[gothic-l] Re: New member!

[dirk at SMRA.CO.UK]

Hi Carl-Johan,

I find that material very interesting. Somehow the Svear are always 
ignored in books about the Germanic people. But as Troels pointed out 
a discussion about that would be better placed on the Germanic-L.

Hope to 'see' you there.

cheers
Dirk





--- In gothic-l at y..., Carl-Johan Swärdenheim <swaerdenheim at y...> 
wrote:
> Hi everybody!
> 
> I am a new member. A student of law etc. at the
> Stockholm University, and thus not qualified to
> discuss these Gothic topics on an academic level. But
> I might have some interesting and creative ideas to
> share every now and then.
> 
> For instance:
> 
> 1. The immigration of the Sweons to Scandinavia.
> 
> The Sweons (Svear, Sviar) I look upon as a tribe or
> confederation of related tribes, that invaded, or
> peacefully moved, to the eastern Scandinavian
> Peninsula (The Mälardalen Region) between 200 BC - 400
> AD.
> 
> Their name "Swi Thiuda" or "Swithiodh" is difficult to
> interpret. The root "Swi" is likely to be a formation
> similar to "sui" (latin) and "swa" (sanskrit). It
> should thus be related to words as "schwester"
> (german) and "svåger" (swedish) denoting a sense of
> ownership, such as "Swithiodh" = "Our own tribe", "The
> tribe related with us" or something like that.
> 
> It is interesting to note, that the three heartland
> provinces of Sweden, namely the shires of Uppland,
> Södermanland and Västmanland, simply means "the upper
> (inland) people", "the southern people" and "the
> western people". They could thus be understood as
> three tribes, or tribal communities within a larger
> confederation, or territorial divisions of a larger
> tribal group.
> 
> It is also interesting to note that their shires were
> divided into hundreds (hundaren), which most likely is
> a very simple territorial gathering of 120 farms
> (gårdar, gårdskomplex med uthus).
> 
> In the southern and western parts of Scandinavia the
> local divison was wapentake (härad) instead.
> 
> If we look at the Anglo-Saxon invasion of England, it
> is interesting to note the similarities; i.e. the
> shires divided into larger confederal tribal groups:
> East Saxon = Essex, West Saxon = Wessex, South Saxon =
> Sussex, North Angles = Norfolk, South Angles = Suffolk
> etc.
> 
> Is it not plausible to suggest that the Sweons and
> their heartland was a parallell to the Anglo-Saxons?
> Is it not likely that the Sweons, just as the
> Anglo-Saxons, originally was a "foreign" group in
> their new lands, a group which eventually came do
> dominate and amalgamate with the "older" inhabitants.
> Thus, just as "Britannia" became "England", maybe
> "Scandinavia" became "Sweden"???
> 
> (This is of cause contrary to popular and contemporary
> Swedish understanding of history. Maybe we have
> forgotten this old tale, simply because it happened so
> long ago?)
> 
> The Anglo-Saxons, however, also divided their lands
> into hundreds, which seem quite logical to do for a
> successful conqueror. (Just as William of Normandy in
> the Domesday Book mapped up England in order to get
> the proper taxes.)
> 
> Where did the Sweons come from then? I would vote for
> Själland or Fyn in Denmark. The reason for this is
> similarities in cult practice, as the Sweons were
> worshippers of the Vanir, which seems to have been a
> cult with parallells in the Själland region.
> 
> 
> Most likely I am kicking in open doors here, but I
> still would like you to discuss this topic with me, or
> at least, give me information on where to look further
> in this matter.
> 
> Regards,
> 
> 
> Carl-Johan Swärdenheim
> 
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