April 18, 2003
The Dark-Haired Germanic Nobility
[Houston Stewart Chamberlain was a proponent of the superiority of the Teutons. Frank H. Hankins deals with him extensively in his book, not failing to note how Chamberlain had to part company with other Blondists, admitting that the supposed prevalence of blondism in the Germanic aristocracy was actually false: dark hair was most common.]
Frank H. Hankins
The Racial Basis of Civilization : A critique of the Nordic doctrine, New York & London, Alfred A. Knopf, 1931, p. 72
But there are other "limitations". Virchow had made much of the doctrine dear to the heart of all Blondists from Gobineau to Madison Grant, that the aristocracy of Europe was everywhere of the tall fair-haired type. Chamberlain finds this doctrine out of harmony with the facts. He accused Virchow of being blinded by political prejudice in failing to note "the prevalence of dark color among the members of the most genuine old Germanic nobility. In England this is quite striking. Tall, spare-built figures, long skulls, long countenances ... genealogies which go back to the Norman period, in short, genuine Teutons in physique and history - but black hair." He notes the same in Germany among the old nobility. He finds the poets frequently speak of dark hair as a characteristic of the nobility even in the north of Germany. Indeed, the inhabitants of the German Tyrol, who have been declared to "represent the true type of the primeval Teuton," have dark or black hair. In short, "the most genuine sons of this (Teutonic) race may be black-haired."Posted by Dienekes at April 18, 2003 10:39 PM | PermaLink
So William the Conqueror and his men were completely Nordic but dark of hair? Was this due to admixture with Gauls or did their Viking ancestors come from a dark haired area of Scandanavia?
Posted by: Anonymous at April 19, 2003 03:10 AMThe author is not speaking about William the Conqueror and his men, but rather about the members of the aristocracy in England and Germany who are descended from the old nobility (including the Conqueror) - which was obviously genuinely Germanic in origin. I will post more about this.
Posted by: Dienekes at April 19, 2003 03:48 AMdienekes, this is interesting, but sometimes i wonder if you are out to prove the superiority of the brunette-white race :) i speak as a lover (currently in fact) of blonde nordic women-is my love one that shall dare not be spoken?
Posted by: razib at April 19, 2003 04:23 AM>> dienekes, this is interesting, but sometimes i wonder if you are out to prove the superiority of the brunette-white race
I don't necessarily believe in biologically superior or inferior races. I post this stuff mainly because (a) I like reading half-forgotten old books, (b) I like to point out how the set of Nordicist "facts" is actually a biased sample of the total set of "facts" out there.
>> i speak as a lover (currently in fact) of blonde nordic women-is my love one that shall dare not be spoken?
It's more about the features than the color, IMO. A pretty woman is pretty no matter what her hair color is (except green, or purple).
Posted by: Dienekes at April 19, 2003 02:18 PMI think he's just joshing you, DP.
"A pretty woman is pretty no matter what her hair color is (except green, or purple)."
Sometimes even then. (ok, not actually green or purple, but still...)
Posted by: Jason Malloy at April 19, 2003 04:32 PM
>> Sometimes even then. (ok, not actually green or purple, but still...)
Maybe.. razib and I have diametrically opposite tastes in women. He likes blondes with strong jawlines, I like brunettes without. Leeloo Whatshername is another example that is not remotely attractive to me.
Posted by: Dienekes at April 19, 2003 05:11 PMhow did you know about the jawline part????? did i mention that? you are correct, but i'm wondering if i blogged it when i was drunk or something?
here is a picture of one of my ex's (87.5% prussian by extraction):
http://www.gnxp.com/julie.jpg
Posted by: razib at April 19, 2003 08:01 PM>> here is a picture of one of my ex's (87.5% prussian by extraction):
She's cute. What is the 12.5% ?
Posted by: Dienekes at April 19, 2003 09:38 PMkentucky scotch-irish or something. her family moved from silesia/prussia border region to indiana in the mid 1850s to farm (both sides). the area of indiana her family comes from is almost all german american, especially from that region of prussia. her grandmother from kentucky was kind of an interloper.
she taught me how to appreciate beer :)
Posted by: razib at April 19, 2003 09:50 PMI imagine that most Europeans are dark-haired across the board (one may find a higher percentage of blonds in Scandinavian countries, but I see the stereotype of the Swedish bikini model as a media perpetuated myth). Of course if one considers the Samoyed population of the extreme north, an even lower percentage of blonds exists up there. And what is a blond? Are we talking ash-blond? Light brown with golden highlights? Platinum? Strawberry red? And at what stage of developement? Is a person's "true" hair color the one that they were born with? The one that they grew into 6 months later? The one they had at puberty? In my mind, the term "blond", like the term "race", is debateable. Some consider anyone with yellowish hair blond. Others consider only those with naturally yellow or "golden" hair blond.
Posted by: mmoates at August 30, 2003 12:13 PMwhen we speak of race we have to take the weather ,lifestyle ect in consideration.
over thousands of years changes occur,so physical appearance is determed by those factors.
thats all.
Razib writes: "i speak as a lover (currently in fact) of blonde nordic women-is my love one that shall dare not be spoken?"
A Bangladesh darkie with a fixation on blonde Nordic women -- not surprising. No wonder this guy is so obsessed with Whiteness and Southern Europeans -- he wants some kind of entry into the White race or White society. A real "wannabe." His total consciousness of his "Otherness" which drives his fixations with racial issues probably has something to due with his fetish over blonde women. Obviously he rejects his own women, which is understandable. Typical darkie with an inferiority complex.
>>supposed prevalence of blondism in the Germanic aristocracy was actually false: dark hair was most common.
"Indeed, the inhabitants of the German Tyrol, who have been declared to "represent the true type of the primeval Teuton," have dark or black hair. In short, "the most genuine sons of this (Teutonic) race may be black-haired."
From the Racial types of Greece,Carleton Coon:
"3) A tall,to medium stature,dolichocephalic or mesocephalic type with dark hair and dark brown eyes, a straight nasal profile,and a tendency toward a lesser leptorrhiny than the total group.This is an Atlanto Mediterranean/ Mediterranean racial type which is also prevalent in other Balkan countries.It may also be sorted out of available statistical series of Greeks(from south-east Ancient Greeks and straight descendands),while it is common in Bulgaria and easily distinguishable among Serbs. It, or a similar type, also occurs with Dinarics in northern Italy ..........and the Tyrol."
Posted by: Xenilatis at March 4, 2004 11:26 PMSome people ask why Mediterraneans insult the Nordics, first of all we don't hate Nordics, we all know that Mediterraneans are superior to Nords(see the civilizations and the Empires, we are _older_ people, more clever, faster and more hot), they know that we laugh with them but when they insult us we will do the same. The Nordic Germans lost WWII because they were not Mediterraneans.