In Polish nobility’s myth making, the Poles were Slavs but they were also Lechites. They were Vandals too and then they were Sarmatians. The shift to the Sarmatians was likely precipitated by the shift of Poland’s borders to be more eastwards as the country expanded into Red Ruthenia and merged with the Lithuanian duchy. Nevertheless, could there be some truth to these stories? I mean why pick something that’s completely crazy? They wouldn’t have done that. They would have chosen for their foundational myth something that was plausible – perhaps some distant memory of the past. Let’s, again, start with the names of tribes involved:

• Slavs
• Lechites
• Vandals
• Sarmatians

Then, of course, is the history telling. In Polish (Kadlubek and others) and Russian (Nestor) legend, the Slavs come from Pannonia to Poland first. Indeed, the word “pan” (but perhaps from zhupan) to this day means “sir” or “lord”. The Czechs do not say where they came from (at least Cosmas does not though Dalimil points to Croatia which would have been close to Pannonia).  So let’s take a look at the potential protagonist tribes. Interestingly, Nestor speaks of the Slavs as Noricans which suggests an even earlier memory.

Vindelici

The first thing to see is that there was a tribe that bore a name similar to the Lechites. They even lived around the River Lech. And they did fight the Romans around Lake Veneticus. They are the Vindelici. The Vindelici lived near the Norici and the Rhaetians , not to mention the Suevi. They would have also lived close to where the Veneti had lived before and perhaps they were the remnants of the Veneti who had been driven north by the Roman Republic much earlier.

They are mentioned by Strabo and, arguably, also by Pliny who, in some manuscripts speaks of Vandalici, Vandilici. This has been seen as a reference to the Vandals but it seems easier to substitute an “a” for an “i” than to add a whole new suffix for Vandali to come up with Vanda-lici. However, the fact that the Vindelici may have been confused for the Vandals or that Vandals were confused for the Vindelici is suggestive of the state of affairs in this area.

Curiously, Ptolemy does not mention Vindelici but in his chapter on Raetia and Vindelicia he does mention the Suanettae and Vennontes plus Licati on the river Licati. Since the Licati is today’s Lech River, it makes sense to assume that the Licatis‘ name was something that contained the word Lech. Nearby we also have names such as Brenni/Breuni (Brena) and others (Geloni (of the Budini-Geloni fame), Senones, Isara) that are at the very least interesting.

Of course this map is a mere reconstruction of ancient names, though interesting nevertheless

The Vindelici have previously been considered Celtic but what that means is uncertain. Did they speak a Celtic language? We do not know as no evidence of their language survived. Their “Celtic” ethnicity (if by that we mean language spoken) is not backed by any evidence. Did they survive the Roman onslaught? Perhaps. If so did they retain that Celtic language later? Clearly not since the banishment of Celtic from most of Europe is incredibly complete. Did they then become Latin speakers? When Tiberius defeated them, where did any survivors go?

Suevi/Suavi

An answer to this may be offered by what happened to the Suevi. The Suevi of Caesar are on the Rhine. They seem to maintain relations with the Noricans to the south (one of Ariovistus’ wives was the sister of King Voccio or Voccion of Noricum). But then the Suevi of Tacitus are pushed further eastward (perhaps taking the names of rivers with them and transferring those to newly encountered rivers…). We know that the Suevi of Vannius were resettled by the Romans to Pannonia (perhaps Pannonia Savia). Indeed, the Suevi appear in late antiquity at the Battle of Nedao and, under their leader Hunimund, sparring with the Ostrogoths. Curiously, by then the “e” is no longer part of their name and we have, in its place, an “a” – the Suavi.

Jazyges

Since at least a few centuries BC, the Tisza plain next to the Roman province of Pannonia (which was then split up) was occupied by the Sarmatians – specifically, the Jazyges. Strangely, jazik means “language” in Slavic (as also apparently in Breton where some of the Veneti fought Caesar). And as we know, in Slavic, slowo (suovo) means a “word”. While I will not pull in the Suomi (that is the Finns), this Suevic-Jazyges connection seems most peculiar. Note also that the Suevi (especially the Quadi) were known to have fought together against the Romans.

Curiously, the war cry of the Sarmatian “Limigantes” was ‘Marha, marha’ which (especially given strong suggestions of a war goddess among the Veleti (of unknown name) and, possibly, the Poles (Lada?)) is intriguing. The Polish name Maria was for a long time pronounced Marza (see , for example, Urbanczyk) and, of course, there is the Goddess Marzanna. The relevant passage is in Ammianus Marcellinus’ Book 19, 10: “And when the emperor was seen on the high tribunal and was already preparing to deliver a most mild address, intending to speak to them as future obedient subjects, one of their number, struck with savage madness, hurling his shoe at the tribunal, shouted “Marha, marha” (which is their warcry), and the rude crowd following him suddenly raised a barbarian banner and with savage howls rushed upon the emperor himself.”

Legii/Lugii

Another tribe that is known to have brawled with the Suevi were the Lugii/Legii of southern Poland. Where did these battles take place – either in the Great Pannonian Basin or just north of it.

Vandals

Although there is no indication of the Vandals anywhere in Poland, they did appear for the first time in the Pannonia area (more or less at the Banat) and they did fight – on the same side – with the Sarmatians (at least the “royal” Sarmatians – the Arcaragantes or Argaragantes) in the fourth century in Pannonia against the Goths. That both the actual Vandals and an actual Sarmatian tribe (likely the Jazyges) met together in Pannonia is very suggestive. Curiously, archeologists digging in Hungary were finding plenty of Sarmatian artifacts but not Vandalic gear. Unless, of course, these were, ultimately, the very same things. Of course, Pannonia then became the seat of Huns and, later, of the Goths, Gepids, Lombards, Avars and, ultimately, the Hungarians. This would suggest that anyone not wanting such overlordship would have had to flee. Some would have fled west into Italy and some south into the Byzantine provinces. But, of course, those were the directions that the Huns and the other invaders would be following. They could not flee East since that was the direction that the Huns and others were coming from. So, naturally, the question arises, would they have gone North?

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Having discussed the Rozwadów spear here, we can turn to another similar artifact found nearly 80 years before the Rozwadów spear.

The spear in question was found in Soshychne (Ukraine) (Ukrainian Сошичне, Polish Suszyczno) in the spring of the year 1858.  Soshychne was then a village. The bigger town is Kovel (Ukrainian Ковель, Polish Kowel) southwest of Soshychne. Since Kovel is also easier to pronounce, the spear or really just the spearhead became know as the Kovel spear shaft or the Kovel spearhead if you will.

The spear was found, apparently by a farmhand, when a hill had been cleared for ploughing for the first time (well, first time in the then memory). The hill was situated in the direction of another village to the SW – Lychyny. Apparently, the local land tenant, a Mr. Jan Szyszkowski, for whom the farmhand probably worked was on site at the time and managed to preserve it. In the summer of the same year he was visited by a relative, one Aleksander Szumowski, to whom he gifted the artifact. Szumowski seeing the incrusted runes got excited and suggested continuing in the area with regular excavations. (As a result of these, in 1859 a hammer head was also discovered in the same location). In fact, if you look at the above picture in detail (here is another highlighted version), there appear to be there several splotchy areas which may have resulted from water flows or other reasons but which may merit further investigation.

In any event, in the meantime, Szumowski reports that he travelled to Kiev in 1859 and then in 1862 to Warsaw and Cracow to figure out what the runes which were clearly visible on the spearhead meant. There was issued, apparently, a brief newspaper publication (by a certain Kraszewski with whom Szumowski consulted), describing the discovery but, other than that, nothing major happened and no one took up the story. Szumowski hypothesized that the lack of interest in his discovery may have been caused by the then raging controversy around the so-called Mikorzyn Stones (Germ. Mikorzyner Steine) which came to light in 1855 and which featured runes. After a few years of examination, many analysts concluded that these were fakes. (You can see them here at the Cracow Archeological Museum). So what Szumowski suggests is that the scientific world did not want to get burned by reveling in the discovery of yet another allegedly ancient runic artifact.

He then notes that, after that initial disappointment, he was forced to actually give up possession of the spearhead. Whether he pawned it off for money and then got it back is uncertain. In the meantime, in 1865, another spearhead was found in Dahmsdorf-Müncheberg in Brandenburg and Szumowski began to look for another opportunity to publicize his finding. At first, he wanted to publish the discovery of the runic spearhead in the Zeitschrift fuer Ethnologie in Berlin, a task which the Kiev Archeological Congress offered to help him with. Szumowski began to correspond with the Danish runologist Wimmer who rejected the initial markings on the right side, read the writing right to left and concluded that the spear bore the name of the owner, namely, ARI[D]S. The “D” was hypothesized by Wimmer since he hadn’t previously encountered a rune like that. Szumowski disagreed with Wimmer in the latter’s rejection of the rightmost letters.

After all this travel, discussion and correspondence, the matter was finally brought to publication by Szumowski but not until 1876 in the Polish publication, Archeological News (Wiadomości Archeologiczne), volume 3.

Once it made its debut in Polish archeological literature, it came to the wider notice of German archeologists and a description was published in 1879 in volume 2 of the Materials for the Prehistory of Man in Eastern Europe (Materialien zur Vorgeschichte des Menschen in ostlichen Europa) published by Albin Cohn and Doctor Christian Mehlis. It was from that publication that the most well-known pictures of the spearhead come from. They also point out similarities to a spearhead catalogued by Dmitry Yakovlevich Samokvasov.

Another relevant publication was the 1886 article in the Polish “Physiographic Diary” (Pamiętnik Fizjograficzny), volume VI, part IV which also provided this detailed  picture.

The spearhead itself was kept in Warsaw after that until WWII when it was stolen by the Nazis and disappeared – at least for now.

A few observations are in order:

• In their discussion of the Szumowski find, Cohn and Mehlis raise the possibility that the Mikorzyn Stones are, in fact, not fakes. I’ll leave it at that.

• It is not at all clear what the writing on the spear says. It has been read as TILARIDS but that assumes that the “O” looking symbol really is a “D” and that you read this from right to left. One could also read SOIRALIT or SDIRALIT. All that assumes that these other letters are clear.

• There are several interesting symbols etched on the spear. Generally speaking, there is:
  • a circle with a dot inside repeated several times and a double circle with a similar dot,
  • there is a line marking that at least in the German article appears curving downwards,
  • there are two symbols that appear to look like swastikas (which, by the way, the authors interpret either as luck talismans or as, perhaps, a symbol of fire by comparing the sign to the image of two sticks being rubbed together to get fire), but
  • on closer examination, at least one of them seems to look more like the Polish air force “chessboard,”
  • there are several etchings next to one another,
  • interestingly, there is a symbol shown once on each side which looks like the number “2” with another “2” sharing a base and etched inverted. The same symbol, albeit in that case, shown parallel, as opposed to inverted (though connected with a similar inverted set of the same parallel 2’s) is shown on the Dahmsdorf-Müncheberg spear. Strangely, ignoring the curves, what appears in this version is the rune for “S” (albeit newer than the rune actually shown in the writing so I assume that this is a bit of a fluke).

Note the number “2” that is otherwise visible. The “lightning” “rune” combined with that “2” makes it tempting to look at Thor/Piorun or, if you will, Taranis/Taran. Notably, Jupiter too comes into play as the staff of Jupiter, the planet’s symbol, contains that same “2”. Note too that the “staffs” on each side are mirror images of each other.

The other symbols can be interpreted as solar and, perhaps, as a moon symbol too. Arguably, there is also a fire symbol in the chessboard/swastika. Perhaps, one side can be interpreted as containing a set of solar/fire symbols and the other (the side with the writing) as containing a set of lunar symbols.

Of course, the Arabic or Hindu numbers had not been introduced to Europe at that time yet – their first known Western use being in the Codex Vigilanus of the 10th century.

The Indian Devanagari number “2” is similar but that cannot be taken back before the 7th century. Before that the Indian number system has sticks for the number two like the Romans.

Another possibility is that, the rune writer was using a form of the Greek beta (ultimately, Phoenician “beth”). That letter, being the second letter of their alphabet was used to designate the number “2”.

But perhaps the most promising lead is the Sarmatian. The following comes from Tadeusz Sulimirski‘s work on the Sarmatians by way of Deborah Schorsch‘s article on the Vermand treasure. That is, these signs may just be “tamgas”. The spear shafts are from Zadowice by Kalisz (two sides of the same spear), Jankowo by Mogilno, Kamienica by Jarosław. Another example of the double “2” may be on a spear from Pudliszki near Leszno.

Here is an example of folk embroidery from the town of Perebrody in Ukraine by the Belorussian border – note the base.

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Given the celebration of Poland’s independence (one of the few happy results of the Great War which brought freedom for some though not all European nations), here are some excerpts from Długosz’s Polish Annals regarding the founding of various Suavic countries. We’ll do this in parts as the story told here of the Suavs entrance onto the pages of history is a long one in Długosz’s telling.

“…The first member of the kin of Japheth, by the name Alan, arrived in Europe together with his three sons, whose names were Isycyon, Armenon and Negno…. The third and last son of Alan, Negno, had four sons and the names of these were: Vandal, from whose name the Vandals took  their name, who are now called Poles, and who desired to name the river that today is commonly called the Vistula, by the name Vandal.  The second son of Negnon was Targ, the third Saxo and the fourth Bogor….”

“From Negnon, the third son of Alan, a variety of nations spread throughout the whole of Europe such as: all of Ruthenia till the ends of the East, Poland of all these lands, the largest, the Pomeranians, Kashubs, the people of Sweden, Sarnia ([Sorbia] which now is called Saxony) and Norway. From the third son of Negnon called Saxo, Czechia, Moravia, Styria, Carinthia, Carniola Kraina] which is these days called Dalmatia, Lissa/Lisna, Croatia, Serbia, Pannonia, Bulgaria and Elisa..”

“Therefore, [Negno] the  descendant of the sons of Japheth, the forefather of all the Suavs, having come out of the Sennar steppe, traversed Chaldeia and Greece, near the Black Sea, crosse the river Hister that we now call the Danube (and which river begins in the German hills, flows out of that mountain that is called Rauracus). This river crosses all of Europe, having its source in the land of the Celts…”

“… And he [Negnon] together with his sons, his relatives and his kinsmen settled first in Pannonia, the very first and oldest seat of the Suavs, their cradle and their provider, which nowadays after the expulsion of the Suavs by the Lombards and the surrender of her to the Huns, earned its name of Hungary. From there he peopled Bulgaria, that is Moesia, Dalmatia, Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia, Rascia, Carinthia, Illyria and other parts by the the following shorelines and seas: the Adriatic, the Ionian, the Aegian parts and islands, bordering on the East and South with the Greeks, on the West with the Latins, the Italics and the Teutons.”

“It is worth noting hereby that the Suav nation possessed great luck for fortune gave it such splendid lands. For no other lands in the world – save for India – which lands the Suavs possessed, produce more gold, silver, salt, brass, copper and other metals which the human race has learned of and values. But this [Suavic] nation’s misdeeds against God have resulted therein that God, having decided to take this land away from the Suavs by reason of their sins, delivered this rich and bountiful land to the Huns, Turks and other nations – thus, expressing the depth of his anger against the Suavs, also allowing barbarian cruelty to befall onto the Suavs and permitted them to leave their original seats. God’s love for the Suav nation delivered to it great and wonderful gifts and the same would have remained eternally with this nation, had it more diligently followed God’s commandments and laws. But from those who sin against God’s law with countless misdeeds all was taken away and given to tother tribes and nations. Of the provinces which the Danube separates, in the direction of the Mediterranean, from barbarian lands, the first is Moessia that Missial so called because of its bountiful harvests. And that is why the ancients have called it the Ceres’ granary. Our contemporaries call it Bulgaria; and it borders on the south east with Thrace, on the south with Macedonia and on the west with Istria.”

“Thus, just as the Pannonian kingdoms were populated thanks to the creation of settlements of the kinsmen and of fresh arrivals, just as thick villages and some cities arose so too did discord and hatred began to ravage the land; and then even open wars and calamities befell the descendants of Japheth, fighting about borders, villages and towns, escalating into the spilling of kin blood in frequently fought conflicts. Add to this that they’d grown so populous that in numbers that the kingdoms that they held seemed to them too modest.”

“Therefore to sons of John [Iavan?], the descendant of Japheth, Lech and Czech, who had heretofore ruled in the Sirmian Dalmatia, Suavonia, Croatia and Bosnia, desiring to avoid both current and future strife and dangers, having voted in agreement decided to forsake their primordial fatherland and seek out new lands to people. Thus, leaving their other brothers in Pannonia, they, together with all their settlers and families and all the property that was subject to their rule, set out from Suavonia, Serbia, Croatia and Bosnia, from the castle Psary that sat on the shores of the river Hui which meanders round that keep and separates Suavonia and Croatia – and the ruins of which castle are still visible to this day and testify to its past glory. The name of this castle was later transferred to the village – Psary – that sat at its feet.  It was in that castle that the above-mentioned dukes – Lech and Czech – had usually lived with their family and their estates and from there did they pass laws to their subjects. Thus, did Lech and Czech set out towards the neighboring and near lands towards the West for they knew that the East was full of many other nations.  Moving through the lands through which the rivers Morava, Eger, Elbe and Moldava flow. When they finally found a fertile land, properly watered and rich in pastures yet uncultivated and largely a vast wilderness, Czech, the younger of the two, on account of his many pleas, finally received from his older brother Lech, this land into Czech’s and that of his descendants care and eternal possession and use. Thus, after they have camped out there together for some time, namely upon the mountain that in their tongue is called Rip and lies between the Elbe, Moldava and the Eger, Czech the second duke, was so captivated and taken by the fertility of the land, the mildness of the climate, the thick folds of the hills and valleys (and together with him so too his relatives and subjects) that they all forsook the sight of other lands deciding that that this land shall suffice for then and their progeny. When the second brother, Lech, acquiesced to his young brother’s pleadings, Czech founded two cities: one on the shore of the Moldava he named in his language Praha and the other on the shore of the river Morava and he named this one Welehrad; he divided his land amongst his subjects and established many villages and hamlets and all of that country, taking its name from his own, till this day is called the Czech country although in Latin, in which the Suavic name cannot be properly pronounced, it is called Bohemia because the Suavs in their language call God Boh.*”

[* note: Thus Bohemia becomes “God’s country”. This idea likely comes from the Pulkava Chronicle]

“Whereas that part of the land that is traversed by the river Morava received a different name, that is Moravia, on account of the forests and groves found there which encompass green plains and grassy glades. Czechia, they claim, has an equal width and length, formed as if to resemble a garland, surrounded on all sides by forest which the ancients called the Hercynian and which is mentioned by Greek and Latin writers; and the Czech land is provided for by rivers   amongst them the Elbe or Laba which has its beginnings in the mountains that separate Czechia from Moravia and which cuts through the middle of that country. This river also forms the border of Poland, that is of the European Sarmatia, with Germania and together with the Moldava these two rivers are deemed the most important. Moldava itself flows past the capital of Prague which is distinguished by a stone bridge of fourteen spans. And the river Ruda flows through the town of Brno.”

“So Lech, having said his farewells to his younger brother Czech, rode onwards with his relatives, wagons and all of his wealth and, having crossed the mountains and forests that separate Poland from Czechia, which of old were called the Hercynian, and finding a wide country, rich in forests, groves and woods, a land filled with vast emptiness and wilderness and seemingly ancient backwoods, a land of many rivers, streams and lakes, having, it is true, good soil but whose fertility would not last were it not bolstered by compost, a country which yet turns stolid from frost and snows, lying between the seventh and the very last clime, [he] settled therein and claimed, as the first, this country as his own inheritance and possession for himself and his offspring…”

“…[Lying in] the North is Poland a part of Suavonia and borders on the East with Ruthenia, on the South with Hungary on the Southwest [?] with Moravia and the Czechs, and on the West with Denmark and Saxony. And on the Northern side the land of the Poles with the Sarmatians who are also called the Getae, all the way to Denmark and Saxony; it separated from Thrace by Hungary, or rather, Pannonia, and moving from thence through Carinthia, [it borders] with Bavaria. On the South near the Mediterranean Sea and Epirus cutting across Dalmatia, Croatia and Istria, [Poland] borders with the shores of the Adriatic Sea and separates from it where there stands Venice and Aquileia.”

The Seven Main River of Poland Labeled with Names, Sources and Their Mouths

“The Suavic language has given its own names to the seven most important rivers, which we also sometimes calle amnes, for they enhance the beauty of the places that they water and through which they flow. They flow through this country, sometimes falling from the mountains and sometimes erupting from the hidden insides of the Earth and, strengthened and broadened by other rivers, beginning in this land, they flow into the Ocean. One of these rivers is called the Wisła [ˈpronounced viswa] which name is mentioned by ancient authors and historians as Vistula, yet by others as Wandalus from the name of Wandal, the son of Negnon, the oldest son of Alan, son of Japheth, son Noe; or from the name of Wanda, the Polish queen, who, in thanksgiving for having gotten a victory over the Germans, sacrificed herself to the Gods by throwing herself into the Vistula. This river is called White Water by those nations which border the Poles on the East [!] for the white color of its waters. Yet, even though this river has been gifted four names [that is, Wisła, Vistula, Wandalus, White Water], it is most properly called Wisła, that is “dangling or hanging.” And that is because its source is near the town of Skoczów above the village Ustronie in the land of Cieszyn [and it is there that] with great and loud thunder [its] waters fall from the top of the mountain that is commonly called Skałka; and there from the uppermost top of the Sarmatian Alps, ere it falls onto the ground that lies below, it appears rather as a dangling rather than a flowing stream…”

[There follows a further description of Wisła along with other rivers, Odra, Warta, Dniester, Bug, Neman and Dnieper]

A Description of Poland From Four Sides of the World and Why Ruthenia is Known For Its Exquisite Furs

“This whole country, through which course and spill out the above mentioned severn rivers together with a others from their sources all the way up to the waters of the Ocean, Lech the forefather and duke of the Lechites, that is Poles, took for his possession and in it he and his descendants hold hereditary rule over many nations and will so hold it, God’s Grace given. He bordered from the East with no one except for the Greeks and the Lion Sea, to reach which in those times one had to go through forests and woods of two hundred miles and longer, which were unknown even to the founder himself.”

“That eastern tract took the name of Ruthenia from one Lech’s descendants by the name of Rus; for many years it was deserted and ravaged but over time it spread itself out into richer countries and cities which we now sea, brimming with the wealth of fauna delivered by the surrounding forests. The inhabitants of those lands put on richly the fashionable black of these exquisite furs, though they themselves live modestly and in poverty.”

“On the South side those mountains whose unbroken chain of peaks separates Hungary and which run great distances all the way to the Lion Sea, taking a lot of space and having a great length, for many years and generations were governed by and remained under the rule of the dukes of Poland, for the proof of which we may cited the testimony of a number of ancient authors. Thus, Putoleanus, a historian and a meticulous student of history writes that in the third year of the rule of Emperor Marcian [that is in 453 A.D.] who ruled till A.D. 458 [actually 457], there arose in Poland a duke who governed over the Bulgars and over the Moesians and desired also to take over Pannonia. But the Hungarians, having lured him in with all kinds of presents and gifts and having discovered the weakening of his power, unexpectedly attacked him and destroyed him together with all his armies.”

“And on the West side, it [that is Poland] borders with Germania, from which it is separated by the Łaba River, that is Albis; and on the North it borders the Ocean, opening the sea route to Denmark [written as Dacia], Sweden, Norway and even farther lands that in those days were yet unreachable…”

[There follows another description of Polish rivers and towns lying on their shores]

“… and what we have told about Wisła, that is Wandalus and Odra, that is Guttalus, is based on the testimony of Solinus. For he, when starting to write about the beginnings of Germania says the following*: ‘The mountain Emaus Ewo is great, not smaller than the Riphean Mountains, and it begins Germania. The tops of the mountains are inhabited by the Eones who were the first to make the name Germani famous among the Scythians. The land is rich in people and inhabited by many countless and savage nations between the Hercynian Forest and the Sarmatian rocks. It begins where the Danube pours into it and it ends on the Rhine. From its depths the very wide rivers Alba, Gutthalus and Wisła rush towards the Ocean.'”

[*note: this is from Chapter 31 of Solinus – an English translation is available, though old, by the 16th century writer Arthur Golding (I cleaned it up a bit to address some changes in the English language): “Germanie takes his beginning at the Mountain Sevo which is great of itself, and not lesser than the Hills of Ryphey. This hill is inhabited by the Inge∣uons, at whom first next after the Scithians beginneth the name of Germaines. It is a land rich of men, and inhabited with peoples innumerable and altogether savage. It stretcheth from the Forrest of Hercinia, to the Hills of Sarmatia. Where it beginneth it is watered with Danow, and where it endeth it is watered with the Rhyne. Out of the inward parts thereof, Albis, Guttallus, and Vistula very deepe Ryvers runne into the Ocean.”; the paragraph can be traced to Pliny’s Natural History, Book IV, chapter 96]

Wherefrom the Names: Lechites, Poles, Vandals, Scythians, Germans As Well as an Assessment of Rus, From Whom Descends Ruthenia

“Even though the name of the country and the nation itself were named Lechia and the Lechites, from the first ruler and settler Lech, the nation as well as the country lost its old name and began to be called Poland even by some scholars; for the [agricultural] land, [already] in many places flat and ripe to be sowed, through the hard work and cleverness of the tillers and by means of clearing of the forests was further turned into similar flatlands that seemed much like natural fields and the Lechites, especially those who dwelt in such fields, began to be commonly called Polanie, that is “field-dwellers” and this both by their close relatives and by those more remote living in the forests and by the neighboring nations.  And the neighboring nations, first of all the Ruthenians, who in their annals boast of being descended from the generation of duke Lech, to this day call Poles and their lands Lechites. Similarly, too, among the Suavs, Bulgars, Croats and Hungarians this same name remains, though in many places some writers call us and describe us, by reason of the river Vandalitus, that is Wisła, as the Vindelici which is fully confirmed by the primacy of that river.”

“Among the ancient writers and historians there exists the European Sarmatia and so both the Poles and the Ruthenians are called Sarmatians. For this reason I believe this name which antiquity bestowed upon Poles and Ruthenians to be correct and true. Thus, too the mountains that border these peoples are in all the [ancient] works called the Sarmatian. Many call Poles Scythians, while some call them Germans, not a particularly correct appellation for this entire land between the Don River [Tanais] and the Łaba River [Albis] was in days past called by writers Scythia; and this land, Poles and Ruthenians having in time entered and peopled were then labelled by some as Scythians but since Wisła, at point was the boundary between Germania and Scythia and flows right through the center of Poland and since from its source to its mouth, on both the East as well as the West shore no other nation but the Polish inhabits and tills these lands, thus they sometimes also call Poles Germans.”

“And some have tried to argue that Rus was not a descendant of Lech but rather his brother and that  together with him and with Czech as the third brother, having left Croatia filled a great Ruthenian country with people; a country with its main capital city of Kiev and watered by very great rivers such as Dniestr, Dniepr, Neman, Prut, Sluch, Styr, Zbruch, Smotrych and Seret; and [they argue] that he extended his borderlands beyond Novogrod, a city of Ruthenia that is the richest in gold, silver and furs and most important; it lies among bogs and lakes close to the ends of the Earth. This difference in [scholarly] opinion as to the beginnings of the Ruthenian nation rather than clearing it up makes this beginning shrouded in darkness.”

The Ruthenian Duke Who Ruled Rome and All of Italy for Fourteen Years Is Struck Down by Theodoric, the King of the Goths Who Takes Italy

“Also from this Rus, the first father and founder of Ruthenia, there came the Ruthenian Odoacer and his people, who with the Ruthenian armies arrived in Italy in the year 509 of the Christian calendar during the time of Pope Leo I and Emperor Leo I; and, having taken Ticinum, he razed it with fire and sword and having taken him prisoner executed Orestes, banished Augustulus – who intended to seize the imperial rule – and entered Rome with his soldiers as a victor and ruled all of Italy without any interference by anyone. When he had ruled in complete peace and security for fourteen years, the king of the Goths – Theodoric – having traversed Bulgaria and Pannonia with great difficulty, arrived in Italy and rested himself and his armies in the rich pastures surrounding Aquileia. It was then that Odoacer with armies from all over Italy attacked him [Theodoric] but was defeated by Theodoric and the Goths and having fled with bur a remainder of his force fled for Ravenna when the people of Rome denied him [Odoacer] entry; and here, after the torment of a three year siege, was forced to surrender. Theodoric took him prisoner and executed him; after which he transferred the rule of Italy from the Ruthenian conquerors onto himself and the Goths.”

[There follows a description of Polish lakes and mountains]

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Abu-l-‘Abbas Ahmad ibn Mohammed al-Maqqari (or Al-Makkari, circa 1578 – 1632) was an Algerian scholar known for his book on Andalusia “The Breath of Perfume from the Branch of Green Andalusia and Memorials of its Vizier Lisan ud-Din ibn ul-Khattib.” That book, as the title suggests, is made of two separate parts. The first is a compilation of many authors on Andalusia. The second part is a biography of the famous writer, historian, and politician from Arab Spain, Ibn al-Khatib (1313 –1374). Ibn al-Khatib was a minister and a poet who wrote over 60 books. It is, however, the first part of the book that is of interest to us.

In his Book I, chapter V, Maqqari quotes Katib Ibrahim Ibnu-l-Qasim Al-Qarawi (Al-Karawi aka Ar-rarik-beladi-l-andalus (the slave of Andalus) who, according to al-Makkari’s translator Pascual de Gayangos, was a geographer living sometime in the 11th or early 12th century (Gayangos says Al-Qarawi is known too to the 14th century historian Ibn Khaldun). Al-Qarawi has this to say about the Slavs (again, in the Pascual de Gayangos translation).

“The Andalusians are a brave and warlike people, and great need have they of these qualities, for they are in continual war with the infidel nations that surround them on every side. To the west and north they have a nation called Jalalcah (Galicians), whose territories extend from the shores of the Western Ocean all along the Pyrenees. The Galicians are brave, strong, handsome, and well made; in general the slaves of this nation are very much prized, and one will scarcely meet in Andalus with a handsome, well made, and active slave who is not from this country. As no mountains or natural barriers of any kind separate this country from the Moslem territories, the people of both nations are in a state of continual war on the frontiers.”

“To the east the Moslems have another powerful enemy to contend with; that is the Franks, a people still more formidable than the Galicians, on account of the deadly wars in which they are continually engaged among themselves, their great numbers, the extent and fertility of their territory, and their great resources. The country of the Franks is well peopled, and full of cities and towns; it is generally designated by geographers under the name of Ardhu-l-kebirah (the “great land”). The Franks are stronger and braver than the Galicians, —they are likewise more numerous, and can send larger armies into the field. They [the Franks] make war on a certain nation bordering on their territory, and from whom they dissent in manners and religion; these are the Sclavonians, whose land the Franks invade, and, making captives of them, bring them to be sold to Andalus, where they are to be found in great numbers. The Franks are in the habit of making eunuchs of them, and taking them to castles and other places of safety in their territory, or to points of the Moslem frontier, where the Andalusian merchants come to buy them, to sell them afterwards in other countries. However, some of the Moslems who live in those parts (near to the frontiers) have already learnt that art from the Franks, and now exercise it quite as well as they do.“

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