>>12340500
Vid related. What we often forget is that English is not English. The true English language was closer to German or even Russian, complete with its own runic alphabet.
What we speak is French with some vestiges of the common English. French was the language of the royalty, which came to be established over England. It also became the language of intellectualusm and, itself, is rooted in Latin - which was the language of High Society throughout much of the Roman sphere of influence.
Think of it like modern English and how pilots use English as standard ATC and how most scientific articles are published in English, today - as many of the terms only exist in English. Japan is beginning to see this, for example, with many of its own technical terms being simply transposed from English (and also because English is cruise control for cool in Japan).
My main point is that the world as we know it came from the royalty system and feudalism propagated from Rome under the Pope. The nobility in France, Germany, parts of the Slavic territories, etc - all of these were established by swearing fealty to the Pope and the Byzantine Empire. Even after the empire proper crumbled - the systems it set in place still remained in power, as did the wealth, knowledge, influence, etc.
As an aside…. You ever see the tablets on which things like the Epic of Gilgamesh were supposedly recorded? Then hear the story translated and told?
And wonder where the hell they got all of that story from?
I often wonder if legends get passed down father to son, mother to daughter, etc and museums are kind of like a contest to see who can find more support for their family legend.