Funneling

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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