Jecha, Nohra, Kraja

PublishedNovember 26, 2021 Post authortorino

To the east of Sondershausen in Thuringia lies the village of Jecha. We discussed it here (as well elsewhere occasionally) very briefly. On the other, western, side of Sondershausen we find the Jechaburg. The recorded names of the place are:

  • Gigenberg 1128
  • Jechaburg 1148, 1196
  • Gechenburg 1197

Other names may have included Gigeburg, Jechaborg  (12th century), and Jecheburg as well as Jichaborg, Jechaborg, Gicheburg and Jechaburc in the 13th century. In 1360 the name appears as Jhecheburgk.

Legend has it that the name is of a pagan goddess that the ancient locals, presumably Thuringians, worshipped here. Why goddess? Well, maybe because the Jechaburg is at the foot of the Frauenberg mountain.

Based on a reading of Widukind as well as Annalista Saxo, it has been conjectured that it was here that the Hungarians were beaten by Henry I in the year 933 and 934.

Curiously, Jecha could have a Hungarian connection. Gyeücsa or Gyeusa was a Hungarian prince who, however, was born around 940, that is after these events.

Are there any Suavic names nearby?

Well, there is Trebra to the South, Nohra to the NW and, if you keep going West, there is Kraja. You would think Kraja at least should be Suavic. But if Trebra and Nohra are too then what about Bebra or Nebra (of the Sky Disk)? This seems tenuous. And yet Kraja?

On older maps, like this  one you can see Poelede which, however, is, probably not Suavic, to the West. If you move east you come, some ways off, across Kolleda (today’s Kölleda) and then Burchwenden. Still, this is very little. Only when you cross the Unstrut you get Mart Roelicz, Ochnicz (today’s Oechlitz?), Schletta and, of course, Cracou.

Other Suavic towns appear here as well: Zscheiplitz, Gleina, Nissmitz, etc. If you go further South, Suavic names project further West (as far as the area of Erfurt) but at this latitude, this is likely it. So, is it possible that this Jechelburg and Jecha are Suavic? Sure but given the distances to Suavic settlements we can say possible but not very certain.

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November 26, 2021

Yāqūt on the Rus Religion

PublishedOctober 8, 2021 Post authortorino

Yāqūt Shihāb al-Dīn ibn-‘Abdullāh al-Rūmī al-Hamawī (1179–1229) was a Greek (al-Rumi) born in Constantinople captured by the Muslims, made a slave but then freed.

His most famous work is the “Dictionary of Countries” (Kitāb Mu’jam al-Buldān), compiled between 1224 and 1228. It is in that work that he briefly mentions the Rus religion – notably distinguishing the Rus from Suavs. It is that passage that made it into Meyer’s compendium and it is for that reason that we include it here:

“The Rus are one of the peoples who border the Suavs and the Turks. They have their own language and a religion (din) and a law based on religion which is different from everyone else’s… These days, as is well known, they belong to the Christian religion.”

Note that Yāqūt’s work contains other entries on Suavs themselves but not on their religion.

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October 8, 2021

al-Istakhri on the Suavs

PublishedSeptember 26, 2021 Post authortorino

Abu Ishaq Ibrahim ibn Muhammad al-Farisi al-Istakhri (? – 957) (the translation and notes come from Tarek Kahlaoui’s 2018 “Creating the Mediterranean: Maps and the Islamic Imagination”) mentions the Suavs as follows in his “Routes of the Realms” (Masālik al-Mamālik):

“As for those living in the eastern part [meaning southeast] of the Mediterranean (Bakr al-Rum) along the coast, they have brk [skin] (ta’luhum sumra), and they become darker the farther they are located to the east or to the south until they reach the territories of Sudan (sub-Saharan Africa), where the darkest of nations [lives]. As for those living in the wester part [meaning northwest] of the Mediterranean from Muslim Spain (al-Andalus) they have white [skin] and blue [eyes] (biz zurq), and the farther they are located to the west or to the north they become whiter throughout all the territories of the Run, up to those beyod the land of the Suavs (al-Saqaliba); the farther [east they live,] their [skin] becomes whiter, their [eyes] bluer, and their hair redder.”

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September 26, 2021

The Suavs of Genesios

PublishedSeptember 24, 2021 Post authortorino

“Genesios” (Γενέσιος) or Joseph Genesius’s “On the Lives of the Emperors” was written about 915-930 survives in a single manuscript of the eleventh century. (A fourteenth-century reader added the presumed author’s name (“Genesios”) in the margin).

Here is an excerpt from the Anthony Kaldellis translation that mentions Suavs (Canberra 1998, from the Australian Association for Byzantine Studies). The work also contains references to Thomas the Suav and Bulgarians but we omit those in this mention.

For extensive discussions of the manuscript, see H Wäschke, ‘Genesios,’ pp. 256-263 in Philologus, and the introduction to the Corpus Fontium Historiae Byzantinae XIV (CFHB) edition of the text by Anni Lesmuller-Werner and I. Thurn; pp. ix, xxii-xxvi Iosephi Genesii regnum libri quattuor.


Book 2: Michael II (820-829)
“2. It is said that when Thomas heard of Michael’s elevation to the throne he quickly contrived to revolt against him with a large army. For the two men had always been opposed to each other, and Michael was hated by the entire army of the Anatolians, and was equally unpopular on account of his native town, in which, as it seems, a great number of Athinganoi dwelt, because of the defect in his speech, and because he was not considered by some to be a brave enough man. Thomas, on the other hand, was loved by all for his courage, and no less for his cheerful disposition and affability. He rivaled Leo in all noble qualities, even though he had Scythian ancestry and was in addition an old man, and had a lame leg. He now seized all the tax-collectors, laid claim in writing to the regular exactions, and by distributing them to the people he assembled a large force to use against Michael. None of those who originated in the east, or in the west itself, failed to support him, neither did foreign nations that had come to dwell in the Empire, nor its own natives, nor its neighbors, nor any slaves that hated their masters, nor entire nations, nor all those who rushed to him at various times and followed him, some fighting by land and some by sea. He seemed to be a new Xerxes, although one of the same faith, and therefore all the themes hurried to ally themselves with him along with their Strategoi. Only Olbianos, the Strategos of the Armeniakon theme, kept his troops in line by his shrewdness, and also Katakylas, the Strategos of the Opsikion theme, and they both remained loyal to Michael.  Thomas’ army, then, which had turned against its countrymen, grew so much that the Saracens seized the opportunity to freely plunder all the islands and lands, and would have conquered them utterly, even though afterwards numerous reports circulated among them which made Thomas seem invincible. Hence he attempted to negotiate with them in the following way. He cunningly enticed them, suggesting that he would be satisfied with whatever they desired, as they greatly feared his large force. He therefore sent an embassy to them seeking peace, which was in reality an alliance whose purpose was to overthrow the Emperor. Having thus made a treaty with the Agarenoi, with the concurrence of their leader he was crowned Emperor by the Patriarch Job of Antioch. He assembled his famous army, which was composed of Agarenoi, Indians, Egyptians, Assyrians, Medes, Abasians, Zichians, Iberians, Kabeirians, Slavs, Huns, Vandals, Getai, and all those who had partaken of the abomination of Mani as well as Lazoi, Alans, Chaldians, Armenians, and other peoples of all sorts, and he took control of the entire east. Finally he marched to Thrace and tried to take Byzantium by force by laying siege to it, placing his hopes in his heavy cavalry, infantry rock-throwers, slingers, and countless peltasts. In addition he possessed not a few siege engines. He attacked the land walls with them many times, but was always repelled without having made any gains. The Emperor’s son Theophilos resisted his attacks and fought hard against him, but his father Michael would often sally forth and engage in hand-to-hand combat himself. Not knowing what to do, Thomas resorted to naval attacks, as he had amassed a large squadron of ships, but here he likewise met with failure, for his ships were consumed by ‘Military Fire.’ Knowledge of this weapon had almost disappeared before these events, but at this time it was discovered in the following way. A certain knowledgeable Egyptian named Kallinikos was the only man who possessed its secret. Outspokenly presenting himself to the Emperor, he said that, if the Emperor so desired, he would fight on his side against Thomas at sea. He then prepared the substance and distributed it to the admirals.”
Book 4: Basil I (867-886)

“26…The two now closed in on each other. The other atempted to lift Basil off the ground, but he could not counter Basil’s resistance and it was he who was lifted up, though bravely, and swirled around very quickly. He was thrown to the ground,”by a podrezian embrace,”* as the locals say, and was so unmistakably defeated that everyone was highly entertained. But after a while they managed to revive him by pouring buckets of water on him. Antigonos returned with his own men to the Caesar and told him everything that had hapened. Eventually the Emperor Michael heard the story and summoned Basil and two others of the same age. When he saw them, he was pleased with their countenance and praised their stature, but he marveled at Basil much more than at the other two. He gave him various honors and promised him many more. For God advances those who He knows will rule and endows them with the symbols of Empire…” 

* Kaldellis’ note: “From pod and rezati – to ‘undercut.” (that is podrzezać)

“30. …He considered a man named Andreas, who was intelligent and who sought experience and the opportunity to prove his bravery, even though he kept his qualities a secret, as the course of events would prove (he came from the Scythian lands of the west). Basil appointed him second in command of the Opsikion theme. Andreas** managed his forces expertly, attacked the enemy, and won a great victory, which decreased their arrogance for the meantime. Because of this victory and his many other acts of bravery, he was made a Patrikios and given the comand of the Scholai. And since he continued to campaign against the enemy, and won many victories, he was later appointed to be Magistros.”

* Kaldellis’ note: “For the career of Andreas, who was probably of Suavic descent, see ‘Patrices des regnes de Basile ler et de LeonVI,’ pages 300-301. The events described in this section occurred late in 878 (the year Syracuse fell); the victory was won at Podandos in Cilicia, and the enemy was the emir of Tarsos… B. Blysidou dates his elevation to Magistros to 886.”

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September 24, 2021

Ibn Hawqal’s Description of Palermo & Why You Should Not Eat Raw Onions

PublishedSeptember 16, 2021 Post authortorino

Although we showcased the more famous Suavic passage by Arab writers, there are other works that mention Suavs that are less known. Thus, while we have previously discussed Ibn Hawqal (see here), a lesser known passage from this same writer also mentions Suavs on Sicily. The following translation comes from the William Granara translation (from 1983). The underlying edition is that of Michele Amari (Lipsia: F.A. Brockhaus, 1857). For the rest of Ibn Hawqal, Granara directs his readers to M.J. deGoeje’s edition in Bibliotheca Geographorum Arabicorum (Leiden: Brill, 1973).

Note that some of these passages by Ibn Hawqal are repeated in the 13th century by Yāqūt in his “Dictionary of Countries”.

For other evidence of Suavs in Sicily see also Michele Amari’s Storia di musulmani di Sicilia, volume 2 (of the 1935 edition) which mentions a Suav military unit (or slave?) created by the Arabs which was successfully employed in the Arab-Byzantine conflicts as well as, in the year 939, a village of apparently Suavic origin (“Sclafani”). Note that there are other place names in Sicily that indicate Suavic origin.

Incidentally, Amari, hypothesizes that the origin of the Suav district in Palermo dates back to a raid in 928/929 by Suavic pirates from the Adriatic coast who were led by Sârib as-Saqlabi – presumably a Serb – and who, in league with Arabs, raided Calabria, Sardinia and Corsica. Amari’s source for this idea, however, is the later 14th century writer, Abulfeda (Abū al-Fidāʾ).

Be that as it may, it is clear that Suavic settlement on Sicily predated that incident. For earlier evidence of Suavs in Sicily in the 8th or maybe even 7th century see here (discussing Suavs in “The Life of Saint Pancratius of Taormina”).

On Suavs on the relatively nearby Malta in the 11th century see here (referencing claims made by the later chronicle al-Himyari).

The Suavic Quarter/District name later disappears and, according to Lewicki, is replaced by the name Seralcadi or Seralcadio (from the Arabic – sari-al-qadì – for the Street of the Judge). Today the area is referred to as Mount of Piety (Monte di Pietà).

The area in question

Note Sicily had been taken by the Muslims in 902 who would hold the island until the Norman conquest of the 11th century.

“Sicily is an island seven days long (walking distance) by four days. Much off it is mountainous and full of castles and fortresses. Most of the land is inhabited and cultivated. It has no city as popular nor as famous as that known as Palermo (Balarm), the capital of the island. Palermo is a seaport city in the North.

Palermo consists of five quarters, each one close to the others, but situated in such a way that the borders of each are clearly defined. The largest quarter is itself called Palermo. It is enclosed by a high defensive stone wall and inhabited by merchants. It houses the Friday mosque which was, at one time, a Christian church. The mosque has a huge sanctuary. I heard certain logicians say that  the Greek philosopher Aristotle is buried in a wooden box suspended in the sanctuary. The Christians used to venerate him and pray to him for rain. They preserved the traditions of Classical Greece which he ahd handed down to them from his forefathers. It was said that the reason for suspending the body mid-air was so that the people could go and see it there in order to pray for rain or seek cures for all sorts of calamities that befell them, be they natural disasters, death or civil strife. I myself saw a great big box which suggests that the tomb may actually be there.

The quarter of the city known as al-Khalisa* has a wooden wall which is not like the stone wall that surrounds the Old City (Palermo). The sultan and his entourage inhabit this quarter. It has neither markets nor inns. It does have public baths as well as a small but frequently attended Friday mosque. The quarter also houses the sultan’s prison, the naval arsenal and the administration offices. It has four gates facing south and west. On these sides, south and west, is the ocean. Also, there is a wall there that has no gate.

[*note: compare with Calisia :-)]

The Slav Quarter (Harat al-Saqaliba) is more populous and grander than the two mentioned above. It contains the port as well. It also has springs that run through it as well as through the Old City. These springs serve as the only border between the two quarters.

The so-called Quarter of the Mosque, also referred to as Ibn Saqlab, is also large, but does not have running water. Its residents get their drinking water from wells.

Outside of the city to the south is a great big valley, known as Wadi cAbbas, full of mills, but unsuitable for orchards and gardens.

The New Quarter (al-Hara al-Jadida) is a large section of the city, located close to the Quarter of the Mosque. There is no border nor divided between the two. Nor does it have a wall adjacent to the Slav Quarter.

The vast majority of the markets are situated between Ibn Saqlab Mosque and the New Quarter. There are, for example, markets for the oil merchants, money changers and pharmacists, all of which are located outside the city wall There are also cobblers armourers and coppersmiths. Finally, there are grain markets and markets for other types of crafts as well.

Inside the (Old) city, however, are over one hundred and fifty butcher shops. The other quarters, on the other hand, have only a few of these. Such a quantity is indicative of their value. The mosque there is so large that when I counted the people when it was completely full, I found over seven thousand. There were more than thirty-six rows at prayer time, each row counting almost two hundred people. The mosques of the Old City, of al-Khalisa and of the other quarters surrounding the city from beyond the wall, number more than three hundred, most of them built with roofs, walls and gates. Those on the island most knowledgeable and best informed agree on this number.

Outside the city, in areas that border it directly as well as those that are adjacent to its gardens and towers, are the closely connected inns (mahall). The one closest to Wadi cAbbas is near a place called The Barracks (al-Mucaskar), which actually extends from the countryside to Wadi-cAbbas. Some of these inns stand one after the other until they reach an area known as al-Bayda. This is a village which overlooks the city at a distance of about six kilometers. It had been destroyed and its inhabitants perished in a series of civil wars which plagued the country.

No one would deny the importance of these small towns since there are over two hundred mosques there alone. Personally, I have never seen such a number in any one of the major cities, even those twice as large as Palermo. In fact, I have not heard anything like it except what they say about Cordova. I have not been able to verify that. I am inclined to doubt it. I am quite sure about Sicily, however, since I have seen most of them with my own eyes.

One day I was standing beside the house of Abu Muhammad al-Qafsi, the lawyer, a specialist in contracts. Looking out from his mosque at a distance of a shot of an arrow, I noticed about ten mosques, some of them facing each other, often separated by a road, Inquiring as to the excessive number of them, I was told that the people are extremely proud, each wanting his own private mosque to share with only his family and his small inner circle.  Among them were two brothers who lived next door to each other, and whose walls were adjacent. Each one built his own mosque so that he could pray there in private.

Among these ten mosques which I mentioned is a mosque there Abu Muhammad al-Qafsi prays. Next to it at about twenty paces is a mosque which he built for his son so that he could study law in it. Each one wants it to be said that this is so-and-so’s mosque and no one else’s. This son of his thought himself something special. He admired himself and was so arrogant that he acted like the father instead of the son.

There are quite a few ribat on the coastline, full of freeloaders, scoundrels and renegades, both old and young, poor and ignorant. These people would pretend to perform their prostrations, standing in order to teal money given to charity, or to defame honorable women. Most of them were pimpts and perverts. They sought refuge there because they were incapable of doing anything else, and because they had no place to go. They were low-life and rabble…

The city is oblong shaped and has a market which cuts across it from east to west. This market is called al-Samat and is paved with stone. It houses all sorts of merchants, from one side to the other.

Palermo sits on many springs, from east to west, each one able to power two mills. From their sources to their mouths these waters fertilize much land. There one finds Persian sugar cane and succulent vegetable gardens. Throughout the land one also finds lots on which papyrus is grown, This is used for making paper. I do not know if Egyptian papyrus has an equivalent on the face of the earth with the exception of that in Sicily. Much of it is twisted into rope which is then used for ships. Some of it is used, as stated, for paper for the use of the sultan, depending upon the amount available…

Most of the water of the city quarters and the towns comes from wells. It is rather thick and unhealthy. They drink it for lack of fresh water. The crudeness of their manners and the dullness of their senses come from their excess in eating raw onions. There is no one among them, rich nor poor, who does not eat them day in and day out. This is what has thwarted their imaginations, impaired their minds, numbed their senses, altered their thinking, clouded their understanding and even ruined their facial features. It has, in fact, changed their dispositions so much that they do not always see things as they actually are.

There are more than three hundred teachers who educate the young. They see themselves as the most honorable and noble of people, God’s chosen people, His loyal servants. This is contrary to what is known of teachers, that is, their inferior intellects and dim-wittedness. For they have come to their professions escaping the duty of jihad, shirking from battle.

I have written a book with a full account of them.”

Although names are frequently recycled, and a connection between the Shekelesh of the Sea Peoples fame and the Siculi of Sicily is possible, it is worth noting for the overly ambitious that it would take a lot more to establish a connection with the Sclavi. The existence of today’s Modica (earlier Μότουκα, Mótouka, Mutyca or Motyca) certainly won’t be sufficient. That “Trojans” and others migrated to Sicily is, of course, possible though here some Germanic researchers might also claim the heritage as with, for example, Segesta on the other side of the island.

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September 16, 2021

Czech Gods Part III

PublishedAugust 9, 2021 Post authortorino

Here is a list of the remaining sources that appear in Meyer’s compilation and that we have not yet covered. The translations come (mostly) from Juan Antonio Álvarez- Pedrosa, Julia Mendoza Tuñón, and Sandra Romano Martín (“Sources of Slavic Pre-Christian Religion.”)

Legenda Bohemica “Oportet Nos Fratres”

[section 1]

“For the inhabitants of this region lived without law until the time of the Roman-Germanic Caesar Henry [the Fowler],* knew not the king of heaven, as if they were deprvied of reason, and, forgetting that creation is the work of such a great Creator, served deaf and mute idols, straying far from the truth… After… the illustrious male Spytihnev became leader of the principality and took firm hold of the throne of this kingdom for himself and at the same time, by the will of God, began to love in earnest the cult of the Christian religion, to observe with devotion the law of God, to feel hatred for the followers of the idols and to love all those who believe in the one true God as if they were the children of his own loins. And without more delay, regenerated with the mystery of the holy baptism, wisely edified in the faith of the most Holy Trinity, he destroyed the majority of the temples of the idols and with the greatest veneration built many temples and chapels in honor of the Holy King of Kings.”

* note: Henry was a king, not an emperor.

“Ilius enim regionis incole usque ad tempora Romani Cesaris Heinrici sine lege uiuebant, celi regem, quasi ratione carentes, nesciebant, seque facturam tanti factoris esse negligentes, surdis et mutis ydolis seruiebant, a ueritate longe deuiantes (…). Postquam (…) preclarus uir Zpitigneus peruenit ad ducatus principatum et eiusdem regni solium sibi subiecit bene subiugatum, statim Deo predestinante christiane religionis cultum studiose cepit amare, legem Dei deuotus obseruare, sectatores autem ydolorum odio habere et omnes in unum uerum Deum credentes quasi filios uterinos diligere. Nec mora, sacri baptismatis mysterio regeneratus, in fide sancte Trinitatis sapienter edificatus, plurima idolorum templa destruxit, regi regum eiusque sanctis perplures domos et oratoria cum summa ueneratione construxit.”

[section 3]

“As proof of his goodwill, the exalted emperor of the Romans, Otto I… granted this happy son Wenceslaus the enjoyment of the duchy and advised him with great emphasis to be, like his father Vratislaus*, a dedicated soldier of the imperial army, to act with loyalty like a good leader all the days of his life and to always stay far away from the cult of the perverse idols.”

* note: Vratislaus I of Bohemia (circa 888-921), duke of Bohemia from 915.

“Summus autem Romanorum imperator,scilicet primus Otto(…) beatum puerum Wenzezlaum bona uoluntate constituit ad ducatus dominationem et monuit eum summis ammonitionibus patri suo Wratizlao similem esse regali militie strennuum militem et bonum ducem omnibus diebus uite sue fideliter interesse et a peruersis ydolorum culturis semper abesse.“

[section 13]

“All that which he (Wenceslaus) dared not do openly before his semi-pagan subjects to serve God, he performed in full over the course of the night at desired intervals. Because there existed a pledge among the pagan subjects, and confirmed by criminal analogy, whereby, should they find a clergyman or a Christian anywhere with the Servant of God, they would immediately cut off his head or subject him to another cruel death with no possibility of defense. For this reason, the pious Wenceslaus built hidden passages.”

“Quicquid propter semipaganos ciues palam facere non ausus est in Dei seruitium, hoc pernox totum impleuit per desiderabile cuiusque noctis intersticium. Erat enim a paganis ciuibus constitutum et federatum celestaque conratione confirmatum, ut si quis clericorum aut ceterorum christianorum cum Dei seruo alicubi inueniretur, statim aut capite truncaretur aut alia seuissima morte sine contradictione puniretur. At beatusWenzezlaus fecit occultas posterulas.“

[section 15]

“To them, the man of the Lord (Wenceslaus), moved for a brief time, answered them saying: ‘Oh incredulous fools, enemies of the Christian name… You are worshippers of loathsome idols and pagans who persecute nearly all Christians. What is more, that which at some moment was my wish for the service of God, was without doubt that which you wished for not… You established your ceremonies and festivals dedicated to the demons and not to God, you offered victims and burnt offerings to alien/strange gods, and reduced to nothing all those things connected with the true God. And on top of this, with threats and flattery you prohibited me from celebrating the divine mysteries.”

“Quibus uir domini paulisper commotus respondit et dixit: “O increduli et insani, o inimici nominis christiani (…) Vos estis cultores inmundorum idolorum et profani persecutores omnium pene christianorum. Preterea quicquid umquam in Dei seruitium meum erat uelle, procul dubio uestrum erat nolle (…) Demonibus et non Deo solemnitates et ferias uestras constituistis, uictimas et holocausta diis alienis obtulistis, et omnia, que ueri Dei sunt, ad nichilum redegistis. Insuper minis et blandimentis me ipsum prohibuistis diuina mysteria celebrare.”

Concilia Pragensia

sub anno 1366

“On the image of death (regarding those who bring death to the outskirts of town in the middle of Lent). It is known that in some cities, towns and villages the pernicious habit has taken root, on the part of clergy and laymen, of bringing images in the form of death around town to the river in the middle of Lent, accompanied by chants and superstitious representations and that there they sink said images vehemently arguing to their own shame that in this way death will not do them more harm because it has been destroyed and wiped out from the town’s boundaries. Therefore, it is ordered that each and every one of the heads of the diocesan churches, upon discovering that there are such people in their parishes, immediately remove them from divine functions, until said transgressors and superstitious fraudsters receive from the Archbishop a penitence that corresponds to their excesses and will free them from sin. Absolution for these excesses is especially reserved for the Reverend Father.”

“De mortis ymagine (de his, qui in media quadragesimae portant mortem extra villam). Item quia in nonnullis civitatibus oppidis et villis prava clericorum et laicorum inolevit abusio , qui in medio quadragesimae ymagines in figura mortis per civitatem cum rithmis et ludis superstitionis ad flumen deferunt ibi quoque ipsas ymagines cum impetu submergunt, in eorum ignominiam asserentes quod mors eis ultra nocere non debeat tanquam ab ipsorum terminis sit ultra nocere non debeat tanquam ab ipsorum terminis sit consumata et totaliter exterminata. Quare omnibus et singulis ecclesiarum parochialum rectoribus precipitur quod cum tales in suis plebibus resciverint, mox a divinis officiis tam diu abstineant, donec dicti prevaricatores lusoresque superstitiosi a domino Archiepiscopo peniterntiam recipiant pro excessibus condignam et salutarem quorum absolutionem sibi reverendus pater specialiter reservat.”

sub anno 1384

“It is also ordered that the parishioners or the leaders who represent them in the diocese of Prague should not allow superstitious representations in their parishes, and especially should not allow images representing death, which are made so as to be displayed, midway through Lent, on city outskirts, accompanied by music, on account of the bad custom that is established in some places.”

“Item mandatur ne plebani seu eorum vices gerentes per diocesin Pragensem ludos superstitiosos in plebibus suis admittant specialiter ne in medio quadragesimae extra portas urbis vel ville ymaginem ad hoc factam in modum ortis cum rithmis sicut consuetudo prava in quibusdam locis inolevit, offerri permittant.”

(another) sub anno 1384

“It is also ordered that all parishioners and the leaders who represent them shall not allow, on the anniversaries of their dead, for the parishioners in their own houses to make sacrifices with torches, on their behalf or the behalf of others, nor for them to sign the responses that are often used n such occasions. For this custom should be considered a bad habit.”

“Item mandator omnibus plebanis et eorum uices gerentibus ut in anniuersariis mortuorum in domibus plebizanorum ipsorum non permittant ut faiant fieri aliqua offertoria cum luminibus per se uel alios nec eciam cantent responsoria in talibus consueta fieri. Nam hec consuetudo uel potius abusio dicenda est.”

sub anno 1407

“Against money-lenders and fortune-tellers. In addition, oh! It has been reported before the tribunal of our Lord that many money-lenders, fortune-tellers, sorcerers and sorceresses are appearing in different parishes and this is publicly tolerated by the parishioners, who, free from all censure, openly practice different spells, disregarding and setting aside the one holy Christian faith. Thus, it is ordered that each and every parishoiner should no longer tolerate such sorcerers and sorceresses any longer in their parishes but rather they should condemn them and expel them and send them before the tribunal of the authority so that they may complete the punishment imposed upon them for their salvation. Moreover, any parishioner who does not heed this must be reported by the prior of that place to the higher prelates, and must be punished by them with aseverity as a prticipant in a crime that has been condemned and is condemned.”

“Contra usurarios (et) sortilegos. Item heu ad nostri domini audienciam est deductum quod multi usurarii sortileges incantatores et incantatrices in diversis parochiis commorantur et publice tolerantur per plebanos absque omni correccione libere diversa sortilegia exercentes in sancte et (et) unite christiane contemptum fidei et scissuram. Igitur mandatur plebanis universis et singulis quatenus tales sortilegos et sortilegas non tolerent ulterius in parochiis eorum, sed corrigant et expellant tales pro poenitencia peragenda ad superiorum audienciam remittant eis salubirr imponendo alias quicunque plebanus circa hoc negligens fure debet per loci decanum denunciari prelats superioribusi.”

Copyright ©2021 jassa.org All Rights Reserved.

August 9, 2021

Spanish Religious Connections

PublishedJuly 26, 2021 Post authortorino

In Polish folk songs we have the Names of Leli and Didzilela. These are frequently associated (whether correctly or not) with celestial objects. Similar Names appear in Croat songs and among other Suavs. We know we also have Yassa and Lada.

There is a coat of arms by the name Leliwa which, in its objects and the blue background also has celestial connotations:

Now, this obviously brings up the Moon and either the Sun or perhaps some other bright light in the sky – Venus maybe?

Note that the Moon and the Sun sometimes appear at the same time (same with Venus).

In any event, there is a town in Spain in the province of Toledo called Velada. Velada refers to a soirée or an evening party or late evening vigil. This is that town’s coat of arms:

What does this mean? Perhaps nothing but it is still interesting. Perhaps the ancients were intent to honor the time of day when the lunar bodies joined in the sky (as husband and wife or two lovers?).

For the Bructeri prophetess Veleda/Velaeda see an earlier post.

Copyright ©2021 jassa.org All Rights Reserved.

July 26, 2021

Some Musings on Suavic Beliefs Regarding the Earth’s Satellites

PublishedJune 29, 2021 Post authortorino

A few years ago a reader asked about the cult of the Sun among the Suavs. Back then I was dismissive. I thought (and still do) that neither the Sun nor the Moon were worshipped as Gods among the Suavs. That said, I had not been entirely fair. While the Sun and Moon were clearly not Deities in Suavic tales, they had been revered and divine tales had been spun around them. It feels, though I can’t prove it, that at some point at least some Suavs anthropomorphized the Sun and the Moon and then may have developed Divinities that, while not themselves these celestial bodies, were represented by them. Alternatively, this may have occurred in reverse such that the worship of Divinities was associated over time with the Sun and Moon.

Let’s start with the Sun.

I do not intend to write about Dadzhbog as that “tale” such as it is, has been exhaustively discussed. Let’s rather touch on some other aspects of the reverence for the Sun. Perhaps the most famous example of the veneration of the Sun is the “swearing on the Sun” – the act of swearing by raising your hand and, specifically, extending two fingers towards the Sun. This was a ritual present in Poland but also in the Czech lands and portions of Germany. Here the bibliography includes most notably:

  • Władysław Aleksander Semkowicz, Przysięga na słońce: studyum porównawcze prawno-etnologiczne (1916) in: Księga pamiątkowa ku czci Bolesława Orzechowicza, t. 2, Lwów 1916, pages 304-377.
  • Władysław Aleksander Semkowicz, Jeszcze o przysiędze na słońce w Polsce, in: Studia historyczne ku czci Stanisława Kutrzeby, t. I, Kraków 1938, pages 429-444.
  • Stanisław Szczotka, Stosowanie przysięgi na słońce w polskim sądownictwie wiejskim w XVIII wieku in: Czasopismo Prawno-Historyczne 2 (1949), pages 452-458.
  • Waldemar Bukowski, O przysiędze na słońce raz jeszcze. Przysięga w postępowaniu granicznym w księstwie zatorskim w 1529 roku, in: Memoria viva. Studia historyczne poświęcone pamięci Izabeli Skierskiej (1967-2014), red. G. Rutkowska, A. Gąsiorowski, Warszawa–Poznań 2015, pages 789-804.
  • Entry for Przysięga (by Wojciech Hejnosz) in the “Dictionary of Suavic Antiquities” (Słownik starożytności słowiańskich), volume 4, p. 402 and the following.

Semkowicz gives the following examples of this act from Mazovia, Greater Poland and Silesia:

  • On May 3, 1466, Conrad III, the Duke of Czersk certifies in Łomża that Jacob and Alex Szczodruch of Zalesie (coat of arms Trzaska) established in his presence their nobility with witnesses delivering sworn testimony by raising two fingers towards the Sun:
    • errectis versus solem duobus digitis
    • source: Wywody szlachectwa w Polsce XIV-XVII, page 38, number 138 in Rocznik Towarzystwa Heraldycznego, volume III
  • On June 22, 1468, six brothers, the heirs of Tykiewki (coat of arms Kościesza) established their nobility relying on sworn witness testimony which witnesses attested to that fact by raising two fingers towards the Sun:
    • duobus digitis in solem elevatis et errectis
    • Wywody szlachectwa w Polsce XIV-XVII, number 141 in Rocznik Towarzystwa Heraldycznego, volume III
  • On March 21, 1471 Bolesuav V, the duke of Warsaw confirms the nobility claim of Jan of Kutyłów  (coat of arms Doliwa), who presented witnesses attesting to this with fingers raised towards the Sun:
    • errectis versus solem duobus digitis
    • Wywody szlachectwa w Polsce XIV-XVII, number 142 in Rocznik Towarzystwa Heraldycznego, volume III

Semkowicz notes the following additional examples from F. Stanisław Kozierowski:

  • Under 1450, Kościan (Greater Poland) books list three knights being cleared of theft charges and, in court proceedings, swearing to their innocence by raising, in accordance with chivalric custom, two fingers of their right hands towards the Sun:
    • debent iurare iuxta ius militare, intuendo solem, elevatis duobus digitis dextrae manus

The Poznań court official present (subcamerarius) notes that such two -finger oath was done in appropriate fashion:

    • spectato sole (solem inspiciendo), duobus digitis dextrae manus elevatis 

These citations are from:

    • F. Stanisław Kozierowski, Nieznane zapiski heraldyczne from Roczniki Towarzystwa Przyjaciół Nauk Poznańskiego, 1915, numbers 45, 46, 60, 81
  • In 1484, in Poznań Piotr Więckowski swore to his innocence again by raising two fingers towards the Sun:
    • erectis duobus versus solem (in solem) digitis
    • F. Kozierowski, l c. number 60
  • In 1456, John duke of Oświęcim confirms the nobility of Jan Nowowiejski whose witnesses were his relatives and who testified with two fingers raised towards the Sun
    • mit vfgeracten czweyen fingern kegen der zonnen nachritterlichen lowfe
    • in German from the Codex Diplomaticus Silesiae, v. 1 CXXVIII

Curiously, to this day, Polish officers salute using two fingers. Now, this custom supposedly derives from the much later Napoleonic era but making a connection might be tempting…

Why two fingers?

Here let’s indulge in some speculation. The Polish (and Suavic more generally) word for the Sun is słońce. This is a bit unusual because the -ce (or -cie or sometimes -cy) suffix indicates the presence of either something that isn’t really present in today’s Suavic languages – the dual noun form – or, sometimes, of the plural noun. Thus, we have, to give a few examples:

  • miesiące
  • skrzypce
  • lejce
  • łapcie

The singular would have the -iec suffix. Thus, skrzypiec, lejec, łapiec and so forth.

Could słońce itself be a plural?

Brückner does not even consider that, instead pushing the theory that this is a diminutive:

Vasmer is not that far off from Brückner:

And yet what examples does Brückner give to justify his view?

He brings up serce meaning “heart” (from an earlier sierce) and miejsce meaning”place.” And yet are these other examples diminutives? Anyone supportive of Brückner’s view here must wince at the example of serce – at least anyone aware of the heart’s four chambers, that is the two atria and two ventricles.

As to miejsce, the earlier mieśćce or miestce, that is supposedly a diminutive of miasto which in Polish means “town” but in other Suavic languages may just mean a “place” – a concept that in Polish is expressed in miejsce. If this is correct and if we disregard serce – as per the above obsevation – then this, it seems to me, would be about the only example I am aware of a singular diminutive with the -ce suffix.

It is also curious that:

  • słońce is obviously related to Sun

while

  • serce could be mistaken (?) for being a cognate of sur (south, also the Kern of our solar system),

while

  • miejsce, the (meeting? compare with Lithuanian mietas) place, appears cognate with miesiąc meaning “Moon”

Putting that aside, what would this singular of słońce be?

Here the answer must be słoniec which itself would have to be a diminutive of, what, słoń?

Well, this is not to suggest that Suavs thought of the Sun as being pulled by elephants (rather the elephant is more likely to have been named after the large beasts pulling the Sun).

But the Suavs may have believed that the Sun was pulled by  multiple creatures – horses? dragons?

But were these creatures – that we project deep into the PIE times – really called individually a słoń? Or was a słoniec simply a derivative of another Name that sounded like the Sun? In other words, was the Sun driven around by the słońce, that is “servants of the Sun” (an interesting exercise too in light of the above would be an examination of the etymology of this term – PIE *seruo- “guardian” – of what? of the Sun – Sur – maybe?).

But then what was the Sun? In Suavic languages this term is the purportedly neuter singular słońce. Neither he nor she. But as shown above, the term may have originated in a plural concept for those creatures which pull the Sun across the sky. So what was the Name of the Sun itself? Could it have been Sune or Suna – a Name that was preserved only in obscure Norse tales?

In fact, the Suavic word sunąć meaning, roughly, “to glide along at a fast but steady pace” may itself be derived from “Sun”. (Curiously, in Greek stories Ladas is the name of two very fast runners – why are runners called Ladas?)

If this is the case then we would have to show that the Sun – or rather the Deity of the Sun – was a female in Suavic beliefs. That is not like Helios a God but a Goddess. Is this possible?

Here we have very scant, though not immaterial, evidence for this claim.

The first and only constant in our quest to assign gender to the heavenly bodies is that the Moon is (almost) always male, that is księżyc or miesiąc. Thus, implicitly, you’d think that the Sun should be female.

An immediate objection is that – at least in Polish – księżyc means “little primce” such that the “big” prince must surely be the Sun. This, however, has been shown many years ago to be no more than scientific folklore by Kazimierz Moszyński who pointed out that Polish peasants only referred to the waxing crescent of the new Moon as księżyc, that is the “young” moon (młody księżyc). Thus, ksiądz, meaning “ruler” refers to the full Moon and not to the Sun.

Having dispensed with the above objection, we still have to show positive proof of the Sun being associated with the female. This does happen in Polish belief but it is rare. Apparently, there is evidence that newlyweds in parts of Poland have traditionally called upon the Sun and the Moon to bless their marriage. That, however, is, again, circumstantial evidence.

Well, again, there seemingly is some evidence for this belief but only in Eastern Poland. Specifically, you have to go to the PhD dissertation written by Wanda Drabik – “The Customs of Podlachia” (Obrzędy Podlasia) to come upon a claim that in wedding songs found in that part of Poland, folk refer to the Sun as the bride and to the Moon as the bridegroom.

Traces of this appear further West as reported in, for example, the Silesian Józef Lompa’s Bajki i podania (being the compendium of his work Sitten und Gebräuche des schlesisch-slavischen Volkes).

Curiously, the work of another Silesian Nicolaus Magni de Iawor – the ever popular party hit Tractatus de supersticionibus – contains the story of an old woman who called the Sun the Holy Lady, spoke to Her, performed blessings in Her name and, the old lady claimed, healed many a sickness in the Sun’s name over the course of forty years. Here is that text as given by Krzysztof Bracha:

Sic aliquam vetulam novi, que credidit solem esse quasi deam vocans eam sanctam dominam et alloquendo solem benedixit per eum sub certis verbis cum observancia quadam supersticiosam, que dixit: se plus quam 40 annis se credidisse hoc et multas infirmitates curasse

What was the source of this anecdote? A Suavic Bohemian or Silesian tale or a German story? Bracha notes that the same story appears in the Kommentar zur Dekalog written by the German preacher Gottschalk Hollen.

Another potential Suavic female connection for the Sun is with the Goddess Lada. If the reference to Lada as Minerva is accurate and we know that Minerva was just the Roman Athena then we can connect Lada with Athena. Athena was not a solar goddess per se but she does have some solar connections. Most importantly, we are told that on the day that she was born Helios stopped the Sun chariot.

Of course, as previously noted, Lado was the Sun Eye of Piorun according to a Ruthenian saying and, though, the provenance here is unclear, apparently, in Lithuania, peasants sang Lado, Lado saule, duok jam sameziu per gałwe, that is, “Lado, Lado Sun, hit him [the wolf] on the head with a ladle*” (as this comes from Narbutt, we may be suspicious whether the song is genuine).

* note that, curiously, “ladle” comes from hlædel, itself from hladan “to load, to draw up water” (see also lade)

Turning to the Moon, what can be said unequivocally is that the Moon was (almost) always associated  with a Man. Of course the Moon was also associated with the Name Jasień, Who, in turn, seems to have been the youthful Sky Rider.

Incidentally, are miesiące also the creatures that pull the Moon or is the fact that the Moon is always a miesiąc while the Sun is always “a” słońce mean that the Moon has one horse but the Sun has multiple horses?

And remember our discussion about the strange “2” symbol (see here or on some of these spears)? The symbol that can, when duplicated, form a heart or horseshoes or the Ω Omega sign? Did you know that the horseshoe “luck” symbol may go back to the worship of the Moon (perhaps by the Chaldeans)?

Check these decorations out that were found in Piast Silesia and have been labeled “Scandinavian” (while similar motifs do appear in Scandinavia, they are hardly unique to that area).

Were these – so similar to some of these other designs – horses or other creatures? And were they pulling the Moon or, in fact, the Sun?

Let’s now look at Kazimierz Moszyński’s treatise on Suavic solar and lunar practices.

Moszyński mentions some Suavic tales that speak of multiple Suns. For example, he recalls the tales of the Smolensk Suavs and the Bulgarians who claimed that there had once been two (the former) or even three (the latter) Suns but a snake or a dragon had apparently either “drank” or stolen the other Suns.

Whether that dragon can be associated with the “Ladon” of the Argonauts* or Níðhöggr (Nya?) is another matter. Obviously, cold-blooded lizards like roasting themselves in the Sun so the myth may have its roots in that behavior as well as the daily disappearance and reappearance of the Sun. Alternativly, the many Suns may come from the sun dogs phenomenon.

* note that, interestingly, Diodorus Siculus suggested the name of Jason and the Argonauts’ ship, the Argo, was derived from an ancient Greek word for “swift” (IV.41.3: “The vessel was called Argo after Argus, as some writers of myths record, who was the master-builder of the ship and went along on the voyage in order to repair the parts of the vessel as they were strained from time to time, but, as some say, after its exceeding great swiftness, since the ancients called what is swift Argos.”) . This too is the meaning in Polish of jary – meaning “rushing” or “swift” as in “a rushing river” and jarki – meaning “fast moving”. For more on this rather intriguing subject see here. Were the Argonauts then “sailing” the Sky on the Moon as their vessel? It is also interesting that the Latin word for “silver” is argentum (hence the periodic table symbol Ar) and the Greek was ἄργυρός (which also referred to “money” regarding which see the various monetary customs below that involved the Moon). Of course, you also have ἀργός meaning “white” or “bright” or, in Sanskrit, árjuna, with all these meanings.

Moszyński also relates that peasants would, particularly on Saint John’s Eve come out to the borders of the village and stare at the Sun. The Sun would then be described as “dancing”, “playing, “laughing” or even “bathing”. This custom was generally limited to Central Europe but apparently also present in Bretagne (Veneti?) and some other unspecified parts of France. When associated with Easter the same custom appears too in Russia, Germany and the southern Caucasus. Other phenomena that were related by the peasantry, according to Moszyński also included a Sun that jumped up and down, rotated, broke into separate parts or recombined itself into a single body. Moszyński then brings up the work of D.O. Svyatskiy (perhaps Astronomiya Drevney Rusi) who methodically exclaims some of these optical phenomena as green flash and green ray illusions.

Moszyński also discusses the various customs associated with the Moon. Of particular note is the fact that Suavs apparently associated the new Moon with wealth (Nya as Pluto?) or, more particularly, with accretion to wealth – perhaps a result of the expectation that the Moon will over time get fatter and so, the peasants would also welcome the same as in this Polish “spell”:

Witaj, Księżycu, niebieski dziedzicu! Tobie złota korona. Mnie zdrowie i fortuna!
(“Welcome, oh Moon, the heavenly ruler*! For you the golden crown. For me health and fortune!”)

* note that although dziedzic can mean “heir”, in the context of a village it meant the local feudal lord.

Curiously, a similar association is mentioned by Nicolaus Magni de Iawor (as per Bracha):

Insuper hic hodie inveniuntur homines tam laici quam clerici, tam litterati quam illiterati, quos et plus dolendum est quidam magistri, cum primo novilunium viderint flectis genibus adorant et deposito capucium vel pileo capite inclinato honorant, alloquendo et suscipiendo, ymmo plures ieiuniant illo die, scilicet novilunio.

Bracha also reports similar beliefs reported by Caesarius of Arles (of Chalon) or in parts of Germany citing Nikolas von Dinkelbühl who noted that at the new Moon, people would lift open their money satchels towards the Moon to show the Moon the coins or would  shake the satchel and utter a prayer for successful month. The same author further cited an actual German prayer to the Moon (from De decem praeceptis or De preceptis decalogi):

Ad idem reduci potest stultissimus iste error, quod quidam quando primo vident novam lunam ipsam venerantur immo adorant dicentes hec aut similia verba: „Bis got wilkum newer mon holder her, mach mir myns geltes mer“; et aperta bursa ei monstrant pecuniam aut eam in bursa vibrant, credentes per huiusmodi deprecacionem et reverencie exhibicioem ab ea obtinere prosperitatem per istum mensem et augmentum diviciarum.

Bracha cites a number of other examples from German lands (see also in Handwörterbuch des deutschen Aberglaubens) found in Thomas von Haselbach (reporting the similar Bis got bilchom ein newer man holder her, mach mir meins gutz mer), Thomas Peuntner and Johann Militsch von Kremsier. For more on this see also the older Der Magister Nikolaus Magni De Jawor by Franz Adolph. Bracha also finds (citing an article by Maria Kowalczyk given here in English, though she seems to cite the wrong page) further examples from Poland such as this instance from Stanisuav of Skarbimierz  (Stanisław ze Skarbimierza or, in Latin, Stanislaus de Scarbimiria) from Sermo 47 where there is an order to bend the knee during the New Moon and recite Psalm 67.1, (here given as “Lord, shine your face upon us”); then the sermon orders an oath be performed (presumably facing the Moon), to remain in the Catholic faith and then, at the very end, to utter a prayer:

In novilunio cum primo perspexeris lunam flexis genibus dic hunc versum. Illumina domine, vultum tuum super nos et fac hoc, quam diu vixeris. Et tunc vade domum ad cameram tuam devoveno, quod nunquam peririum voluntarie volueris facere et quod in fide katholica semper volueris perseverare et dic aliquias 0oraciones

Or, from other Suavic lands (via Moszyński’s book), you have this Croatian iteration (which incidentally also relates a fight between the Moon and a snake or dragon):

Pomladi ti mene, kak si sam sebe. Kad tebe zmija ujela, onda mene glava zabolela! Kad tebe zmija ujela, onda mene groznica uhvatila!

Incidentally, the Moon, as Moszyński notes, was also a Deity but among the peasants (at least in Christian times) only of demons such as water demons. And here we have the curious connection to water – woda – and, perhaps, Wodan. The Moon-Water connection is not that difficult to make – it is delivered by the tides. From there you can also imagine thunderstorms full of rain as the Wild Hunt. In the Balkans Moszyński finds evidence of the Moon “drinking” water much as the snakes “drank” the Sun in the Russian fables.

The Moon is, however,  susceptible to being eaten itself – by wolves. This association should also be obvious if you consider the changing Moon as a Moon from which some animal takes a bite out of (other Suavs associated the Moon, for the same reason, with the sickle – naturally – but also with “horns” – of course).

Both the Sun and the Moon cold be stolen (by witches) and, among Southern Suavs, the Sun could also be eaten by a werewolf or a type of dragon called Hala. This, of course, brings associations with Hela.

Further, let’s mention that Krzysztof Bracha also notes other references in Polish sermons to Sun as well as Moon veneration. Here are the actual copies of pages he cites from:

BN III 3025 (242v)

BN III 3022 (92r) (Sun & Moon worship)

 

So then the ultimate question must be: was the Rider in the Sky riding on His White Horse which Horse was the Moon? Remember from Saxo Grammaticus the tale of Svantevit who would ride at night on a white horse that the priest kept at the Svantevit Temple, located, nomen est omen (?), at Arkona.

Copyright ©2021 jassa.org All Rights Reserved.

June 29, 2021

Diddly-odel-oh-ee-dee-yodel-oh-dee

PublishedMay 9, 2021 Post authortorino

That certain parts of Austria, even relatively western parts have been settled by Suavs is not controversial. We can only point to the names of villages and mountains to establish that. Thus, for example, on the borders of Carinthia we have the Gross Venediger mountain near the town of Pregratten, the nearby Mullwitz as well as Pasterzen glaciers or Windisch Matray or Matrey. Just northwest of those Krimml.

Curioously,the name of the Venediger range apparently has nothing to do with the Windische but rather either with the city of Venice (Venedig) or with the name of a mysterious group of foreign people who lurked in the mountains (described in Teutonic lore almost like leprechauns or dwarves – check out this Wikipedia entry for more on these Walen or Venedigermandln who wrote their secrets regarding treasures in Krkonoše aka Riesengebirge, Jizerské hory aka Isergebirge and, apparently also in the Eastern Alps, in the so-called Walenbücher).

This basically runs through northern East Tirol.

Here is a map showing Suavic placenames in Austria. I don’t know how accurate it is (or its source) but it seems to accurately portray the common understanding of the extent of Suavic colonization of the area.

Note that this map comes to an end right where Austria becomes “thinner” getting into Tirol (except that East Tirol is covered). In fact it stops along the north-south Kufstein-Krimml line (though the map does not show Krimml as Suavic).

Is that right? Well, certainly, once you move further west there are fewer Suavic names. Nevertheless, fewer does not mean none. And so, further northwest, you could maybe make a case for Birgitz and Pafnitz which appear in the neighborhood of Innsbruck (the capital of Tirol) as well as for Scharnitz in the north close to the German border as well as Gschnitz in the south (and just to the West of Vinaders and Venn). And a bit further west is Dormitz.Maybe you could also ask questions about Venetberg and Wenns.

But what about much further West?

Well, at some point we asked the question of the origin of the name Bregenz. The city sits on the shores of the Bodensee and, were it found is East Germany, its name would no doubt be explained with a Slavic etymology (breg meaning shore). However, when the same etymology was applied years ago to Bregenz, the immediate and enduring objection was that Slavs never made it that far West. We had questioned the definitiveness of that conclusion pointing out the number of –ow ending names around Bodensee such as Lindow, Langnow, Argow, Hagnow (today Hagnau am Bodensee), Rychow (aka Rinchow, today Reichenau), Metnow (see here or here) or Elekow, Burgow, Tergenow, Tettnow, Rhynow, Hegnow, Reitnow, Liggnow, Betznow, Laymnow, Goslow, Herisow, Lustnow, Hennow, Unpinow, Elgow, Elsow, Kromnow (see below for location), another (?) Unpinow, Yllnow, another Gossow, Klingnow, Lengnow, Kinnow, Willisgow, Brittnow, Metznow, Berow, Raittnow, Winow, Signow, Langnow, Tergernow, Witnow, Tottnow, Warnow (same as below?), another Witnow, Siglow, Rainhartsow, Hoppfow, Hannow, Sirnow, Dietizow, Durnow, Turndow, Buchow (see here and  here). Or in an early article Varnow/Warnow (today’s Fahrnau).

While some of the stems here are clearly Teutonic, the suffixes are suggestive of Suavic. The -ow suffix does not seem to appear much in center-west or northwest Germany ory for that matter, in the Teutonic heartland of Scandinavia (outside of the -skovs in Denmark that refer to a forest).

Of course, there were also other Suavic sounding names not ending in -ow such as Prasbin or Kislec (today Kisslegg), Engelitz or Mogletz/Möglitz slightly to the north. And here is another Kremlen in the Bodensee area. We also pointed out other names such as Belgrad (see here) that are clearly Suavic. We even had a little blurb on Slavs in Switzerland (see here). And some of these areas made it into the Spruner Swabia map which, however, we did not yet discuss here.

I am certainly not the first person to ask theses questions – the most recent attempt to bring some light to this came from Jožef Šavli, Matej Bor and Ivan Tomažič in their “Veneti” book. For the “establishment” views see Robert von Planta’s and Andrea Schorta’s Rätisches Namenbuch.

We thought now that it might be interesting to look at some of the actual maps from the time periods when these names were still used in more or less a Suavic-looking/sounding form.

So let’s get deeper into this !

Below with some overlap you see Elgow (today Elgg; same as above?), Eglisow (today Eglisau), Altnow (today Altnau), Hennow (today Henau by Uzwil; same as above?), Herisow (today Herisau; same as above), Rhynow aka Rynow (today Rheinau; same as above?), Vlnow (today Illnau; same as above?), Langenow (Unter- and Oberlangnau in Germany), Gossaw (Gossow? see below for another Gossow; today Gosau).

North of Rhynow there was Halow just northwest of Dorflingen.

And further west, as we leave the Kleckgow (that is Gau) we had Bernow by Koblenz, now seemingly subsumed by Leibstadt.

Now remember the -gow suffix is spposed to indicate a Gau. For example, many of the above names appear in the Turgow (aka Turgau) (what the etymology of that is is also interesting, considering that tur, for example, is the Suavic word for an “auroch”). Further, the -aw endings are supposed to refer to water though such a name for water has not been attested in a Germanic language as far as I know. But then what do you do with names that do have an -ow suffix but not -gow? At the very least we are dealing with a peculiar overlap among Germanic and Suavic naming conventions.

It turns out that such -ow suffixed names do appear – though very infrequently and usually in clusters – even further out south. Thus, around we have Furstenow (today Furstenau) and Alvenüw (today Alvaneu).

Clüver 1620s

Once again, you might say that since these stems are obviously Germanic this is just a reflection of the confluence of conventions as mentioned above or, at best, this fact just proves that the Suavic tradition of -ow suffixes somehow made it into Switzerland. And yet, as already mentioned above,  you do not see that in Westphalia (well, except for Crakow) or Scandinavia. And yet next to the Germanic Alvenuw are today’s Surava (near Perendellaberg) and Stierva. These may be Celtic (the -ava suffix is IE) and Surovas is a name attested elsewhere in Switzerland but the “elsewhere” is in parts we are about to discuss.

Im any event, if we move towards Zurich we get more of the same though in fewer numbers.

We run into Gudisow (today’s Gundisau next to Russikon), Hitnow (today’s Hitnau) and Oberhitnow and Ylnow (though this seems to be the same as Vlnow, today’s Illnau, already mentioned above).  Again, these are written with the -ow suffix, not the German -au suffix.

Mercator 1585

Again, some of these could be Suavic but others are clearly Germanic.

Once you get deeper into Zurichgow we have Gossow (today’s Gossau), Wolrow (today’s Wollerau; elsewhere Wolraw, Woffrauw?) and Uffnow (today’s Ufenau; later Uffenauw – same as Ussnow from here?; nearby also Lutzelauw).

Mercartor 1585

Next to Wolrow (below already updated to Wolrau), curiously we also have Altwinden (whose today’s location I’ve been unable to pinpoint). To the east, less convincingly, Ober- and Unter- Schwendi.

Seutter/Lotter 1740

Oh, and do not forget Grinow (Grynau) at the southeastern tip of the Ober See (next to Uznach).

Mercator 1585

Another Langenow (and this is quite clearly not a Suavic name though has a Suavic prefix) is  the northwest side of the lake complex.

What the Babenwag next to Hirzel referred to, we will not presume to guess but that too is at least slightly interesting.

A bit to the west we have Knonow (today’s Knonau). 

Just east of Knonow – here shown as Kronow (surely not Kronów!?) – we have Rossow.

If you head northwest from Knonau, you will come to the area that was the subject matter of this post. Here we find the towns described as having some/all of its population be Wendish: Muri, Birchi (today’s Birri) and Wolen (today’s Wohlen). Birri is the villa primitus silva fuit, sed exculta ad hominibus, qui vocantur Winda.

The others mentioned in that other post as Suavic were Butwil, Hermenswil and Althuesern. Althuesern was also referred to in the property listings of the are in 1027-1210 (?): cum [villa] plus esset silvosa, exstirpata est silva ab hominibus, ui vocantur Winda. Didn’t immediately locate them but did find that Aristau next door to Birri was once called Arestovw (though also Arnestouw and Arenstovw). Further, if you go along the River Reuss where it meets the Aare, you will find Windisch.

Just south of Knonow and west of the Zugersee, you have Hanow (today’s Hanau, north of Gyslicken, today’s Gisikon).

If you want to go past the Sempachersee (aka Sur See) you have Willisow (Willisau) with a clear Teutonic prefix (indicating the owner?).

Nearby we also have Ober- and Nieder Vrnow (today’s Ober- and Niederurnen). Further east Nesselaw (aka Nesslauw aka Nesslau, compare Niesiołów near Włocławek) and Kromenaw (today’s Nesslau-Krummenau; compare with, for example, Kromonov, later Crumenaw, earlier Crumpow now Kromnów in Silesia). I mentioned these here some time back. Of course, these have an -aw suffix but figured they ought to be mentioned here. Further, if you follow today’s route 16 east towards Liechtenstein, you will come close to Mount Slewiz/Ischlawitz (see here).

Hurtern 1619-1640

If you move southwest from the Zurichsee and Obersee you get to Der Vier Waldsteten See where we have Gerisow (today’s Gersau) near Switz (elsewhere Swytz). As for Sarnen (of the White Book fame with its William/Wilhelm Tell story) which here is written as Saruen (Sarven?), Silenen and Swanden, I am inclined to reserve judgment.

Mercator 1595

Just on the outskirts of Lucerne you had Linow now subsumed by the bigger city.

Ok, let’s now switch directions.

Let’s go back to Bregentz aka Bregenz and move down southwards along the ridge of the mountain range depicted in the Justus Danckerts map of the area (1651-1700) (from the Nova et Accuratißima Galliae Tabula, Vulgo Royaume De France). Close by is Pruc (couldn’t immediately locate) but is that a Suavic name? But then we also have Ruthin (today’s Rüthi).

A bit further to the east we find Nittesaw, Langenaw, Bitzaw and Statpernaw. Some of these may have German stems even if the suffix could be Slavic. Still, this side of the Lech there is nothing,

Danckerts 1651-1700

And then we get to Pludentz (or Pludertz; today’s Bludenz). Is Pludentz a Slavic name? Well, like Bregentz it has the -entz suffix but that certainly could be Germanic. The corresponding Polish suffix would have to be something like the nasal -ęcz or – encz. And if we included Pludentz in the Slavic column, we’d presumably have to consider Tenatz, Castelz, Ragatz, Eschens, Malans, Serneüs aka Serneus and maybe even Vadutz which after all (as Vaduz) is the capital of Liechtenstein. And after all there was a Dschann – now Schaan – nearby which makes you think of the translator of the Chronicle of the Slavs, Francis Joseph Tschan (and note Wartau below!). So let’s not do that (though interestingly, nearby there is a Radin and Vandans and Matschwitz).

And then we get to Küblitz aka Chüblitz (today’s Küblis). Here is another take of the same area (here note Wartau (or Werdaberg? elsewhere, it seems, Wartaw; today’s Wartau) guarding the Rhein).

Matthäus Merian 1622?

Still, kubeł/kubło meaning “bucket” is supposedly a Germanic borrowing  in Polish (originally Suavic wiadro which, nachdem Herrn Brückner, was joined by kubeł from Kübel, itself from Latin cupella meaning “barrel”) and the -itz suffix, well, it’s only one such example.

And, after all, much farther west we find the following -itzes:

  • Ginitz aka Chunitz aka Chinitz (today’s Köniz) and Pimplitz (today’s Bümplitz) and further west Galmitz (today’s Ulmiz?) or, for that matter, Wola, today’s Wohlen on Wohlensee),

Nicholas Sanson, 1660

  • Bodnitz (locate yourself),

  • Not to mention, again, the eponymous Switz which itself lies next to Ruditz/Raditz (today’s Rudenz) and, again, the nearby Sarnen,

Hurtern 1619-1640

Here is the sam Ruditz as Raditz.

  • Seritz aka Siritz (today’s Sierentz near Basel and the Wies river),

Ioannes Ianssonius Keere 1680

  • A bit closer, near Chur, Damintz (aka Daminitz; today’s Tamins ). Note Scharins (today’s Scharans) as well as Ziran nearby. Ziran or Ziraun-Reschen is in Romansh (or rätoromanisch) (aka Zillis-Reischen). And yet we have towns such as Žirany in Slovakia or Żerań in Poland. We leave the nearby towns of Tschappina and Tartar (near Cazis) alone.

Cluverius 1670-1690

In fact, Wojciech Kętrzyński once argued that Constance/Konstanz may have been Suavic because it had once been shown on some maps as Kostnitz. This is unlikely since the earliest mention was  it seems, Constancia.

And what about Stadonze aka Stadonce aka Stadoentz (today’s Stadönz) between Berken aka Boricken and Graben on the Aare?

But let’s go back to Küblitz/Chüblitz and ask what about the nearby Rany (Pany? As in today’s Panybach?) or the Walgow (Walgau?) river (or Gau?)? Or Slepina (or for that matter the Ascharina) mountain?

Who knows.

Cluverius 1670-1690

But then you keep moving southeast and you come to Smolencz (already in 1585 Mercator; Ortelius Molenz). Now, what do you do with that?

Danckerts 1651-1700

Well, for one thing it’s interesting to observe that nearby you also have Semetz (today’s Zernez?) and further south the Slavic but also Italian sounding Cepino/a (another Cepina/os are in northern Italy). Then there is Stadolina on the Italian side.

But getting back to Smolencz. It seems this is an error (though a very curious one to have come up with the potentially Suavic “Sm” beginning) since an earlier version of the map by Lazius shows Molencz (we were unable to locate either). On the other hand, that same map shows Semetz as Servecz naturally raising the potential for the presence of the Serbs. In fact, nearby we have today’s town of Vinadi.

Lazius 1561

Going back west you have towns such as Samnün or Samün (today’s Samnaun) and, following the Inn southwest, Schlin (today’s Tschlin), Lavin, Susch (here Sus) and, most interestingly, Zernetz (today’s Zernez, compare with Żernica aka Deutsch Zernitz in Silesia). Note, again too Serneüs/Serneus near Vadutz.

Cluverius 1670-1690

There are also some interesting mountains nearby. We will come back to this area but note Piz Plavna east of Zernez.

Moving briefly further west again we have Mount Gemsengrad (Gemschgrätli) in the Stockhorn chain south of Bern. Note too Strüssligrat – presumably then “grat” means something in some local dialect? Maybe some reader can help explain. You can see this here.

Or here.

Compare this with Gotschnagrat below.

Anyway, of course, just as with -ow or -itz, I am not claiming that every -entz ending is Suavic. It is not but some of these could be and that is why we ought to examine the history of each such name.

What is also interesting that some of these Suavic-like names continue on the Italian side of the Austrian and Swiss borders.

In Austria by the Italian border we have Vent (and, of course, Venter Tal). When we hop across the border to Italy, we are in Alpi Venoste. Here we have Allitz or Alliz next to Lasa or Laas. Further east Partschins as well as Sciaves (Schabs) and Varna (Vahrn). Further west, Curon Venosta or Graun im Vinschgau with Plawenn or Piavenna next to it. Now Plauen is clearly Suavic if it appears in lands understood to have been Suavic. For example, Plauen (Vicus Plawe) in Saxony – as in Heinrich von Plauen and Heinrich Reuß von Plauen – comes from the Suavic plavna. In fact, this is a great place to remind you of the above-mentioned Piz Plavna.

Oddly, there is also Slingia or Schlinig nearby so feel free to loop in the Vandals. Further west Pis Sesvenna and Piz Pisoc. All in all, however, not very impressive.

At the Swiss-Austian-Italian “triborder”, however, we have Piz Lad. On the Swiss side the mountain Curuna Lada (Valsot) between a mountain called Krone and Fil Spadla. The term lada means “wide” (so Curuna Lada would mean a “wide crown” ) in Sursilvan but Sursilvan is not spoken in the part of Graubünden canton where the Curuna Lada sits (nor on the border where Lad sits). The same term appears in Rumantsch Grischun but this is like the esperanto of Romansh languages.

And there are other interesting names: Piz Tasna, Piz Arina, Piz Tschütta, Piz Mundin.

On the Swiss-Austrian border, near the above-mentioned town of Vinadi we have the town of Spiss (compare with Polish Spisz – first written as Spis – but then what is the etymology of Spisz? See Rospond and, more recently, Nalepa). Further west Madrisa, Chlein, Piz Buin. Less convincingly Roggenhorn. No one doubts that -horn is a German suffix but the prefix? Then also Gorihorn, Gorigrat, Gotschna, Gotschnagrat (compare this with Gemsengrad) and Jägglisch Horn. And, of course, there is Mount Strela – strzała (arrow in Polish/Suavic), strahlen (to shine in German) or stella/Estrella (star in Latin-based languages)

Let’s go back to the Italian side. What about Piz Sesvenna? Further southwest, could Trepalle be Slavic? Tiran aka Tirano (but then what about Tirana in Albania?)? Acqua del Vescovo? Piz Trevisina? I doubt it.

But what about just back across the Swiss border, the Lago di Poschiavo or, really, Poschiavo itself? Of course, the Italian Schiavo comes from Sclavi. Further west we have Piz Tschierva (presumably from the Suavic for “red” – itself derived from the, probably Polish, cochineal from which red dye was made), Piz Salatschina, Piz Gross Pulaschin (today’s Polaschin, supposedly from Latin polex !?) and, even more interestingly, Piz Corvatsch (south of Samedan). Is this somehow related to the Croats (as is the French name for a “tie” – cravate)?

Seems preposterous? The official explanation demands it to come from corvus, that is crow!

Well, bear with us!

Piz Corvatsch (the -tsch suffix is similar to -tz or -tz) opposite from the also Suavic-sounding Piz Lagrev and closer but less Suavic-sounding Piz Surlej.

Hopping over a piece of Italy to get back into Switzerland further west we come Piz Corbet. Is that cognate with Corvatsch? What of the nearby Mesocco? And, more interestingly, Fil de Dragiva? Across the Italian border from which we have Zerbi.

Ignore the towns of Prosto or Grono and you still have Bosco Gurin near Pizzo Biela and Pizzo Cramalina. We will leave Pizzo Alzasca out of these speculations. And if you go further north from Biela towards Lucerne you will find Wendenstöcke, Wendenjoch, Wendengletscher and Wendenhorn.

There are other names in the general Alps area that appear on the old maps, some of which are still used and that we will let you find. For a sample you can start here (note not all of them or even most of them are likely Suavic but all of them deserve a more systematic look than has been given them thus far):

  • Brienz aka Brientz
  • Tschiertschen aka Tschiersen (compare this with the Suavic word for a “hornet” – szerszeń Polish, pronounced “shershen”)
  • Lentz
  • Cazis
  • Tujetsch
  • Uznach
  • Rutin near Merch, Mons Lintthal, Glaris
  • Seerutin
  • Servantia (near Verossaz)
  • Kukalinberg near Schmitten
  • Alpe Naga
  • Dubino near Sasocobo (near Lake Como)
  • Fornice
  • Polese (there is another Polese near Padua) on Tesino river north of Molano;
  • Gora and Samolice (?) nearby;
  • Misauco (same as Messoco?)
  • Puster Thal (empty? in South Tirol)
  • Arytow (near aschwandeii)
  • Purgew
  • Alpeler Seelin
  • Knonow & Rossow (this spelling is uncertain)

There is also Zamos (or Zambs?) near Voltepach/Clausen though this is an even less likely candidate.

Now, do you recall that Piz Corvatsch? Well, let’s go even further West. Here we come to the River Sorba (Torrente Sorba) with its own Sorba Valley and, of course, Mount Sorba. Nearby there is a town of Pila.

If you continue west you will come to Bielciuken, Orsia, then Torin, Chissin and another Pila and others. About halfway between Chissin and Gemsengrad in the north lies the Rhone valley where we find Granges aka Gradetsch aka Gradetz about which I wrote here. Just east of it we have Venthone, Inden and Varen.

What about on the Swiss-French border? Well, there is this:

  • Doulina (near Verrand – today Dolonne or Dzeulena)

Furthermore, check out this Masurian reference.

Today this goes by the same name – La Masure. Ridiculous? Probably, given that there are other La Masures in France – near Nantes and Rennes but also on the French-Belgian border – same area where Perunnic names are aplenty. Bretagne Veneti? Or are those too far east of them?

Interestingly, aside from Poland, there is also a Masurica in Serbia and then a number of similarly sounding names in India.

Oh, and about halfway between Gemsengrad and

I am certainly not suggesting that these are all necessarily Suavic. In fact, few or none of them may turn out to be Suavic. However, I am certain that, as with the above Swiss names, there has been no proper scientific investigation of these Italian names. Further, it should be uncontroversial that most of the names in all these regions are hardly Suavic and indisputably German, Italian and French names predominate. What’s interesting to us is not to show that these regions are covered by Suavic nomenclature but rather that there may be, contrary to any known suggestion, some of Suavic Wortgut present there. Because of the Ostsiedlung we know what Suvaic prefixes such as -ów, -ice, -in/-ina/-ino look like in German. When their German vesrions appear Switzerland or western Austria, however, they are discounted because, by accepted hypothesis, the Suavs could not have settled there. Of course, similarities do occur, even across continents, and no one would propose to suggest that the Wanda people of Africa are somehow descendants of the Vandals or of the Polish Princess Wanda of Kraków. Nevertheless, eliminating the impossible does not translate into necessarily also eliminating the improbable. The question then is why not have an academic discussion of what the above suffixes would look like if the names they were attached to had been mangled by the French, the Italians or the Dutch – not just the Germans.

We leave you with the Swiss cheese map showing most of the names that were highlighted above in the “Let’s get deeper into this!” section as well as a few of the highlighted names from the introductory section.

Once again, the place names around the Grossvenediger and to the East are clearly Suavic. The few place names around Innsbruck may or may not be Suavic. Finally everything to the West of that is the subject of this post. Note that what this looks like is as if Suavic colonization reached (started from?) the southeastern or maybe even eastern part of Switzerland and may have extended as far West as northwestern Italy but was then “cut through” in the Tirol area. Also, aside from a few place names around Bern/Lucerne, the entire center and West of Switzerland shows no clear signs of any Suavic settlement.

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May 9, 2021

On Luticios and their Minerva, Gardina Yesse

PublishedApril 2, 2021 Post authortorino

We return to this inscription, the stone on which it was once etched had apparently been incorporated into a local cathedral wall.

The meaning of the inscription is not entirely understood. Specifically, there is the confusing Ladae. Several theories have been proposed:

  • it’s the name of the wife of Titus Puniceus who along with the hubby donated this altar to Minerva (unusual to have the wife’s name first but, hey, maybe she was the one with the dough); the CVR. is in that case referencing cūrāre, in the sense of “donating”; presumably then it would not be Ladae T.Puniceus but rather Lada et Puniceus;
  • it refers to a curia, a rada (“wheel” (?) because, well, they sat in a circle…) a body of local officials (like the Chruch curia) and Mr. Titus;
  • it refers to Ladas the ancient Greek Olympic runner (cursor);
  • it refers to a Morin or Breton word for a “causeway” over a marsh;

The first of these would be of interest to us since it would be an attestation of the name Lada in the ancient world (third century?). The other three are also of interest but we will not discuss them now.

Incidentally, the Latin cūrāre may mean any of procure, heal, look after or govern. But CVR., as noted above, usually referred to the act of donation.

Other possibilities include curator as in “caretaker” (in which case Lada would be the protector of Minerva or vice versa?). But the noun’s case does not work; presumably, again you would have to say that this should be read “et” rather than “Ladae T.”

From myself, I can add the word curis which refers to a “spear”.  This is interesting since there is another inscription P. VAL. LADAE which features a thyrsus (a pine-coned spear) above the inscription and a caduceus (a messenger’s wand) below. Noteworthy is the fact that the Polish coat of arms lada features two arrows/bolts/spears (?).

The Morini were, of course, based in Tarvana (Czerwona? 🙂 ) and rebelled against the Romans right about the same time as the Bretagne Veneti.

I will note also that the arrows above can also be interpreted as “up” and “down” signs as shown in the second version of the coat of arms. I’ve already mentioned that the rune *jēra- contains the same symbols albeit arranged differently. It’s worth asking whether these rune portions, rather than just referring to the harvest, could have referred to the entire “year”. Specifically, note that for half the year the Sun is ascending and for the other half descending. The “trees” featured on ancient pots could then be viewed as simply showing a count of years. Hence in this context, the tree of life on an urn could mean the age of the deceased. All of this is a topic for another discussion.

Finally, Janssen suggested that it could refer also to Lada, the Suavic Goddess about Whom he first learned from Grimm. Schneider, noted that Lada was a spouse of the”Lycian” Jupiter. Whether he really meant Leto, the mother of Apollo and Artemis is unclear (more on that below and we will explore the topic in more detail later). In this respect, we also note that Giovanni Villani made the following statement in 1903:

“It seems that the name Lada ought to refer to an epithet of Minerva hiding the name of a local divinity.”

Now, as for this “local” divinity, it is worth noting also that this was found in 1427 in the area of Nijmegen in the Netherlands.

Also from the northwest of Continental Europe comes the following inscription:

(LUTATIIS SVEBIS was found at the foot of the Hunerberg in 1541)

Sed Liutici redeuntes irati dedecus deae suimet illatum queruntur. Nam haec, in vexillis formata, a quodam Herimanni marchionis socio lapide uno traiecta est 

Liutici were earlier known as the Vuilzi, perhaps referring to wolves (wilk meaning “wolf”). If the above connection to Leto is accurate then this may be another connection given that Leto was apparently given help by wolves (indeed, some argue that Lycia’s name comes from a reference to wolves or, alternatively, means “illuminated” – referring to Leto’s son – Apollo).

ON the other hand, maybe this is just a name of some Lutatius or Lutatia. An earlier mention talks of LVTATIAS SVEBAS.

Rybakov may have underestimated Lada’s range of worship (though he did get the Venedskiy zalyv right)

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April 2, 2021