A New Interpretation of Ptolemy's Germania Magna

by Sven Mildner
DOI: https://doi.org/10.31223/X5313T

In this draft of a new interpretation of Germania Magna, the author presents his hypothesis that Germania Magna underwent a far more extensive landscape transformation in geologically recent times than previously assumed. This was presumably caused by post-glacial isostatic rebound during the Holocene, or by a possible reactivation of the Caledonian Deformation Front (CDF) during a late phase of the Alpine orogeny, along with the associated tectonic activity in the upper crust (see following section). There is also the consideration whether a cosmic impact event could have been the cause of such a reactivation of the CDF. The conditions that would be expected in order to sufficiently substantiate the process described below would probably also involve previously misattributed or incorrectly dated major fault events. These could have repeatedly triggered stronger earthquakes in Central Europe over several centuries and may even have been recorded in written sources from the later Middle Ages.[1]

According to the present interpretation, the area of Germania Magna described by Ptolemy corresponds roughly in its east-west extent to the territory of the present-day Federal Republic of Germany, but without including parts of Poland as previous interpretations have suggested. Large parts of the Central European Basin were, however—at least temporarily—covered by a shallow sea (or by a "water-grass landscape" that, when viewed from the sea by ancient explorers, did not necessarily mark a clear boundary with the mainland of Germania Magna and could perhaps even be navigated with small boats (amphibious zone), cf. modern swamp boats). It was thus a vast and possibly long-term flooded floodplain and delta landscape, comparable to recent marsh or delta systems (such as the Mississippi Delta, Everglades National Park, or the Pripyat Marshes), with extensive reed beds, shallow lagoons, and a labyrinth of waterways. Water-grass in this context is also the basis for peat formation, which develops from plant remains (especially reeds, sedges, and rushes) that do not fully decompose under waterlogged, oxygen-poor conditions. In classic fen areas (e.g., the Oderbruch, Rhinluch, Havelländisches Luch, and the glacial valley near Eberswalde), there are often metre-thick layers of peat lying directly on sand or mud (lake silt), providing evidence of such vegetation. For an ancient observer approaching by boat, a solid shoreline may not always have been discernible. The horizon may have consisted largely of water and varying amounts of vegetation. According to this depiction and interpretation, Denmark (or the Jutland Peninsula) had not yet formed a proper land connection to the mainland. Such a zone would have acted as an effective barrier for potential attackers if they had tried to approach Germania Magna from the sea with larger ships.

In the east, historical Germania Magna was bounded by the Sarmatian Mountains (Sarmate montes) and a river called Vistula Fluvius. In the south it was apparently bounded by the Danube (Danubii or Danubius flu.) and in the west by the Rhine (Renus fluvius). The latter two rivers serve here as the most important reference points (reference lines) for the further interpretation, as they appear most unambiguous and roughly correspond to their present courses. The coastline of the Oceanus Germanicus lay approximately 120 kilometres further south than today, just north of Berlin. This assessment results from maintaining the geometric length ratios, using the two reference points on the map (Rhine and Danube), together with the Asciburgius Monts identified by the author as the Fläming, with the present-day town of Baruth/Mark (Limios alsos) in the north-east of the upland, as well as the Oderbruch or Ziltendorfer Niederung on the right edge of the map. Consequently, the mouth of the Vistula Fluvius, which is to serve as another reference point, would have been located further south than previously assumed. This southward shift of the estuary area allows for a presumably better localisation that can serve as a reference for cartographic overlays. Such an overlay then suggests—roughly preserving the proportions—that the Vistula, at least in sections, more likely corresponds today to the Black Elster and is not identical with the Vistula (Weichsel) in Poland. According to the map, one source area of the river would have been in the Königsbrücker Heide, where there was later a Sorbian settlement called Krakow; the other source area lay further east, presumably near Königswartha.

Which geological processes led to a possible regression of the Oceanus Germanicus should not primarily be the subject of this interpretation. However, the author suspects several factors that were outlined in the publication and could form a common cause. According to more recent considerations, the reactivation of the CDF during a late phase of the Alpine orogeny (i.e. in more recent times) appears to be a possible main cause. In this process, Avalonia may have been pushed a certain distance onto the Baltic continental plate once again (possibly representing the beginning of a temporary subduction), with the result that the relative sea level (RSL) on the North German coast fell and land areas in the Oceanus Germanicus (those on the Baltic plate) consequently lay below sea level.
Both Vesuvius and Etna in Italy, as well as the volcanoes in Iceland, had several powerful eruptions in the last 3,000 years. A well-known example is the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 AD, which destroyed Pompeii. This may indicate generally high geo-activity in Europe, which possibly led to stresses in the lithosphere and may even have triggered or intensified continental drift, including at normally inactive plate boundaries. However, a cosmic event with a corresponding effect on plate tectonics should not be entirely ruled out as a possible cause. Such an event could also have generated or released stresses in the lithosphere—stresses that may have formed tens of thousands of years earlier due to the weight of the great Ice Age glaciers. 

A scenario similar to that observed on Jupiter in 1994, when fragments of the previously disintegrated Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 struck the planet's surface one after another, is also conceivable.[2] A similar event—if perhaps not on the same scale—could well have occurred on Earth within the last 2,000 years and may, for example, be linked to Halley's Comet and its appearance, such as in 530 AD (cf. Dallas H. Abbott et al. (2014): What caused terrestrial dust loading and climate downturns between A.D. 533 and 540?). In 607 AD, Halley's Comet was described at the same time as three other comets,[3] which may have been fragments of an even larger parent body. According to Babylonian sources, the comet had passed directly by Jupiter in 164 BC. It is at least conceivable that it broke into several larger pieces at that time. Over the course of several centuries, these fragments could have entered very different orbits according to their size and the gravitational influence of other celestial bodies.[4]  The impacts of one or more cosmic objects on Earth's surface could well have contributed to a climate anomaly such as that of 536–550 AD,[I] possibly also to changes in sea level, to desertification in North Africa, and to increased volcanism. A connection with the great earthquake of Antioch in 526 AD is also conceivable.[II] In Central Europe, such an event could correspond with the collapse of the Thuringian Kingdom around 531,[5] and a connection with the presumed Chiemgau impact (likely a comet) between approx. 2200 BC and 300 BC is also conceivable.[6] In 563 AD, the Tauredunum event, recorded in contemporary reports, occurred: a massive rockslide triggered a major tsunami in Lake Geneva—possibly as a consequence of greater tectonic stress on the affected rock mass due to a possible impact event at around the same time. (See also: PAGES 2k Consortium. Continental-scale temperature variability during the past two millennia. Nature Geosci 6, 339–346 (2013), and the excursus on continental drift taking into account Plato's description of Atlantis.)

In the preprint publication, post-glacial land uplift was initially assumed to be the main cause of the regression of the Oceanus Germanicus. This, following the end of a warm period (the Roman Climate Optimum), could have led to a falling relative sea level (RSL) on the North German coast. Previously, even less water from the world's oceans may have been bound in the ice of the great glaciers than after the Little Ice Age of the Middle Ages—in the last five hundred years up to almost the present day. The consideration also drew on the work of Olav Liestøl, who in the late 1950s analysed the course of the firn line of western Norwegian glaciers over a period of about 10,000 years (cf. Glaciers of the present day. In: Olaf Holtedahl, Geology of Norway. Norges Geologiske Undersøkelse No. 208, Oslo, 1960). According to W. Dansgaard et al. (1969), Schönwiese (1995), Roth (2018), and not least the etymology of the name "Greenland" as "Grünland",[7] average temperatures during the time of Ptolemy and in the Middle Ages were, over longer periods, higher than in the last five hundred years. Greenland was initially perceived as green and fertile when named. Erik the Red is regarded in this context as one of the first Vikings to settle Greenland at that time. His life is reported in Norse sagas, particularly in the Eiríks saga rauða. It is also conceivable that in the period in question between the birth of Christ and the beginning of the Little Ice Age, many fortifications, castles, and even entire towns were built in shallow water, on former islands and peninsulas (cf. the legend of Vineta and the Wikipedia articles on Viking castles, ringforts, and especially pile dwellings, such as those found near the Polish villages of Dobiegniew, Chłopowo (Krzęcin) and Lubiatowo (Przelewice)). On the island groups in northern Germania Magna, Nordic sea peoples—ancestors and relatives of the Vikings—may first have developed (cf. also the Varangians), and later the Vikings themselves. This may have been due in part to expansion pressure from the Roman Empire, which may have forced Germanic tribes from the mainland onto the islands in the Oceanus Germanicus, or because they had lost original settlement areas due to the preceding marine transgression. The inhabitants of the north may also have lived temporarily on protected marsh islands (Halligen), or these structures may have later silted up or been destroyed by flood events, leaving no traces today. Geological events connected with a shift in the coastline could also have triggered the Migration Period,[8] if warlike conflicts were not the primary motive. The Bohemian chronicler Cosmas of Prague, referring to the later Slavic re-settlement of Central Europe by Boemus and his companions, even speaks of a "flood of sin" that once deprived the land of its inhabitants.[9]

Taking the present interpretation into account, the author therefore considers it possible that historically recorded storm surges in the North and Baltic Seas (cf. Mandränke) may at least partly be attributable to tectonic events, such as earthquake-induced tsunamis. Here too, a possible cosmic event, as indicated above, should not be entirely ruled out as a cause. Due to the thrusting of Avalonia—whatever the triggering events—the uplift of the island of Rügen may only have occurred in relatively recent geological time. Rügen now represents the remaining eroded tip of the Avalonian plate. Better knowledge of the processes that may have taken place here could in future allow better interpretation of archaeological finds from the period in question. This includes, for example, the phenomenon of so-called Dark Earth, also known as the "black layer"—a dark, homogeneous stratigraphic unit frequently encountered in European excavations but usually poorly stratifiable.[10] It consists of thick, dark brown to black soil layers that often appear exactly between Late Antique and High Medieval layers in excavations. In addition to a high humic content, they also contain high amounts of charcoal and burnt clay. Normally, soil layers can be well dated by the finds they contain. This is not possible with Dark Earth, as no layering is visible to the naked eye. It is characterised by its dark coloration and a lack of datable material.
The standard explanation for the formation of this layer is bioturbation—the assumption that earthworms and roots are responsible for the thorough mixing of remains of collapsed buildings. However, questions remain, such as how bricks and thick packages of rubble could be homogenised in this way, and why a large number of buildings apparently collapsed simultaneously across wide areas and were not rebuilt. Some researchers (e.g. Mitchell or Heimdahl) interpret similar layers as "washover deposits" or the result of waterlogging.[10]

In the context of this new interpretation and a hypothetical catastrophe scenario in the 6th century, Dark Earth can perhaps be defined not as a slow process (e.g. gardening), but as a sudden event sediment ("Event Deposit"). It would then be the material end-product of the double destruction by fire and water of an entire region, possibly caused by the heat wave of an impact/airburst. The high charcoal and soot content colours the layer black. Consequently, the "slag" and "vitrified stones" often found in Dark Earth (formed at temperatures of about 1200–1500 °C, which a normal fire can hardly achieve over large areas) may not be industrial waste, but impactites or clay/brick fired in situ by extreme heat (airburst). Such vitrifications are also occasionally found on the walls of destroyed early medieval castles or ringforts (known as Vitrified Forts) and testify to intense heat exposure. Such a scenario could also correct a possible misinterpretation regarding the excessive clearing of forests in Late Antiquity and the early Middle Ages. The established view is based primarily on pollen diagrams from bogs and lake sediments in northern Germany, the Netherlands, and Denmark. These diagrams show, for the period in question (c. 450–600 AD), a significant pattern: the curves for tree pollen—especially oak and beech—often collapse abruptly, while the curves for non-tree pollen (grasses and herbs) rise sharply. This is classically interpreted as massive human deforestation.This interpretation, however, conflicts directly with settlement archaeology. Excavations show a massive settlement break in the same period and regions (e.g. Lower Saxony, Mecklenburg, Thuringia). Villages are abandoned, cemeteries cease, and finds become extremely rare (the so-called "hiatus").[Volkmann, Armin (2013)] To resolve this contradiction—"no settlement finds, but also no forest"—research constructed the model of "extensive pastoral economy." The prevailing thesis is that the remaining population, instead of practising arable farming, grazed huge herds of livestock in the forests, preventing tree regrowth through browsing and artificially keeping the landscape open. This model fails upon closer scrutiny of plausibility: it does not explain who managed these gigantic herds without infrastructure, nor why no bones of these animals are found. Moreover, there is the crucial question of how and why a declining or vanishing population (settlement abandonment) would have carried out an agricultural intensification (keeping huge areas open) to the detriment of the forests.

Applying the geodynamic model discussed here (impact, tsunami, inversion), this contradiction dissolves: the decline in tree pollen is not the result of human clearing, but of a natural mega-catastrophe. The abrupt collapse of tree pollen marks the moment of the firestorm (triggered by the thermal pulse of an airburst/impact). The forest was not cleared—it burned over vast areas. This correlates with the archaeological burnt horizons and the formation of Dark Earth.
The subsequent explosive appearance of grasses and herbs is therefore not pastureland but pioneer plants in an ecological succession. Ribwort plantain (Plantago lanceolata), often cited as evidence of livestock grazing and intensified pastoralism, is primarily an indicator of open, disturbed soils and light conditions. Its occurrence does not necessarily prove the presence of livestock herds, but—together with mugwort (Artemisia) and goosefoot family (Chenopodiaceae)—may rather be a sign of over-fertilisation (eutrophication) through decomposition processes (cf. Dark Earth). In addition, the latter species can also indicate soil salinisation by a tsunami and the formation of a salt-rich inland steppe in a dry, continental steppe climate. For the ecological indicator values of the mentioned species, see the standard values according to Ellenberg et al. (2010). While members of the Chenopodiaceae family often have high nitrogen values (N8–9) and thus serve as indicators of extremely nutrient-rich, eutrophicated sites (e.g. through organic decay), they also have high salt tolerance (facultative to obligate halophytes). In combination with Artemisia, which is a classic steppe element and indicator of continental climate conditions, this produces the picture of a disturbed, nutrient-rich, and climatically dry open landscape.

The botanical indicators point not only to a short-term flooding but also to a sustained ecological transformation caused by the regression of the Oceanus Germanicus. Due to the tectonic uplift of the former shallow-water area, the seabed fell dry. The resulting evaporation led to a concentration of marine salts in the topsoil, while the massive decay of marine biomass caused natural eutrophication (nitrogen enrichment). This created the perfect nutrient base for halophilic ruderal flora for decades, but at the same time made agricultural use impossible (physiological drought due to salt stress). Hydrologically, the northern area of Germania Magna in the 6th century can thus be characterised as a regressive brackish-water zone. In the overall view, completely new interpretive possibilities emerge for the North German region—for example, with ship finds[12] in what is now mainland areas. These are usually interpreted as grave goods or boat burials (especially those found in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern). According to the described scenario, they could also be sunken boats that were destroyed, for example, in battle or by a catastrophe in what was originally shallow water. As already described, the Oceanus Germanicus in Late Antiquity may still have extended deep into the interior (amphibious zone). The boats could therefore have been naturally covered by sand and silt through silting processes, tsunamis, or aeolian sand deposits (lack of vegetation).[III]

Everything that follows corresponds in a similar way to the pattern of re-colonisation of a destroyed landscape, as studied, for example, after the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens. Immediately after the catastrophe (year 0 to year 5), the affected area resembles a moonscape covered with mud and ash. The soil is covered by a layer of Dark Earth (a mixture of ash, burnt clay, and tsunami sediment). There is no vegetation; the tsunami has saturated the soil with saltwater (salinisation). The area is impassable and hostile to life, the atmosphere full of sulphur gases and methane. From about year 5 to year 30, the phase of pioneer plants begins. Because the soil is salinised by the tsunami, plants familiar from the coast (halophytes) settle first—even deep inland. A barren steppe landscape emerges. This may also explain why the Slavs and later the Avars (horse peoples!) were able to advance so quickly and with little resistance as far as the Elbe and Saale. They no longer encountered the impenetrable, marshy forest that the Romans had faced on their expeditions into Germania Magna, but an open grassland ideal for their livestock economy. After about 30 to 80 years, rain slowly washed the salt out of the soil. The first generation of trees returns: pioneer species such as birch (Betula), poplars, and hazel bushes. These grow quickly, need a lot of light, and tolerate poor soils. A savanna-like landscape with tall grasses and islands of birch scrub emerges. Now the first people (e.g. Boemus mentioned by Cosmas of Prague and his companions) can return. They do not have to clear forests (which is laborious) but find open land ready for arable farming. Only after almost a century (about 80 to 100 years) do the "climax tree species" (oaks, beeches) return—these tolerate shade and grow slowly. Historical sources from the later High Middle Ages (e.g. Thietmar of Merseburg, c. 1000 AD) often speak of the impenetrable "Miriquidi" (dark forest) in the Ore Mountains or Thuringia. This is the new forest that grew on the ash layer—on extremely nutrient-rich soil (Dark Earth = high phosphate content)—and therefore became particularly dense and powerful.

Since, in the present new interpretation, the Danube (source in the Taunus) had no direct connection to the Oceanus Germanicus even in antiquity and thus could not serve as a direct corridor for a tsunami, an airburst of a cometary fragment (ice impactor) over the Bohemian Massif (present-day Czech Republic/Bavarian Forest) is quite plausible for the destruction layers (Dark Earth) in the Bavarian region (Regensburg/Passau). Such a body would release gigantic amounts of water vapour (sublimation) upon detonation in the atmosphere, which, after immediate cooling and condensation, would fall as a deluge (flash flood from the sky) over a wide area and cause local mudflows, similar to a lahar (cf. also hydrometeor). It is also conceivable, however, that a flood wave reached the Bavarian region from the direction of the Danube-Carpathian Basin. The orographic arrangement of the Alps-Carpathians arc around the Vienna Basin morphologically resembles a frozen bow wave (bow shock). If this is interpreted in the context of a catastrophic crustal shift (triggered by an impact vector from the northwest), the Vienna–Bratislava area marks the apex of the collision. Due to the massive kinetic impact, a mountain wave may have been suddenly folded up—starboard side towards the Alps, port side towards the Carpathians. The lower elevation at Bratislava (Theben Gate) marks the structural breaking point. While part of the incoming hydrological masses from the Black Sea area may have escaped into the Pannonian Basin, the enormous back-pressure due to the inertia effect may have injected huge water masses northwestward into the Danube valley (towards Bavaria).

Analogously, Ptolemy's map of Pannonia shows the Alps as a rather narrow and initially very straight mountain range running from west to east, which begins a gradual bend southward from the Klagenfurt Basin towards present-day Croatia and apparently has no connection with the Carpathians. The report from Edessa (525 AD) about the "flood that came from the mountains," which crashed against the walls, retreated, and struck again,[II] also physically describes the behaviour of a seiche wave (standing water in oscillation) or a mega-flash-flood. Even if a direct hydraulic connection to the Black Sea area is unlikely due to the distance, this report may attest to the far-reaching seismicity and hydro-dynamic instability of the entire Eurasian plate structure during such an event. The impulse that may have led to the folding of the "bow wave" (Alps/Carpathians) in Central Europe may have simultaneously triggered massive tectonic shifts in the Near East, causing mountain lakes to overflow or generating deluge-like torrents in the mountains there (Taurus) through atmospheric shock waves (hydrometeors). The phenomenon could thus be regarded as a global "marker" for the moment of a possible crustal shift.

Footnotes:

1. Cf. Dr.-Ing. habil. G. Meier (1998). Historisches zu Erdbeben im Erzgebirge. In: Sächsische Heimatblätter Nr. 20. https://www.dr-gmeier.de/pub/oa0003.pdf

2. Cf. video documentary "Wunder des Weltalls: Folge 09: Der Halleysche Komet", YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QvgsGHylQeU

3. Yeomans – "Comets", 1991

4. Cf. Babylonian cuneiform tablet K 3476 on the "Babylonian New Year Festival", translated by Heinrich Zimmern in: BVSGW 58 [1906] 3, pp. 127-36, and Hamlet's Mill: An Essay on Myth & the Frame of Time, Appendix 26 ff. (especially Appendix 39:435) regarding the possible connection between Marduk and Nibiru

5. See on this: Bemmann, J. (2023). Herrschaftswechsel als Zäsur? Thüringen im Frankenreich – eine andere Geschichte. In S. Brather (Ed.), Die Dukate des Merowingerreiches: Archäologie und Geschichte in vergleichender Perspektive (pp. 421-458). Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783111128818-014 (full text), among others with the conclusion: "[..] There were no Frankish military bases on strategically located heights, no Frankish military and no Frankish elites in Central Germany. An integration into the Frankish Empire between 531 and 630 cannot be proven archaeologically. Even if the old master narrative accurately described the core of the process and there had been Frankish military stations with occupation troops, these would, judging by the size of the cemeteries, have consisted of only a few men. They would have been numerically hopelessly outnumbered and would have had no chance of survival in a society without a monopoly on violence, where possession of weapons was widespread. […]"
   as well as:
   Volkmann, Armin. (2014) "Region im Wandel: Das 5.–6. Jahrhundert n. Chr. im inneren Barbaricum an der unteren Oder und Warthe" – In: Germania Vol. 92 (2014) pp. 133-153, among others with the introduction: "[..] The idea of a gradual transformation is, however, on the basis of the available archaeological findings, probably only applicable to the Roman Imperial period in the western border areas of the Limes, for example in the course of the Romanisation of the local Germanic groups. The findings of the study area (Fig. 1), on the other hand, point to drastic upheavals at the end of the Roman Imperial period and the Migration Period, which in some cases occurred within just a few decades or even years (cf. Figs. 2 and 3) and are not in line with a gradual transformation, but represent clear breaks in continuity through non-linear changes. The archaeological findings of the Migration Period of the 5th to 7th centuries AD in the Oder region seem to reflect dramatic, deeply incisive processes. Thus the thesis of gradual transformation processes is not transferable to the focused period and not to the study area. […]"

6. Cf. also Ernstson, Kord & Poßekel, Jens. (2024). The Chiemgau Meteorite Impact Strewn Field and the Digital Terrain Model: "Earthquake" Liquefaction from Above and from Below. 10.13140/RG.2.2.11274.79041

7. Cf. Preiser-Kapeller, J. (2020). Der Lange Sommer und die Kleine Eiszeit: Klima, Pandemien und der Wandel der Alten Welt, 500-1500 n. Chr.

8. Taking into account an impact theory around 526–531 AD, as considered in the "Excursus on Continental Drift with Reference to Plato's Description of Atlantis", at least "a late phase of the Migration Period", for example with the invasion of the Lombards into Italy. Previously there had already been conquest campaigns by other Germanic tribes from Germania Magna, such as the Vandals as far as North Africa. Nevertheless, such an event could also have occurred (once again) earlier, for example closer to the time around the birth of Christ[IV] or even about 10,000 years ago. However, the cartographic representation of Germania Magna would then also have to be correspondingly older than previously assumed. A striking change in relative sea level can be proven for Scandinavia, for example, and was described by Kurt Lambeck, Catherine Smither, Paul Johnston in "Sea-level change, glacial rebound and mantle viscosity for northern Europe", Geophysical Journal International, Volume 134, Issue 1, July 1998, Pages 102–144, https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-246x.1998.00541.x, but according to current knowledge is very probably related to post-glacial land uplift after the end of the Ice Age and evidently took place over a longer period. However, dating errors may also need to be considered here.

9. Cf. F. Biermann: Die frühen Slawen – von Kiew an die Elbe. In: M. Knaut/D. Quast (eds.), Die Völkerwanderung. Europa zwischen Antike und Mittelalter. Arch. Deutschland, Special Issue 2005 (Stuttgart 2005) 80–84.

10. Cf. Stefanie Gaberz: "Dark Earth – die schwarze Schicht", Diploma thesis, Graz, 2014, https://unipub.uni-graz.at/obvugrhs/content/titleinfo/239930

11. Cf. Ellenberg, H. et al. (2010): Zeigerwerte von Pflanzen in Mitteleuropa. (In: Vegetation Mitteleuropas mit den Alpen). Ulmer Verlag, and Pott, R. (1995): Die Pflanzengesellschaften Deutschlands. Ulmer Verlag

12. e.g. the so-called "Usedom boat graves"; cf. BIERMANN, Felix. Usedomer Bootsgräber. Germania: Anzeiger der Römisch-Germanischen Kommission des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts, 2004, 82nd year, No. 1, pp. 159-176.

Additional references to historical records:

I. Procopius of Caesarea, Historien IV 14 (German translation from: Vandalenkriege. Translated by Otto Veh, Munich 1971, p. 263):
"The sun, without its usual strength, shone throughout the year only like the moon and gave the impression of being almost completely eclipsed. Moreover, its light was not pure and as usual. But from the time this sign appeared, neither war nor plague nor any other evil that brings death to men ceased."

(Author's note: There may also be a connection here with the Norse description of a Fimbulwinter.)

II. From the world chronicle of Michael the Great of Syria on the year 525:
During this time, the waters of Shiloh disappeared for 15 years. In this period, fire also fell from heaven and burned the city of Balbek — which Solomon had built on Mount Lebanon — along with the palaces there. Yet three stones that Solomon had placed there as a mystery of the Trinity remained unharmed. At the same time, a woman appeared in Cilicia who was a cubit taller than any man and spoke no language. She did, however, eat human food. She lived for a long time by receiving money from all the shops. Then she suddenly disappeared. Some said she was a nymph.

In the year 836 of the Syrian era (525 AD), Asklepios, an evil and corrupt man, was bishop in Edessa. He pressured the faithful to accept the unholy Council of Chalcedon. He had 20 wondrous cenobites arrested, tortured them cruelly, and threw them into prison. It happened that on the second evening a great flood came down from the mountains. It crashed against the city walls and then withdrew. The second time it tore down the walls, flooded the city, and killed people and animals by sweeping them into the Euphrates. Asklepios saved himself by fleeing to the citadel of the city, along with some others. The people wanted to stone him because they knew he was responsible for this evil, so he fled to Antioch. There his fellow-sectarian Ephrem, Patriarch of Antioch, said: "Behold, brothers, our second Noah has escaped the flood, which came because of the sin of not accepting the Council of Chalcedon." Justin sent much gold to rebuild Edessa. When they dug, they found an inscription on a stone that read: "Three times a flood will strike Edessa." This was written in Chaldaean script. Thirty thousand dead were recovered from this flood, while the city's inhabitants estimated the number of those missing in the waters at 200,000.

Asklepios and Ephrem amused themselves by polluting Antioch with this evil heresy. This brought even more of God's wrath upon the city. A fifth earthquake shook the entire city, and all buildings, houses, palaces, and churches collapsed. A completely new phenomenon was observed, for the wind brought the punishment of Sodom. The river boiled over, and from the depths rose black waters that carried crabs, turtles, and the bones of wild animals. The earth spewed forth fire and water. Deadly vapours rose up, bringing death to men and animals through various sufferings. For several days it rained fire from heaven like rain. Everyone could hear the screams, but no one dared approach. For a month and a half the earthquakes and the fiery rain continued without ceasing. The great basilica that Constantine had built shook for seven days like a reed in the wind, until it cracked and fire rose up to burn the church. Only 1,250 souls survived these catastrophes. Suddenly a shining cross appeared in the sky, which disappeared after three days. And the people cried out: "Lord, have mercy, Lord, have mercy." […]
[…] Other regions were also destroyed: Seleucia in Syria by the sea, the city of Daphne, as well as an area of twenty miles around Antioch, Anazarbus, the metropolis of Cilicia, and Corinth, the metropolis of Greece. Thus many people and buildings were lost during the evil years of Justin's reign.

III. Landscape description of the area on the Elbe and Oder, from Willibald Alexis' "Der falsche Woldemar":
First Chapter – The Old Times

Around the middle of the fourteenth century, things looked grim between the Elbe and the Oder. The Lord, who created heaven and earth, has distributed sunshine differently across the lands; but where the German tongue ends and the Slavic one begins, the gift of His sunlight fell only sparingly. It did not have the power to dry out the swamps left behind by the sea, nor to penetrate and warm the dense, rigid forests, nor to heat the soil enough for it to willingly nourish the generations of men cast there by the stream of peoples. To these generations themselves the Lord gave the task of wrestling with nature. They were to create the soil themselves in battle against storms and waters, to spread out a carpet for the warm sun on which it might gladly linger, and to fashion a land that would be dear to them and a joyful sight to others.
It was a hard task; and however many centuries have passed, it is not yet finished even today. They must still continue working in the sweat of their brows to tame and stabilise the sand that the wind blows away from under the ploughshare. And it is not done by the work that the arm performs and directs alone; for in this way sluggish nature is not overcome into life, nor is the sun forced to shine more brightly on the hard-won land. The bitter labour calls upon the spirit for assistance, so that it may inventively create new means and let another light shine where the sun does not penetrate through the northern mists.
And how often was this work interrupted — and precisely when it seemed that the harvest was finally at hand! And interrupted so frightfully and terribly that the timid despaired and the faint-hearted believed that God's wrath lay upon the land; therefore it was futile to resist His hand. But these fates were not the scourges of His anger; they were the trials and ordeals for a race that was to learn never to despair. And just as it had wrestled with the poverty of the soil and the elements for a better existence, so it should also fight against misfortune and steel itself for independence under the blows that always strike the weaker hardest when strong powers contend with one another. 

(English translation of the provided excerpt)

IV. The Annolied, probably written between 1077 and 1081 by a monk from Siegburg, also contains lines that may refer to one or even two – at that time probably only little-known – major geological events from an earlier period. The existence of two events is also supported by a reduced number of archaeological find sites within Germania Magna, once around the time of the birth of Christ and again including the climate anomaly of 536-550 (cf. Volkmann, Armin (2013)).Thus it says in Stanza 27:

OY wi di wifini clungin,
Da di marin cisamine sprungin,
Herehorn duzzin,
Becche blütis vluzzin,
Derde diruntini diuniti,
Di helli ingegine gliunte,
Da di heristin in der werilte
Sühtin sich mit suertin.
Dü gelach dir manig breiti scari
Mit blüte birunnin gari,
Da mohte man sin douwen
Durch helme virhouwin
Des richin Pompeiis man
Da Cesar den sige nam.

…and further in stanza 31:

IN des Augusti citin gescahc
Daz Got vane himele nider gesach
Dü ward giborin ein Küning
Demi dienit himilschi dugint,
Iesus Christus Godis Sun
Von der megide Sente Mariun:
Des erschinin san ci Rome
Godis zeichin vrone,
Vzir erdin diz luter olei spranc,
Scone ranniz ubir lant,
Vmbe diu Sunnin ein creiz stunt,
Also roht so viur unti blut,
Wanti dü bigondi nahin,
Dannin uns allin quam diu genade,
Ein niuwe Künincrichi,
Demi müz diu werilt al intwichin.