Fenni
Encyclopedia
The Fenni were an ancient people of northeastern Europe first described by Cornelius Tacitus in Germania
in AD 98.
in 98 A.D. Their location is uncertain, due to the vagueness of Tacitus' account:"they (Venedi) overrun in their predatory excursions all 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, 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 the East of the upper Vistula river (SE Poland). It is unclear whether the two groups were related, despite their identical name.
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 are believed to mean the "skiing Finns" and are generally identified with Ptolemy's northern Phinnoi and today's Sami, as there is evidence of Sami skis from 2000 BC onwards. The Finnaithae have been identified with the Finnveden
of central Sweden. It is unclear who the Finni mitissimi were.
It has also been suggested that Tacitus' Fenni could be the ancestors of the modern Finnish people. Juha Pentikäinen
writes that Tacitus may well have been describing the Sami
or the proto Finns when referring to the Fenni, noting some archeologists have identified these people as indigenous to Scandinavia.
Another theory is that Tacitus' Fenni and Ptolemy's northern Phinnoi were the same people and constituted the original Sami people of northern Fennoscandia
, making Tacitus' description the first historical record of them. But while this may seem a plausible identification for the Phinnoi of north Scandinavia, it 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 Sami. Against this, there is some archaeological evidence that the Sami range may have been wider in antiquity.
The uncertainties have led some scholars to conclude that Tacitus' Fenni 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.
This description is of a lifestyle much more primitive than that of the medieval Sami, who were pastoralists living off herds of reindeer and inhabiting sophisticated tents of deer-hide. But the archaeological evidence suggests that the proto-Sami and Proto-Finns had a lifestyle more akin to Tacitus' description.
Germania (book)
The Germania , written by Gaius Cornelius Tacitus around 98, is an ethnographic work on the Germanic tribes outside the Roman Empire.-Contents:...
in AD 98.
Ancient accounts
The Fenni are first mentioned by Cornelius Tacitus in GermaniaGermania (book)
The Germania , written by Gaius Cornelius Tacitus around 98, is an ethnographic work on the Germanic tribes outside the Roman Empire.-Contents:...
in 98 A.D. Their location is uncertain, due to the vagueness of Tacitus' account:"they (Venedi) overrun in their predatory excursions all the woody and mountainous tracts between the Peucini and the Fenni". The Greco-Roman geographer Ptolemy
Ptolemy
Claudius Ptolemy , was a Roman citizen of Egypt who wrote in Greek. He was a mathematician, astronomer, geographer, astrologer, and poet of a single epigram in the Greek Anthology. He lived in Egypt under Roman rule, and is believed to have been born in the town of Ptolemais Hermiou in the...
, who produced his Geographia in ca. 150 AD, mentions a people called the Phinnoi, generally believed to be synonymous with the Fenni. He locates them in two different areas: a northern group in northern Scandia (Scandinavia
Scandinavia
Scandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...
), then believed to be an island; and a southern group, apparently dwelling to the East of the upper Vistula river (SE Poland). It is unclear whether the two groups were related, despite their identical name.
The next ancient mention of the Fenni/Finni is in the Getica of 6th-century chronicler Jordanes
Jordanes
Jordanes, also written Jordanis or Jornandes, was a 6th century Roman bureaucrat, who turned his hand to history later in life....
. 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 are believed to mean the "skiing Finns" and are generally identified with Ptolemy's northern Phinnoi and today's Sami, as there is evidence of Sami skis from 2000 BC onwards. The Finnaithae have been identified with the Finnveden
Finnveden
Finnveden or Finnheden is one of the ancient small lands of Småland. It corresponded to the hundreds of Sunnerbo Hundred, Östbo Hundred and Västbo Hundred. Finnveden had its own judicial system and laws as the other small lands. Finnveden is situated around lake Bolmen and the river Lagan. Most...
of central Sweden. It is unclear who the Finni mitissimi were.
Ethno-linguistic affiliation
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 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 NE 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 Venedi.It has also been suggested that Tacitus' Fenni could be the ancestors of the modern Finnish people. Juha Pentikäinen
Juha Pentikäinen
Juha Pentikäinen is a professor in the Department of Comparative Religion at the University of Helsinki. With a field-work oriented approach to the study of religious traditions he is especially interested in the oral history of languages, religions and cultures...
writes that Tacitus may well have been describing the Sami
Sami people
The Sami people, also spelled Sámi, or Saami, are the arctic indigenous people inhabiting Sápmi, which today encompasses parts of far northern Sweden, Norway, Finland, the Kola Peninsula of Russia, and the border area between south and middle Sweden and Norway. The Sámi are Europe’s northernmost...
or the proto Finns when referring to the Fenni, noting some archeologists have identified these people as indigenous to Scandinavia.
Another theory is that Tacitus' Fenni and Ptolemy's northern Phinnoi were the same people and constituted the original Sami people of northern Fennoscandia
Fennoscandia
Fennoscandia and Fenno-Scandinavia are geographic and geological terms used to describe the Scandinavian Peninsula, the Kola Peninsula, Karelia and Finland...
, making Tacitus' description the first historical record of them. But while this may seem a plausible identification for the Phinnoi of north Scandinavia, it 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 Sami. Against this, there is some archaeological evidence that the Sami range may have been wider in antiquity.
The uncertainties have led some scholars to conclude that Tacitus' Fenni 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.
Material culture
Fenni seems to have been a form of the proto-Germanic word finne, denoting "wanderers" or "hunting folk". 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, 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 the branches of trees twisted together; this a reception for the old men, and hither resort the young. Such a condition they judge more happy 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 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 Sami, who were pastoralists living off herds of reindeer and inhabiting sophisticated tents of deer-hide. But the archaeological evidence suggests that the proto-Sami and Proto-Finns had a lifestyle more akin to Tacitus' description.
Ancient
- JordanesJordanesJordanes, also written Jordanis or Jornandes, was a 6th century Roman bureaucrat, who turned his hand to history later in life....
Getica (ca. 550 AD) - PtolemyPtolemyClaudius Ptolemy , was a Roman citizen of Egypt who wrote in Greek. He was a mathematician, astronomer, geographer, astrologer, and poet of a single epigram in the Greek Anthology. He lived in Egypt under Roman rule, and is believed to have been born in the town of Ptolemais Hermiou in the...
Geographia (ca. 150 AD) - TacitusTacitusPublius Cornelius Tacitus was a senator and a historian of the Roman Empire. The surviving portions of his two major works—the Annals and the Histories—examine the reigns of the Roman Emperors Tiberius, Claudius, Nero and those who reigned in the Year of the Four Emperors...
GermaniaGermaniaGermania was the Greek and Roman geographical term for the geographical regions inhabited by mainly by peoples considered to be Germani. It was most often used to refer especially to the east of the Rhine and north of the Danube...
(ca. 100 AD)
Modern
- Anderson, J.G.D. (1958) Textual note to Tacitus' Germania
- Bosi, Roberto (1960): The Lapps
- Hansen, L.I. & Olsen, B. (2004): Samenes Historie fram til 1750
- Kinsten, Silje Bergum (2000): "The Northern Sami People" (The Norway Post, 19 August 2000)
- Pirinen, Kauko The settlement of Finland begins in Eino Jutikkala (ed.) A History of Finland (trans. Paul Sjoblom)
- Tägil, Sven (1995): Ethnicity and nation building in the Nordic world, ISBN 1850652392
See also
- FinnicFinnic peoplesThe Finnic or Fennic peoples were historic ethnic groups who spoke various languages traditionally classified as Finno-Permic...
- SitonesSitonesSitones were a Germanic people living somewhere in Northern Europe in the 1st century CE. They are only mentioned by Cornelius Tacitus in 97 CE in Germania. Tacitus considered them a Germanic people similar to Suiones :...
- FinningiaFinningiaFinningia is an old Latin name for Finland, along with Fennia, Finnia and most often used Finlandia. The name first appears in the work of Olaus Magnus from 1539, who placed Finningia olim regnum on the Scandinavian map to indicate the unhistorical past kingdom of Finland...
- PhinnoiPhinnoiPhinnoi were one of the people living in Scandinavia , mentioned by a Greek scientist Ptolemy in his Geographia around 150 CE. Ptolemy mentions them twice, but provides no other information on them....