Sippe

Sippe is German for "clan, kindred, extended family" (Frisian Sibbe, Norse Sifjar).

It continues a Proto-Germanic term *sebjō, which referred to a band or confederation bound by a treaty or oath, not primarily restricted to blood relations.^[1] The original character of sippe as a peace treaty is visible in Old English, e.g. in Beowulf (v. 1858):

hafast þû gefêred, þæt þâm folcum sceal,

Geáta leódum ond Gâr-Denum

sib gemæne ond sacu restan.

The Sippe came to be a cognatic,^[2] extended family unit, exactly analogous to the Scottish/Irish sept.^[3]

Most of the information left about the nature and role of the Sippe is found in records left by the Lombards, Alamanni, and Bavarians.^[4] One of the functions of the Sippe was regulating use of forests. The average Sippe likely contained no more than 50 families.^[5] The Sippe seems to have been absorbed into the monogamous family later on; P.D. King asserts that this was already the case among the Visigoths during the time of the Visigothic Kingdom.^[6]