Scandza

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"Scandia" redirects here. For other uses, see Scandia (disambiguation).
Possible map of Scandza, with a selection of tribes

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.[1] The location is usually identified with Scandinavia.

Jordanes was a Roman citizen living in

Vistula River. The Swedish archaeologist Göran Burenhult describes this account as a unique glimpse into the tribes of Scandinavia in the 6th century.[2]

Geographical description through history

Map of the Scandiae islands by Nicolaus Germanus for a 1467 publication of Cosmographia Claudii Ptolomaei Alexandrini

Early Greek and Roman geographers used the name Scandia for various uncharted islands in

Mediterranean region.[3] In the Iliad the name denotes an ancient city in Kythira, Greece.[4]
The first attested written use of the name for a Northern European island appears in the work of Roman
Geographia, written in the 2nd century AD, Scandia is described as the most easterly of the Scandiae islands, a group of islands located east of the Cimbrian peninsula.[7]
This is the region where Pliny had located "Scatinavia".

When Scandinavian scholars became familiar with the Roman records in the Middle Ages, Scandiae was used as an alternative Latin name for Terra Scania. The early 13th-century Latin paraphrase of the Scanian Law bears the title Lex Scandiae provincialis.[8]

The Carta Marina from 1539 by Olaus Magnus.

Jordanes referred to

Scatinavia by Pliny the Elder) which was located in the Codanian Gulf (probably Kattegat). "This island was in front of the Vistula
and that there was a great lake" "from which sprang the river Vagus". "On the western and northern side it was surrounded by an enormous sea", "but in the east there was a land bridge which cut off the sea in the east forming the Germanic Sea". "There were also many small islands" (the Swedish and Finnish archipelagos) "where wolves could pass when the sea was frozen. In winter the country was not only cruel to people but also to wild beasts. Due to the extreme cold there were no swarms of honey-making bees."

In the 16th century, Olaus Magnus, a Swedish cartographer familiar with Pliny's writings, created a map where he placed the name "Scandia" in the middle of today's Sweden. In Olaus Magnus' map, the name denotes an area including "Svecia" (Svealand), "Gothia" and "Norvegia" (Norway), where he places various tribes described by the ancient geographers.

Although mainly a historical name, Scandia still occasionally continues in use today as a Latin name for

Episcopal Conference organized by the Catholic Church
since 1923, is called Conferentia Episcopalis Scandiae.

Midsummer sun and the midwinter darkness

In the north, there was the nation of the Adogit (perhaps referring to the inhabitants of Hålogaland in Norway or the people of Andøya[9]) who lived in continual light during the midsummer (for forty days and nights) and in continual darkness (for as long) during the midwinter. Due to this alternation they go from joy to suffering (the first description of the Scandinavian winter depression). The sun moreover seemed to pass along the horizon rather than rise from below.

Inhabitants

"Hallin" redirects here. For the place in Scotland, see
Hallin, Isle of Skye
.

Jordanes names a multitude of tribes living in Scandza, which he named a womb of nations (loosely translated), and says they were taller and more ferocious than the Germans (archaeological evidence has shown the Scandinavians of the time were tall, probably due to their diet). The listing represents several instances of the same people named twice, which was probably due to the gathering of information from diverse travellers

Rodwulf from Bohuslän.[11] Whereas linguists have been able to connect some names to regions in Scandinavia, there are others that may be based on misunderstandings.[2]

On the island there were the Screrefennae (i.e.

Sami peoples[9]) who lived as hunter-gatherers
living on a multitude of game in the swamps and on birds' eggs.

There were also the Suehans (

Adils
had the best horses of his time). They were the suppliers of black fox skins for the Roman market and they were richly dressed even though they lived in poverty.

There were also the Theustes (the people of the

Skåne, but others connect them to Södermanland[13]
) who live in a flat and fertile region, due to which they are subject to the attacks of their neighbours.

Other tribes were the Ahelmil (identified with the region of Halmstad[14]), the Finnaithae (Finnhaith-, i.e. Finnheden, the old name for Finnveden), the Fervir (the inhabitants of Fjäre Hundred) and the Gautigoths (the Geats of Västergötland), a nation which was bold and quick to engage in war.

There were also the Mixi, Evagreotingis (or the Evagres and the Otingis depending on the translator), who live like animals among the rocks (probably the numerous hillforts and Evagreotingis is believed to have meant the "people of the island hill forts" which best fits the people of southern Bohuslän[15]).

Beyond them, there were the Ostrogoths (

Sami peoples[16] mixed for no reason). The Vinoviloth (possibly remaining Lombards, vinili[17]
) were similar.

He also named the Suetidi; a second mention of the

Heruls
from their lands. Those tribes were the tallest of men.

In the same area there were the Granni (

Rodulf was of the Ranii but left his kingdom and joined Theodoric
, king of the Goths.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ a b Jordanes. The origin and deeds of the Goths.
  2. ^ a b Burenhult 1996:94
  3. ^
    ISBN 3-11-014876-5
    , p. 601.
  4. ^ Blackie, John Stuart (1866). Homer and the Iliad. Notes, Philological and Archaeological. Edmonston and Douglas, 1866. Digitized 30 August 2006.
  5. ^ Helle, Knut (2003). "Introduction". The Cambridge History of Scandinavia. Ed. E. I. Kouri et al. Cambridge University Press, 2003.
    ISBN 0-521-47299-7
    .
  6. ^ Chapter 30. (16.)- BRITANNIA.. The Natural History. Pliny the Elder. John Bostock. Taylor and Francis, 1855.
  7. ^ Ptolemy, Book II, Chapter 10: Greater Germany (Fourth Map of Europe); interpreted by Bill Thayer.
  8. ^ Herzog, Johann Jakob et al. (1896). Realencyklopädie für protestantische Theologie und Kirche. J. C. Hinrichs Theology, published 1896. Digitized 15 November 2006.
  9. ^ a b Nerman 1925:36
  10. ^ Nerman 1925:46
  11. ^ Ohlmarks 1994:255
  12. ^ Nerman 1925:40
  13. ^ Nerman 1925:38
  14. ^ Ohlmarks 1994:10
  15. ^ Nerman 1925:42ff
  16. ^ a b Nerman 1925:44
  17. ISBN 978-0-631-21197-6
    .
  18. ISBN 978-91-981859-4-2
    .
  19. ^ Thunberg 2012:44-52.
  20. ^ a b c d e Nerman 1925:45

Sources

  • Jūratė Statkutė de Rosales (2004) Balts and Goths: the missing link in European history, translation by Danutė Rosales; supervised and corrected by Ed Tarvyd. Lemont, Ill. : Vydūnas Youth Fund.
  • Burenhult, Göran (1996) Människans historia, VI.
  • Nerman, B. Det svenska rikets uppkomst. Stockholm, 1925.
  • Ohlmarks, Å. (1994). Fornnordiskt lexikon
  • Ståhl, Harry (1970) Ortnamn och ortnamnsforskning, AWE/Gebers, Uppsala.

External links

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