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30-643: Fennia can refer to: An old Latin name for Finland, originating from the notion that people known as the Fenni in Tacitus' book Germania were Finns Fennia (journal) , published by the Geographical Society of Finland MS  Fennia , a car-passenger ferry Fennia Prize , a Finnish design award 1453 Fennia , an asteroid See also [ edit ] Finnia Wunram (born 1995), German swimmer Fenya ,

60-558: A Russian cant language, currently used in the Russian criminal underworld Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Fennia . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Fennia&oldid=1245302371 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description

90-630: A price with wonder. The placement of the Tacitean Aestii is based primarily on their association with amber, a popular luxury item during the life of Tacitus, with known sources at the southeastern coast of the Baltic Sea . The Baltic amber trade , which appears to have extended to the Mediterranean Sea , has been traced by archaeologists back to the Nordic Bronze Age ; its major center was in

120-564: A trade secret. The sending of presents and the promise to show future favors were in ancient times a cordial way of giving de jure recognition to another power. Sixth Century historian Jordanes makes two references to the Aesti in his book "The Origins and the Deeds of the Goths", which was a treatment of Cassiodorus' longer book (which no longer survives) on the history of the Goths. The first quote places

150-505: A transparent softness, sometimes blushing with the color of saffron, sometimes glowing with flame-like clearness. Then, gliding down to the margin of sea, and further purified by the rolling of the tides, it is at length transported to your shores to be cast upon them. We have thought it better to point this out to you, lest you should imagine that your supposed secrets have escaped our knowledge . We sent you some presents by our ambassadors, and shall be glad to receive further visits from you by

180-627: A variety of theories. It has been suggested that the Romans may have used Fenni as a generic name, to denote the various non-Germanic (i.e. Balto-Slavic and Finno-Ugric ) tribes of north-eastern Europe. Against this argument is the fact that Tacitus distinguishes the Fenni from other probably non-Germanic peoples of the region, such as the Aestii and the Veneti . It has also been suggested that Tacitus' Fenni could be

210-502: Is a meaningless label, impossible to ascribe to any particular region or ethnic group. But Tacitus appears to relate the Fenni geographically to the Peucini and the Venedi , albeit imprecisely, stating that the latter habitually raided the "forests and mountains" between the other two. He also gives a relatively detailed description of the Fenni's lifestyle. Fenni seems to have been a form of

240-452: Is believed to mean the "skiing Finns" and are generally identified with Ptolemy's northern Phinnoi and today's Finns. The Finnaithae have been identified with the Finnveden of southern Sweden. It is unclear who the mitissimi Finni was. Tacitus was unsure whether to classify the Fenni as Germanic or Sarmatian . The vagueness of his account has left the identification of the Fenni open to

270-546: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Fenni The Fenni were an ancient people of northeastern Europe , first described by Cornelius Tacitus in Germania in AD 98. The Fenni are first mentioned by Cornelius Tacitus in Germania in 98 A.D. Their location is uncertain, due to the vagueness of Tacitus' account: "The Venedi overrun in their predatory excursions all

300-558: Is dubious for Tacitus' Fenni. Tacitus' Fenni (and Ptolemy's southern Phinnoi) were clearly based in continental Europe, not in the Scandinavian peninsula, and were thus outside the modern range of the Sámi. Against this, there is some archaeological evidence that the Sámi range may have been wider in antiquity. Sámi toponyms are found as far as Southern Finland and Karelia The uncertainties have led some scholars to conclude that Tacitus' Fenni

330-476: Is that Tacitus' Fenni and Ptolemy's northern Phinnoi were the same people and constituted the original Sámi people of northern Fennoscandia , making Tacitus' description the first historical record of them, and the mention of two different "Phinnoi" groups may suggest that there was already a division between Finns and Sámi. But while this may seem a plausible identification for the Phinnoi of northern Scandinavia, it

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360-514: Is the safeguard of all, and by this every worshipper of the Goddess is secured even amidst his foes. Rare amongst them is the use of weapons of iron, but frequent that of clubs. In producing of grain and the other fruits of the earth, they labour with more assiduity and patience than is suitable to the usual laziness of Germans. Nay, they even search the deep, and of all the rest are the only people who gather amber. They call it glesum , and find it amongst

390-681: Is their own word for it—in the shallows or even on the beach". Glaesum , an apparently Latinised word for amber (in Latin, sucinum ), is the only surviving example of the Aestian language. The word is quoted of being of Germanic origin, given its similarity to the Gothic word glas . Tacitus, however, describes the language of Aestii as closer to that spoken in Britain than that spoken by other neighbouring tribes. The Old Prussian and modern Lithuanian names for

420-603: The Vistula Lagoon , Aīstinmari and Aistmarės , respectively, appear to derive from Aesti and mari (" lagoon " or "fresh-water bay"), which suggests that the area around the lagoon had links with the Aesti. The ancient writers, beginning with Tacitus, who was the first Roman author to mention them in his Germania , provide very little information on the Aestii. Although Tacitus never travelled to Magna Germania himself and only recorded information he had obtained from others,

450-504: The road which you have thus opened up , and to show you future favors. The style of the letter proves that the nation was at that time independent, not ruled by the Ostrogoths . Apparently Cassiodorus considered it politically essential to establish friendly relations with the Nordic region. The letter also indicates that the Aesti were fully confident of the value of amber and had made out of it

480-614: The Aesti live Upon the right of the Suevian Sea and have the same customs and attire as the Germanic Suevi . It has been suggested that the Aesti worshipped the mother of the gods, similar to the Nerthus cult among northern Germanic peoples. Though they were most likely of Baltic origin, they had extensively intermingled with the neighbouring Gothic Tribes. Tacitus wrote that the Aesti were "the only people who collect amber— glaesum

510-620: The Aestii beyond the Vidivarii, on the shore of the Baltic: "a subject race, likewise hold the shore of Ocean." The next quote concerns the subjugation of the Aesti by Hermanaric , king of the Gothic Greuthungi : "This ruler also subdued by his wisdom and might the race of the Aesti, who dwell on the farthest shore of the German Ocean ". In an 11th-century manuscript of King Alfred 's account of

540-646: The East of the upper Vistula river (SE Poland). It remains unclear what was the relationship between the two groups. The next ancient mention of the Fenni/Finni is in the Getica of 6th-century chronicler Jordanes . In his description of the island of Scandza (Scandinavia), he mentions three groups with names similar to Ptolemy's Phinnoi, the Screrefennae , Finnaithae and mitissimi Finni ("softest Finns"). The Screrefennae

570-516: The Gods, they have accomplished a thing of infinite difficulty; that to them nothing remains even to be wished. This description is of a lifestyle much more primitive than that of the medieval Sámi, who were pastoralists living off herds of reindeer and inhabiting sophisticated tents of deer hide. But the archaeological evidence suggests that the proto-Sámi and Proto-Finns had a lifestyle more akin to Tacitus' description. Aestii According to Tacitus,

600-418: The amber which you have sent us. You say that you gather this lightest of all substances from the shores of ocean, but how it comes thither you know not. But as an author named Cornelius (Tacitus) informs us, it is gathered in the innermost islands of the ocean, being formed originally of the juice of a tree (whence its name succinum), and gradually hardened by the heat of the sun. Thus it becomes an exuded metal,

630-569: The ancestors of the modern Finnish people . Juha Pentikäinen writes that Tacitus may well have been describing the Sámi or the proto-Finns when referring to the Fenni, noting some archeologists have identified these people as indigenous to Fennoscandia. The context of Fenni has also included the Finnic Estonians throughout different interpretations. Nevertheless, according to some linguists, certain linguistic evidence may be interpreted supporting

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660-406: The branches of trees twisted together; this a reception for the old men, and hither resort the young. Such a condition they judge happier than the painful occupation of cultivating the ground, than the labour of rearing houses than the agitations of hope and fear attending the defense of their own property or the seizing that of others. Secure against the designs of men, secure against the malignity of

690-416: The common herbs; their apparel, skins; their bed, the earth; their only hope in their arrows, which for want of iron they point with bones. Their common support they have from the chase, women as well as men; for with these the former wander up and down, and crave a portion of the prey. Nor other shelter have they even for their babes, against the violence of tempests and ravening beasts, than to cover them with

720-410: The idea of an archaic Indo-European dialect and unknown Paleo-European languages existing in north-eastern Baltic Sea region before the spread of Finno-Ugric languages like Proto-Sámi and Proto-Finnic in the early Bronze Age around 1800 BC. However, in Tacitus's time (1st century AD) Finno-Ugric languages (Proto-Sámi and Proto-Finnic) were the main languages in northern Fennoscandia. Another theory

750-410: The proto-Germanic word *fanþian- , denoting "wanderers" or "hunting folk", although Vladimir Orel viewed its etymology as unclear and listed a couple of alternative proposals (i.e. a derivation from Proto-Celtic *þenn- "hill"). Tacitus describes the Fenni as follows: In wonderful savageness live the nation of the Fenni, and in beastly poverty, destitute of arms, of horses, and of homes; their food,

780-721: The region of Sambia . This trade probably existed before the historical Trojan War in the 13th century BCE, as amber is one of the substances in which the palace of Menelaus at Sparta was said to be rich in Homer 's The Iliad . Cassiodorus ' Variae , published in 537, contains a letter written by Cassiodorus in the name of Theodoric the Great , addressed to the Aesti: It is gratifying to us to know that you have heard of our fame, and have sent ambassadors who have passed through so many strange nations to seek our friendship. We have received

810-459: The shallows and upon the very shore. But, according to the ordinary incuriosity and ignorance of Barbarians, they have neither learnt, nor do they inquire, what is its nature, or from what cause it is produced. In truth it lay long neglected amongst the other gross discharges of the sea; till from our luxury, it gained a name and value. To themselves it is of no use: they gather it rough, they expose it in pieces coarse and unpolished, and for it receive

840-537: The short ethnographic excursus below is the most detailed ancient account of the Aestii that we have: "Upon the right of the Suevian Sea the Aestian nations reside, who use the same customs and attire with the Suevians ; their language more resembles that of Britain. They worship the Mother of the Gods. As the characteristic of their national superstition, they wear the images of wild boars . This alone serves them for arms, this

870-500: The voyage from Hedeby to Truso by Wulfstan , held by the British Museum , includes ethnographic information on the medieval Aestii, in which the terms Esti , Est-mere and Eastland are used referring to Old Prussians . In the text, a summary description of the country and its riches is followed by a very detailed account of the people's funeral customs. It mentions the old trading port Truso of Old Prussians and also calls

900-528: The woody and mountainous tracts between the Peucini and the Fenni" . The Greco-Roman geographer Ptolemy , who produced his Geographia in ca. 150 AD, mentions a people called the Phinnoi (Φιννοι), generally believed to be synonymous with the Fenni. He locates them in two different areas: a northern group in northern Scandia ( Scandinavia ), then believed to be an island; and a southern group, apparently dwelling to

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