Category Archives: Origins

Of Adrana and Wisera

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We are told that the name of the River Oder Odra – is cognate with the name of the Adriatic and both are considered to be “Venetic” or “Illyrian/Old European” in literature.

It is, of course, curious that these names appear where the Suavs appear and, as pointed out years ago on this site, there is even another Odra in Croatia (as well as a village by the same name, now, it appears, within the city of Zagreb).

But there are other Odras.

Tacitus’ Annals Book I, 56 says the following:

“Actually, his descent was so complete a surprise to the Chatti that all who suffered from the disabilities of age or sex were immediately taken or slaughtered. The able-bodied males had swum the Eder, and, as the Romans began to bridge it, made an effort to force them back.” (Loeb edition)

Now, what is this river Eder? According to the same Loeb translation, it is a “stream falling into the Fulda (the tributary of the Weser on which Cassel stands).”

This may well be though the Latin version of the text (you know, the actual original text) suggests a different prior name:

And indeed the Latin text is as follows:

Igitur Germanicus quattuor legiones, quinque auxiliarium milia et tumultuarias catervas Germanorum cis Rhenum colentium Caecinae tradit; totidem legiones, duplicem sociorum numerum ipse ducit, positoque castello super vestigia paterni praesidii in monte Tauno expeditum exercitum in Chattos rapit, L. Apronio ad munitiones viarum et fluminum relicto. nam (rarum illi caelo) siccitate et amnibus modicis inoffensum iter properaverat, imbresque et fluminum auctus regredienti metuebantur. sed Chattis adeo inprovisus advenit, ut quod imbecillum aetate ac sexu statim captum aut trucidatum sit. iuventus flumen Adranam nando tramiserat, Romanosque pontem coeptantis arcebant. dein tormentis sagittisque pulsi, temptatis frustra condicionibus pacis, cum quidam ad Germanicum perfugissent, reliqui omissis pagis vicisque in silvas disperguntur. Caesar incenso Mattio (id genti caput) aperta populatus vertit ad Rhenum, non auso hoste terga abeuntium lacessere, quod illi moris, quotiens astu magis quam per formidinem cessit. fuerat animus Cheruscis iuvare Chattos, sed exterruit Caecina huc illuc ferens arma; et Marsos congredi ausos prospero proelio cohibuit.

Here is another version from an older translation (Alfred John Church and William Jackson Brodribb):

“But so suddenly did he come on the Chatti that all the helpless from age or sex were at once captured or slaughtered. Their able-bodied men had swum across the river Adrana, and were trying to keep back the Romans as they were commencing a bridge”

That this is cognate with the Odra and may be cognate with Ptolemy’s tribe of the Adrabaecampi or Adrabaikampoi (Ἀδραβαίκαμποι or, as some call them, Kampoi or Kampen – because that Adra seems to be irrelevant you know) ought to be obvious. The similarity with Obotrites and Abdera is also curious.

Now, as mentioned above, this river has been identified with the Eder. Nevertheless, the river appears as above with an “a” for quite a long time (following Greule):

  • Adrana (Tacitus, Annals I. 51)
  • super fluvium Adernam, usque ad flumen Adernam (Frankish Annals, A.D. 778)
  • super fluvium Adarna (same)
  • Adrina (about A.D. 800 from a 12th century copy)
  • Adara (1028)

Only in the 13th century does the name begin to develop an “E” at the beginning though even then it is Eddera, Ederna or Ederina.

Staying in Germany, we have another stream Eder (an eight mile long tributary of the River Diemel in East Westphalia):

  • in villa Nadri (887)
  • Uuestnetri (958)
  • Astnederi (1015-1025)
  • in villa Nederi, in Westnederi (1015-1036 written down around 1160)
  • in villa Nedere (1017 in a copy of the 11th century
  • curtem Nederi (1018, written around 1160)
  • Nedere (1183)

But why focus on Adras or Edras when we have more Odras? And in Germany no less. This is the Oder whose source is in the Harz (by Oderbrück):

  • inter Oderam et Sevenam (1287)
  • partem unam aque … Odera (1321)

All this before you even get to the Polish Odra.

The fact that the Suavic languages have retained the -adr stem with an H2O connection  (or with a potential connection to a descriptive meaning of a river) I’ve mentioned many times before:

  • wiadro (bucket)
  • wydra (otter!)
  • modra (very blue)
  • szczodra (bountiful – compare this with wylewny – effusive; thus audr or uber as in fruchtbar)
  • wydzierać (to rip out)
  • wydzierać się (to be loud)
  • maybe even wyżerać (to eat out but also to erode)

I also go back to the point that the suffix -a is fully appropriate for a language, such as Suavic, that views rivers as of female gender – rzeka (or reka/rega – for more on that see here). While the German languages have the feminine article die for die Fluss, this is hardly reflected in the river names themselves (hence the need for the article). And that’s true both in Germany and in the Scandinavian countries. The only exception, to some extent, is in the NW (for example, Leda).

Could this be a Teutonic word? What are other similar “wet” names? Otter (see above)? Maybe the “other” river (Via-dua) as compared to the? Vistula? Maybe but this is harder to see.

That being said, it is clear that all these words are cognates with IE stem uord found in such words as hydra (hydor).Some people have tied this to an Old Suavic name Vjord but if you do that you might just as well rope in fjords too. And then there is the word “word”. Do rivers speak? Or, in Polish do rzeki rzekają? And what’s the word for a bad smell? Odor, of course. Now just connect “reek” with “rzeka” / “reka”.

To add to that even further all we have to do is reach for Ptolemy. Here is a list (not necessarily exhaustive) featuring the stem –dr and similar stems:

  • island Adru east of Ireland (2, 1, Hibernia)
  • river Druentia (2, 9, Gallia Narbonensis)
  • river Vidrus (2, 10, Germania)
  • river Drave (2, 14, lower Pannonia)
  • Adra town (2, 15, Illyria/Liburnia & Dalmatia
  • Adria, town of the Piceni (3, 1 Italy)
  • Idrae, people of Western Sarmatia (3, 5, European Sarmatia)
  • Scydra, town in Macedonia (3, 12, Macedonia)
  • Syedra town in Pamphylia (5, 5, Pamphylia)
  • Bedoro, town in Palestina/Juadea (5, 15)
  • Adru, town in Arabia Petraea (3, 16, Arabia Petraea)
  • Adra, another town in Arabia Petraea (3, 16, Arabia Petraea)
  • Addara, town in Arabia Deserta (5, 18, Arabia Deserta)
  • Adrapsa, town in Hyrcania (6, 9, Hyrcania)
  • Acadrae, people of Sinae (7, 3, Sinae)

Of course, I am not claiming these are all cognates (or for that matter that they have either been written down correctly by the original scribes or have been delivered to us correctly throughout the ages.

For other appearances of Odra see here and here.


Incidentally, even names that have traditionally been regarded as Teutonic are a bit more complicated in their origins. Take, for example, the above mentioned verbs wydzierać or wyżerać. This is pronounced (roughly), in the first case, vydserat and the third person singular – vydsera; and in the second case vyzherat and the third person singular – vyzhera. I leave aside wysrać though you can look it up and yes it also is a cognate.

Now in West Germany we have the Weser which the Romans reported as Visurgis but the Carolingian chronicler and annalists later showed as Wisera. This is a low-German form apparently. Let’s turn to the infamous Pripyet Marshes. If the Suavs/Slavs originated in that area of Polesie then they should be responsible for the names of rivers there. So then we have (apparently):

  • Wizara (somewhere in Polesie region) “Wizara, WorotećPlesa, Losze, Kupa, Zaliska” (from a guide about Polesie so not a perfect source but feel free to try to verify)

In any event, separately we also have:

  • Wys, Wysia, Wisia (on the border of the former Kiev and Cherson government)
  • Wissa, Wyssa (near Warzno lake)

Could these be Gothic? I suppose but are there similar river names in Scandinavia? Honest question.

(I leave it as a separate matter that the names of Visurgis (Weser proper) and Vistula had been switched around on occasion by various writers at least since the Middle Ages).

Obviously these Old Europeans must have covered a huge land stretch. The only question remaining must be the question of their dramatically complete extinction.

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February 1, 2021

On the Origin of the Name Mieszko

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The meaning of the name of the Poles’ first historically-attested ruler – Mieszko (pronounced Mieshko) – has been a source of confusion, so to speak, for quite some time.

Jan Długosz concluded that this was a diminutive of Mieczysław as in “he who obtains fame by means of a sword” (miecz). Various academics mocked this because they claimed such a name was an invention of Długosz’s. However, this strictly speaking is not true. Długosz did not invent the name Mieczysław.

We have no idea what early Polish names sounded because the rules of spelling were nonexistent back then and the correct pronunciation today of such names is based on guessing. Some have hypothesized names such as Miecisław, Miecsław, Miesław, Miecław, Masław (the alleged Mazovian rebel against Casimir the Restorer), Mojsław or Miesław but those are mostly just guesses.

We do know that the Meczslaus, Meczzlaus or Meslaus are attested in the written source material. Here is an example (Meczslaus de Comeczsko dapifer Brestensis) from the court records relating to the lawsuits between Poland and the Teutonic Knights:

Note too that the Polish Brześć appears as was usual as Brest (much like the Brest in the “Venetic” Bretagne – take that for what you will).

In any event, Długosz did not invent the name Meczslaus. What Długosz did instead was twofold. First, he linked Mieszko to Meczslaus (claiming the former was a diminutive of the latter). Second, he provided an etymology of Mieczysław (claiming it was a name that had something to do with “swords”.

Mieszko may or may not have been diminutive. Certainly, names ending with an -o did exist in Poland, for example, Lesko, Jasco, Hanko. Now, maybe these were diminutives of Lech (?), Jan (?), Henry (?) but, if so, they were used in official records (which is how we know they existed) rather than the “full” names. Of course, further west, Germanic names  also commonly ended with an -o: Bodo, Gero, Tassilo and so weiter. Were those too dimunitives? Who knows but likely not.

Let’s focus on the second claim made by Długosz, that Mieszko was connected to miecz – meaning “sword.” Is that likely? It’s possible.

On the other hand, Długosz’s predecessors Wincenty Kadłubek and the writer of the Greater Poland Chronicle seemed to connect the name to someone who miesza – meaning “mixes things up” or “stirs things up” in the sense of, in Mieszko’s case, introducing great changes such as the assertion of Polish claims against the Germans and others and introduction of Christianity. Interestingly, “mix” may be a cognate here of mieszać much as “mess” (though I will leave that to others).

Are there others etymologies? Sure. Some have connected the name to the diminutive name for a bear – miś or miśko. This is the same process as the Russian name Misha which refers to a bear but is a diminutive of Michael. This has served some to claim that Mieszko was a viking after all because Scandinavians have the name Björn which means the same thing – bear; the idea being that this was just a translation into Suavic.

Another suggestion was that the name has something to do with a mouse – mysz/mysza/mycha. So something like Myszko. This would have somehow connected Mieszko with the legendary King Popiel (Pompillius) who had the misfortune of being eaten by mice (how exactly though, the proponents of this theory do not tell us).

Ok, so now we have the following suggested etymologies:

  • sword (miecz);
  • mixing or stirring up (mieszać);
  • bear (miś or miśko); as well as
  • mouse (mysz/mysza/mycha);

Are there other possible etymologies?

How about a diminutive of the Polish word for “moon” – miesiąc (the Czech miesic or the OCS měsęc).

Of course, these etymologies are not entirely exclusive. Thus, for example, Saskia Pronk-Tiethoff, in discussing the etymology of the Suavic miecz – sword, muses (following Kiparsky) whether the word may have derived (in the case of both the Suavic and the Gothic meki/Crimean Gothic mycha (!)) from a Caucasian language. Kiparsky, it seems brought up Georgian, Lezgian and Udi words with a similar meaning to “sword”. The Georgian word – maχνα – refers to something “sharp” or a “sword.” The Lezgian word – maχ – is a word for “iron” Most interestingly, we have the Udi word – meχ – which stands for “sickle.”

So perhaps when the moon is out, the mice and bears and the roving bands of Suavic warriors with their crescent-shaped swords really mess/mix things up before order/harmony – ład -I s restored once again by the rising Sun (Łado?).

Whether the Germanic messer has some connection is another question. It seems to go back to a “food” (or “meat”?) knife. Somehow it all may have something to do with some IE tale of the body (Boda?) of Moon being cut up and eaten. If this sounds too a bit like the tale of Osiris, Isis and Set (sunset? 🙂 ), that is not surprising given Osiris’s lunar connections. Of course, the sword and scabbard have obvious sexual connotations as well (though the Polish po mieczu, though used in a genealogical context, refers rather to the fact that the sword was associated with men; what the story is with the English “rod” and the Suavic narod is another matter – suffice it to say that people have reconstructed a PIE *reudh- meaning “to clear land” and uncultivated land in Suavic is lada which, of course, is a term used for a female “beloved”. In any event there maybe be a rather good reason why “ploughing” may mean so many things).

Curiously, “knife” and gniew (“anger”) may well be cognates as well – whether these have something to do with Niya (Set?) is another question.

As a final interesting point, Udi speaking villages included such places as Vartashen in Georgia and Mihlikuvah in Azerbaijan. These – those not some of the other Udi placenames – appear IE in origin. Most interestingly, the primary remaining Udi village is nowadays Nij in Azerbaijan…

Getting back to the subject of this post. Perhaps those kinds of lunar, pagan overtones were why Mieszko had to quickly get himself a new Christian name. Whether Dagome was that name is another matter (Dzigoma is attested as a Polish name so a Scandinavian origin is not at all certain even if the scribe did get it right). Curiously, the Norse Dagdagr – means “day”. (The moon-knife messer at night and the day-knife dagger for the day? Likely not, as the etymology of each suggests other origins but who really knows). Nevertheless, there is that tale of Mieszko having been born blind and then having miraculously recovered his sight – the mind (Mund, myśl, musli, Moon) runs wild with possibilities!

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January 16, 2021

Poloni

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It has become fashionable for certain elitist circles to try to denigrate Polish nationalism by pointing out that the idea of the “Polish nation” was for years restricted to the upper classes. The transparent intent is to take the air out of the nationalist balloon that had pumped up the rather overly pleased egos of some nationalists hailing from the plebeian classes – whether “worker” of “farmer” (though the former, if you look back a couple of generations, almost always leads to the latter). (An analogous mechanism is at work where similar elites throw various Jesus quotes at self-professed Christians with the putative aim of exposing hypocrisy and teaching Christians how to be better Christians but, where one suspects, the more immediately satisfying goal is that of deflating – by means of a “burn” – some bloated evangelical egos).

There is no doubt that Poland, for many years, was quite an inequitable place. On the one hand, the gentry was much larger than the Western European aristocracy and benefitted from privileges not accorded its western counterpart. On the other hand, the serf class existed in what became increasingly a slave-like system of land management.

Yet, is the above-cited claim correct? Were these serfs really not Poles in the full sense of the word? This writer would beg to differ.

One could point to the fact that, whatever the definition of the “nation” was in the 16-18th centuries, if we look back further in time we see that matters were initially different. Thus, for example, we could note that the peasant enjoyed more freedoms under the Piasts than under the Jagiellons and elective kings and more still under the earlier Piasts.

But aside from substance, there are other, symbolic, indications that the serfs were in fact seen as part of the nation no less than the non-landed Americans were seen as American by the U.S.’ Founding Fathers. The mistake here is to regard the right to vote as determinative of whether someone belongs to the Nation. That kind of an approach would redefine Nation to mean no more than the upper class (or caste).

For one thing, we have the foundation stories of the Poles (and the Czechs) which take great care to speak of the founders of the first dynasty such as Piast (and Premysl) as tillers, farmers. Even in the PVL’s take on the history of Kievan Rus, the indigenous Kievan Polans’ leaders – Kyi, Shchek, Khoryv and their sister Lybid – appear to have had no great claim of an aristocratic heritage.

But there is another reason to think that Poles – in the sense of a Nation – were, well, just Poles. When the sermon speaks of Nos, enim Poloni, tres deos habemus, scilicet Lada, Nya, Iassa – we note that these “Poloni” that the writer is referring to were not the writer’s own social niveau. They could not have been because the royal, priestly, warrior, bureaucrat and, likely also townsperson, classes, must have been, by the 15th century, mostly Christianized.

The people that the writer is referring to as the “Poloni” were the peasants with whose serious Christianization the Church was becoming concerned first in the 14th/15th century. And, indeed, the reports of the Polish Gods – Yassa, Lado and others (incidentally, Deos – not Deas – whether that interpretation was right is another matter) – come from the countryside. What is surprising about this is that – even in the 19th century – Polish ethnographers were recording the Names – Jasień and Łado – in peasant songs. In other words, even half a millennium later, the Church, in substance, failed to persuade the masses of the attractiveness of the “original sin” / “repentance” theology.

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January 10, 2021

Jasień, Łado & the Earth Goddess

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Perhaps the most intriguing and central mystery of the Polish Pantheon is the relationship between Jasień, Łado and the various fertility rites practiced in the Polish countryside. According to Długosz, Jasień/Yessa/Yassa is the Supreme God (Jove) while Łado is the God of War (Ares). This neatly but I think rather simplistically describes the functions of these two Deities.

I have instead close to zero doubt that Jasień the Rider is of the same origin as the Greek Iasion. The myth of Iasion and Demeter is the myth of the fertilization of Earth. But in the Polish version there is no vengeful Zeus equivalent. Why is this? It seems that the answer is provided by the Latvian historian of religion Haralds Biezais who notes that the the Latvian equivalent Deity – Ūsiņš – was often referred to as Dieviņš Ūsiņš or just Dieviņš (a diminutive of Diev which in ancient Baltic languages just meant “sky” and whose Suavic equivalent is dziw meaning “strangeness”). However, both Names refer to the same Deity and indeed Dieviņš is also used with Dieviņš Pērkons raising the suspicion that Pērkons and Ūsiņš were the same Deity. In other words, Dieviņš was just a title that the Greeks may have made into another Deity – Deus – or, ultimately, Zeus. As already noted in Polish piorun refers merely to the thunder but a similar word in Greek (piroúni) and Venetian (piron), refers to a “fork.” And, indeed, in Polish piorun may also refer to the “arrow” or a sky “stone.” In other words, piorun (Perun in Ukraine) is simply the tool of Jasień.

With that in mind, is there a room for Łado? Indeed, there is. Here the best guide is James Frazer whose study of the European fertility rites is the best by far to this day. It seems that the Polish agricultural society preserved the myth of the Sky God who came down to Earth and made life out of it. That Earth became impregnated with the “Son of God” Who then was born of the Earth. When? Around Christmastime, of course. At that point the Earth “dies” or falls asleep. That Son, in turn, arrives in strength and impregnates or “wakes up” the same frozen Earth again in the spring. His powers peak, also of course, in mid-summer and it is then that He is referred to as the warrior Łado. This Łado is a Son of Jasień and is, thus, the Jasieńczyk. Note also that the fertility rites start prior to mid-summer. In fact, that happens a little after the “drowning” or really melting of the Earth – the Marzanna. Soon after  the spring storms arrive and the Earth is impregnated. These rites happen to proceed full steam around Easter go through the Green Holidays (aka Pentecost) and culminate on Saint John’s Eve. Whether Łado passes away with the harvest is unclear although Frazer would speak of the Fertility God being sacrificed. If that were to happen, then the winter dziady holiday would seem the proper time for that. In any event, Łado is again, reborn at Christmas.

Łado is akin to Odin (the first – perhaps the first child of Jasień’s) who, after all, is also referred to on the continent as Wodin or Wodan or, even, Wadon.

Musings from Mannhardt

As already discussed, in Adam of Bremen’s description of the Uppsala temple we are reminded that the Top Swedish Deity may have been Thor, aka Asa-Thor whereas Odin was the God of War. Much as Łado, Odin too goes to sleep periodically. He is the first of the Aessir. Here we can compare the Polish word jeden meaning “one” but also pierwy meaning “first” or prawy meaning, physically, “right”.  That is, the right hand, perhaps, of Asa-Thor or perhaps of Yggdrasil (an ash or jesion). A right hand, however, is part of the body and is not a separate thing of itself. This interpretation seems rather appropriate for the Jasień-Łado relationship. (Note also that Asa-Thor seems to be a combination of perhaps an earlier (or only differently sourced?) Ass or Esus with Taranis/Turoń, the Bull (or, in Polish, the auroch).

Thus, in this view, Łado is a continuation of Jasień. In that sense He IS Jasień reborn.The new Jasień/Łado is reborn mid-winter and the cycle repeats itself. Does Łado have a Name other than Łado? It seems Długosz may have been onto something calling Łado the Polish Mars. There is a Suavic Deity with a similar Name and that is the Suavic Ares, that is Iarovit (Gerovit) Whose Eastern Name was Iarilo. In any event, the question about the exact relationship Father and the Son will likely be unanswered much as the question of Horus’ identity with Osiris has always remained  never fully explained.  It may also behooves to note here, as indicated above, that the Germanic Thunar – presumably the same as Thor – may be the same, in origin, as Wodan/Wadon. That woda means “water” in Suavic is also suggestive of the common origin of these Deities. 

In any event, Łado, like the Sun lives and dies and is reborn but Jasień after His first act of creation may be away somewhere else. In that sense Łado is the “local” caretaker, the Prometheus (compare with the Polish/Suavic promień meaning “sun ray”) the Svarozic of that other Svarog, that is of Jasień/Piorun.

Łado’s Earth consort is, of course, Łada. Why, of course? Well, because already in Luwian lada referred to the “beloved” or “consort” or “wife.” Thus, it seems, this too is a title. Note that Leto was impregnated by Zeus and Leto’s Doric Greek name is Lātṓ. Of course, lato means summer in Polish and other Suavic languages. Does Łada have a Name other than Łada? There are at least two possibilities here. The consort of Iarilo/Ares/Mars could be Marzanna. The Name Marha/Marcha is known from Sarmatian war cries. The term “march” refers to borderlands and so on. Another Name, however, may be Nyja. That is the Goddess of Nothing of Decay, the Pluto of the underworld as well as the Goddess of Death and of War. The Amazon  And yet, also the Mother, to whom we all go back to. Note that there were graves of the Przeworsk Culture where the deceased were placed in fetal positions. That would be indicative of going back to the “womb”. 

So was Łado , like Oedipus, sleeping with his Mother? Not necessarily. The relationship may well be that of siblings (certainly also offensive but Deities do not have many consorts to choose from). That is, Jasień may have been thought of like the Hebrew God as creating a local “Man” version of Himself. His Son Łado’s task is then to recreate Himself out of the Earth Who thus becomes His Consort.

What else remains to be said? I suspect that the myth of Iasion is the key here. It is also likely of similar origin to the myth of Jason and his golden fleece (the Sun?). In fact, it is likely that Iasion occasionally referred to as Iasius served as a model for the Christian Church Farhers who could not then resist but note the potential parallels of the story of Jesus of Nazareth to the preexisting myth of Jason/Iasion, a myth that was likely well known to the peasant class of Anatolia and Greece. It is perhaps for this reason that Yehoshua or Yeshua became Jesus and was effectively grafted onto the earlier story. That story, however, seems to be Indo-European or, perhaps, even pre-IE (note the myth of Isis-Osiris-Horus) dating back to the earliest memories of human civilizations.

Of course, this is not the only interpretation and many others have already been discussed here (for example, Łado as the child, but not the consort, of Mara/Marha/Marcha/Marzanna with Jasień being the Father).

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November 26, 2020

Aethicus Non-Ister Mu(r)sianus

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I previously mentioned that Jordanes’ Lacus Mu(r)sinus was not likely to be identified with anything in the Danube delta or even anything in the Balkans generally. In fact, it may well have been Lake Constance (Bodensee). For that see here as well as here. This would be the appropriate place for the Western-most reach of the Suavs in Jordanes’ time and consistent with reports of the ancient Vindelici (supposedly Celts), nearby Noricans (claimed to be Suavs by Nestor’s PVL) and, of course, the also nearby Veneti.

However, I was doing some casual Aethicus Ister catching up when I saw the translator of that edition – Michael Herren – suggest another interesting possibility:

  • the East Austrian Neusiedlersee

Note that the name of that lake in antiquity was also similar to the name given to Lake Balaton. Either way, we are miles west of the Danube marshes.

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November 8, 2020

What Language Did the Goths Speak?

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Simple answer: Gothic (which was a Teutonic language).

But the initial question has to be which Goths we are talking about.

Let’s listen to Jordanes talk about the Gothic conquests:

“Soon Geberich, king of the Goths, departed from human affairs and Hermanaric, noblest of the Amali, succeeded to the throne. He subdued many warlike peoples of the north and made them obey his laws, and some of our ancestors have justly compared him to Alexander the Great. Among the tribes he conquered were the Golthescytha, Thiudos, Inaunxis, Vasinabroncae, Merens, Mordens, Imniscaris, Rogas, Tadzans, Athaul, Navego, Bubegenae and Coldae. But though famous for his conquest of so many races, he gave himself no rest until he had slain some in battle and then reduced to his sway the remainder of the tribe of the Heruli, whose chief was Alaric. Now the aforesaid race, as the historian Ablabius tells us, dwelt near Lake Maeotis in swampy places which the Greeks call hele; hence they were named Heluri. They were a people swift of foot, and on that account were the more swollen with pride, for there was at that time no race that did not choose from them its light-armed troops for battle. But though their quickness often saved them from others who made war upon them, yet they were overthrown by the slowness and steadiness of the Goths; and the lot of fortune brought it to pass that they, as well as the other tribes, had to serve Hermanaric, king of the Getae. After the slaughter of the Heruli, Hermanaric also took arms against the Venethi. This people, though despised in war, was strong in numbers and tried to resist him. But a multitude of cowards is of no avail, particularly when God permits an armed multitude to attack them. These people, as we started to say at the beginning of our account or catalogue of nations, though off-shoots from one stock, have now three names, that is, Venethi, Antes and Sclaveni. Though they now rage in war far and wide, in punishment for our sins, yet at that time they were all obedient to Hermanaric’s commands. This ruler also subdued by his wisdom and might the race of the Aesti, who dwell on the farthest shore of the German Ocean, and ruled all the nations of Scythia and Germany by his own prowess alone.”

What was the lingua franca of this Gothic kingdom?

Now, let’s turn to Ammianus Marcellinus and his discussion of the conquests of the Alans, neighbors to the Goths:

“On the other side of this river [Tanais/Don] the Halani, so called from the mountain range of the same name, inhabit the measureless wastes of Scythia; and by repeated victories they gradually wore down the peoples whom they met and like the Persians incorporated them under their own national name. Among these the Nervii inhabit the interior of the country near the lofty, precipitous peaks nipped by the north winds and benumbed with ice and snow. Behind these are the Vidini and the Geloni, exceedingly savage races, who strip the skins from their slain enemies to make clothing for themselves and coverings for their horses in war. On the frontier of the Geloni are the Agathyrsi, who checker their bodies and dye their hair with a blue colour — the common people with a few small marks, but the nobles with more and broader spots of dye. Beyond these are the Melanchlaenae and the Anthropophagi, who according to report lead a nomadic life and feed upon human flesh; and because of this abominable food they are left to themselves and all their former neighbours have moved to distant parts of the earth. And so the entire north-eastern tract, until one comes to the Seres, has remained uninhabitable. In another part of the country, near the abodes of the Amazons, the Halani mount to the eastward, divided into populous and extensive nations; these reach as far as Asia, and, as I have heard, stretch all the way to the river Ganges, which flows through the territories of India and empties into the southern ocean. Thus the Halani (whose various people it is unnecessary now to enumerate) are divided between the two parts of the earth, but although widely separated from each other and roaming over vast tracts, as Nomads do, yet in the course of time they have united under one name, and are, for short, all called Halani because of the similarity in their customs, their savage mode of life, and their weapons. “

Even assuming many of these are concoctions of a man schooled in Herodotus and the classics, the message of an Alanic multi-ethnic “empire” is unmistakable.

And then what happened as the Huns attacked?

“The Huns, then, having overrun the territories of those Halani (bordering on the Greuthungi) to whom usage has given the surname Tanaïtes, killed and plundered many of them, and joined the survivors to themselves in a treaty of alliance; then in company with these they made the more boldly a sudden inroad into the extensive and rich cantons of Ermanaric… After his demise Vithimiris was made king and resisted the Halani for a time, relying on other Huns, whom he had paid to take his side. But after many defeats which he sustained, he was overcome by force of arms and died in battle. In the name of his little son, Viderichus, the management of affairs was undertaken by Alatheus and Saphrax, experienced generals known for their courage…During these days also Vithericus, king of the Greuthungi, accompanied by Alatheus and Saphrax, by whose will he was ruled, and also by Farnobius, coming near to the banks of the Danube, hastily sent envoys and besought the emperor that he might be received with like kindness.” 

Now, Alatheus, probably, and certainly Saphrax, are not Gothic names. Vithimiris is most likely a Suavic name even if Viderichus is Germanic. Farnobius is likely neither.

Once the Huns and Alans overcame the Ostrogoths this whole menagerie of nations settled in Pannonia. What was the relative size of the various populations?

Well, we know both from Jordanes and from Ptolemy (and Tacitus to some extent) that the Veneti were a multitude or roamed vast distances.

So what language did these people assembled under Attila speak?

Let’s turn to Priscus (via Jordanes):

“instead of grain we were given millet; instead of wine, a drink grown locally called medos. The servants following us also brought millet and supplied a drink made from barley, which the barbarians call kamon.”

And some more from Jordanes:

“When the Huns had mourned him [Attila] with such lamentations, a strava, as they call it, was celebrated over his tomb with great revelling.”

Otto Mänchen-Helfen did not mince words when he wrote that Vasmer’s (and Schwartz’) objection to a Suavic etymology of strava (should have been sutrava) “cannot be amen taken seriously.” He also pointed to Popovic’ (in Sbornik Radova vizantoloshkog instituta 7 (1961)) and, earlier, Kotliarevskii’s (1863), Nehring’s (1917) and Trautmann’s (1944) support for the Suavic etymology.

Mänchen-Helfen also concluded that kamon/kamos was the earlier Pannonian kamum (citing Julius’ Africanus’ “Embroideries” and Diocletian’s Edictum de Pretiis) and that medos was either Germanic or Illyric. Both of these words also have Suavic cognates (or maybe etymologies?).

As another side note, Mänchen-Helfen also proposed that the Sclavenes/Venethi reference in Getica that mentions the Vistula (as opposed to Viscla) was the original Cassiodoran version (not Jordanes’). Notably that is the passage that speaks of the Venethi possessing vast swaths of territory seemingly north of the sources of the Vistula.

But let’s get back to the argument:

Who fought the Goths after the demise of the Huns? Jordanes tells us Skiri, Suavi, Sarmatians, Gepids and Rugi – another motley crew of nations. What language did they communicate in?

As already noted, Thursday was labeled the “fifth” day in Gothic (as reconstructed *pintadags or *paintedags. Again, compare this with the Polish piątek – meaning “Friday”. And again, Friday is reconstructed as *pareinsdags (but also paraskaiwe) which suggests a curious similarity to Piorun/Perun. Compare this with the Polabian Perĕndan for Thursday (Thor’s day).

And there are many other words in Suavic that ring of Gothic-Suavic connections: gniew (“anger” but compare with “knife” and Gniew(ko) with Cniva) or sługa (notwithstanding Brueckner, > słuchać?).

It seems to me then that it was the Goths, at first on their own and then driven by the Huns that spread the Venetic, that is, Suavic, population around much of the Balkans. It would not therefore surprise me that the vast majority of the “Goths” (as in those people conquered by the Goths and who served in the Goths’ armies) actually spoke the Suavic lingua franca.

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October 16, 2020

Pantheonic Confusions

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Here are some interesting connections between the name of the supreme Deity and various numeral systems.

odin/odyn/jeden – Suavic numeral one
Odin – head of the Icelandic pantheon

diš, – Sumerian numeral one
Dyḗus – reconstructed form of the head of the Indo-European pantheon
Jasień/Yassa/Yessa – head of Polish pantheon

išten – Akkadian numeral one
Isten – God in Hungarian
istnieć – to exist in Polish

In fact, in some cases we seem to have astral bodies/Deities or physical phenomena (another example: day <> dzień <> dan <> lord > Daniel <> Danuvius <> Adonis <> Odin) almost explicitly used as numerals. All this probably indicates that religions spread much earlier than we had thought and that cross-civilizational religious proselytization happened relatively frequently. Here are some interesting potential connections (of course, all of this, while interesting, is highly speculative).

Then there are the similarities between the Polish/Ukrainian Divinities, the Greek and some version of the “Scandinavian” pantheons. Here we have three types of names:

  • As/Es – Jasień (also As, Esus)
  • Ad/Od – Łado (also Wodan, Wadon, Gotan, Odin)
  • Tor/Tar/Tur/Ar? – Turoń, Taran (also Thor, Taranis, Piorun?, Iarilo?)

Further, the As and the Tor seem related and may comprise a single Divinity (compare with Asa-Thor/Ása-Þórr).

These Names reflect the following portfolios:

  • sky
  • thunder
  • vegetation/fertility

but also and separately:

  • war (Łado)

They seem to have evolved into different directions. The Thunder God sometimes seems separate from the Sky God.

At other  times the Thunder God is the Sky God and then there is a separate Being – His Son or maybe Avatar that is responsible for the earthly activity such as war or fertility vegetation. The Polish Jasień is the Sky God but Łado is also a Jasieńczyk (son of Jasień?, emissary?, avatar?) responsible for war or vegetation/fertility.

Although Odin is the head of the Scandinavian pantheon, this is really the late Icelandic version. Odin may have usurped the throne of Thor (Tyr?). Specifically, in Adam of Bremen’s Uppsala temple description, it is Thor who is responsible for thunder but also vegetation (which makes sense) whereas Wodan sits at Thor’s side responsible only for war. Thus, it would be Asa-Thor/Ása-Þórr that is responsible for crops/harvest. And, we have asans that is Gothic for “harvest.” This, in turn, is cognate with the Suavic jesień (fall) or wiosna (spring).

Eventually, during some downgrade the same name began to be associated with weakness, stupidity, however. Thus, we have an “ass” and “idiot” and “donkey” and so forth. I assume (at the risk of looking like an ass) that the Nynorsk aden meaning “angry”, “noisy,” “nasty” (?) goes back to the Latin name for a donkey.

Even here the Tar- and As- connection may remain perhaps > Luwian tarkasna and Sumerian anšu (“weak” compare with dannu “strong” – compare this with latter word with Odin/Adonis).

It is interesting that Wodan was spelled Wadon on occasion. It is also interesting that this is pronounced Vadon whereas the Polish Łado is pronounced Wado. Similarly we have the German word for water – pronounced Vasser – which in English is, of course, water.

Although Wodan/Wadon is supposedly translated as the “furious” (Wut meaning anger, fury), it is curious that the Suavic offers multiple possible explanations/etymologies of the name:

  • odin/odyn/jeden – number one; compare also with odyniec – the lone boar
  • Wado/Lado/Łado – the lover/beloved (compare that with the lada – in Lycian meaning the same for a female and preserved in East Suavic (translated as Gattin into German; compare this with the male Gatte – in each case meaning “spouse”; compare further with Godan or gody/godzić – the latter meaning to work towards an agreement/reconcile or the Russian god meaning “year”)
  • Wodan – lord of water – woda – pronounced voda (szczoby nas oczystyw – “so that he should cleanse us”)
  • wódz or wojewoda (pronounced voyevoda – the Heerzeer > Herzog – księżyc but not König) or wodzin – leader – compare this with the reconstruction of *Wōdanaz – a man leading along the waters/rivers?

Thus, we have two functions but perhaps the same Deity. Is this because of trying to reconcile multiple tribal pantheons or Divinities?

We know in the East Perun/Piorun was worshipped – was Perun a Thunder God? It seems yes but also a Sky God and a Vegetation/Fertility God. There is a not too ancient song that was collected by the folklorist Oleksiy Ivanovych Dey (Олексій Іванович Дей) in his 1963 volume “[Ukrainian] Games and Songs: Spring-Summer Poetry of the Work Year” (Ігри та піснівесняно-літня поезія трудового року). In that book he notes the following words:

Гей, око Лада,
Леле Ладове,
Гей, око Ладове,
Ніч пропадає,
Бо око Лада 
З води виходить,
Ладове свято
Нам приносить.
Гей, Ладо!

А ти, Перуне,
Отче над Ладом. 
Гей, Перуне,
Дай дочекати
Ладе купала.
Гей, купала!
А кум і кума
— У нашу хату.
Гей, кум і кума!

Солод ситити,
Медок хмелити.
Гей, кум і кумо,
Щоби і внукам
То пам’ятати
Гей, кум і кумо!

Interestingly, here we have Perun called the “Father of Lado” (also Lado is the Sun or, rather, the Sun is the eye of Lado). But if Perun is Thor and if Thor was the supreme Divinity in Sweden (the home of the Varangians) and Odin was the War Divinity on the side of Thor, then here is another reason as to why Łado/Lado may be Odin (aside from the Lado/Wado linguistic similarities). Of course, whether this represents any actual remnant of ancient beliefs is, given the late recording of the same, at the very least uncertain. Nevertheless, the words are curious and may express the belief of a certain Duality.

That Thor/thunder is Piorun/Perun is obvious and confirmed in other ways. In Polabian Perĕndan refers to Thursday which is direct translation of the same. Curiously, Thursday was labeled the “fifth” day in Gothic (as reconstructed *pintadags or *paintedags – compare this with the Polish piątek – meaning “Friday”; presumably because Sunday was the first day) BUT the Gothic “Friday” is reconstructed as *pareinsdags which suggests a curious similarity to Piorun/Perun (though recorded as paraskaiwe – from the Greek “preparation” [for the Sabbath/Sunday]) .

Anyway, we also have this song (also relatively recently recorded though the recording is older than the above):

Oj, Łado, Łado, oj dana dana,
idem do pana, do pana Wodana,
szczoby nas oczystyw i nas błohosławyw

Whether the “dana” – the obviously female person being “given away” to Łado has anything to do with the Irish Mother Goddess Danu – the mother of the Tuatha Dé Danann is another intriguing question. (Éire may have been the name giver to Ireland and a Goddess but do not forget that the Name of the emerald, shall we say green, isle also suggests a connection to the Suavic Jaryło/Iarilo).

We can subdivide this to say that the Sky and Thunder/Lightning and perhaps Fertility/ Vegetation is the domain of a Sky God that is separate and supreme from the other God that visits the Earth. That other “local” Divinity that watches us through His Great Eye (the Sun). That Deity may be a relation or just a local caretaker. He is responsible for the actual fertilization of the Earth (but only after the Supreme Deity pounds the Earth with thunder and lightning?) as well as, perhaps, for water. In some cultures He may have been relegated to a pure “war” role (Wodan but also compare Iarilo/Gerovit (fertility but also war) with Mars/Ares (war but earlier perhaps fertility). What about the Other Eye – the Moon? Well, remember Odin had one Eye… The other was not working so well.

Alternatively, the Polish Jasień is the curious case of, perhaps, both of these functions embedded in one Being as He seems to appear both as the supreme Deity (Długosz) but also as the Visiting Deity. It’s not clear from the Polish songs whether Łado is the Father, the Son or, in fact, Both – like an avatar. Perhaps the best way to say this is that Odin is the first Ass.

Is the Polish version, therefore, the simpler (“original”?) myth where the Sky God descends from the Sky to fertilize the Earth (being both Jasień and Łado – meaning beloved – of the Earth Goddess? Is the Earth Goddess Jasień’s Łada? Is She the Goddess of Earth but also of War as well as Decay/Death called Marha or, later, Marzanna? Does She then combine the functions of the later Athena and Demeter? For this interpretation, see also the discussion of Jason below. But for another interpretation read further down.

Perhaps the most interesting Greek myth from the perspective of Polish mythology is the Iasion/Demeter myth which also introduces Zeus as the jealous overlord (in the myth Zeus is Iasion’s father) who strikes down Iasion (but then maybe Iasion survives).

Indeed, we also have an Armenian legend of Gisenke and Demetr where Zeus is nowhere to be found. Was then Zeus a new Divinity that struck down the prior Sky God? Perhaps a new Divinity introduced by new invaders? Indo-Europeans or a particular type of Indo-Europeans?

Iasion has a sister whose name is Harmonia (which, of course, is easily connected with harmony – order – or, in Polish ład – the marital harmony of the marriage contract?). Iasion also has a brother Dardanus (the names Darda and Derda are present at high numbers and frequencies in Poland, to a lesser extent Greece and, the first, in high numbers though not frequency in India). There is also an interesting connection to Jason and Athena (remember Minerva the Roman Athena Lada may have been called Lada). For that see also here.

What this suggests is that Lado was not originally a separate Deity from Jasień. What it also suggests is that Jasień-type Divinity may have at some point been downgraded.

The anšu was replaced by the dannu or Jasien (also recall Janus) by Lado.

There seems to exist another myth overlapping here, a myth that involves Jason and Athena (Minerva/Lada?) and Jason’s trip to the underworld (the Sun’s going beyond the horizon and the rebirth of the same but necessarily different (I mean how can it be the same if it came from the opposite direction!) Sun from the East). This myth involves a dragon in the bowels of the Earth. That dragon is, in Greek myth, referred to as… Ladon. Ladon in that version of the myth is slain but not by Jason whose party arrives after Ladon had already been mortally wounded but by Hercules (Thor?).

And yet, there is that Vatican vase on which Athena is seen watching (?) Jason be in effect disgorged by a dragon. No one else is in the picture…

I leave aside the fact that Athena would correspond to the Suavic genitive of Odina (“of Odin” or Odin’s) and that Athena is the daughter of Zeus and that in many Polish folk songs, Jasien steals his Lady from her father.

I too leave aside the “dragon’s teeth” myth which also touches Jason, of course.

Perhaps it is the case that, at some ancient point in time, an Od/Ad replaced the As as the head of a pantheon. In some cases that Od/Ad became the head of the pantheon and the As was downgraded to a minor role. In other cases, Odin/Lado was taken into the pantheon but remained secondary warrior deity like Mars (Polish or Swedish).

Perhaps, in the alternative, an Odin-like person functioning as a Divine King, claimed to be the Jasień (something like a Second Coming) on Earth. 

That the As has an interesting history, we can also guess from the obvious connections of Iasion’s with Jesus (the greatest “story” ever told? – by the brilliant Saul of Tarsus).

However, another way of looking at this is to say that the Son of God – Łado – is the local Caretaker/Overseer for the Earth. Perhaps, He is the Lord of the Sun (and Moon?) but not much further? A Prometheus-like figure that brings fire and knowledge to humans (whether permitted or not?). Perhaps He also copulates with “Mother Earth” – the truly local Divinity – something that the Jasień in the Sky Further Out does not approve of. Of course, this also brings up the myth of Oedipus (Oed- prefix as suggestive?). Further, it is curious that Ladas of Argios was such a fast runner as was the later Ladas of Aegium – kind of like the Sun in the Sky. And the Argios Ladas died from exhaustion after the race – again, kind of like the Sun at the end of the day. This also brings up the race (in chariots?) against Chors (the Moon?) in The Tale of Igor’s Campaign. Were the Sun and the Moon (or their drivers) perceived by the ancients as participating in some type of a relay race across the Sky?

Here are some interesting connections between the different Sky Gods/Demi-Gods:

Of course, there are other connections. Ugaritic Dgn and Dagon may have been fertility gods. Indeed, there is the Hebrew word for grain dāgōn. That, of course, brings to mind the Giving God – Dadźbóg – that is also, of course, associated with the Sun. In fact, Dag and Bog (bhagga) may mean the same thing that was stitched together in some cross-cultural setting. It is also cognate with day and dzien and so too with Odin/Lado.

Note too that the Russian lake Ladoga – if read as a Suavic genitive/possessive – could be interpreted as Ladog’s (Svarog and Ladog?). Of course, no one reads it that way but who knows, maybe scholars ought to think about that possibility.

There is another possibility here. The Marzanna may well be just the personification of death and decay – mara – the lifeless Earth. In other words, have we been beguiled and led astray by the “Mother Earth” or “Goddess” idea? Iasion has a sister – Harmonia. Is Athena that Harmonia? In this version the Divine Twins are Male and Female – Jasień and Łada. In some Polish legends there is talk of the Moon and His Morning Star. (Or maybe Jasień cheated on the Sun – Łada – with the Morning Star (Zorza?) akin to Jason cheating on Medea?). To be fair, the Iasion-Harmonia <> Jasień-Łada comparison raises the question of who here is Dardanus?

Almost forgot to mention that Oleksiy Ivanovych Dey collected the above song from the Ukrainian town of Yasen (perhaps near today’s Ivano-Frankivsk):

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September 16, 2020

Revisiting the Polish Pantheon

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You can view some theories on the nature of the Polish Pantheon here and here. I confess we are unlikely to have more answers without further review of all that is available on the topic. However, I believe that the three most likely versions of the myth go something like this…


Father & Mother
Children


Jasień the Sky God is the Didis Łado of His Łada (but maybe Didis Lela), that is, the Female Goddess (Mother Earth?). She is the protector of Jasień’s while He is with Her. The other Deities are the Leli, their offspring (from the Jasień-Łada/Lela union):

  • Pogoda (covering good weather and happiness)
  • Dziewanna (responsible for the hunt and the wilderness),
  • Marzanna (covering the sea, death and the cold generally), and
  • Żywie (the God of Life)
  • potentially Lela (covering fertility unless that Divinity is the same as Łada)

Perhaps the first Three are the Three Zorze, Zarzyce that is the Zarze Zarycze Trzy Szyestrycze Polonice (see here).

The Nothingness out there is Nya which can prevail if Jasień is not periodically rekindled over and over again.


Father Star Tree
Son & Daughter
Children


Another version is a little bit different. Jasień is the Eternal Tree-Star (gwiazda being just another name for a tree – gwozdgozd – see here). Jasień is also the Sky God, of course.

The female Goddess Didis Lela (potentially, though not necessarily, also aka Łada) and the male Didis Łado (the Jasieńczyk or Son of Jasień) are the Children of Jasień’s and the guardians (both) of Jasień’s who rekindle Jasień with every cyclical pairing.

The Children (the Leli) of the now Lela-Łado union are the same as above.

The Nothingness out there is Nya which can prevail if Jasień is not periodically rekindled over and over again.


Father & Mother
Son & Other Children


The other version is yet different. Here we have Jasień the Sky God Himself as the consort of the female Goddess (perhaps Lela; potentially, though not necessarily, also aka Łada).

Łado is the Hero of Jasień’s that guards Jasień’s descent to Earth to rekindle Mother Earth. He is the First of the Children (Leli of the slightly different Jasień-Łada/Lela union) with the Others being the same as above. He is the protector of Jasień’s and God of War.

Nya, once again is the nothingness.


Note that in each case the absolute key are the fertility rites that preserve the Jasień Family.

At least that’s my current take.

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August 22, 2020

Wārsawa

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Interestingly, in Luwian, we have the following:

  • wārsa – water

So.. is Warszawa, a Luwian name?

Curiously, they also have the Sun as tiwaz and the Moon as *armas (the last is a reconstruction).  Of course the Vandalic Froia arme means “Lord have mercy” but the arme refers to “mercy” (see also “arm” meaning poor in German).

All of these as per the Swadesh List.

For another Anatolian reference see here for a Lycian > Suavic explanation of Lada.

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August 10, 2020

Sources on Suavic History

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I am reducing the time on this website. Much already has been written. If there are other interesting things that come to view, I will try to write about them but it will not be a frequent affair – best guess is perhaps once a month.

So, in order to encourage the readers to look at various sources on Suavic history I include a little list of various Polish & other Suavic compendia on the subject.

Kails!


The first book treating Suavic antiquity has to be Safarik’s “Slavic Antiquities”. Niederle then tried to improve upon that but did not really succeed in my view.

A pure listing of sources was put together by Marian Plezia in Najstarsze świadectwa o Słowianach and then in Greckie i łacińskie źródła do najstarszych dziejów Słowian.

Then we had Tadeusz Lewicki put together  list of Arab sources on Suavs. His Źródła arabskie do dziejów Słowiańszczyzny came out in four volumes (in Polish):

  • volume I  (1956) on:
    • AL-AHTAL
    • AL-HUWĀRIZMĪ
    • IBN HURDĀDBEH
    • AL-GĀHIZ
    • KITĀB AL-MAHĀSIN WA ’L-ADDĀD
    • AL-FARGĀNĪ
    • IBN QUTAJBA
    • AL-BALĀDURĪ
    • AL-JA‘QŪBĪ
  • volume II part I (1969) on:
    • IBN AL-FAQĪH, KITĀB AL-BULDĀN
    • IBN AS-SAGĪR, CHRONICLE OF TĀHERTU
    • IBN WAHŠIJA, KITĀB AL-FILĀHA AN-NABATĪJA
  • volume II part II (1977) on:
    • IBN ROSTEH, KITĀB AL-A‘LĀQ AN-NAFĪSA
  • volume III (1985) (with Anna Kmietowicz & Franciszek Kmietowicz) on:
    • IBN FADLĀN, KITĀB (from the Mashad manuscript)
  • volume IV (1988) (with Maria Czapkiewicz & Franciszek Kmietowicz)
    • indices to prior volumes

Finally, you had Urszula Lewicka- Rajewska continue where Lewicki left off with Arabskie opisanie Słowian. Źródła do dziejów średniowiecznej (2004).

Importantly, Professor Lewicki also managed (with Franciszek Kupfer) to publish a compendium of Jewish sources in Źródła hebrajskie do dziejów Słowian i niektórych innych ludów środkowej i wschodniej Europywyja̜tki z pism religijnych i prawniczych XI-XIII w. 

During the same time Gerard Labuda collected some Scandinavian sources, focusing on Poland, in his Źródła, sagi i legendy do najdawniejszych dziejów Polski. This volume includes

  • King Alfred’s Orosius including its Geography
  • Wulfstan travels
  • Ohthere’s travels
  • Widsith (including Gothic references)
  • Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks (Gothic references)
  • Song of Roland & Its Suav mentions
  • Sources for the Tale of Walgierz the Strong

A more thorough series on Suavic history came out (and continues to come out) courtesy of Slavica (which is a publication of the Suavistic Insitute of the Polish Academy of Sciences (Instytut Slawistyki Polskiej Akademii Nauk) under the title Testimonia najdawniejszych dziejów Słowian.

This series includes the following issues of Slavica;

The Greek Writers’ Series:

  • volume I (introduction/bibliography?)
  • volume II (Slavica issue 63) Pisarze z V–X wieku (“Writers of the V-X century”)
  • volume III (Slavica issue 103) Pisarze z VII–X wieku (“Writers of the VII-X century”)
  • volume IV (Slavica issue 106) Pisarze z VIII– XII wieku (“Writers of the VIII-XII century”)
  • volume V (Slavica issue 127) Pisarze z X wieku (“Writers of the X century”)
  • volume VI (Slavica issue 137) Pisarze wieku XI (“Writers of the XI century”)

The tables of contents for II, III & IV are here:

Volume V contains:

  • Theophanes Continuatus
  • Chronicles from the circle of Symeon the Logothete (Symeon the Metaphrast)
  • Leo the Deacon

Volume VI contains:

  • Michael Psellos or Psellus
  • Kekaumenos’ Strategikon
  • John Skylitzes
  • Scylitzes Continuatus
  • Nikephoros Bryennios the Younger
  • Anna Komnene

The Latin Writers’ Series:

  • Introductory list of materials (Slavica issue 123) Materiały do bibliografii do łacinskiej serii testimoniów najdawniejszych dziejów Słowian (“Materials for the Bibliography to the Latin series of the testimonies of the oldest histories of the Suavs”)
  • Volume I (Slavica issue 139) Starożytność. Pisarze najdawniejsi (“Antiquity, the oldest writers”)

Both of these are available online.

For individual regions you can find lots of Suav mentions in (among many other sources):

  • Monumenta Poloniae Historica (Pomniki dziejowe Polski)
  • Regesta diplomatica nec non epistolaria Bohemiae et Moraviae
  • Codex Diplomaticus Regni Croatiae, Slavoniae et Dalmatiae
  • Monumenta Germaniae Historica
  • Monumenta Boica (Bavaria)

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August 3, 2020