[gothic-l] Re: Snorri on Reidgotaland (Vindland)

[Francisc Czobor]

--- In gothic-l at y..., keth at o... wrote:
> ...
> Oh yes, here is another reference in Hauksbók: (in the Heimlýsing
> section) "austr frá Polena er Reiðgotaland ok Vindland ok þá 
Húnland."
> So it lies "east of Poland". "Vindland" is probably "Wenden".
> ...

Vindland could mean also Russia (cf. Finnish Venäjä "Russia", venäläis 
"Russian"). The Germanic term Wend-, Wind- is derived from the 
name of the ancient Slavic tribe of "Venethi/Venedi" and initially was 
probably referring to the Slavs in general. Later the term was 
restricted, in the individual Germanic languages, to their direct 
Slavic neighbors.
For instance, in German, the term refers to the Sorbs (Lusacian 
Serbs) of NE Germany. In Austria, and hence also in Hungarian, it was 
referring to the Slovens. The word was borrowed also in Finnic, where 
it is referring to the Slavic neighbors of the Finns - the Russians.

Francisc



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