History

Over the course of the 6th century BC, much of northern and western Europe was experiencing a time of migration and transition as the Bronze age was making way for the Iron age. Early Germanic groups began migrating southwards and eastwards from Jutland, establishing themselves inland and along the Baltic coastline. These areas, once predominantly settled by Early Celts, were now buzzing with diversity. On the eastern fringes of this cultural mixing, a prominent trade culture began to establish itself along the Oder river, not far from its northern estuary.

The eastern position of the trading culture allowed for frequent mingling between the Celtic and Germanic groups who were settling there with the early Balto-Slavic groups that were able to travel westward to engage in trade. All three groups spoke distinct but related languages derived from Proto-Indo-European, which at the turn of the century were at least partially intelligible with one another.

Gradually through the latter half of the century, certain common features of morphology, vocabulary and phonology began gaining particular favour in use amongst traders of the Oderian culture. By the end of the 6th century BC, the culture had arguably firmly developed its own specific dialect, or koiné, from late western Proto-Indo-European (or early Proto-Celtic, as some linguists have argued) that was distinct from the naturally spoken dialects of each original group.

As the Oderian trade culture continued to flourish from the 6th to the 1st century BC, the koiné had continued developing not only as a distinct language but also as an artefact of a now distinct Oderian culture that stood in its own right.

Although the Oderian culture and language sadly became extinct by some point at the end of the 1st century BC, the language’s importance to the rich Oderian trading culture had given it fertile grounds over the course of its history to develop a written tradition. Archaeological and paleographical evidence suggests early adoption of writing may have been a large factor in the success of the trading culture. By the early half of the 5th century BC, the form of writing had stabilised in the archaeological record, being a variation of the Etruscan alphabet of northern Italy.

A particular notable figure in the early Oderian written tradition is Glatēs. His frequent southern travels led him to a lifelong fascination with the early Italic, Roman and Hellenic cultures of the classical period. In particular, he brought many concepts and traditions from Greek civilisation back to the Oder, writing about these, as well as his travels in general and documenting the Oderian language.

By the 3rd century BC the Oderian culture was a highly-developed Iron Age culture in its own right, with its own norms, customs, beliefs and system of social strata. The Oderian language had become a central unifying aspect of this culture, leading to a tradition of prescriptivism to Glatesian language standards upheld particularly amongst the higher wrungs of social hierarchy.