The Suarines or Suardones were one of the Nerthus-worshipping Germanic tribes mentioned by

Tacitus Publius Cornelius Tacitus, known simply as Tacitus ( , ; – ), was a Roman historian and politician. Tacitus is widely regarded as one of the greatest Roman historiography, Roman historians by modern scholars. The surviving portions of his t ...

in ''

Germania Germania ( ; ), also called Magna Germania (English: ''Great Germania''), Germania Libera (English: ''Free Germania''), or Germanic Barbaricum to distinguish it from the Roman province of the same name, was a large historical region in north- ...

''. They have otherwise been lost to history, but Schütte suggests that their name lives on in the name of the town

Schwerin Schwerin (; Mecklenburgisch dialect, Mecklenburgian Low German: ''Swerin''; Latin: ''Suerina'', ''Suerinum'') is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Germany, second-largest city of the northeastern States of Germany, German ...

Literary attestation

Tacitus

Tacitus mentions them amongst a group of tribes defended by rivers and forests, that worshipped Nerthus:

''(Original Latin)'' " Reudigni deinde et Aviones et Anglii et Varini et Eudoses et Suardones et Nuithones fluminibus aut silvis muniuntur. Nec quicquam notabile in singulis, nisi quod in commune Nerthum, id est Terram matrem, colunt eamque intervenire rebus hominum, invehi populis arbitrantur. ..." --Tacitus, ''
Germania Germania ( ; ), also called Magna Germania (English: ''Great Germania''), Germania Libera (English: ''Free Germania''), or Germanic Barbaricum to distinguish it from the Roman province of the same name, was a large historical region in north- ...
, 40.

''(English translation)'' "There follow in order the Reudignians, and Aviones, and Angles, and Varinians, and Eudoses, and Suardones and Nuithones; all defended by rivers or forests. Nor in one of these nations does aught remarkable occur, only that they universally join in the worship of ''Herthum ( Nerthus)''; that is to say, the Mother Earth."--Tacitus, ''
Germania Germania ( ; ), also called Magna Germania (English: ''Great Germania''), Germania Libera (English: ''Free Germania''), or Germanic Barbaricum to distinguish it from the Roman province of the same name, was a large historical region in north- ...
, 40, translated 1877 by Church and Brodribb.

Widsith

Neidorf suggests that the tribal name ”sweordwerum” in line 61 of Widsith#Tribes_of_Widsith might be a corrupted form of this name. Neidorf, Leonard
"The Dating of ''Widsith'' and the Study of Germanic Antiquity."
''Neophilologus'' 97 (2013): p. 168.

Modern theories

According to some Italian scholars, there is trace of this tribe in a modern Lombard surname (''

Suardi Suardi is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Pavia in the Italian region Lombardy, located about 60 km southwest of Milan and about 35 km southwest of Pavia. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 692 and an area of ...

'') as well in the surname Lusuardi. Both surnames belong to the same genetic family - Haplogroup U152 Z36.

Literary attestation

Tacitus

Widsith

Modern theories

References

See also