![Scandinavia-12th century](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/93/Scandinavia-12th_century.png)
The Swedes ( sv, svear;
Old Norse
Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and their overseas settlemen ...
: ''svíar'')
(probably from the PIE
reflexive pronominal root *
s(w)e, "one's own
ribesmen/kinsmen;
[Bandle, Oskar. 2002. The Nordic languages: an international handbook of the history of the North Germanic languages. 2002. P.391] ang, Swēon) were a
North Germanic
The North Germanic languages make up one of the three branches of the Germanic languages—a sub-family of the Indo-European languages—along with the West Germanic languages and the extinct East Germanic languages. The language group is also r ...
tribe who inhabited
Svealand
Svealand (), or Swealand, is the historical core region of Sweden. It is located in south central Sweden and is one of three historical lands of Sweden, bounded to the north by Norrland and to the south by Götaland. Deep forests, Tiveden, T ...
("land of the Swedes") in central Sweden and one of the progenitor groups of modern
Swedes, along with
Geats and
Gutes
The Gutes (old west norse ''Gotar'', old gutnish ''Gutar'') were a North Germanic tribe inhabiting the island of Gotland. The ethnonym is related to that of the ''Goths'' (''Gutans''), and both names were originally Proto-Germanic *''Gutaniz'' ...
. They had their tribal centre in
Gamla Uppsala
Gamla, alt. sp. Gamala ( he, גַּמְלָא, The Camel) was an ancient Jewish city on the Golan Heights. It is believed to have been founded as a Seleucid fort during the Syrian Wars which was turned into a city under Hasmonean rule in 81 B ...
.
The first author who wrote about the tribe is
Tacitus
Publius Cornelius Tacitus, known simply as Tacitus ( , ; – ), was a Roman historian and politician. Tacitus is widely regarded as one of the greatest Roman historians by modern scholars.
The surviving portions of his two major works—the ...
, who in his ''
Germania'' from 98 CE mentions the ''Suiones''. They are possibly first mentioned locally by the
Kylver Stone
The Kylver stone, listed in the Rundata catalog as runic inscription G 88, is a Swedish runestone which dates from about 400 AD. It is notable for its listing of each of the runes in the Elder Futhark.
Description
The Kylver stone was found duri ...
in the 4th century.
Jordanes
Jordanes (), also written as Jordanis or Jornandes, was a 6th-century Eastern Roman bureaucrat widely believed to be of Gothic descent who became a historian later in life. Late in life he wrote two works, one on Roman history ('' Romana'') a ...
, in the 6th century, mentions ''Suehans'' and ''Suetidi''. ''
Beowulf'' mentions the Swedes around 1000 A.D. According to early sources such as the
sagas, especially ''
Heimskringla
''Heimskringla'' () is the best known of the Old Norse kings' sagas. It was written in Old Norse in Iceland by the poet and historian Snorre Sturlason (1178/79–1241) 1230. The name ''Heimskringla'' was first used in the 17th century, derive ...
'', the Swedes were a powerful tribe whose kings claimed descendence from the god
Freyr
Freyr (Old Norse: 'Lord'), sometimes anglicized as Frey, is a widely attested god in Norse mythology, associated with kingship, fertility, peace, and weather. Freyr, sometimes referred to as Yngvi-Freyr, was especially associated with Sweden an ...
. During the
Viking Age
The Viking Age () was the period during the Middle Ages when Norsemen known as Vikings undertook large-scale raiding, colonizing, conquest, and trading throughout Europe and reached North America. It followed the Migration Period and the Germ ...
they constituted the basis of the
Varangian
The Varangians (; non, Væringjar; gkm, Βάραγγοι, ''Várangoi'';[Varangian]
" Online Etymo ...
subset, the
Norsemen
The Norsemen (or Norse people) were a North Germanic ethnolinguistic group of the Early Middle Ages, during which they spoke the Old Norse language. The language belongs to the North Germanic branch of the Indo-European languages and is the pr ...
that travelled eastwards (see
Rus' people
The Rusʹ (Old East Slavic: Рѹсь; Belarusian, Russian, Rusyn, and Ukrainian: Русь; Old Norse: '' Garðar''; Greek: Ῥῶς, ''Rhos'') were a people in early medieval eastern Europe. The scholarly consensus holds that they were or ...
).
The scholarly consensus is that the Rus' people originated in what is currently coastal
eastern Sweden around the 8th century and that their name has the same origin as
Roslagen
Roslagen is the name of the coastal areas of Uppland province in Sweden, which also constitutes the northern part of the Stockholm archipelago.
Historically, it was the name for all the coastal areas of the Baltic Sea, including the eastern p ...
in Sweden (with the older name being ''
Roden''). According to the prevalent theory, the name ''Rus'', like the Proto-Finnic name for Sweden (''*Ruotsi''), is derived from an
Old Norse
Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and their overseas settlemen ...
term for "the men who row" (''rods-'') as rowing was the main method of navigating the rivers of Eastern Europe, and that it could be linked to the Swedish coastal area of Roslagen (''Rus-law'') or ''Roden'', as it was known in earlier times.
[Stefan Brink, 'Who were the Vikings?', in ]
The Viking World
', ed. by Stefan Brink and Neil Price (Abingdon: Routledge, 2008), pp. 4-10 (pp. 6-7). The name ''Rus'' would then have the same origin as the
Finnish
Finnish may refer to:
* Something or someone from, or related to Finland
* Culture of Finland
* Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland
* Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people
* Finnish cuisine
See also ...
and
Estonian names for Sweden: ''Ruotsi'' and ''Rootsi''.
["Russ, adj. and n." OED Online, Oxford University Press, June 2018, www.oed.com/view/Entry/169069. Accessed 25 July 2018.]
Swedes made up the bulk of the
Varangian Guard
The Varangian Guard ( el, Τάγμα τῶν Βαράγγων, ''Tágma tōn Varángōn'') was an elite unit of the Byzantine Army from the tenth to the fourteenth century who served as personal bodyguards to the Byzantine emperors. The Varangi ...
, this can be seen from the geographical location of the
Varangian Runestones, of which almost all are found entirely in modern-day Sweden. Swedish men left to enlist in the Byzantine Varangian Guard in such numbers that a medieval Swedish law,
Västgötalagen
( or ) or the Westrogothic law is the oldest Swedish text written in Latin script and the oldest of all Swedish provincial laws.The Scanian law is older, but Scania was not incorporated into Sweden until late 17th century, and it is thus count ...
, from
Västergötland
Västergötland (), also known as West Gothland or the Latinized version Westrogothia in older literature, is one of the 25 traditional non-administrative provinces of Sweden (''landskap'' in Swedish), situated in the southwest of Sweden.
Väs ...
declared no one could inherit while staying in "Greece"—the then Scandinavian term for the
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
—to stop the emigration, especially as two other European courts simultaneously also recruited Scandinavians:
[Pritsak 1981:386] Kievan Rus'
Kievan Rusʹ, also known as Kyivan Rusʹ ( orv, , Rusĭ, or , , ; Old Norse: ''Garðaríki''), was a state in Eastern and Northern Europe from the late 9th to the mid-13th century.John Channon & Robert Hudson, ''Penguin Historical Atlas of ...
c. 980–1060 and
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
1018–1066 (the
Þingalið).
Name
As the dominions of the Swedish kings grew, the name of the tribe could be applied more generally during the
Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...
to include also the
Geats. Later it again meant only the people inhabiting the original tribal lands in
Svealand
Svealand (), or Swealand, is the historical core region of Sweden. It is located in south central Sweden and is one of three historical lands of Sweden, bounded to the north by Norrland and to the south by Götaland. Deep forests, Tiveden, T ...
, rather than the Geats.
![Pireuslejonet](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8c/Pireuslejonet.jpg)
In modern
North Germanic languages
The North Germanic languages make up one of the three branches of the Germanic languages—a sub-family of the Indo-European languages—along with the West Germanic languages and the extinct East Germanic languages. The language group is also ...
, the adjectival form ''svensk'' and its plural ''svenskar'' have replaced the name ''svear'' and is, today, used to denote all the citizens of Sweden. The distinction between the tribal Swedes (''svear'') and modern Swedes (''svenskar'') appears to have been in effect by the early 20th century, when ''
Nordisk familjebok'' noted that ''svenskar'' had almost replaced ''svear'' as a name for the Swedish people. Although this distinction is convention in modern Norwegian, Danish and Swedish,
Icelandic and
Faroese do not distinguish between ''svíar'' (Icelandic) or ''sviar'' (Faroese) and ''sænskir'' (Icelandic) or ''svenskarar'' (Faroese) as words for modern Swedes.
Etymology
The form Suiones appears in the Roman author
Tacitus
Publius Cornelius Tacitus, known simply as Tacitus ( , ; – ), was a Roman historian and politician. Tacitus is widely regarded as one of the greatest Roman historians by modern scholars.
The surviving portions of his two major works—the ...
's ''
Germania''. A closely similar form, ''Swēon'', is found in
Old English
Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the mid-5th c ...
and in the ''
Gesta Hammaburgensis ecclesiae pontificum
''Gesta Hammaburgensis ecclesiae pontificum'' (Medieval Latin for ''"Deeds of the Bishops of Hamburg"'') is a historical treatise written between 1073 and 1076 by Adam of Bremen, who made additions (''scholia'') to the text until his death (poss ...
'' of
Adam of Bremen
Adam of Bremen ( la, Adamus Bremensis; german: Adam von Bremen) (before 1050 – 12 October 1081/1085) was a German medieval chronicler. He lived and worked in the second half of the eleventh century. Adam is most famous for his chronicle ''Gesta ...
about the Hamburg-Bremen archbishops who are denoted ''Sueones''.
Most scholars agree that ''Suiones'' and the attested Germanic forms of the name derive from the same
Proto-Indo-European
Proto-Indo-European (PIE) is the reconstructed common ancestor of the Indo-European language family. Its proposed features have been derived by linguistic reconstruction from documented Indo-European languages. No direct record of Proto-Indo- ...
reflexive pronominal root, ''
*s(w)e'', as the
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
''
suus
"Suus" (; or His own) is a song by Kosovo-Albanian singer and songwriter Rona Nishliu. It was released as part of a CD compilation on 4 May 2012 by Universal Music. The song was written by the singer herself and composed by Florent Boshnjaku. ...
''. The word must have meant "one's own (tribesmen)". In modern Scandinavian, the same root appears in words such as ''svåger'' (brother-in-law) and ''svägerska'' (sister-in-law). The same root and original meaning is found in the ethnonym of the Germanic tribe
Suebi, preserved to this day in the name ''Schwaben'' (
Swabia).
The details of the phonetic development vary between different proposals.
Noréen (1920) proposed that ''Suiones'' is a Latin rendering of
Proto-Germanic
Proto-Germanic (abbreviated PGmc; also called Common Germanic) is the reconstructed proto-language of the Germanic branch of the Indo-European languages.
Proto-Germanic eventually developed from pre-Proto-Germanic into three Germanic bran ...
*''Swihoniz'', derived from the PIE root "one's own". The form *''Swihoniz'' would in
Ulfilas
Ulfilas (–383), also spelled Ulphilas and Orphila, all Latinisation of names, Latinized forms of the unattested Gothic language, Gothic form *𐍅𐌿𐌻𐍆𐌹𐌻𐌰 Wulfila, literally "Little Wolf", was a Goths, Goth of Cappadocian Ancie ...
'
Gothic
Gothic or Gothics may refer to:
People and languages
*Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes
**Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths
**Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...
become *''Swaíhans'', which later would result in the form ''Suehans'' that
Jordanes
Jordanes (), also written as Jordanis or Jornandes, was a 6th-century Eastern Roman bureaucrat widely believed to be of Gothic descent who became a historian later in life. Late in life he wrote two works, one on Roman history ('' Romana'') a ...
mentioned as the name of the Swedes in ''
Getica
''De origine actibusque Getarum'' (''The Origin and Deeds of the Getae oths'), commonly abbreviated ''Getica'', written in Late Latin by Jordanes in or shortly after 551 AD, claims to be a summary of a voluminous account by Cassiodorus of the o ...
''. Consequently, the
Proto-Norse
Proto-Norse (also called Ancient Nordic, Ancient Scandinavian, Ancient Norse, Primitive Norse, Proto-Nordic, Proto-Scandinavian and Proto-North Germanic) was an Indo-European language spoken in Scandinavia that is thought to have evolved as a ...
form would have been *''Swehaniz'' which following the sound-changes in Old Norse resulted in Old West Norse ''Svíar'' and Old East Norse ''Swear''. Currently, however, the root for "one's own" is reconstructed as ''
*s(w)e'' rather than , and that is the root identified for ''Suiones'' e.g. in Pokorny's 1959 ''
Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch
The ''Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch'' (''IEW''; "Indo-European Etymological Dictionary") was published in 1959 by the Austrian-German comparative linguist and Celtic languages expert Julius Pokorny. It is an updated and slimmed-down ...
'' and in the 2002 ''The Nordic languages: an international handbook of the history of the North Germanic languages'' edited by Oskar Bandle. *''Swe'' is also the form cited by V. Friesen (1915), who regards the form Sviones as being originally an adjective, Proto-Germanic *''Sweoniz'', meaning "kindred". Then the Gothic form would have been *''Swians'' and the H in ''Suehans'' an
epenthesis. The Proto-Norse form would then also have been *''Sweoniz'', which also would have resulted in the historically attested forms.
![Dr344 Runsten](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/88/Dr344_Runsten.jpg)
The name became part of a compound, which in Old West Norse was ''
Svíþjóð'' ("the Svear people'", in Old East Norse ''Sweþiuð'' and in Old English ''Sweoðeod''. This compound appears on
runestone
A runestone is typically a raised stone with a runic inscription, but the term can also be applied to inscriptions on boulders and on bedrock. The tradition began in the 4th century and lasted into the 12th century, but most of the runestones d ...
s in the locatives ''i suiþiuþu'' (
Runestones Sö Fv1948;289, Aspa Löt, and
Sö 140 in
Södermanland
Södermanland ( or ), locally Sörmland, sometimes referred to under its Latin form ''Sudermannia'' or ''Sudermania'', is a historical province or ''landskap'' on the south eastern coast of Sweden. It borders Östergötland, Närke, Västman ...
), ''a suiþiuþu'' (
Runestone DR 344, Simris,
Scania
Scania, also known by its native name of Skåne (, ), is the southernmost of the historical provinces (''landskap'') of Sweden. Located in the south tip of the geographical region of Götaland, the province is roughly conterminous with Skåne ...
) and ''o suoþiauþu'' (
Runestone DR 216, Tirsted,
Lolland). A 13th century Danish source in ''
Scriptores rerum danicarum'' mentions a place called ''litlæ swethiuthæ'', which is probably the islet ''Sverige'' (Sweden) in Saltsjön in eastern Stockholm. 500 m west of the Islet Danmark. The earliest instance, however, appears to be ''Suetidi'' in
Jordanes
Jordanes (), also written as Jordanis or Jornandes, was a 6th-century Eastern Roman bureaucrat widely believed to be of Gothic descent who became a historian later in life. Late in life he wrote two works, one on Roman history ('' Romana'') a ...
' ''
Getica
''De origine actibusque Getarum'' (''The Origin and Deeds of the Getae oths'), commonly abbreviated ''Getica'', written in Late Latin by Jordanes in or shortly after 551 AD, claims to be a summary of a voluminous account by Cassiodorus of the o ...
'' (6th century).
The name ''Swethiuth'' and its different forms gave rise to the different Latin names for Sweden, ''Suethia'', ''Suetia'' and ''Suecia'' as well as the modern English name for the country.
A second compound was ''Svíariki'', or ''Sweorice'' in Old English, which meant "the realm of the Suiones".
Location
![Royal mounds](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/40/Royal_mounds.JPG)
Their primary dwellings were in eastern
Svealand
Svealand (), or Swealand, is the historical core region of Sweden. It is located in south central Sweden and is one of three historical lands of Sweden, bounded to the north by Norrland and to the south by Götaland. Deep forests, Tiveden, T ...
. Their territories also very early included the provinces of
Västmanland
Västmanland ( or ), is a historical Swedish province, or ''landskap'', in middle Sweden. It borders Södermanland, Närke, Värmland, Dalarna and Uppland.
Västmanland means "(The) Land of the Western Men", where the "western men" (''väst ...
,
Södermanland
Södermanland ( or ), locally Sörmland, sometimes referred to under its Latin form ''Sudermannia'' or ''Sudermania'', is a historical province or ''landskap'' on the south eastern coast of Sweden. It borders Östergötland, Närke, Västman ...
and
Närke
Närke () is a Swedish traditional province, or ''landskap'', situated in Svealand in south central Sweden. It is bordered by Västmanland to the north, Södermanland to the east, Östergötland to the southeast, Västergötland to the southwe ...
in the
Mälaren Valley
The Mälaren Valley ( sv, Mälardalen), occasionally referred to as Stockholm-Mälaren Region (''Stockholm-mälarregionen''), is the easternmost part of Svealand, the catchment area of Lake Mälaren and the surrounding municipalities. The term is ...
which constituted a bay with a multitude of islands. The region is still one of the most fertile and densely populated regions of Scandinavia.
Their territories were called ''
Svealand
Svealand (), or Swealand, is the historical core region of Sweden. It is located in south central Sweden and is one of three historical lands of Sweden, bounded to the north by Norrland and to the south by Götaland. Deep forests, Tiveden, T ...
'' - "Swede-land" ("The Voyage of
Ohthere
Ohthere (also ''Ohtere''), Old Norse ''Óttarr vendilkráka'' (''Vendelcrow''; in Modern Swedish ''Ottar Vendelkråka'') was a semi-legendary king of Sweden of the house of Scylfings, who is said to have lived during the Germanic Heroic Age, p ...
" ''in'' ''Seven Books of History Against the Pagans'': ''Swéoland''), ''Suithiod'' - "Swede-people" (''Beowulf'': ''Sweoðeod''
ence Sweden, ''Svía
veldi'' or ''Svea
rike Rike or Ryke is a given name and a surname. It may refer to:
* Rike Boomgaarden (), German singer and songwriter
* Ryke Geerd Hamer (1935–2017), German physician whose license was revoked for originating and practicing a system of pseudo-medicine ...
'' - "Swede-realm" (Beowulf: ''Swéorice''). The political unification with the
Geats in
Götaland
Götaland (; also '' Geatland'', '' Gothia'', ''Gothland'', ''Gothenland'' or ''Gautland'') is one of three lands of Sweden and comprises ten provinces. Geographically it is located in the south of Sweden, bounded to the north by Svealand, wit ...
, a process that was not complete until the 13th century, is by some contemporary historians regarded as the birth of the
Swedish kingdom
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
, although the Swedish kingdom is named after them, ''Sverige'' in
Swedish
Swedish or ' may refer to:
Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically:
* Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland
** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...
, from ''Svea rike'' - i.e. the kingdom of the Suiones.
The
Æsir
The Æsir (Old Norse: ) are the gods of the principal pantheon in Norse religion. They include Odin, Frigg, Höðr, Thor, and Baldr. The second Norse pantheon is the Vanir. In Norse mythology, the two pantheons wage war against each other, ...
-cult centre in
Gamla Uppsala
Gamla, alt. sp. Gamala ( he, גַּמְלָא, The Camel) was an ancient Jewish city on the Golan Heights. It is believed to have been founded as a Seleucid fort during the Syrian Wars which was turned into a city under Hasmonean rule in 81 B ...
, was the religious centre of the Swedes and where the Swedish king served as a priest during the sacrifices (
blót
( Old Norse) and or ( Old English) are terms for "blood sacrifice" in Norse paganism and Anglo-Saxon paganism respectively. A comparanda can also be reconstructed for wider Germanic paganism.
A ' could be dedicated to any of the Germanic ...
s). Uppsala was also the centre of the
Uppsala öd Uppsala öd, Old Norse: ''Uppsala auðr'' or ''Uppsala øðr'' (''Uppsala domains'' or ''wealth of Uppsala'') was the name given to the collection of estates which was the property of the Swedish Crown in medieval Sweden.The article ''Uppsala öd'' ...
, the network of royal estates that financed the Swedish king and his court until the 13th century.
Some dispute whether the original domains of the Suiones really were in
Uppsala
Uppsala (, or all ending in , ; archaically spelled ''Upsala'') is the county seat of Uppsala County and the fourth-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmö. It had 177,074 inhabitants in 2019.
Located north of the c ...
, the heartland of
Uppland
Uppland () is a historical province or ' on the eastern coast of Sweden, just north of Stockholm, the capital. It borders Södermanland, Västmanland and Gästrikland. It is also bounded by lake Mälaren and the Baltic Sea. On the small uninhab ...
, or if the term was used commonly for all tribes within Svealand, in the same way as old Norway's different provinces were collectively referred to as ''Nortmanni''.
History
The history of this tribe is shrouded in the mists of time. Besides
Norse mythology and Germanic legend, only a few sources describe them and there is very little information.
Romans
![Gaius Cornelius Tacitus](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8e/Gaius_Cornelius_Tacitus.jpg)
There are two sources from the 1st century A.D that are quoted as referring to the Suiones. The first one is
Pliny the Elder
Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/2479), called Pliny the Elder (), was a Roman author, naturalist and natural philosopher, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the emperor Vespasian. He wrote the encyclopedic ' ...
who said that the Romans had rounded the ''Cimbric peninsula'' (
Jutland
Jutland ( da, Jylland ; german: Jütland ; ang, Ēota land ), known anciently as the Cimbric or Cimbrian Peninsula ( la, Cimbricus Chersonesus; da, den Kimbriske Halvø, links=no or ; german: Kimbrische Halbinsel, links=no), is a peninsula of ...
) where there was the ''Codanian Gulf'' (
Kattegat
The Kattegat (; sv, Kattegatt ) is a sea area bounded by the Jutlandic peninsula in the west, the Danish Straits islands of Denmark and the Baltic Sea to the south and the provinces of Bohuslän, Västergötland, Halland and Skåne in Sweden ...
?). In this gulf there were several large islands among which the most famous was ''Scatinavia'' (
Scandinavia
Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Swe ...
). He said that the size of the island was unknown but in a part of it dwelt a tribe named the ''
Hillevionum gente'' (
Nominative: ''Hillevionum gens''), in 500 villages, and they considered their country to be a world of its own.
What strikes the commentators of this text is that this large tribe is unknown to posterity, unless it was a simple misspelling or misreading of ''Illa'' S''vionum gente''. This would make sense, since a large Scandinavian tribe named the ''Suiones'' was known to the Romans.
Tacitus wrote in AD 98 in
Germania 44, 45 that the Suiones were a powerful tribe (''distinguished not merely for their arms and men, but for their powerful fleets'') with ships that had a
prow
The bow () is the forward part of the hull of a ship or boat, the point that is usually most forward when the vessel is underway. The aft end of the boat is the stern.
Prow may be used as a synonym for bow or it may mean the forward-most part ...
in both ends). He further mentions that the Suiones were much impressed by wealth, and the king's thus was absolute. Further, the Suiones did not normally bear arms, and that the weapons were guarded by a slave.
After Tacitus' mention of the Suiones, the sources are silent about them until the 6th century as Scandinavia still was in pre-historic times. Some historians have maintained that it is not possible to claim that a continuous Swedish
ethnicity reaches back to the Suiones of Tacitus. According to this view the referent of an ethnonym and the ethnic discourse have varied considerably during different phases of history.
Jordanes
![Vendel era helmet (942)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bb/Vendel_era_helmet_%28942%29.jpg)
In the 6th century
Jordanes
Jordanes (), also written as Jordanis or Jornandes, was a 6th-century Eastern Roman bureaucrat widely believed to be of Gothic descent who became a historian later in life. Late in life he wrote two works, one on Roman history ('' Romana'') a ...
named two tribes he calls the Suehans and the Suetidi who lived in
Scandza
Scandza was described as a "great island" by Gothic-Byzantine historian Jordanes in his work ''Getica''. The island was located in the Arctic regions of the sea that surrounded the world. The location is usually identified with Scandinavia.
Jor ...
. They were famous for their fine horses. The Suehans were the suppliers of black fox skins for the Roman market. Then Jordanes names a tribe named Suetidi a name that is considered to refer to the Suiones as well and to be the Latin form of ''Sweþiuð''. The Suetidi are said to be the tallest of men together with the
Dani who were of the same stock.
Anglo-Saxon sources
There are three Anglo-Saxon sources that refer to the Swedes. The earliest one is probably the least known, since the mention is found in a long list of names of tribes and clans. It is the poem
Widsith
"Widsith" ( ang, Wīdsīþ, "far-traveller", lit. "wide-journey"), also known as "The Traveller's Song", is an Old English poem of 143 lines. It survives only in the ''Exeter Book'', a manuscript of Old English poetry compiled in the late-10th c ...
from the 6th or the 7th century:
![Vendel era helmet (950)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8c/Vendel_era_helmet_%28950%29.jpg)
On line 32,
Ongentheow
Ongentheow (Old English: ''Ongenþeow'', ''Ongenþio'', ''Ongendþeow''; Old Norse: ''Angantýr'') (died ca. 515) was the name of a semi-legendary Swedish king of the house of Scylfings, who appears in Old English sources.
He is generally iden ...
is mentioned and he reappears in the later epic poem ''
Beowulf'', which was composed sometime in the 8th-11th centuries. The poem describes
Swedish-Geatish wars, involving the Swedish kings
Ongentheow
Ongentheow (Old English: ''Ongenþeow'', ''Ongenþio'', ''Ongendþeow''; Old Norse: ''Angantýr'') (died ca. 515) was the name of a semi-legendary Swedish king of the house of Scylfings, who appears in Old English sources.
He is generally iden ...
,
Ohthere
Ohthere (also ''Ohtere''), Old Norse ''Óttarr vendilkráka'' (''Vendelcrow''; in Modern Swedish ''Ottar Vendelkråka'') was a semi-legendary king of Sweden of the house of Scylfings, who is said to have lived during the Germanic Heroic Age, p ...
,
Onela
Onela was according to ''Beowulf'' a Swedish king, the son of Ongentheow and the brother of Ohthere. He usurped the Swedish throne, but was killed by his nephew Eadgils, who won by hiring foreign assistance.
In Scandinavian sagas a Norwegian ki ...
and
Eadgils who belonged to a royal dynasty called the ''
Scylfing
The Ynglings were a dynasty of kings, first in Sweden and later in Norway, primarily attested through the poem ''Ynglingatal''. The dynasty also appears as Scylfings (Old Norse ''Skilfingar'') in '' Beowulf''. When ''Beowulf'' and ''Ynglingatal'' ...
s''. These kings might have been historical as kings with similar names appear in Scandinavian sources as well (see
list of legendary kings of Sweden
The legendary kings of Sweden () according to legends were rulers of Sweden and the Swedes who preceded Eric the Victorious and Olof Skötkonung, the earliest reliably attested Swedish kings. Though the stories of some of the kings may be emb ...
). There appears to be a prophecy by
Wiglaf
Wiglaf (Proto-Norse: *'' Wīga laibaz'', meaning "battle remainder"; ang, Wīġlāf ) is a character in the Anglo-Saxon epic poem ''Beowulf''. He is the son of Weohstan, a Swede of the Wægmunding clan who had entered the service of Beowulf, kin ...
in the end of the epic of new wars with the Swedes:
When more reliable historic sources appear the Geats are a subgroup of the Swedes.
The third Anglo-Saxon source is
Alfred the Great's translation of
Orosius' ''Histories'', with appended tales of the voyages of
Ohthere of Hålogaland
Ohthere of Hålogaland ( no, Ottar fra Hålogaland) was a Viking Age Norwegian seafarer known only from an account of his travels that he gave to King Alfred (r. 871–99) of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Wessex in about 890 AD. His account ...
and
Wulfstan of Hedeby
Wulfstan of Hedeby was a late ninth century traveller and trader. His travel accounts, as well as those of another trader, Ohthere of Hålogaland, were included in the ''Old English Orosius''. It is unclear if Wulfstan was English or indeed if h ...
, who in the 9th century described the ''Sweon'' and ''Sweoland''.
Ohthere's account is limited to the following statement about Swēoland:
:Ðonne is toēmnes ðǣm lande sūðeweardum, on ōðre healfe ðæs mōres, Swēoland, oð ðæt land norðeweard; and toēmnes ðǣm lande norðeweardum, Cwēna land.
:Then Sweden is along the land to the south, on the other side of the moors, as far as the land to the north; and (then) Finland (is) along the land to the north.
[
Wulfstan only mentions a few regions as being subject to the Sweons (in translation):
:Then, after the land of the Burgundians, we had on our left the lands that have been called from the earliest times ]Blekinge
Blekinge (, old da, Bleking) is one of the traditional Swedish provinces (), situated in the southern coast of the geographic region of Götaland, in southern Sweden. It borders Småland, Scania and the Baltic Sea. It is the country's secon ...
y, and Meore, and Eowland, and Gotland, all which territory is subject to the Sweons; and Weonodland was all the way on our right, as far as Weissel-mouth.
Frankish sources
The ''Annales Bertiniani
''Annales Bertiniani'' (''Annals of Saint Bertin'') are late Carolingian, Frankish annals that were found in the Abbey of Saint Bertin, Saint-Omer, France, after which they are named. Their account is taken to cover the period 830-82, thus contin ...
'' relate that a group of Norsemen
The Norsemen (or Norse people) were a North Germanic ethnolinguistic group of the Early Middle Ages, during which they spoke the Old Norse language. The language belongs to the North Germanic branch of the Indo-European languages and is the pr ...
, who called themselves '' Rhos'' visited Constantinople
la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه
, alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya ( Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis ( ...
around the year 838. Fearful of returning home via the steppes, which would leave them vulnerable to attacks by the Hungarians
Hungarians, also known as Magyars ( ; hu, magyarok ), are a nation and ethnic group native to Hungary () and historical Hungarian lands who share a common culture, history, ancestry, and language. The Hungarian language belongs to the Urali ...
, the ''Rhos'' travelled through Germany. They were questioned by Louis the Pious
Louis the Pious (german: Ludwig der Fromme; french: Louis le Pieux; 16 April 778 – 20 June 840), also called the Fair, and the Debonaire, was King of the Franks and co-emperor with his father, Charlemagne, from 813. He was also King of Aqui ...
, Emperor of Francia
Francia, also called the Kingdom of the Franks ( la, Regnum Francorum), Frankish Kingdom, Frankland or Frankish Empire ( la, Imperium Francorum), was the largest post-Roman barbarian kingdom in Western Europe. It was ruled by the Franks dur ...
, somewhere near Mainz
Mainz () is the capital and largest city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.
Mainz is on the left bank of the Rhine, opposite to the place that the Main joins the Rhine. Downstream of the confluence, the Rhine flows to the north-west, with Ma ...
. They informed the emperor that their leader was known as ''chacanus'' (the Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
for " khagan") and that they lived in the north of Russia, but that they were Sueones.
Adam of Bremen
Dealing with Scandinavian affairs, Adam of Bremen relates in the 11th century ''Gesta Hammaburgensis ecclesiae pontificum'' that the Sueones had many wives and were severe on crime. Hospitality was an important virtue and refusing a wanderer to stay over the night was considered shameful. The visitor was even taken to see the hosts' friends.
Their royal family is of an old dynasty (see House of Munsö
The House of Munsö (), also called the House of Björn Ironside (Swedish: ), the House of Uppsala (Swedish: ) or simply the Old dynasty (Swedish: ), is the earliest reliably attested royal dynasty of Sweden, ruling during the Viking Age. None of ...
), but the kings are dependent on the will of the people (the Thing
Thing or The Thing may refer to:
Philosophy
* An object
* Broadly, an entity
* Thing-in-itself (or ''noumenon''), the reality that underlies perceptions, a term coined by Immanuel Kant
* Thing theory, a branch of critical theory that focuse ...
). What has been decided by the people is more important than the will of the king unless the king's opinion seems to be the most reasonable one, whereupon they usually obey. During peacetime, they feel to be the king's equals but during wars they obey him blindly or whoever among them that he considers to be the most skillful. If the fortunes of war are against them they pray to one of their many gods (Æsir
The Æsir (Old Norse: ) are the gods of the principal pantheon in Norse religion. They include Odin, Frigg, Höðr, Thor, and Baldr. The second Norse pantheon is the Vanir. In Norse mythology, the two pantheons wage war against each other, ...
) and if they win they are grateful to him.
Norse sagas
The sagas are our foremost source for knowledge, and especially Snorri Sturluson, who is probably the one who has contributed the most (see for instance the Heimskringla
''Heimskringla'' () is the best known of the Old Norse kings' sagas. It was written in Old Norse in Iceland by the poet and historian Snorre Sturlason (1178/79–1241) 1230. The name ''Heimskringla'' was first used in the 17th century, derive ...
). His descriptions sometimes concur with, sometimes contradict the previous sources.
For a continuation, see History of Sweden (800–1521).
See also
* Mother Svea
Mother Svea or ''Mother Swea'' (Swedish: ''Moder Svea'') is the female personification of Sweden and a patriotic emblem of the Swedish nation.
Background
Mother Svea is normally depicted as a powerful female warrior, valkyrie or shieldmaid ...
* Scandinavia
Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Swe ...
* Vikings
Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden),
who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and ...
* Viking Age
The Viking Age () was the period during the Middle Ages when Norsemen known as Vikings undertook large-scale raiding, colonizing, conquest, and trading throughout Europe and reached North America. It followed the Migration Period and the Germ ...
* Norsemen
The Norsemen (or Norse people) were a North Germanic ethnolinguistic group of the Early Middle Ages, during which they spoke the Old Norse language. The language belongs to the North Germanic branch of the Indo-European languages and is the pr ...
* Varangians
The Varangians (; non, Væringjar; gkm, Βάραγγοι, ''Várangoi'';[Varangian]
" Online Etymo ...
* Geats
* Gotlander
* Goths
The Goths ( got, 𐌲𐌿𐍄𐌸𐌹𐌿𐌳𐌰, translit=''Gutþiuda''; la, Gothi, grc-gre, Γότθοι, Gótthoi) were a Germanic people who played a major role in the fall of the Western Roman Empire and the emergence of medieval Europe ...
* Danes (Germanic tribe)
The Danes were a North Germanic tribe inhabiting southern Scandinavia, including the area now comprising Denmark proper, and the Scanian provinces of modern-day southern Sweden, during the Nordic Iron Age and the Viking Age. They founded what bec ...
* Swedes
* Danes
* Rus' people
The Rusʹ (Old East Slavic: Рѹсь; Belarusian, Russian, Rusyn, and Ukrainian: Русь; Old Norse: '' Garðar''; Greek: Ῥῶς, ''Rhos'') were a people in early medieval eastern Europe. The scholarly consensus holds that they were or ...
* Norwegians
Norwegians ( no, nordmenn) are a North Germanic ethnic group and nation native to Norway, where they form the vast majority of the population. They share a common culture and speak the Norwegian language. Norwegians are descended from the N ...
* Trial by combat
Trial by combat (also wager of battle, trial by battle or judicial duel) was a method of Germanic law to settle accusations in the absence of witnesses or a confession in which two parties in dispute fought in single combat; the winner of the ...
* Trial by ordeal
Trial by ordeal was an ancient judicial practice by which the guilt or innocence of the accused was determined by subjecting them to a painful, or at least an unpleasant, usually dangerous experience.
In medieval Europe, like trial by combat, tri ...
* List of ancient Germanic peoples
This list of ancient Germanic peoples is an inventory of ancient Germanic cultures, tribal groupings and other alliances of Germanic tribes and civilisations in ancient times. The information comes from various ancient historical documents, beginn ...
References
Sources
* Tacitus, ''Germania'', XLIV
44 (forty-four) is the natural number following 43 and preceding 45.
In mathematics
Forty-four is a repdigit and palindromic number in decimal. It is the fourth happy number, and the fourth octahedral number.
Since the greatest prime factor ...
, XLV''
* Larsson, Mats G (2002). ''Götarnas Riken : Upptäcktsfärder Till Sveriges Enande''. Bokförlaget Atlantis AB
* Thunberg, Carl L. (2012). ''Att tolka Svitjod. En kritisk och problematiserande utredning i syfte att fastställa begreppets äldre källstatus med analys av vad dessa källor innebär för begreppet och för varandra''. University of Gothenburg.
External links
Carl L. Thunberg (2012): ''Att tolka Svitjod (To interpret Svitjod)''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Swedes (Germanic Tribe)
Early Germanic peoples
North Germanic tribes