Fhainnin civilization

Fhainnin civilization is a relatively new concept formed in the 1800s as an extent of Gaelic nationalism which states that Gaelic peoples, specifically those in Faneria and to a lesser extent Caergwynn, retain a significant enough degree of freedom from Latin and Coscivian civilization to constitute a unique and dynamic culture in its own right. The idea of Fhainnin civilization is specifically reactive to and in opposition towards the idea of Latin civilization 'taming' Levantia, and is loosely associated with antiequatorial theory. It is explicitly exclusionary towards Gallic peoples in modern Urcea and Dericania, with an unclear consensus on Fiannrian and Carnish people.

Because of Fhainnin culture's distinctive elements and widespread use of artificially-imposed language alterations, many Gaelic peoples outside Faneria do not associate Fhainnin civilization with wider Gaelic civilization, as the culture of Faneria has veered away from the shared culture of other Gaelic peoples in numerous key aspects. This is in spite of attempts by Fhainnin scholars to place Faneria as the center of the modern Gaelic world, which has been met with considerable academic backlash as the Fhainnin people have been historically classed as a mixed race due to their partially non-Gaelic heritage.

People

Feinii is the Latin name for the native inhabitants of the northern Vandarch Basin, which is formed from the native word Fheadhainn ('the people'). Commonly called Fhainn (singular Fhain, adjective Fhainnin, or 'of the fhainn'), this group contains both the Vandarch Fhainn or 'Great Fhainn' and several closely-related subgroups, most notably the Sheafhainn, who share admixture with Coscivian colonists. Other ethnically distinct groups of people generally accepted in Fhainnin society or considered partially or mostly naturalized tend to be given a racial exonymic ethnonym ending with -fhainn, such as Aenglifhainn or Coscibhfhainn; this wider honorary racial category can include some elements of a race in close contact with Fhainnin people while excluding others of the same foreign stock.

Ethnic Fhainn are primarily descended from ancient migrants to the eastern Vandarch and the extinct pre-Levanto-Sarpedonic Fenni people, with admixture from proto-Finnic, Ĥeiran Coscivian, and later Gothic peoples. The Fenni both give the Fhainn their modern name and are uniquely ancestral to the Fhainn among the various Gaelic peoples. The largest groups of ethnic Fhainnin peoples consist of the Fhainn and Sheafhainn themselves, with Parvufhainn and Cascufhainn forming minorities alongside Faesktifhainn (Mixed Fhainnin-Fiann peoples). Coscibhfhainn are by far the largest foreign group which intersects ethnic Fhainnin peoples, especially the Sheafhainn.

Social Norms

• Kathenotheism: Historically, Fhainnin peoples have practiced the worship of a large number of gods and spirits, but each clan dedicates itself to the worship of a particular deity. This belief runs parallel to the Coscivian concept of Monalatry, and allowed for the rapid, initially peaceful spread of Christianity in southern Faneria as Christ was accepted as an additional deity which later overtook native faiths. Over time, this influence would evolved into the Northern Rite.
• Ancestor Reverence/Death Worship: Adopted from the pre-Gaelic Fenni people, Fhainnin peoples generally inter their dead near to their residence. While the Fenni practiced burials beneath their sleeping areas, typically after burning or boiling off meat to prevent decay, later Gaelic immigrants practiced cairn burials for several centuries before adopting widespread use of cremation. During and after Christianization, whole-body burial made a resurgence among the nobility, while the lower classes continued to practice cremation, with ashes buried beneath the home. In modern times, this has lead to the practice of building family homes with a ground access separate from the first-story crawlspace to bury family ashes; however, more often, yards will contain a familial grave shrine where ashes are interred. Spreading ashes is generally seen as highly disrespectful if done within living memory of the deceased, while dividing ashes as part of an estate is considered normal and entirely acceptable. Legally, the deceased are considered people, and desecration of a corpse is treated a form of assault, though deceased persons are considered invalids and dependents for the purposes of legal affairs, with their closest of kin or a chosen representative standing for them in legal matters. This often results in the designation of a mortuary legal guardian in their wills equivalent to an executor, though the terminology and philosophy of the role differs slightly from Latin legal standards.
• Ambilineality: Fhainnin couples generally retain their own surnames and either negotiate the surnames of their children, hyphenate their surnames, or, in modern times, create a portmanteau of their surnames. Persons with a hyphenated or double-barreled surname typically choose one to pass on to their children, and the retention of surnames through generations is commonly the root cause of marital issues in Fhainnin families.
• Clans: Whereas most Gaelic peoples organize clans by familial relations, Fhainnin clans were organized purely by surname for most of recorded history, as many clans claimed thousands of members or more due to a high cultural value being placed on parentage and more specifically surname retention due to a strong trend towards hyphenating surnames repeatedly. Some individuals were known to have as many as twenty or more surnames by the 10th Century in spite of efforts by local lords and both pagan and Christian clergy preaching against hyphenation, although the Christian solution of patrilineality failed to gain much traction and in fact undermined efforts to stymie the practice. This lead to a breakdown of the Fhainnin clan system beginning sometime in the 8th Century AD and culminating in the early 11th Century as clan heritages became increasingly complex to track, which was replaced with an informal system of adoptive clans which operated as packs of highwaymen, mercenaries, and local militias. This collapse effectively destroyed the social order in the Second Confederation, leading to centuries of warfare between principalities in northwestern Levantia and leading to an influx of Romance culture in the upper classes. Hyphenation beyond a third surname was declared a sin my the Bishop of Leighlinbridge in 1231, and legal bars against multiple-hyphenation of surnames were put in place by most Fhainnin states by the 14th Century, which continues to the modern day.
• Cyclical Time: Like other Gaelic peoples, Fhainnin worldviews typically portray time as a cyclical process of which human beings are a part. This has colored Christian theology in Faneria similarly to the rest of the Gaelic world, as well as informing other concepts such as holism and later reactionary constructivism(???)
• Portmanteaus: Fhainnin peoples adopted the habit of combining words from Germanic peoples across the Vandarch, though rarely to the same degree. This has created the image of Fhasen as a slang Gaelic language, though Fhasen itself has its own slang and maintains rough internal coherence. Modern Fhasen is an artificial mishmash of different dialects compiled by xxxxxxxxx in xxxx, and the original context and rules of many regional tongues were lost due to reproduction of old works in the new script, followed by the burning of the old version. As a result, the etymologies and original rules of many Fhasen-unique words are unclear and only distinguishable through detailed investigation.
• Mathematics: While literacy was uncommon for most of Fhainnin history, with perhaps a tenth of the population of Gaelic Levantia in its entirety being able to read and write until the 1600s, the Great Fhainn and Sheafhainn (although not the Casufhainn or Parvefhainn) maintained a strong cultural predisposition for mathematics. The Fenni were obsessed with arithmetic and featured pictographic representations of it in stone carvings consistently, and both this and contact with early Coscivian peoples made the role of math an almost mystical cultural pillar. Fhainnin states often attempted to keep detailed tax records, and Fhainnin archaeological sites have given up some of the most well-documented census data of the Medieval world largely centered around taxation and trade. Many Fhainnin could even perform basic written arithmetic relevant to their professions, even those who were illiterate. Fhainnin mathematicians created calendars for planning planting and harvests, calculated Pi to a value of 3.1416 in xxxx (placing them behind the Coscivians and Corummese), and here heavily invested in geometry. Renaissance mathematicians from Faneria would go on to be leading figures in the discovery and development of analytical geometry and its subgroups, as well as solving the problem of depressing and solving depressed cubic formulae.
  • Elective Monarchism: Prior to the post-Second Princes' War, Fhainnin states operated on a policy of electing local kings (Rihann), often for terms to occasionally hold referendums on. This was, in essence, a democratic system which lead to the eventual formation of states such as the Republic of Daingean, but more often pushed warlords to take the title of Prince (Dochas). The tradition ended abruptly by decree as a result of the Second Princes' War.