Name of Estonia
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Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...
( et, Eesti ) has a long and complex history. It has been connected to ''
Aesti The Aesti (also Aestii, Astui or Aests) were an ancient people first described by the Roman historian Tacitus in his treatise ''Germania'' (circa 98 AD). According to Tacitus, the land of ''Aesti'' was located somewhere east of the ''Suiones'' (p ...
'', first 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 historians by modern scholars. The surviving portions of his two major works—the ...
around AD 98. The name's modern geographical meaning comes from ''Eistland'', ''Estia'' and ''Hestia'' in the
medieval 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 ...
Scandinavian sources. Estonians adopted it as an endonym only in the mid-19th century.


Etymology


Origins

The name has a complex history extending over two thousand years, and there is little consensus on which places and peoples it has referred to at different periods.
Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
historian
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 ...
in his ''Germania'' (ca. AD 98), mentioned ''Aestiorum gentes'' "Aestian tribes", and some historians believe that he was directly referring to
Balts The Balts or Baltic peoples ( lt, baltai, lv, balti) are an ethno-linguistic group of peoples who speak the Baltic languages of the Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European languages. One of the features of Baltic languages is the number ...
while others have proposed that the name applied to the whole Eastern Baltic. The word Aesti mentioned by Tacitus might derive from
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 ...
''Aestuarii'' meaning "Estuary Dwellers". Later geographically vague mentions include ''Aesti'' by
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 ...
from the 6th century and ''Aisti'' by Einhard from the early 7th century. The last mention generally considered to be applying primarily to the southern parts of the Eastern-Baltic is ''Eastlanda'' in a description of Wulfstan’s travels from the 9th century. In the following centuries, views of the Eastern Baltic became more complex, and in the 11th century,
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 ...
mentions three islands, with ''Aestland'' being the northernmost. The Viking runestones and Scandinavian sagas referring to ''Eistland'' were the earliest sources to use the name in its modern meaning. The sagas were composed in the 13th century on the basis of earlier oral tradition by historians like Snorri Sturluson. Estonia appears as ''Aistland'' in ''
Gutasaga Gutasaga (''Gutasagan'') is a saga regarding the history of Gotland before its Christianization. It was recorded in the 13th century and survives in only a single manuscript, the Codex Holm. B 64, dating to , kept at the National Library of Sweden ...
'' and as ''Eistland'' in ''
Ynglinga saga ''Ynglinga saga'' ( ) is a Kings' saga, originally written in Old Norse by the Icelandic poet and historian Snorri Sturluson about 1225. It is the first section of his ''Heimskringla''. It was first translated into English and published in 184 ...
'', ''
Óláfs saga Tryggvasonar ''Óláfs saga Tryggvasonar'' is the name of several kings' sagas on the life of Óláfr Tryggvason, a 10th-century Norwegian king. Latin lives of Óláfr Tryggvason were written by Oddr Snorrason and by Gunnlaugr Leifsson; both are now lost, but ...
'', '' Haralds saga hárfagra'', and '' Örvar-Odds saga''. In Sweden, the Frugården runestone from the 11th century mentions ''Estlatum'' "Estonian lands". Many other runestones in Sweden indicate that at the time there were close contacts with Estonia, because of the frequent references therein to personal names such as ''Æistfari'' ("traveller to Estonia"), ''Æistulfr'' ("Wolf of Estonians") and Æistr ("Estonian"). The first mostly reliable chronicle data comes from ''
Gesta Danorum ''Gesta Danorum'' ("Deeds of the Danes") is a patriotic work of Danish history, by the 12th-century author Saxo Grammaticus ("Saxo the Literate", literally "the Grammarian"). It is the most ambitious literary undertaking of medieval Denmark an ...
'' by the 12th century historian
Saxo Grammaticus Saxo Grammaticus (c. 1150 – c. 1220), also known as Saxo cognomine Longus, was a Danish historian, theologian and author. He is thought to have been a clerk or secretary to Absalon, Archbishop of Lund, the main advisor to Valdemar I of Denmark ...
, referring to Estonia as ''Hestia'', ''Estia'' and its people as ''Estonum''. The toponym ''Estland/Eistland'' has been connected to
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 ...
''eist'', ''austr'' meaning "the east". The 12th century Arab geographer al-Idrisi from Sicily, who presumably had help of some informant at
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 ...
in Denmark, describes ''Astalānda'', probably referring to Estonia and the Livonian regions of Latvia. From Scandinavian the name spread to German and later, following the rise of the Catholic Church, reached Latin, with
Henry of Latvia Henry of Latvia ( la, Henricus de Lettis, german: Heinrich von Lettland, lv, Latviešu Indriķis, et, Läti Henrik; 1187 – after 1259), also known in the English-speaking world as Henry of Livonia, was a priest (Catholic Church), priest, mis ...
in his '' Heinrici Cronicon Lyvoniae'' (ca. AD 1229) naming the region ''Estonia'' and its inhabitants ''Estones''. Tamm, Kaljundi & Jensen 2016, pp. 94-96


Adoption by Estonians

The endonym ''maarahvas'', literally meaning "land people" or "country folk", was used up until the mid-19th century. Beyer 2011, pp. 12-13 Its origins are unclear; there is a hypothesis of it originating from the prehistoric period, but no supporting evidence has been found. Another proposed explanation relates to its being a medieval loan-translation from German ''Landvolk''. Although the name had been used earlier,
Johann Voldemar Jannsen Johann Voldemar Jannsen ( in Vändra, Kreis Pernau, Livonia, Russian Empire – , in Tartu) was an Estonian journalist and poet active in Livonia. He wrote the words of the patriotic song "Mu isamaa, mu õnn ja rõõm", which later became the ...
played a major role in popularisation of ''Eesti rahvas'' "Estonian people" among the Estonians themselves, during the
Estonian national awakening The Estonian Age of Awakening ( et, Ärkamisaeg) is a period in history where Estonians came to acknowledge themselves as a nation deserving the right to govern themselves. This period is considered to begin in the 1850s with greater rights bein ...
. The first number of his newspaper '' Perno Postimees'' in 1857 started with ''"Terre, armas Eesti rahwas!"'' meaning "Hello, dear Estonian people!".


In other languages

''Esthonia'' was a common alternative
English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...
spelling. In 1922, in response to a letter by Estonian diplomat
Oskar Kallas Oskar Kallas (also Oskar Philipp Kallas; in Kirikuküla, Saaremaa – 26 January 1946 in Stockholm) was an Estonian diplomat, linguist and folklorist.Toivo Miljan, ''Historical Dictionary of Estonia'', Scarecrow Press 2004 He was the husband o ...
raising the issue, the Royal Geographical Society agreed that the correct spelling was ''Estonia''. Formal adoption took place at the government level only in 1926, with the United Kingdom and United States then adopting the spelling ''Estonia''. In the same year this spelling was officially endorsed by the Estonian government, alongside ''Estonie'' in French, and ''Estland'' in German, Danish, Dutch, Norwegian, and Swedish. In
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 ...
Estonia is known as ''Viro'', originating from the historic independent county
Virumaa Virumaa ( la, Vironia; Low German: ''Wierland''; Old Norse: ''Virland'') is a former independent county in Ancient Estonia. Now it is divided into Ida-Viru County or Eastern Vironia and Lääne-Viru County or Western Vironia. Vironians built ...
. In a similar vein, the corresponding Latvian word ''Igaunija'' derives from
Ugandi County Ugandi (Latin: ''Ungannia'' or ''Ugaunia''; lv, Ugaunija; Low German: ''Uggn'') was an independent county between the east coast of Lake Võrtsjärv and west coast of Lake Pskov, bordered by Vaiga, Mõhu, Nurmekund, Sakala, Tālava, and ...
. Theroux 2011, p. 22


References


Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * {{Europe topic, Name of, title=Names of European states and territories History of Estonia
Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...