[gothic-l] New member!

[Carl-Johan Swärdenheim]

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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