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before the incorporation of Finland during the 13th century.
Swedes,
Suiones,
Sueones,
Sweonas,
Suehans,
Svíar,
Svear were an ancient
Germanic tribe in
Scandinavia. As the dominions of their kings grew, their land slowly evolved into the modern Swedes. Since they are usually only referred to as Swedes in English, in addition to linguistic and editorial reasons,The most common English name for this tribe,
Swedes, is the only linguistic form which as a singular noun, a plural noun and an adjectival form in English. The other forms only exist in the form of a plural noun. they will be referred to as
Swedes in this article.
According to early sources, such as the Norse sagas, and especially
Heimskringla, the Swedes were a powerful tribe whose kings claimed descendence from the god Freyr. During the
Viking Age they constituted the basis of the Varangian subset, the
Vikings that travelled eastwards (see
Rus' (people)).
Their privileged position within the Swedish kingdom was abolished in the mid-13th century.Larsson 2002:178 Until then, the Swedes had had semi-aristocratic status being only obliged to provide the
king of Sweden with ships, warriors and their provisions during wars, whereas other nations within the kingdom, such as Geats and Gotlanders were tributary nations who were regularly taxed.
On the name
As the dominions of the Swedish kings grew, the name of the tribe could be applied more generally during the
Middle Ages, to include the Geats. Later it returned to referring only the people inhabiting the original tribal lands in
Svealand, in opposition to the Geats.
In modern Scandinavian language, the adjectival form
svensk and its plural
svenskar/svensker 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. The article
Sverige,
språkv. in
Nordisk familjebok Although this distinction is convention in modern Norwegian, Danish and Swedish,
Icelandic language retains the traditional terminology and call both
Svíar.
Location
was the religious and political centre.Their primary dwellings were in eastern
Svealand, i.e. the traditional
Folklands of
Attundaland, Tiundaland, Fjärdhundraland and
Roslagen in the area of the present cities of Uppsala and
Stockholm and the modern province of Gästrikland. Their territories also very early included the provinces of Västmanland, Södermanland and Närke in the basin of Mälaren 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 (the Voyage of Ohthere:
Swéoland),
Svitjod (Beowulf:
Sweoðeod),
Svíarealm or
Svea rike (Beowulf:
Swéorice), and the unknown moment when they subjugated the Geats in
Götaland, sometime between the
6th century and the 11th century is nowadays often regarded as the birth to the Sweden, although the Swedish kingdom is named after them,
Sverige in Swedish language, from
Svea rike - i.e. the kingdom of the Suiones. The English name
Sweden is derived from an old name for Sweden and the land of the Suiones:
Sweoðeod (
the people of the Suiones).
The
Ásatrú Aesir-cult center in
Gamla Uppsala, was the religious centre of the Swedes and where the Swedish king served as a priest during the sacrifices (blóts). Uppsala was also the centre of the 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 was in
Gamla Uppsala, the heartland of
Uppland, 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.
Etymology
The form
Suiones appears in the Roman author
Tacitus's
Germania (book). A closely similar form,
Sweon(as), is found in Old English language and in the work of
Adam of Bremen, about the Hamburg-Bremen archbishops, they are denoted
Sueones.
According to one theory (Schagerström 1931), the name is derived from Proto-Germanic *
saiwi- meaning "lake" or "sea" resulting in *
siwíoniz and later *
swi-oniz meaning the "sea people". However, this root is not known to have produced any other derived names, and is considered unlikely.
Noréen (1920) proposed that
Suiones is a Latin rendering of
Proto-Germanic *
Swihoniz, meaning "one's own (tribesmen)", derived from the same Proto-Indo-European language root as the Latin
suus (i.e. not from Latin but from the same reflexive pronoun root, a root also existing in Slavic languages). In modern Scandinavian, the same root appears in words such as
svåger (brother-in-law) and
svägerska (sister-in-law). The form *
Swihoniz would in Ulfilas's Gothic language become *
Swaíhans, which later would result in the form
Suehans that
Jordanes mentioned as the name of the Swedes in
Getica. Consequently, the Proto-Norse form would have been *
Swehaniz which following the sound-changes in Old Norse resulted in Old West Norse
Svíar and Old East Norse
Swear. However, this root has not gained wide acceptance, which leads to the oldest theory of which the proposed root is widely accepted.
According to a third theory (v. Friesen 1915), it is not derived from the root *
swih, but from the root *
Swe and being originally an adjective, Proto-Germanic *
Sweoniz, meaning "kindred". Then the Gothic form would have been *
Swians and the H in
Suehans a
pleonasm. The
Proto-Norse form would then also have been *
Sweoniz which also would have resulted in the historically attested forms. is one of the earliest surviving instances of the name
Svíþjóð, in Scandinavia (only
Runestone DR 216,
Beowulf and probably also the
Getica are earlier).Although, scholars differ on the origins of the name, they agree that
Suiones is the same name as Old Norse
svíar and
Old English language Sweon(as). Even though the
n has disappeared in the plural noun
svear/
svíar, it is still preserved in the old adjective which has become the noun designating modern Swedes:
sve'n
sk.The name became part of a compound, which in Old West Norse was
Svíþjóð, (The Suione People), in Old East Norse
Sweþiuð and in Old English language
Sweoðeod. This compound appears on runestones in the locatives
i suiþiuþu (
Runestone Sö Fv1948;289, Aspa Löt,
Sörmland),
a suiþiuþu (
Runestone DR 344, Simris, Skåne) and
o suoþiauþu (Runestone DR 216, Tirsted, Lolland). The
13th century Danish source
Scriptores rerum danicarum mentions a place called
litlæ swethiuthæ, which is probably the island
Sverige (Sweden) near Stockholm. The earliest instance, however, appears to be
Suetidi in
Jordanes'
Getica (6th century).
The only Germanic nation having a similar naming was the
Goths, who from the name *
Gutans (cf.
Suehans) created the form
gut-þiuda.
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
Anglo-Saxon language, which meant "the realm of the Suiones". This is still the formal name for Sweden in
Swedish language,
Svea rike and the origin of its current name
Sverige.
History
The history of this tribe is shrouded in the mists of time. Besides Scandinavian mythology and Germanic legend, only a few sources describe them and there is very little information, in spite of the fact that the tribe existed already during the first century A.D.
Romans
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 who said that the Romans had rounded the
Cimbric peninsula (
Jutland) where there was the
Codanian Gulf (
Kattegat?). In this gulf there were several large islands among which the most famous was
Scatinavia (
Scandinavia). He said that the size of the island was unknown but in a part of it dwelt a tribe named the
Hilleviones, 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 Svionum gente. This would make sense, since a large Scandinavian tribe named the Suiones was known to the Romans.Tacitus wrote in AD 98 in
s:Germania#XLIV 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 in both ends (longships). What kings (
kuningaz) ruled these Suiones is unknown, but
Norse mythology presents a long line of legendary and semi-legendary kings going back to the last centuries BC.
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 historias have maintained that it is not possible to claim that a continuous Swedish ethnicity reaches back to the Suiones of TacitusDick Harrison:
Sveriges historia - Medeltiden (2002); Fredrik Svanberg:
Decolonizing the Viking Age (2003).. According to this view the referent of an ethnonym and the ethnic discourse have varied considerably during different phases of history.
Jordanes
helmet, at the
Swedish Museum of National Antiquities.In the 6th century
Jordanes named two tribes he calls the
Suehans and the
Suetidi who lived in
Scandza. The
Suehans are considered to be the Suiones, and they were famous for their fine horses. Snorri Sturluson wrote that the contemporary Swedish king Adils (Eadgils) had the finest horses of his days. 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 from the
6th century or the
7th century:
{||
Wald Woingum, Wod þyringum,
Sæferð Sycgum, Sweom Ongendþeow,
Sceafthere Ymbrum, Sceafa Longbeardum,
|
Wald the Woings, Wod the
Thuringians,
Saeferth the Sycgs, Ongendtheow the Swedes,
Sceafthere the Umbers,
Sceafa the Langobards,
||}On line 32,
Ongentheow is mentioned and he reappears in the later epic poem
Beowulf, which was composed sometime in 8th century,
9th century and the
10th century. helmet, at the
Swedish Museum of National Antiquities.The poem describes
Swedish-Geatish wars, during the 6th century, involving the Swedish kings Ongentheow,
Ohthere, Onela and Eadgils who belonged to a royal dynasty called the
Ynglings. These kings were probably historical kings as they appear in many Scandinavian sources as well (see Swedish semi-legendary kings). There appears to be a prophecy by
Wiglaf in the end of the epic of new wars with the Swedes:
{||
Þæt ys sio fæhðo and se feond-scipe,
wæl-nið wera, þæs þe ic wen hafo,
þe us seceað to Sweona leode,
syððan hie gefricgeað frean userne
ealdor-leasne, þone þe ær geheold
wið hettendum hord and rice,
æfter hæleða hryre hwate Scylfingas,
folcred fremede oððe furður gen
eorl-scipe efnde.Lines 3000-3008.
|
Such is the feud, the foeman's rage,
death-hate of men: so I deem it sure
that the Swedish folk will seek us home
for this fall of their friends, the fighting-Yngling,
when once they learn that our warrior leader
lifeless lies, who land and hoard
ever defended from all his foes,
furthered his folk's weal, finished his course
a hardy hero.Gummere's translation
||}
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, where are told the voyages of Ohthere from Hålogaland and Wulfstan of Hedeby, 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.( Excerpt presented by the University of Victoria
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.( Translation of the University of Victoria
Wulfstan only mentions a few regions as being subject to the Sweons (in translation):
Then, after the Bornholm, we had on our left the lands that have been called from the earliest times Blekingey, and
Möre, and
Öland, 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
During the
8th century and 9th century Suione traders and raiders settled in the north of eastern Europe, a country of rivers and Baltic, Slavic and Finnish tribes.
The
Annales Bertiniani relate that a group of Vikings, who called themselves
Rus' (people) visited Constantinople around the year 838. Fearful of returning home via the steppes, which would leave them vulnerable to attacks by the
Magyars, these Rhos travelled through Germany. They were questioned by the Frankish
King of the Franks Louis the Pious somewhere near
Mainz. They informed the emperor that their leader was known as
chacanus (the
Latin for "Khagan") and that they lived in the north of Russia, but that they were
Sueones.
Adam of Bremen
. This is how
Carl Larsson depicted it.Dealing with Scandinavian affairs, Adam of Bremen relates in the 11th century 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.
It is interesting that even if 1000 years separate Adam of Bremen from Tacitus both describe the
Suiones as being composed of many tribes, probably identical to the traditional provinces of eastern
Svealand. Like Tacitus, he also notes that they are powerful warriors at sea, a power that they use to keep their neighbours in order. Their royal family is of an old dynasty (see House of Munsö), but the kings are dependent on the will of the people (the Thing (assembly)). 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 (
Aesir) and if they win they are grateful to him.
Norse sagas
The
Norse 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). His descriptions concur to a large extent with those of the previous sources.
For a continuation, see
Early Swedish History.
Notes and references
Sources
- Larsson, Mats G (2002). Götarnas Riken : Upptäcktsfärder Till Sveriges Enande. Bokförlaget Atlantis AB ISBN 9789174866414
See also
- Mythical kings of Sweden
- Semi-legendary kings of Sweden
- Swedes
- Svea
- Mother Svea
- Trial by combat
- Trial by ordeal
before the incorporation of
Finland during the 13th century.
Swedes,
Suiones,
Sueones,
Sweonas,
Suehans,
Svíar,
Svear were an ancient
Germanic tribe in Scandinavia. As the dominions of their kings grew, their land slowly evolved into the modern
Swedes. Since they are usually only referred to as Swedes in English, in addition to linguistic and editorial reasons,The most common English name for this tribe,
Swedes, is the only linguistic form which as a singular noun, a plural noun and an adjectival form in English. The other forms only exist in the form of a plural noun. they will be referred to as
Swedes in this article.
According to early sources, such as the
Norse sagas, and especially
Heimskringla, the Swedes were a powerful tribe whose kings claimed descendence from the god Freyr. During the Viking Age they constituted the basis of the
Varangian subset, the Vikings that travelled eastwards (see
Rus' (people)).
Their privileged position within the Swedish kingdom was abolished in the mid-13th century.Larsson 2002:178 Until then, the Swedes had had semi-aristocratic status being only obliged to provide the
king of Sweden with ships, warriors and their provisions during wars, whereas other nations within the kingdom, such as Geats and Gotlanders were tributary nations who were regularly taxed.
On the name
As the dominions of the Swedish kings grew, the name of the tribe could be applied more generally during the Middle Ages, to include the Geats. Later it returned to referring only the people inhabiting the original tribal lands in
Svealand, in opposition to the Geats.
In modern Scandinavian language, the adjectival form
svensk and its plural
svenskar/svensker 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. The article
Sverige,
språkv. in
Nordisk familjebok Although this distinction is convention in modern Norwegian, Danish and Swedish, Icelandic language retains the traditional terminology and call both
Svíar.
Location
was the religious and political centre.Their primary dwellings were in eastern
Svealand, i.e. the traditional
Folklands of
Attundaland, Tiundaland, Fjärdhundraland and
Roslagen in the area of the present cities of
Uppsala and
Stockholm and the modern province of Gästrikland. Their territories also very early included the provinces of Västmanland,
Södermanland and
Närke in the basin of
Mälaren 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 (the Voyage of Ohthere:
Swéoland),
Svitjod (Beowulf:
Sweoðeod),
Svíarealm or
Svea rike (Beowulf:
Swéorice), and the unknown moment when they subjugated the
Geats in
Götaland, sometime between the 6th century and the
11th century is nowadays often regarded as the birth to the Sweden, although the Swedish kingdom is named after them,
Sverige in Swedish language, from
Svea rike - i.e. the kingdom of the Suiones. The English name
Sweden is derived from an old name for Sweden and the land of the Suiones:
Sweoðeod (
the people of the Suiones).
The Ásatrú
Aesir-cult center in Gamla Uppsala, was the religious centre of the Swedes and where the Swedish king served as a priest during the sacrifices (blóts). Uppsala was also the centre of the 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 was in Gamla Uppsala, the heartland of Uppland, 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.
Etymology
The form
Suiones appears in the Roman author Tacitus's
Germania (book). A closely similar form,
Sweon(as), is found in Old English language and in the work of Adam of Bremen, about the Hamburg-Bremen archbishops, they are denoted
Sueones.
According to one theory (Schagerström 1931), the name is derived from Proto-Germanic *
saiwi- meaning "lake" or "sea" resulting in *
siwíoniz and later *
swi-oniz meaning the "sea people". However, this root is not known to have produced any other derived names, and is considered unlikely.
Noréen (1920) proposed that
Suiones is a Latin rendering of Proto-Germanic *
Swihoniz, meaning "one's own (tribesmen)", derived from the same Proto-Indo-European language root as the Latin
suus (i.e. not from Latin but from the same reflexive pronoun root, a root also existing in Slavic languages). In modern Scandinavian, the same root appears in words such as
svåger (brother-in-law) and
svägerska (sister-in-law). The form *
Swihoniz would in Ulfilas's Gothic language become *
Swaíhans, which later would result in the form
Suehans that Jordanes mentioned as the name of the Swedes in
Getica. Consequently, the Proto-Norse form would have been *
Swehaniz which following the sound-changes in Old Norse resulted in Old West Norse
Svíar and Old East Norse
Swear. However, this root has not gained wide acceptance, which leads to the oldest theory of which the proposed root is widely accepted.
According to a third theory (v. Friesen 1915), it is not derived from the root *
swih, but from the root *
Swe and being originally an adjective, Proto-Germanic *
Sweoniz, meaning "kindred". Then the Gothic form would have been *
Swians and the H in
Suehans a pleonasm. The Proto-Norse form would then also have been *
Sweoniz which also would have resulted in the historically attested forms. is one of the earliest surviving instances of the name
Svíþjóð, in Scandinavia (only Runestone DR 216,
Beowulf and probably also the
Getica are earlier).Although, scholars differ on the origins of the name, they agree that
Suiones is the same name as Old Norse
svíar and
Old English language Sweon(as). Even though the
n has disappeared in the plural noun
svear/
svíar, it is still preserved in the old adjective which has become the noun designating modern Swedes:
sve'n
sk.The name became part of a compound, which in Old West Norse was
Svíþjóð, (The Suione People), in Old East Norse
Sweþiuð and in
Old English language Sweoðeod. This compound appears on
runestones in the locatives
i suiþiuþu (Runestone Sö Fv1948;289, Aspa Löt, Sörmland),
a suiþiuþu (
Runestone DR 344, Simris,
Skåne) and
o suoþiauþu (Runestone DR 216, Tirsted, Lolland). The 13th century Danish source
Scriptores rerum danicarum mentions a place called
litlæ swethiuthæ, which is probably the island
Sverige (Sweden) near Stockholm. The earliest instance, however, appears to be
Suetidi in
Jordanes'
Getica (
6th century).
The only Germanic nation having a similar naming was the
Goths, who from the name *
Gutans (cf.
Suehans) created the form
gut-þiuda.
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
Anglo-Saxon language, which meant "the realm of the Suiones". This is still the formal name for Sweden in Swedish language,
Svea rike and the origin of its current name
Sverige.
History
The history of this tribe is shrouded in the mists of time. Besides
Scandinavian mythology and Germanic legend, only a few sources describe them and there is very little information, in spite of the fact that the tribe existed already during the first century A.D.
Romans
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 who said that the Romans had rounded the
Cimbric peninsula (
Jutland) where there was the
Codanian Gulf (Kattegat?). In this gulf there were several large islands among which the most famous was
Scatinavia (
Scandinavia). He said that the size of the island was unknown but in a part of it dwelt a tribe named the
Hilleviones, 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 Svionum gente. This would make sense, since a large Scandinavian tribe named the Suiones was known to the Romans.Tacitus wrote in AD 98 in s:Germania#XLIV 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 in both ends (longships). What kings (
kuningaz) ruled these Suiones is unknown, but
Norse mythology presents a long line of legendary and semi-legendary kings going back to the last centuries BC.
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 historias have maintained that it is not possible to claim that a continuous Swedish
ethnicity reaches back to the Suiones of TacitusDick Harrison:
Sveriges historia - Medeltiden (2002); Fredrik Svanberg:
Decolonizing the Viking Age (2003).. According to this view the referent of an ethnonym and the ethnic discourse have varied considerably during different phases of history.
Jordanes
helmet, at the
Swedish Museum of National Antiquities.In the 6th century
Jordanes named two tribes he calls the
Suehans and the
Suetidi who lived in Scandza. The
Suehans are considered to be the Suiones, and they were famous for their fine horses.
Snorri Sturluson wrote that the contemporary Swedish king
Adils (Eadgils) had the finest horses of his days. 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 from the
6th century or the
7th century:
{||
Wald Woingum, Wod þyringum,
Sæferð Sycgum, Sweom Ongendþeow,
Sceafthere Ymbrum, Sceafa Longbeardum,
|
Wald the Woings, Wod the
Thuringians,
Saeferth the Sycgs, Ongendtheow the Swedes,
Sceafthere the Umbers,
Sceafa the Langobards,
||}On line 32, Ongentheow is mentioned and he reappears in the later epic poem
Beowulf, which was composed sometime in
8th century,
9th century and the
10th century. helmet, at the Swedish Museum of National Antiquities.The poem describes
Swedish-Geatish wars, during the 6th century, involving the Swedish kings Ongentheow,
Ohthere,
Onela and Eadgils who belonged to a royal dynasty called the
Ynglings. These kings were probably historical kings as they appear in many Scandinavian sources as well (see Swedish semi-legendary kings). There appears to be a prophecy by
Wiglaf in the end of the epic of new wars with the Swedes:
{||
Þæt ys sio fæhðo and se feond-scipe,
wæl-nið wera, þæs þe ic wen hafo,
þe us seceað to Sweona leode,
syððan hie gefricgeað frean userne
ealdor-leasne, þone þe ær geheold
wið hettendum hord and rice,
æfter hæleða hryre hwate Scylfingas,
folcred fremede oððe furður gen
eorl-scipe efnde.Lines 3000-3008.
|
Such is the feud, the foeman's rage,
death-hate of men: so I deem it sure
that the Swedish folk will seek us home
for this fall of their friends, the fighting-Yngling,
when once they learn that our warrior leader
lifeless lies, who land and hoard
ever defended from all his foes,
furthered his folk's weal, finished his course
a hardy hero.Gummere's translation
||}
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, where are told the voyages of Ohthere from Hålogaland and Wulfstan of Hedeby, 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.( Excerpt presented by the University of Victoria
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.( Translation of the University of Victoria
Wulfstan only mentions a few regions as being subject to the Sweons (in translation):
Then, after the Bornholm, we had on our left the lands that have been called from the earliest times
Blekingey, and Möre, and
Öland, 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
During the 8th century and 9th century Suione traders and raiders settled in the north of eastern Europe, a country of rivers and Baltic, Slavic and Finnish tribes.
The
Annales Bertiniani relate that a group of
Vikings, who called themselves
Rus' (people) visited Constantinople around the year 838. Fearful of returning home via the steppes, which would leave them vulnerable to attacks by the Magyars, these Rhos travelled through Germany. They were questioned by the Frankish King of the Franks Louis the Pious somewhere near
Mainz. They informed the emperor that their leader was known as
chacanus (the Latin for "
Khagan") and that they lived in the north of Russia, but that they were
Sueones.
Adam of Bremen
. This is how Carl Larsson depicted it.Dealing with Scandinavian affairs, Adam of Bremen relates in the 11th century 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.
It is interesting that even if 1000 years separate Adam of Bremen from Tacitus both describe the
Suiones as being composed of many tribes, probably identical to the traditional provinces of eastern
Svealand. Like Tacitus, he also notes that they are powerful warriors at sea, a power that they use to keep their neighbours in order. Their royal family is of an old dynasty (see House of Munsö), but the kings are dependent on the will of the people (the
Thing (assembly)). 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 (Aesir) and if they win they are grateful to him.
Norse sagas
The Norse 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). His descriptions concur to a large extent with those of the previous sources.
For a continuation, see
Early Swedish History.
Notes and references
Sources
- Larsson, Mats G (2002). Götarnas Riken : Upptäcktsfärder Till Sveriges Enande. Bokförlaget Atlantis AB ISBN 9789174866414
See also
Swedes (Germanic tribe) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Swedes (Swedish: svear; Old Norse: svíar; Old English: Sweonas; Latin: Suiones, Suehans or Sueones) were an ancient North Germanic tribe in Scandinavia.
Suiones - Wikipédia
Les Suédois, Suiones, Sueones, Sweonas, Suehans, Svíar, Svear étaient un ancien peuple germanique établi en Scandinavie. Leur pays évolua vers la nation moderne de Suède au ...
Reference for Suiones - Search.com
Suiones ... Wikipedia. Licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. Are you an expert in this subject?
INEX: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (Suiones)
Table of Contents. 1 On the name; 2 Location; 3 Etymology; 4 History. 4.1. Romans; 4.2. Jordanes; 4.3. Anglo-Saxon sources; 4.4. Adam of Bremen; 4.5. Norse sagas
VirtualCountries.com: History of Sweden
They developed comparatively slowly to other nations and the first mention of Sweden was made by the Roman historian Tacitus who wrote about the Suiones living out in the sea and ...
Baltic Heritage Cruise August 2000 - Stockholm
The Suiones, or Swedes, in northern Svealand; and the Gothones, or Goths, in southern Gothia. These tribes, although united in religious beliefs, were ...
Northvegr - A History of the Vikings
... that Pliny's phrase Hillevionum gente is a misreading of the words illa Suionum gente, and, in consequence, that the folk to whom he was referring were none other than the Suiones ...
Svear - Wikipedia
Doorverwezen vanaf Suiones) ... De Svear waren een Germaans volk dat in de Oudheid en de Middeleeuwen het Zweedse landsdeel ...
sweden map and map of sweden information page
Small kingdoms followed including the Suiones and Geats, and in the far north, the Sami people (or Laplanders) inhabited vast areas of land. Sweden's Viking Age began in the late ...
Snapshot of Europe: Sweden
Sweden was first mentioned in the 1st century, by Roman historian Tacitus, who wrote that the Suiones lived out in the sea and were powerful in both arms and ships.