Semones

PublishedJanuary 26, 2021 Post authortorino

An interesting question arises as to why the lands previously occupied by the Suevi (but later Suavi) were subsequently occupied by the “Sclavi”. Some people think this is just a coincidence. And yet it is a curious coincidence.

For example, we know that one of the tribes of the Suevi was the Semnones. As per Tacitus, it was that tribe that claimed to have been the most ancient of the Suevi. Some historians of the 19th century identified some of the Suevi with the later Slavs. To explain the tribal name Semnones, they pointed to the Slavic words for the “Earth”:

zem (Slovak)
země (Czech)
zemia/zima (Polabian)
zemyata (Bulgarian)
ziemia (Polish)
zemlya (Russian, Ukrainian, Slovenian, Serbian, Croatian)
ziamlia (Belarussian)

But it says Semnones not Semones comes the objection. Not to worry. Apparently, the manuscripts of Germania are not agreed upon the correct spelling and Semones (as well as Senones) does indeed appear more than once (see here).

To support this view, those historians invoked the same Semnonian passage in Tacitus and its preoccupation with the Earth (or, more to the point, with lying on the ground):

“Of all the Suevians, the Semnones recount themselves to be the most ancient and most noble. The belief of their antiquity is confirmed by religious mysteries. At a stated time of the year, all the several people descended from the same stock, assemble by their deputies in a wood; consecrated by the idolatries of their forefathers, and by superstitious awe in times of old. There by publicly sacrificing a man, they begin the horrible solemnity of their barbarous worship. To this grove another sort of reverence is also paid. No one enters it otherwise than bound with ligatures, thence professing his subordination and meanness, and power of the Deity there. If he fall down, he is not permitted to rise or be raised, but grovels along upon the ground. And of all their superstition, this is the drift and tendency; that from this place the nation drew their original, that here God, the supreme Governor of the world, resides, and that all things else whatsoever are subject to him and bound to obey him. The potent condition of the Semnones has increased their influence and authority, as they inhabit an hundred towns; and from the largeness of their community it comes, that they hold themselves for the head of the Suevians.”

Or in another version:

“The oldest and most famous ofthe Suevi, it is said, are the Semnones, and their antiquity is confirmed by a religious observance. At a set time, deputations from all the tribes of the same stock gather in a grove hallowed by the auguries of their ancestors and by immemorial awe. The sacrifice of a human victim in the name of all marks the grisly opening of their savage ritual. Another observance shows their reverence for this grove. No one may enter it unless he is bound with a cord, by which he acknowledges his own inferiority and the power of the deity. Should he chance to fall, he may not raise himself or get up again, but must roll out over the ground. The grove is the centre of their whole religion. It is regarded as the cradle of the race and the dwelling-place of the supreme god to whom all things are subject and obedient. The Semnones gain prestige from their prosperity. The districts they inhabit number a hundred, and their multitude makes them believe that they are the principal people of the Suebi.”

Whether there is enough here to suggest that the Semnones viewed themselves as born of “the Earth” is debatable.

However, another interesting confluence of facts comes to light when we take a look at the seats of the Semnones. Here is a map that, more or less describes where scholarship locates the Semnones (from a Brockhaus map):

Fast forward eight hundred years and we find the following tribe in the same area:

Zemcici

Here is another German map:

We have the following reports of their existence – or, at least, of the name of a local province that refers to a tribe (plural Slavic indicated by the -ici suffix).

May 9th, 946
(A land grant by Otto I to the Bishopric Havelberg)

“in castro Havelberg episcopalem constituimus sedem – Donamus eidem – in provincia Zemcici duas villas in Malinga Buni et Drogaviz et dimidium silve que dicitur Porei cum vilas in ea cultos et colendis.”

December 3rd, 1150
(Conrad III confirming church possessions)

“In provincia Zemzici duas villas in Mellinga Bum Drogawizi, et dimidium silve, que vocatur Poregi, cum villis ex vel in ea cultis“

June, 29th, 1179
(Frederic I confirming church possessions; much the same as the piece immediately above)

“in provincia Zemzizi duas villas in Mellinga Bum, Drogawizi, et dimidium silve, que dicitur Poregi, cum villis ex ea vel in ea cultis“

The word is, of course, clearly Slavic (as opposed to Latin that was derived via Teutonic intermediaries). Did the Slavs merely “repurpose” by translating, as best as they thought, a locally known Teutonic name which then became the name of a small province as the Franks stumbled into it? Did they turn it, in other words, into a Slavic sounding name?

Possibly but, if so, why not repurpose the names of the Burgundians, Goths and others with a Teutonic or Scandinavian origin that may have at some point occupied what was later clearly Slavic territory?

Also Malinga Buni et Drogaviz sound awfully Slavic. If there were other – Teutonic – names in the area, can we find those?

We’ll likely never know the answer but the above is suggestive to say the least.

All we can say is:

“We must now speak of the Suevi, who do not, like the Chatti or the Tencteri, constitute a single nation. They occupy more than half Germany, and are divided into a number of separate tribes under different names, though all are called by the generic title of ‘Suevi’.”

Incidentally , seeds go in the Earth and so it should not be surprising that another cognate offers itself as well here (from Rick Derksen’s “Inherited Slavic Lexicon”):

For more on that see here and, spoiler alert, here.

On the Origin of the Name Mieszko

PublishedJanuary 16, 2021 Post authortorino

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Ok, so now we have the following suggested etymologies:

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

Are there other possible etymologies?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Poloni

PublishedJanuary 10, 2021 Post authortorino

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Polabian Suavic Names

PublishedJanuary 3, 2021 Post authortorino

An interesting listing of Polabian names from the Hannover “Wendland” comes from a work by Paul Rost. Here is that list:

The Rock-Tossing, Mountain-Dwelling, First Parent Jasień

PublishedJanuary 2, 2021 Post authortorino

As I have repeatedly argued, piorun is not the real name of the Polish Sky God. It is likely not even the name of any other Suavic Sky Deity though, in the Kievan Run and Novgorod only, that sobriquet appears to have superseded (perhaps under Baltic influence with its Perkunos (or Perkun-Os?)) the original which was some form of Iasion/Jasień/Usins.

That being said, there is the question of what does piorun really refer to? Obviously, in Polish the word means “thunder” but the question arises about the etymology of the word. Here Leszek Kolankiewicz provides a useful hint. He cites the Gothic fairguni – meaning hill covered with a forest – as well as the Hindu Parvati – referring to the mountain goddess – and, finally, the Hittite goddess Perunas (referring to sal-li-lis pi-ru-nas) who, according to him, was the mother of the stone giant Ullikummi.

This last claim is, to me, based on unclear sourcing. The University of Chicago Hittite Dictionary does have various – perun including words for “rocks” or “mountains” as well as a reference to a horse-associated Deity that is named Pirwa.

Thus, for example, Pirwan par-ha-an-d[a-an ausdu] is supposed to mean “[let him see] Pirwa galloping.” (for more check out an article by Ahmet Ünal).

A few things may be worth adding to the above. Kolankiewicz refers to the above Perunas as the Rock Goddess – bogini skała. As noted above, the real Deity is likely to have been Pirwa. Yet, curiously, a version of reconstructed “Friday” in Gothic is pareinsdags. That itself is, of course, interesting, as has already been noted. However, more curious for purposes of this post, another version is paraskaiwe which is a borrowing from the Greek παρασκευή (paraskeuḗ), in turn, perhaps, from παρασκευάζω (paraskeuázō, “to prepare”). Is this related to the Polish skała – meaning “big rock”? Brueckner does not connect these, giving, instead, the Greek skallŏ (“to dig”) and the Lithuanian skelti, skilti, skaldyti (“to split” and “broken”) but is he right? (BTW is that the exonym of the Celts?)

Of course, even here Brueckner’s own etymologies can be intriguing. The Baltic skylē he mentions may mean a “hole” but it is a hole in a rock such as a szczelina. He also brings up the Gothic skilja, “butcher” and the Anglo-Saxon scelian, “to split” as well as Anglo-Saxon scalu and Nordic skel referring to a sea shell (presumably a clam-type). A lightning bolt can and of course does sometimes split and melt rocks. Whether skel is connected with strzała (“arrow”) and strzelać (“to shoot”) or are those words rather connected with the German strāla or Strahl meaning “ray” (strahlen, meaning “radiate”, “Strahlung meaning “radiation” and similar) instead is another question. Maybe they are all related. Compare too, the seemingly opposite meaning of scalać that is “to combine” or “to make whole” (“whole” = cało also appear cognates). Of course, without hopefully being too nonchalant with these etymologies, lightning could also fuse rocks.

I have previously discussed that fulgurites (of course, the Latin fulgur itself meaning “lightning” and also likely cognate with piorun) are commonly known as “piorun arrows” among many Suavs (a point also noted by Kolankiewicz). Incidentally, already the Slovenian trio authors of the “Veneti” pointed out that the Strela Mountain in the Plessur Alps in Switzerland likely also refers to an arrow. Probably, Piorun’s, of course if Suavs were indeed to be found there which is a strong possibility.

This “rock” and “mountain” etymology is likely why we have the Pyrenees and the Pirin Mountains in Bulgaria and, for that matter, the many names of hills and mountains among the South Suavs. This makes the distinction between the mountain named for a Perun as in a deity and a mountain named for, well, a “mountain” or “rock mountain” perhaps, difficult to make. Perhaps where Suavs were present, the mountains are deemed to go back to piorun (but in reference to the deity or just the thunderbolt?) but where Suavs are not attested, other etymologies are sought. The same etymology quests might nevertheless point to an IE “rock” or “mountain”.

Parvati discussed above goes back to parvata a Sanskrit word for “mountain”. Indeed, the “father” of Parvati is Parvat (aka Himavat – hence Himalayas). Alternatively, Parvati is simply “she of the mountain.”

In any event, this Parvati, like the Hittite Pirwa mentioned above, ought to suggest another meaning for Piorun that is the meaning of pirwy or pierwszy or “first” (“first” being cognate with pirwy, of course – compare too piorun/Piorun or Perkunas with Fjörgyn or Fjörgynn). And this may well be the reason for why Piorun is merely, again, a nickname of Jasień’s.

Curiously, the Polish penny (?) today called grosz (German Groschen, both from the Italian grosso?) was referred to in the early 16th century by the name piorunek while the as or assarius was the name of a coin used in the Roman days. Also, curiously, the Republic as featured the head of Janus which also happens to be cognate with Jason and Iasion. Probably a coincidence… though the below (from Derksen) may suggest that Ja–sień is the pathway (foyer, entrance) into Ja? Note too the Latvian cognate signifies “face”. (On yaya in that Polish gloss we’ll have more later – suffice it say that Latvian suggests a riding etymology).

Also curiously, the Lithuanian name for lightning is a perko-like word but rather žaibas (but zibens in Latvian) which is obviously cognate with the Polish vulgarism zajebać, itself meaning “to kill” and a derivative of jebać meaning “to hit” but also “to plow” (sexually) which also brings up the agricultural aspects of Piorun/Jasień.

Finally, note that the above etymologies might also loop in the word “father” or, at least (and more in tune with today’s times), “parent”.

Of course, none of these observations about mountains, rocks, being first or parents exclude the “fork” etymology of piorun‘s found most obviously in Greek (πηρούνι, that is piroúni) and Venetic (piron). And, as already observed previously, the word “fork” itself likely shares the same etymology.

In fact, while we’re at it, let’s mention something else. Zeus apparently has been pictured on a few occasions with a trident (or a three-pronged thunderbolt) and yet he was Zeus not Poseidon (also the reason why if the trident were found to fit the Artemision Bronze, the sculpture could still be of Zeus). A Zeus with a trident might explain why Iasion and Demeter’s field was “thrice-ploughed” (see above for the ploughing concept in the words for lightning), that is, Zeus was identical with Iasion until the Greeks for whatever reason (old Gods versus new?) decided to elevate Zeus over Iasion.

Incidentally, Zeus has on other occasions been pictured with an axe. Such a Zeus while also holding a lotus scepter (for example, Zeus Labaundos) makes you think of the image of Esus with an axe (or really thunderbolt?) next to a tree.

But let’s get back to the stones to conclude. Another connection of Iasion’s “stony aspect” comes from Latvian mythology. I have little doubt that Iasion is Jasień is Ūsiņš. If you look at Haralds Biezais’ “The Lighgod of the Old Latvians” (Der Lichgott der alten Letten), you will note that the Latvian Ūsiņš rides auf einem steinernen Pferd. That is, on a “stone horse.” Incidentally, this is also true of another figure in Latvian mythology that is likely identical to Ūsiņš – the Latvian Dievinš. Of course, Dievinš is cognate with Deus Pater and hence Zeus. Thus, Ūsiņš brings us full circle to the stone-tossing and rock-breaking Jasień. As an aside, I think, as previously mentioned, Jasień is also reflected in the Greek Jason myth.Further, the Iranian word for “stone” is -asan (*garta means “cave” – “guard,” “protect – and hence your Assgard or “stone cave”). That -asan is cognate with Jasień and Jason is unlikely to need an explanation. Thus, we can say that Jasień and Piorun/Perun are likely the same Being.

I will close with a final observation that suggests that this Divinity is also connected with Mars – the warrior and Janus. Specifically, on the 15th of March, celebrations took place to the Anna Perenna. Anna Perenna (I can’t help it but: Marz-anna or Marsa żona?) had been connected with Mars. Mars too was seen as an agricultural deity initially (before he had “to go to war” – much as Gerovit/Iarovit/Iarilo was both an agricultural and war Deity). Curiously, these Anna Perenna celebrations took place in front of town gates. If this suggests a God of Passages, it should not be surprising. Janus certainly filled that role but so does Jasień (remember Jasieńczyk coat of arms consists of a key and compare the passage of winter – entry into “Jasień-time” or w jesna or vest/wiosna – with the entry into winter time – jesień). I will only note further that brama means “gate” in Polish).

Of the Goddess Devanna

PublishedJanuary 1, 2021 Post authortorino

An interesting question arises in the context of the Goddess Dziewanna or Devana. This is a question of proof. Unlike Jassa, Lada, Nia or Leli, this Goddess appears first in Dlugosz (as the Polish version of Diana) and has not been attested earlier. Thus, we must ask, is there any evidence outside of Dlugosz for Her existence? Certainly, sources subsequent to Dlugosz mention Her but they are derivatives of the earlier chronicler. So we must ask what is the proof, if any?

Well, there is circumstantial evidence. The word dziewczyna means a “girl” or a “young woman”. Dziewka carries the meaning of a “girl”, sometimes “daughter”, as well. Dziewica refers to a “virgin” or, more generally, to a “maiden”. But what about just Dziewa? That name has not been attested in Polish. Of course, the fact that it has not been attested does not prove that it did not exist but, then again, you cannot establish a negative.

Leszek Kolankiewicz in his Dziady observes that the word dziewanna does appear in the Old Polish Dictionary (Slownik Staropolski) but not as the name of a goddess but rather as the name of a plant (so also marzanna). Apparently, dziewanna refers to the Verbascum plant or mullein. This meaning of the word has been attested as of 1419 by the said dictionary.

Kolankiewicz also observes that there is a Div in “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign” where it seems to be a bird of some sort. Further, he notes that Diva is mentioned in the Russian Sermon of Saint Gregory. He further throws a diva from Bulgarian folklore where the name seems to refer to a nymph or a demonness. Naturally, he also mentions the Lithuanian divas, Old Prussian deyvis or deivas and the Latvian dievs. From there he takes it to the Irish dia, Old Norse tivar, the Latin deus and earlier deivos and to the overall IE terms for the Sky God. Dutifully, he notes also brings up the Indian deva.

Finally, he notes that in the Iranian language daeva began to mean a “demon” presumably as a result of the theological dominance of the followers of Zarathustra. He also brings up an observation bay Zygmunt Krzak to the effect that the various -annas seem to collate to the pre-Zarathustrian Deities (maybe As & Anna?).

So much for the comparative material.

It might be worth noting that in Polish there is no necessarily pejorative meaning associated with the word dziw. That word means really “wonder”. Now, dziwny means “strange” but this too projects a neutral rather than a negative meaning. Overall, it would be silly to suggest that Zarathustra’s reforms resulted in a pejorative meaning of related words in Latin, Norse and even Irish (!) languages. I am not aware of any such meaning in Baltic and, as for, Suavic no such meaning is present at least in Polish.

But there are hints of the meaning of such names and they have been mentioned on this website.

First of all, as again noted above, the div compounds refer to the “female” in various iterations.

Second, so to speak, that female may well be at the root of the IE word for “two”. For example, dwa in Polish. The first, if you forgive a male centric view, would have been the male God – Iasion, As, Janus, eins or even possibly Lado or Odin or jeden.

Third, there is clearly a forest connection. If you want, you can just think of the “maiden/virgin” or dziewica and think of the “virgin forest.” Indeed, there may be a connection with a certain “wildness” – thus you can see the word for “wild” – dziki or indeed for a boar – dzik.

Dziwy – meaning wonders may, however, also refer to strange creatures of the forest more generally. These would be beings other than animals. In this context, it may be worth noting that the etymology for the Russian medved – that is “bear” – being of one who knows honey – strikes me as rather fanciful. A kind of a folk etymology. As already discussed, the Polish version – niedźwiedź – seems, to me at least, to contain a more convincing etymology right in the word itself. That is nie dziwiec or nie dziw, meaning “not a div” or not a forest deity.

As previously mentioned, there is also – in some manuscripts of Tacitus’ “Annals” (I, 51) – Tafanna (or Tanfana or Tamfana) – who is an actual deity:

Perhaps related given the geography, also discussed previously, in the Gesta Abbatum Fontanellensium (Deeds of the Abbots of Fontenelle) we also have the name Devenna. Given the interesting potential connections of these lands with the – of course – wild Vilti or Veletae (see the many articles on Suavs in Holland on this site) and the alleged rulership of the same over all the Suavs, as reported by Muslims, this connection is not to be discounted in the quest for the Polish Devanna.

Speaking of placenames, Kolankiewicz cites Karol Potkański for some related names such as mount Děvín in the Moravian Pavlov Hills and Dziewin, being the Suavic name for Magdeburg. With respect to this last name, it’s more likely that the word Magdeburg is a translation of the Suavic Dziewin with a -burg suffix thrown in. Specifically, rather than *magaþ (“great” with “mighty” being a cognate), the name probably comes from Magd (meaning “young woman”), likely a translation of Dziewin. From this we can draw connection to the Maegdeland or Mazovia of Alfred’s Orosius and all the way to the Amazons. Certainly, a fitting affiliation for the Goddess of the Hunt!

Of course, we can continue this list with many other names. In the West, for example, we have such placenames as:

Devon, England (though probably from Dumnonia – Latin version of the “deep valley” dwellers Celtic tribe name; from proto-Celtic root word *dubno-, meaning both “deep” and “world”… on the other hand, there are a few Dubnos in Suavic lands)
Deventer in the Netherlands

In the East of Europe, the more likely candidates for a connection include:

Devin in Bulgaria
Dziewin in Poland (near Cracow)

There is also the personal name Devon from the French devin meaning “divine” (occasionally from Ó Damháin).

Anyway, all of this is more or less well known. Anything else that may be worthwhile adding here?

Well, in fact, the answer is yes. Michał Muszyński discovered a Polish manuscript from the Kórnik Library which contains a gloss dzÿewana as a translation of the Lapus barbarus (probably Lapis – rock) with another annotation of zÿwÿcza which is naturally today’s Polish żywica or tree resin (Harz in German). Of course, Suavs are known to have worshipped trees. Was thus Devanna, the deified life blood of the trees?

Curiously, there are some sellers online that offer figurines of Devanna which happen to be made of… resin.

Separately, as is well known, Dlugosz also mentions Żywie but as a different Deity. Was there a connection?

Of Barclay’s Pallada & Boda

PublishedDecember 10, 2020 Post authortorino

Leszek Kolankiewicz in his groundbreaking work Dziady resuscitated the Polish Pantheon. His ambitious book also tried to tackle the mention of the Goddess (or God?) by the name of Boda. That mention appears to occur only once in the 1538 (?) book Powieść rzeczy istej (see here) as part of a list of three idols: Lada, Boda, Leli:

Kolankiewicz thought that Boda appears in another work – Wacław Potocki’s 1697 translation of John Barclay’s “Argenis” (Argenida). Specifically, he mentions the following line:

O Palladzie ni dudu, ni słówka o Bodzie…

which roughly translates to:

Of Pallas [Athena] no mention, no word of Boda…

This would appear to put Boda on par with Pallas Athena (translated as Pallada into Polish in this case).

The problem with this interpretation is visible if we actually look at the same passage in print (on the left below):

All proper names in this Argenis translation are italicized. Pallas is italicized. But Boda is not. What is more, Boda, in the dative Bodze, appears at least twice more in the book (see on the rights side above), in each case without any italics.

In fact, a cursory review of Polish works suggests that Bodze was another manner of writing Boże, that is “God”. In other words, Potocki’s Bodze was referring to the Pallas Athene – the Pallada – mentioned immediately prior.

Although the Powieść rzeczy istej definitely lists Boda as among Lada and Leli, it is thus possible that the scribe or printer simply mistook the worshippers’ cries of Lado or Lada Boże.

A much more interesting question, however, is why Boda, or perhaps, Bod would even be used as the word for God in Polish and what that says about:

the derivation of the Suavic Bóg from Bhagga
the source of the Suavic word for “freedom: > swoboda
the connection between the Germanic Boden and the Suavic concept of Mother Earth

Thus, we have labodzić or lebodzić meaning “to complain” (to God) from the complaint la Boga! presumably (and also labieda or biadać meaning “to despair” possibly the source also of bieda meaning “poverty” – from “poor Boda” meaning “poor Boden” or soil leading to a poor harvest?)

Jasień, Łado & the Earth Goddess

PublishedNovember 26, 2020 Post authortorino

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

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

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

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

Musings from Mannhardt

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Aethicus Non-Ister Mu(r)sianus

PublishedNovember 8, 2020 Post authortorino

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

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

the East Austrian Neusiedlersee

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

What Language Did the Goths Speak?

PublishedOctober 16, 2020 Post authortorino

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

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

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

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

What was the lingua franca of this Gothic kingdom?

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

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

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

And then what happened as the Huns attacked?

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

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

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

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

So what language did these people assembled under Attila speak?

Let’s turn to Priscus (via Jordanes):

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

And some more from Jordanes:

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

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

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

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

But let’s get back to the argument:

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

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

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

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