What does Indo-European mean?
The term “Indo-European” refers to a language family to which English, among most other European languages, belongs. Today it spreads across the entire globe, but before the Age of Colonization it was confined to the Eurasian continent between Portugal, Ireland and Iceland in the west, all the way to India and even China in the east!
The Proto-Indo-Europeans
Where there is language, there are people, and such was the case with the language ancestral to all Indo-European languages. The Proto-Indo-Europeans were the hypothetical speakers of this language and their homeland presumably lay in the Russian steppes north of the Black and Caspian Seas and the Caucasus Mountains. From there they spread throughout Eurasia and brought their language, culture and customs with them, reshaping the face of the continent.
The Indo-Europeans
Despite the fact that this ancient people disappeared as a distinct ethnic group together with their language several millennia ago, their linguistic, cultural and genetic heritage and legacy still lives on today. After the initial migrations throughout Eurasia, the European Age of Colonization further spread the Indo-European languages around the world, influencing most of the world’s population and continuing to do so until today.
Indo-European Mythology
If material culture is a peoples flesh and bones, myths and legends are its heart and soul. Today we rely on science to explain the world around us, but our ancestors looked up to the sky and down to the earth and wondered what else was there. Their universe was born out of fire and darkness and inhabited by mighty gods, giants and dragons, ever battling for the fate of creation itself.