GoKawiilEtymology deep dive traces letter W's origins to Rome's collapse and Germanic tribes
A new linguistic history explains that the letter W emerged from the upheaval following the fall of the western Roman Empire in the fifth century CE, when Germanic-speaking peoples—once relied on by Rome as foederati allies—rose to power across former imperial territory. These new rulers, despite speaking Germanic languages, chose to keep Latin as their administrative language to appear as legitimate successors to Roman authority, setting the stage for the eventual creation of W as scribes adapted Latin script to represent Germanic sounds.