Great Rivers of the World.....Chapter 1

The legendary Danube loops among the limestone hills of southern Germany near the river's source in the Black Forest. Europe's second longest river (after the Volga) wanders 1,760 miles, bordering or passing through eight countries on its way to the Black Sea -- 'a Schicksalsfluss'. A River of Destiny.

Stone Age hunters roamed the Danube's wooded banks more than 20,000 years ago. Farmers and herders from Asia Minor, migrating through the Balkans, settled its fertile plains and valleys around 8ooo B.C., and introduced to Europe wheat, barley, sheep, goats, and cattle.
Metalsmiths, brewers, and salt traders set up a thriving commerce with the Mediterranean region along the length of the Danube and many of its 300 tributaries.

Ancient Greeks knew the lower Danube as the Ister. The Romans called it Danubius, after a river god, and wrested an empire from the Celts and restless Teutonic tribes that lived in the area.

Its castles, cloisters, and crumbling ruins make a setting for elves, sprites, gods, and heroes -- the fateful route of the Nibelung warriors who journeyed to destruction at the court of King Etzel, as recounted in the German epic saga of the Nibelunglied.

Our planet's rivers never cease to enchant me as they have all mankind throughout history. The practical benefits are impossible to count, but the added joy is the arousal of imagination that has created the magical body of poems, songs, stories, and legends from these great veins of the earth. Long may they flow and nourish.