Incidentally, if you are curious how Slavs could have ended up at Ventspylis there are at least three answers.  One is the obvious one – they came from the East.  Another one is that they were there before the Balts came from the Belarus region.  A third one is suggested by Annales Ryenses (Rydårbogen) where there is talk of the Danish king Lotharknut resettling a third of his serfs in Prussia, Karelia and Semigalia sometime between 891 and 901.  At least some of those may have come from the islands of Møn, Falster & Lolland.  These, in turn, it has been suggested were populated at the time by Slavs (articles by Koczy and another by Slaski).

“…et venientes, totam
Pruciam, Semigaliam,
et terram Carelorum,
aliasqve qvam plures
terras subjugaverunt sibi, et…”

What’s striking about this is that it’s not clear whether the Danes included in this settlement process also the Pomeranian coast – if not, then presumably because it was filled with Slavs (the reference to other lands seems rather ambiguous given that lands further removed from Denmark than Pomerania are actually mentioned by name).

A similar tale was apparently also in the lost annals of Valdemar II.

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Reviewing the  Beyträge zur teutschen Länder-, Völker-, Sitten- und Staaten-Kunde we’ve come across a rather interesting confession of the writers located in a small footnote:

“We must here expressly repeat that the Slavic etymon, also in the southern districts and in the mountains all the way till the Bodensee [Lacus Veneticus], is noticeably ancient [and] in our view could not [possibly] have first established itself in the recorded events of the eighth century.  When in the middle of the seventh century Saint Emmeram wanted to travel from France over Bavaria to the Slavs, he picked up, already at the Rhein, as a translator [one] Vitalis, a priest capable of speaking Slavic.”

That Vitalis really did speak Slavic is likely but whether that indicated the presence of large quantities of Slavic speakers on the Rhine itself (see here) is not certain.

The Vita does say that Vitalis was an interpreter for Emmeram and Emmeram was heading to see some Slavs in the Bamberg (Babenburg). Presumably, Emmeram did not need an interpreter for the Thuringians or Bavarians…

“tunc relegiosus suus presbyter et interpres… nomine Vitalis”

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Just so that you do not think we’ve been idle, we link to the slightly improved versions of:

• the story of Boz, and
• the remaining relevant portions of the Getica.

We’ve cleaned them up and added some pretty manuscript pictures.

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A Polish herbarium by Marcin of Urzędów (circa 1500 – 1573) contains an interesting passage regarding the worship of Diana (Devanna) in Poland when discussing the herb bylica.  The herbarium itself was published in 1595 (after Marcin’s death).  We present a translation of the entry on bylica:

Artemesia Valentina.  Herba Regia, Olus Regium.
in Polish called Bylica

“This herb was named, from the Greek word Artemesia, after Artemis, that is the Goddess Diana, whom others call Artemis in Greek.  For it was she who had discovered this herb and taught Greek ladies it use: and most noteworthy she taught Chyron, that illustrious doctor and he later taught the ladies the use of this herb.  For this reason these pagan [maidens] dedicated this herb to her and when the day [of Diana/Artemis] was celebrated some hung it up around houses while others girded it on: and this was done on the twenty fourth day of the moon [month] June, on our day of Saint John: and so they [the ladies] lit fires in the night, danced, praying and honoring the devil.  [And] this pagan custom they [women] refuse to forsake to this day, for so they make offerings of this herb hanging it and girding it on.  And they honour holidays of this devil [i.e., Diana/Artemis] by making sabaths [sobotki], burning fires, kindling fires with planks [sticks], so that there should be the right devilish holiness: there they sing devilish songs, obscene/filthy while dancing.  And the devil too jumps [i.e., dances], delighted that Christians are praying and honoring it, while they neglect the dear Lord for on the Day of Saint John you won’t find any peasants/villagers honoring the dear Lord but at the sabbath [sobotka] they will do all kinds of evils.”*

* that is, on the 24th of June, the villagers won’t be going to Church but will attend the various dances for Artemis/Diana.

“Some write that bylica, called Artemesia, was so named after that noble lady Queen Artemesia, who was the wife of King Mansedlus of Carissus, who by reason of her great love [for him] built him so illustrious a tomb that it one of its kind in the whole world, [and] about which so many historians write. And as regards the hanging of bylica around the homesteads, then this may perhaps have been tolerated but for the fact that they also so honoured the devil.  For so writes Pliny [Li 26, cap 10] that when it shall hang over the gates, doors or gateways, windows, then magic shall have no power over that house nor over the man that has it with him.”

“Dioscorides separately writes in his Kapitulum that there be three [types of] Artemesia.  The one he calls Platisfillos, Latifolia in Latin, and in Polish Bylica, [with] wide leaves.  And this is the true Bylica one is red and the other white.  The second one he names Leptofillos, Lennifolia in Latin, in Polish Maruna, this one we have named in the chapter Matricaria.  The third one he names Monoclonos, Tanacetu in Latin but incorrectly.  Fuchsius says that it should be Tages, and this bylica is called Tages Indicus, in Italian Gariofilli Dziuerni, in Polish Gwoździki zimne [cold] or Indian Gwoździki, which also sometimes grow in Poland, a beautiful and pretty flower: about this in more detail, [see] Fuchsius.”

“Paulus writes that bylica has a warming effect… [the rest does not discuss pagan rituals any further]”

For prior entries on Dziewanna (Devanna) see here, here, here, here and here.  See also here for another relation to Diana.

Finally, note that both bylica and piołun (artemisia absinthium) were, as late as the 19th century, reported to have been stuck on Saint John’s Eve by farmers into the house’s straw roof.

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We know from Procopius that Goths and Vandals spoke the same language.  It is assumed that that was some form of East Germanic – presumably Gothic.

Nevertheless, there is very little evidence of Vandalic language.  It is assumed further that the following passage referring to Gothic is really Vandalic:

As you can see it says something like: “scapiamatzia iadrincan” or, if you will, scapia matzia ia drincan.

This comes from the so-called Latin Anthology put together first by Peter Burman the Younger and then by Alexander Riese.

The “Anthology” is a collection of Latin poems that came from various manuscripts.  The “Vandalic” above comes from an 8th century codex (the olim Salmasiani).

One of the curiosities of Middle Age chronicles is the story of Walgierz found in the Greater Poland Chronicle.  It seems to be primarily based on the story of Walter of Aquitaine/Waltharius – the earliest version of which comes from the 9th century.  What is interesting about the Polish version (which also weaves in Polish legends and places) is that the Polish Walter’s name is Walgierz.  How did the “t” become a “g”?

It seems incorrectly.  That is the name should really have been Walcerz.  Why would this happen?  Here we should look to the similarities between the tales of Walter and those of Theodoric or Didrek of Bern (Dietrich von Bern).  Although these two appear to be separate heroes, there are hints that they may be one and the same person.  Intriguingly, the Polish “g” version may provide a solution or, the Didrek Saga may provide a solution to the Polish error.  The connection comes from Book I of Regino of Pruem’s Chronicle where he says under the years 413-420 [incorrect dating obviously]:

“Theoderic, also called Walager, wasted Macedonia…”

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Arethas of Caesarea (circa 860 – circa 939) was the Archbishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia.  In 1912 a Greek schola, Sōcratēs Kougeas, pointed out (in the periodical, Neos Hellenomnemon, Νέος Ελληνομνήμων, 1912, starting at p. 472) a reference to Slavs in scholium written by Arethas in the chronicle of patriarch Nicephorus (in a manuscript written in 932).  That scholium discusses the Slavic invasion of Greece:

“On the fourth year of his reign [Nicephorus] took place the transfer of Patras of the Peloponnesus, our country, from the Calabrian city of Rhegium to the ancient city of Patras.  For it had been driven away or rather forced to migrate by the nation of the Slavs when they invaded the First and Second Thessaly and in addition the country of the Aeniantes and that of the Locrians, both the Epiknemidian and Ozolians, and also ancient Epirus, Attica and Euboea and the Peloponnesus, driving away and destroying the noble Hellenic nations.”

“They [the Slavs] dwelt there from the sixth year of the region of Maurice [587/588] to the fourth year of that of Nicephorus [805/806] at whose time the governor for the Peloponnesus was sent to the eastern part of the Peloponnesus, from Corinth to Malea, because that part was free of Slavs.  One of these governors, a native of Lesser Armenia, and a member of the family called Skleroi, clashing with the Slavic tribes, conquered them in war and obliterated them completely and enabled the ancient inhabitants to recover their own.  For the mentioned emperor, having inquired where the colony was, reestablished the people not he ancient soil and granted to Patras, which was a bishopric before this, the prerogatives of a metropolis.”

The above confirms much of what had been written in the (presumably later) Chronicle of Monemvasia which is why Kougeas set the two texts side by side above.

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Here are some topics of interest from the British Isles.  The source for these words may be Scandinavian Norse or Slavic.  If it were Slavic, it should be remembered that the there were Slavs in the various Viking raiding parties that seized vast tracts of Britain so no great surprise there.  Of course, if these names were older…

Wistla Water

This is an outtake from the 1654 map of Orkneys and Shetlands.  The area of interest is the Shetland island of Mainland (yes, they weren’t very creative back then).  Here is the first picture:

Now take a look at this one where we highlighted some interesting water names:

For another Wiesle in the Alps see here.  And what of Tresta?  Croce sound? Twar?  What is the Vo. exactly to stand for?

Moravia & Rosia

We should note, however, that interesting names abound in Britain (particularly in the North), such as that of the Lugi or the Smertes.  Or for that matter of the Iceni and its leader Boudicca.  We raised some questions before on this topic and will return to it but in the meantime.. on a more lighter note:

Enjoy the first printed – surviving – map of Scotland (so called Paulo Forlani Map) dated to 1566-1570 but based on earlier materials (of George Lily and Hector Boece); another version apparently exists in the Netherlands:

Now, Nessa (Nysa) can be explained with “wet” (German nass) albeit, if that explanation were to be accepted, a name like “wet river” does not exactly differentiate that body of water from any other… but it leads to… Loch Ness – hence Nessa?  But why is Loch Ness so ness as compared to other lochs?  What’s the differentiating factor here?  (does this explain the need for a sea-monster to put the place on the map?).

Rossia could be explained by the presence of Roslagen Vikings among the invaders…

Moravia – a Latinization of the name for the land next to Murray Firth.  But what does “murray” then really mean? It may come from Muireb (or Moreb) or, earliest form (736): Moerheb.  Note too the Norse Merrhaefi.  Or for that matter the Polish murawa or, if you want to get creative, marchew; after all carrots sit in the ground.  Is it wet ground?

What’s interesting, however, is that here we have all three such names right next to each other – a situation which would be easily explainable in Eastern Europe but is a remarkable coincidence in Britain.

And this before we even get to Britain’s Pennines range.  If you thought the the Pyrenees were fun, wait till these hillocks come under consideration.

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John of Biclaro, Biclar, or Biclarum (circa 540 – after 621), also Iohannes Biclarensis, was a Visigoth chronicler born in Santarem in Portugal (Scallabis).  He was educated in Constantinople.  Upon his return to Lusitania, the locals tried to draft him for the Arian Church.  When he refused, he was banished by Leovigild, the King of the Visigoths. After Leovigild’s death in 586, John founded the Benedictine monastery of Biclar(o) where he became abbot.  Thereafter, he became a bishop of Gerona/Girona.

He took part in many church synods.  His chronicle covering the years 567 to 591 is arranged according to the reigns of Byzantine Emperors and Visigothic kings and is a continuation of the chronicle of Victor of Tunnuna   (Chronicon continuans Victorem Tunnunensem).  Various editions exist:

• Hendrik Canisius (Ingolstadt, 1600) (pictures below are from that version);
• Scaliger in “Thesaurus Temporum” (Leyden, 1606);
• Migne, P.L., LXXII (1849);
• Mommsen in “Mon. Germ. Hist.: Auct. ant.”, XI (1893), 211-220;

The table below is from Mommsen as are the dates (though, admittedly, they are not exact) – which refer to reigns of the Visigothic King Leovigild (568-586) and the Byzantine Emperors Justin II (565-574) and Tiberius II (574-582)).

Chronicle of John of Biclar

YEAR 576?

ANNO X IVSTINI IMP. QVI EST LIVVIGILDI REGIS VIII
ANNVS

1. Badurius gener Iustini principis in Italia a Longobardis praelio vincitur, et non multo plus post inibi vitae finem accepit.

2. Romanus filius Anagasti Patricii magister militiae gentis Suanorum regem vivum cepit, quem cum suo thesauro, uxore et filiis Constantinopolim adducit et provinciam eius in Romanorum
dominium redigit.

3. Liuuigildus (Leovegildus) rex in Gallaecia Suevorum fines conturbat: et a rege Mirone per legatos rogatus pacem eis pro parvo tempore tribuit.

4. Sclavini in Thracia multas urbes Romanorum pervadunt, quas depopulatas vacuas reliquary   

[The Sclavini took many Roman cities in Thrace which they have left depopulated and empty or (if you prefer Joan Rowe Ferry’s translation) The Sclavanians spread through many Roman cities in Thrace, which they leave ravaged and deserted]

Whoever made the side notes obviously disagrees with Mommsen’s timing

5. Abares (Avares) litora maris captiose obsident et navibus litora Thraciae navigantibus satis infesti sunt.

6. Post Benedictum Romanae ecclesiae Pelagius iunior ordinatur episcopus: praeest annis XI.

YEAR 581

ANNO V TIBERII, QVI EST LIVVIGILDI (LEOVEGILDI) XIII ANNVS

1. Longobardi in Italia regem sibi ex suo genere eligunt vocabulo Autharic, cuius tempore et milites Romani omnino sunt caesi et terminos Italiae Longobardi sibi occupant.

2. Sclavinorum gens Illyricum et Thracias vastat. 

[The nation of the Sclavenes laid waste to Illyria and Thrace or (as per Rowe Ferry) The people of the Sclavanians ravage Illyrica and Thrace]

3. Liuuigildus  (Leovegildus) rex partem Vasconiae occupat et civitatem, quae Victoriaco (Victroriacum) nuncupatur, condidit.

4. Tiberius imperator Mauricio Magistro militum Orientis filiam suam in coniugium tradit.

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