων βασιλεὺς ἐπὶ πρεσβείᾳ τῶν οἱ ἐπιτηδείων τινὰς παρὰ βασιλέα Ἰουστινιανὸν ἐς Βυζάντιον στείλας ἄνδρας αὐτοῖς ἐκ τῶν Ἀγγίλων ξυνέπεμψε, φιλοτιμούμενος ὡς καὶ ἡ νῆσος ἥδε πρὸς αὐτοῦ ἄρχεται. τὰ μὲν οὖν κατὰ τὴν Βριττίαν καλουμένην νῆσον τοιαῦτά ἐστι. 8.20.11 Τῶν δὲ Οὐάρνων ἀνήρ τις οὐ πολλῷ πρότερον, Ἑρμεγίσκλος ὄνομα, ἦρχεν. ὅσπερ τὴν βασιλείαν κρατύνασθαι διὰ σπουδῆς ἔχων, τὴν Θευδιβέρτου ἀδελφὴν τοῦ Φράγγων ἄρχοντος γυναῖκα γαμετὴν ἐποιήσατο. 8.20.12 τετελευτήκει γὰρ αὐτῷ ἔναγχος ἡ πρότερον ξυνοικοῦσα γυνὴ, παιδὸς ἑνὸς γενομένη μήτηρ, ὃν καὶ ἀπέλιπε τῷ πατρὶ Ῥάδιγιν ὄνομα, ᾧ δὴ ὁ πατὴρ παρθένου κόρης, γένους Βριττίας, ἐμνήστευσε γάμον, ἧσπερ ἀδελφὸς βασιλεὺς ἦν τότε Ἀγγίλων τοῦ ἔθνους, χρήματα μεγάλα τῷ τῆς μνηστείας αὐτῇ δεδωκὼς λόγῳ. 8.20.13 οὗτος ἀνὴρ ξὺν Οὐάρνων τοῖς λογιμωτάτοις ἐν χωρίῳ τῳ ἱππευόμενος ὄρνιν τινὰ ἐπὶ δένδρου τε καθήμενον 8.20.14 εἶδε καὶ πολλὰ κρώζοντα. εἴτε δὲ τοῦ ὄρνιθος τῆς φωνῆς ξυνεὶς εἴτε ἄλλο μέν τι ἐξεπιστάμενος, ξυνεῖναι δὲ τοῦ ὄρνιθος μαντευομένου τερατευσάμενος, τοῖς παροῦσιν εὐθὺς ἔφασκεν ὡς τεθνήξεται τεσσαράκοντα 8.20.15 ἡμέραις ὕστερον. τοῦτο γὰρ αὐτῷ τὴν τοῦ ὄρνιθος δηλοῦν πρόρρησιν. «Ἐγὼ μὲν οὖν προορώμενος» ἔφη «ὅπως δὴ ὡς ἀσφαλέστατα ξὺν τῇ ἀπραγμοσύνῃ «βιώσεσθε, τοῖς τε Φράγγοις ἐς κῆδος συνῆλθον, «γυναῖκα ἐνθένδε τὴν ἐμοὶ ξυνοικοῦσαν ἐπαγαγόμενος, «καὶ τῷ παιδὶ τῷ 'μῷ περιβέβλημαι τὴν Βριττίαν μνη8.20.16 «στήν. ἀλλὰ νῦν, ἐπεὶ ἐγὼ μὲν τεθνήξεσθαι ὑποτο»πάζω αὐτίκα δὴ μάλα, εἰμὶ δὲ ἄπαις ἄρσενός τε καὶ «θήλεος γόνου, ὅσα γε τὰ γυναικὸς τῆσδε, πρὸς δὲ «καὶ ὁ παῖς ἀνυμέναιός τε καὶ ἄνυμφος ἔτι νῦν ἐστι, «φέρε ὑμῖν ἐπικοινώσομαι τὴν ἐμὴν διάνοιαν, καὶ εἴ «τι ὑμῖν οὐκ ἀσύμφορον δόξειεν εἶναι, ὑμεῖς δὲ αὐτὴν, «ἐπειδὰν ἀφίκωμαι τάχιστα ἐς τὸ μέτρον τοῦ βίου, 8.20.17 «τύχῃ ἀγαθῇ κατακυροῦντες διαπεραίνετε. οἶμαι τοί»νυν Οὐάρνοις ξυνοίσειν τὴν κηδείαν ἐς Φράγγους 8.20.18 «μᾶλλον ἢ ἐς τοὺς νησιώτας ποιεῖσθαι. Βρίττιοι μὲν «γὰρ οὐδὲ ὅσον ἐπιμίγνυσθαι ὑμῖν οἷοί τέ εἰσιν, ὅτι «μὴ ὀψέ τε καὶ μόλις· Οὔαρνοι δὲ καὶ Φράγγοι τουτὶ «μόνον τοῦ Ῥήνου τὸ ὕδωρ μεταξὺ ἔχουσιν, ὥστε «αὐτοὺς ἐν γειτόνων μὲν ὡς πλησιαίτατα ὄντας ὑμῖν, «ἐς δυνάμεως δὲ κεχωρηκότας μέγα τι χρῆμα, ἐν προ»χείρῳ ἔχειν εὖ ποιεῖν τε ὑμᾶς καὶ λυμαίνεσθαι, ἡνίκα 8.20.19 «ἂν αὐτοῖς βουλομένοις εἴη. λυμανοῦνται δὲ πάντως, «ἢν μὴ τὸ κῆδος αὐτοῖς ἐμπόδιον ἔσται. βαρεῖα γὰρ «φύσει τοῖς ἀνθρώποις ὑπερβάλλουσα αὐτοὺς τῶν «πλησιοχώρων δύναμις γίνεται καὶ πρὸς ἀδικίαν ἑτοι»μοτάτη, ἐπεὶ γείτονι δυνατῷ ῥᾴδιον ἐπὶ τοὺς πέλας 8.20.20 «οὐδὲν ἀδικοῦντας ἐκπορίζεσθαι πολέμου αἰτίας. ὅτε «τοίνυν ταῦτα οὕτως ἔχει, παρείσθω μὲν ὑμῖν τοῦ «παιδὸς τοῦδε νησιῶτις μνηστὴ χρήματα πάντα, ὅσα «παρ' ἡμῶν κεκομισμένη τούτου δὴ ἕνεκα ἔτυχε, τῆς «ὕβρεως ἀπενεγκαμένη μισθὸν, ᾗ νόμος ἀνθρώπων ὁ «κοινὸς βούλεται· Ῥάδιγις δὲ ὁ παῖς ξυνοικιζέσθω τῇ «μητρυιᾷ τὸ λοιπὸν τῇ αὑτοῦ, καθάπερ ὁ πάτριος ἡμῖν «ἐφίησι νόμος.» 8.20.21 Ὁ μὲν ταῦτα εἰπὼν τῇ τεσσαρακοστῇ ἀπὸ τῆς προρρήσεως ἡμέρᾳ νοσήσας τὴν πεπρωμένην ἀνέπλησεν. ὁ δὲ τοῦ Ἑρμεγίσκλου υἱὸς, Οὐάρνων τὴν βασιλείαν παραλαβὼν, γνώμῃ τῶν ἐν βαρβάροις τοῖσδε λογίμων ἀνδρῶν ἐπιτελῆ ἐποίει τὴν τοῦ τετελευτηκότος