Protogermanic names for provinces in Scandinavia, part 1: Sweden and Denmark

Link to Þorsteins saga Víkingssonar,: www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/...
Link to King Alfred's orosius: archive.org/details/kingalfre...

[@c.m.bellman5721]

Being from Skåne, naturally everything I will say is not biased at all. There is a settlement called "Skanör", very close to where I live in southwestern Skåne. It is believed that this place share that same "scathe" or "damage" part in the beginning. Also, the -ör part means 'sandbank' or 'gravelbank'. So, Skanör means 'scathe sandbank' which is rendered in proto-germanic: Skadinaurī Knut Helle in "The Cambridge History of Scandinavia Vol. 1 (2003)" explains that: "The danger that may originally have been implied by both names, Scadinavia as well as Scandia/-ae, has been explained as that caused by the reefs and sandbanks which threatened seafarers on their way between Kattegat and the Baltic, above all the long reef of Falsterbo off the southwestern tip of Skåne." This long reef (sandbank) of Falsterbo is where Skanör literally is! Today that area is called Skanör-Falsterbo. This means that this small part of southwestern Scania could have given the name to the whole province which in turn gave the name of the whole region "Scandinavia". Like how once Asia only meant Anatolia, or Africa once meant North Africa.

[@c.m.bellman5721]

If you're looking for another, less likely etymology... This southwestern point of Skåne is part of the old administrative region of 'Skytts Härad' with the older spelling 'Skøzheret'. Skøz means "something pointing out" "projecting out" or quite literally "shooting" Its Proto-germanic form: Skeutaną This is probably unlikely to impossible, but what if Scandinavia meant: Skeutana-awjō or "The projecting land on the water", literally "shooting island"? A peninsula in other words.

[@proto-germanicsongsandtexts]

Helle's theory might also explain the relation to "damage" (PG: skaþô). Thank you for your insight on this subject! I hope you enjoyed the rest of the video.

[@bjabbbjabb1286]

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[@bjabbbjabb1286]

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[@abruemmer77]

Dude, Skandinavia is not a continent! XD

[@proto-germanicsongsandtexts]

I apologise in advance for the sometimes lousy quality of the recording. I had to record it at night, whispering not to wake up my family. Remember, this is not my main job, and do this work solely for the beauty of protogermanic and of our countries. On the other hand, this video is extra-long, for you to enjoy, which is the other reason why it took me so long to release. I hope you like it, and wish you a good day.

[@c.m.bellman5721]

Thank you for your work. Because I use a headset, I can only hear sound for my left ear which is a shame. It's understandable though

[@hjalmarolethorchristensen9761]

Beautiful work.... greetings from Skandinavia Danmark 🇩🇰

[@orionrodi]

Aalborg was also called Alabu. The name was found on coins dated 1040.

[@gruu]

I’m glad You acknowledged this, I almost shut down the video right away cause the sound was so bad and only panned on left ear/speaker but I powered through this time :)

[@BurnBird1]

As far as I am aware, it's widely accepted that the "Hälsing" part of "Hälsingland" is related to the Swedish word "Hals", meaning throat. The meaning is supposed to relate the rivers. This word is contained in numerous Scandinavian place names, such as Helsingborg, Helsingør, Helsinki/Helsingfors edit: The "Helsing" part of Helsingborg and Helsingør refer to the narrow part of Öresund between them, with it being a narrow piece of water, like a throat. It's also been brought to my attention there's a place called Hals in Denmark, whose name refers to the entrance of a fjord. I still think "Hals/Hels/Häls" most likely is related to bodies of water, probably referring a narrow point where two bodies meet, such as a river isthmus or strait.

[@marittasidoroff5502]

I have heard that Helsingfors got its name from a swedish settler or shieftain called Helsing who built hes cottage by the rapids-fors by the end of the river. Most names around the coasts of Finland and 30km inland have swedish origin due to settlement from Sweden. There was a heavier stream of settlers to this ”new land” - Nyland or in finish translation Uusimaa in around 1100 and afterwards due to folkkungatiden and the civilwars and unrest in Gästriksland at that time. Finish name Helsinki is just twisted and a simplification of the swedish name Helsingfors - like many names in Nyland are as they are too difficult for Fins to pronounce.

[@fastertove]

"Hals" is the name of the entrance to Limfjorden in Denmark. It is mentioned in Icelandic sagas as "Halsi". Danish wiki has more info about it, if interested. It also means throat in Danish, directly translated.

[@Aoderic]

Although there isn't a river at Helsingør, the town is situated at the entrance to the Øresund, so in that way it makes sense.

[@BurnBird1]

@@Aoderic the same is true for Helsingborg, just across the water on the other side. So while they don't refer specifically to s river, I feel like it sets a precedent that "gals" can refer to narrow bodies of water.

[@bjabbbjabb1286]

?

[@akeeriksson84]

10 km south of Uppsala Sweden there is a parish called Denmark. During the Viking period the waterway between Uppsala and Vaxholm ( Stockholm) are today farmfields that during spring gets saturated. According to old farmers Denmark means ”low lands”.

[@bjabbbjabb1286]

?

[@erikstenviken2652]

Its called Danmark, not Denmark :)

[@akeeriksson84]

@@erikstenviken2652 Danmark är svenska Denmark är engelska, min kommentar är på engelska. Som kuriosa kan nämnas att min morfar är avbildad i taket på Danmarks bygdegård.

[@eue073]

I live in southern part of Halland (2 km från Skåne border) and on the Bjäre peninsula we have Hovs Hallar.. or just "Hallarna" its a clif formation at the sea. I notised that u marked upper part of Småland where Östergötland is (skippin Östergötland out) and eastern part of Dalsland where Västergötland is (skippin Västergötland out). These two provinces (Västergötland and Östergötland) should be a part of this because they are a vital part of early Swedish history. Great video 😀

[@proto-germanicsongsandtexts]

So Hallulandą it is! thank you for your confirmation. Yeah i make some small mistakes on my maps sometimes, despite all the best efforts not to, some still get through... apologies.

[@kajsan760]

Yes, Östergötland and Västergötland are important historical regions, but since we already got a name for Götaland, it's easy to add a East or a West to it.

[@persallnas5408]

Wow, this was good , well informed and intellectually honest. As a native Värmlänning I sadly do not have much to add regarding that name other then that lake Värmeln do freeze in vinter unless the weather is very mild.

[@henrikgustafsson6385]

Blekinge may actually be a reference to the sea. If the sea is calm and no wind, almost as a mirror; it is called "Bleke".

[@lhulugren5309]

Närke with old spelling is Nerike, which is a combination of Ner/Ned meaning low/down and rike. So Nerike could mean Lowlands, which pretty good describe that landarea.

[@proto-germanicsongsandtexts]

Neđri does indeed mean "nether" in Old Norse. If so Närke could be Niþerīkiją. That "đ" that vanished is a little odd, as it wouldn't follow the regular rules of phonemic shifts. But it doesn't seem farfetched in this case. Thank you for your insight.

[@someopinion922]

Old Irish scadan "herring" Proto Germanic *aujo: "flat area at water" Scadan-aujo: -> Scandinavia -> Skaney -> Skåne "Herring Coast" The herring market at Skanør was once extremely important for all Northern Europe.

[@SwexitAFS]

Damn you just explained it, makes sense!

[@BurnBird1]

Seems rather unlikey seeing as old Irish was spoken half a millenium after Proto-Germanic.

[@someopinion922]

​@@BurnBird1 Your comment would make sense if the Scandinavia/Scania etc word were documented outside of Northern Germanic as an inherited word. But it isn't. Also, scadán being documented in Old Irish obviously does not prove it didn't exit in Irish before that. From wiktionary on scadán "From Old Irish scatán; cognate with Scottish Gaelic sgadan and Welsh ysgadan. All could be related to Old English sċeadd (modern English shad), along with Old Norse skata (“kind of fish”), but the ultimate origin of these words is obscure." So most likely a Northern European substrate sea word. Also shad: "From Middle English shadde, from Old English sceadd, possibly from Celtic (compare Scottish Gaelic sgadan (“herring”), Welsh ysgadan) or from Scandinavian/North Germanic (compare dialectal Norwegian skadd (“small whitefish”), Old Norse skata (“kind of fish”)), but the order of borrowing is unclear and the ultimate origin of these words is obscure. See also W.Grm. *skaiþan "separate" (as with a kipper)

[@underratedbub]

Looking forward to more etymologies!

[@Schmorgus]

After I've lived about 10 years in Värmland, I'm fairly sure that it got it's name from it being a very warm place in Sweden. They keep breaking the heat record, and the mountains in Norway keep the winds away. Looking at weather maps, the giant "spiral" of clouds that always go across Scandinavia/Finland, tend to always end here. Fun sidenote about Västerbotten and Norrbotten. Österbotten is in Finland (coming from the time when Finland was a part of Sweden).

[@larsrossle8576]

I can agree that it's plausible that the "pad" in Medelpad means "path". There have been a lot of trade with things like walrus teeth from northern Norway, via Trondheim, Jämtland, Medelpad and then down the coast to Svealand and maybe even to Denmark.

[@aquenwisey]

May I request a video where you discuss the change from PIE from *ḱóm into proto-Germanic *ga- not following Grimm’s Law?

[@proto-germanicsongsandtexts]

It didn't follow Grimm's law, but Verner's. PIE "k" should have become an "H" (IPA sound: "x"), but as this prefix was unstressed, it became PG "g" instead (IPA sound: ɣ). And also, given it's initial "weak" position in any word, the sound softned. For pronunciation, i refer you to my video on that topic. kzbin.info/www/bejne/nnzFZ5RratiGl7c

[@whyukraine]

What do you think about Jute-Geat-Goth (given the y- pronunciation of g & j) being etymologically linked, signifying a common origin of the tribes?

[@proto-germanicsongsandtexts]

Probably not, as Jutes are Eutaz in protogermanic. Geats and Goths probably have a much closer though.

[@iksRoald]

On my mother side, we are from an old farm named Skådin in Gausdal. The name Skådin is supposed to be Skod-vin, the meadow or pasture, with a view. So this would be a possible root for similar names in Scaninavia, which usually is supposed to relate to Skåne in the southern part of what is now Sweden.

[@Ywaine]

Mybee Värmland also refere to a tribe. One of the small countris in småland was called Värend.

[@muehahahaha]

I heard people connect denmark with low laying and valley. But the dan connection to water and flowing makes so much sense to me. Especially considering how much ship traffic most have flowed through Danmark and how absolutely wet and marshy Danmark wouldve been

[@tuvosikacikadomuz]

🎵 Kun Helsingöris helsattiin, huu veiju vei, huu veiju vei, niin haaven i god morjen sei, huu vei, huu veiju vei.🎶 Sung by Mr E. Vapaasalo in Uleåborg.

[@riddick7082]

There is a ridge in Halland (Hallandsåsen) which is comparatively much higher than the surrounding landscape.

[@alekzi4032]

Is there a language explanation why the core provinces are called (east & west)- "Götland", Gautland, but the I'm guessing more recent name "Götaland" is used for kinda the wider area of dependencies?

[@thestrange3791]

East and west halves of one of the swedish tribes' territory (Götar) Götar and Svear was the biggest two tribes in modern Sweden

[@alekzi4032]

​@@thestrange3791 Thanks. Just wondering exactly what's the linguistic difference between Götland and Götaland.

[@jmolofsson]

​@@alekzi4032etymology unclear (read: controversial) Goths, Jutland, Götaland and Gotland are likely to be of the same origin. Many etymologies have been proposed. None is agreed on.

[@margaretaglad8154]

Most wikings from Götaland, the gothic lands, was farmer, skilled blacksmiths and really good with horses. On top of that navigating their ships with an amazing knowledge of the stars.

[@MagnusIratusLiberales]

😮my left year has your voice in it. right ear has some drumms.

[@proto-germanicsongsandtexts]

Meet the power of ancient tribal languages.

[@Aoderic]

A possible etymology for Ribe, might be from rib, Proto-Germanic "ribja". The idea is that the place started as a river market, where the merchants were given a narrow strip of land from the river, thus forming what looked like two rows of ribs with the river as the spine. We know it looked something like that from the discriptions of Cordoban scholar Ibrahim ibn Yaqub who visited around 965.

[@volpilh]

Ribe is probably of Frisian or Para-Frisian etymology. I don't remember the exact details, but there are a lot of Frisian places with oddly similar names.

[@SwexitAFS]

Cool!

[@Hrotiberhtaz]

I think that Gästrikland more refers to "the land rich of hospitality" rather than land of rich guests. As for Ångermanland it most likely refer to the emotion of Ånger - Angr or angre which means greif, sorrow, distress. This could be explained with that some people of influence actually wanted people to stay away from the place.

[@ewonnestrand7298]

Or Gäst means something else. The pronoucing is (as in the Swedish word for guest) Jäst. If you spell it like that, can it bee another theory from old nors or proto germanik? Rik can also means rike, can it have been a "kingdom"/a another tribe?

[@Hrotiberhtaz]

In Swedish you can combine a noun with "rik" to create an adjectiv that describe something to have alot of it. For instance fish is packed with protein can be described "proteinrik". Gästrik most likely refer that it's a land with many guests, which implies land of hospitality. It could also be a propaganda effort in order to get people to visit the place. We know the Norse people often exhaggigated places they had visit in order to create settlements there. Greenland is a famous example. They also used the opposite as means to dissuade people from going there, Iceland beeing such an example.

[@paulingvar]

According to " Svenskt ortnamnslexikon" there is no generally accepted source for Gästrikland. Ångermanland is easier ; "Ånger" means a tight , narrow strait, and in this case a bay.

[@jhonandalex7762]

Bohuslan is a recent name. The old name is Ranarike. Ran, as I understand it, is a sea goddess. So, the realm of Ran. Narke is most likely named after the old god Njaerd or Njord. So, the realm of Njaerd. Gaestrik is obvious even in modern Swedish, it refers to hospitality not rich guests. So the land of hospitality. The prefix Helsing, I believe, refers to something narrow (neck = hals). Helsingland is therefore the 'narrow' land. (and in ancient times, it was just the coastal strip of the Bothnian sea). Compare Helsinborg/Helsingor at the narrowest passage of Oresund.

[@y11971alex]

The "asura" thing also appears in the title of the Zoroastrian god Ahura Mazda and reflects an interesting divergence of theological concepts between the Vedic and Zoroastrian religious traditions.

[@proto-germanicsongsandtexts]

Doesn't "Ahura" just mean "Lord" in Persian?

[@y11971alex]

@@proto-germanicsongsandtexts it does quite

[@riddick7082]

Impressed that you got it just right with Västerbotten and Ostrobothnia. Not many Swedes realize that Sweden and Finland were one and the same country for almost 700 years. The part of the kingdom that lies west of the Gulf of Bothnia becomes Västerbotten. Österbotten lies east of the gulf. A piece of unnecessary knowledge, still today most native Swedish-speaking Finns live in Österbotten.

[@cassu6]

Hey, out of interest where is that thumbnail from?

[@proto-germanicsongsandtexts]

AI generated. Why so?

[@matsrosenquist4620]

The Scandinavian word mark means; ground, soil, counter, Earth, land, territory.

[@someopinion922]

No, it means frontier land. That's Denmark as seen by the Germans (cf. Ostmark for Austria)..

[@jmolofsson]

wiktionary offers pretty good, and often reliable, notes on etymology. It's fairly obvious that _mark_ in the meaning land, etc is secondary to a Proto-Indo-European _*marǵ-_ meaning edge, boundary, border.

[@proto-germanicsongsandtexts]

Wiki is reliable, but often incomplete. Its always better to compare sources. Which are scarce in protogermanic, but rather common in old norse/old english

[@lkgh1966]

You could have mentioned Roslagen, the eastern part of Uppland that some claim is the origin of the name Russia.

[@filip657]

The name of the county Blekinge is known to come from the Blekinge word for ''calm waters/sea'' - ''Bleke''.

[@filip657]

I'm from there and that's the common belief atleast.

[@PerfectBrEAThER]

The name Lapp, Laplander seems most likely to be a Scandinavian translation of the rare endonym of the Sámi (and the Votes). " Allekirjoittaneen Virittäjässä 1941 s. 89 92 esittämän otaksuman mukaan lappi, lappalainen, ruots: lapp nimi olisi alkuaan skandinaavien keskuudessa syntynyt käännöslaina lappalaisten omakielisestä nimityksestä vuowjoš. Tämä, Henrik Gananderin v. 1743 ilmestyneessä lapin kieliopissaan mainitsema tornionlapin sana on johdannainen appellatiivista vuowje, vuoive (< *vakja) 'kiilanmuotoinen kangastilkku, kaista, joka ommellaan vaatteeseen' ja kansallisuudennimeksi ilmeisesti lainattu muinaisilta vatjalaisilta". - Erkki Esaias Itkonen (26. huhtikuuta 1913 Inari - 28. toukokuuta 1992 Helsinki) VAAJA vertical stake (dated) wedge From Proto-Finnic *vakja, borrowed either from Proto-Baltic (compare Latvian vadzis (“crook, hook”), Lithuanian vagis) or from Proto-Germanic *wagjaz (compare English wedge). Synonym: kiila (clothing) gusset (small piece of cloth inserted in a garment, for the purpose of strengthening some part or giving it a tapering enlargement) Borrowed from Swedish kil (“wedge”), if not an older loan. ukonVAAJA Thunderstone, a Stone Age tool used as a talisman. Other names for Ukonvaaja were for example vuolin, vasama, ukonnaula, ukonkiila, ukonnalkki, ukonkirves. However In Birch bark letter no. 292, the thunderstone may have been referred to as the arrow of the god. VATJAlainen (Votic vadʹdʹalain) Votian vadʹdʹalain Vote, Votic person VADʹDʹA (“pile, stake”) +‎ -lain. Derived from vadʹdʹõ (“pile, stake”), which is the symbol of the Votes. In the Russian 2020 census, 99 people identified as Votian. Votians were one of the founding people of Veliky Novgorod.

[@PerfectBrEAThER]

The Čuhti Corresponding forms for the legendary name for foemen čuđit are found in all Saami languages. Apart from North Saami, the singular form is invariably *čuđđi. It is likely, if not absolutely certain, that this word is in some way or another related to the (Old) Russian tšuđ, which was used to refer to some Baltic-Finnish people (or to Baltic-Finns generally). This would appear to be a word that has passed between languages, but its origin and the direction of borrowing have sharply divided scholars. According to one explanation, čuhti, čuđđi is of Saami origin and can be related to the Lule Saami word 🀄 tjåhte tension wedge (the corresponding form in North Saami would be *čohti). The word has the same wedge reference as in the Baltic-Finnic tribal name represented by the Finnish vatjalainen Votic (derived from the word *vakja wedge)🀄 This explanation also connects it with the Finnish word suude tension wedge, the phonetic form of which may have been influenced by confusion with derivatives of the word family suu mouth. The use of the word for a wedge in tribal names may be based on the settlement of such a tribe or tribes in the wedge-shaped end of the Gulf of Finland and/or the delta of the River Neva. In view of the fact that the Estonian equivalent of the word suude also has the meaning of mouth of a river, and the Finnish words suu mouth and suukko kiss have equivalents in Karelian that begin with the sound t, it is by no means impossible that the word čuđđi was borrowed into Saami and Russian from the original name of the Tšuudi people (originally *tšūda(lainen)) inhabitant of the Gulf of Finland or the mouth of the Neva. According to another explanation, the word is of (Old) Russian origin and can be connected with the Russian word čužoj strange. In other words, it is the name of a people whom the Russian regarded as strangers. Previously it was widely thought that the (Old) Russian čud was a loan word from Gothic Þiuda people, i.e. a word meaning the Goths or some other Germanic tribe (and that čužoj was an adjective derived from it), but this is unlikely in the light of the latest research. For reasons of phonetic correspondence, it is also unlikely that the Saami čuhti (*čuđđi) is cognate with the Finnish sota war. A corresponding related form of this word may however be Tziåd war, which appears in Schefferus work Lapponia (1674). This word, which has since disappeared and is not found in Modern Saami, may have been confused with čuhti (*čuđđi) and affected its pronunciation or meaning. This is possibly indicated by the Inari Saami tjudålmai soldier, which appears in J. Fellmann's nineteenth century notes; the initial element tjud(e) would appear to correspond phonetically with the modern Inari Saami word čuđe enemy but to be semantically connected to suàti war, which like the North Saami soahti is a loan word from the Finnish sota. - Eino Koponen KOTUS

[@fredyyfredfreddy]

Glutton island? The Danes haven't changed much it seems.

[@svenkaahedgerg3425]

Hälsingland I can help you with. Hels is a bottle neck in the water, a narrowing waterway and -ing is person or people of the...so, people of the narrow strait. Hälsingland Land of the people of the narrow strait, Helsingborg fortress of the people of the narrow strait, Helsingør, and Helsingfors (Helsinki) all have the same link, from what I have been able to find.

[@antoniescargo1529]

Germanic substrate theory. Some germanic words are not Indoeuropean. They only exist in Germanic languages :king, koning, König, kong.. Ship, schip, skip, Schiff..

[@y11971alex]

Should perhaps be mentioned that the entire Germanic word "path-" appears to have been from the genitive. So Medelpad could very well be "middle of the path".

[@proto-germanicsongsandtexts]

In that case, Midlapaþas. Both ways make sense.

[@y11971alex]

@@proto-germanicsongsandtexts if this IE word had evolved into Germanic normally it would have the declension of nom. *fanþōz < *pontoHs, gen. *funþas < *pntHos, I believe. But since it has initial p- not affected by Grimm, it probably has to be a borrowing from a different IE language.

[@l1mi13]

8:07 I doubt it was pronounced anywhere similar to that because.. we have no trace of talking that way nowdays and its cold up here during winter. You know what cold does to you when you talk? You want to let out as few and shorts words (little air) as possible. Therefore the way you say the word is what it could have sounded in a hot country in the middle east and you can still hear them talk that way today. Talk to someone from Norrland and you might find out that they are still in general very short/few worded. No fact, just an observation.

[@nafets87]

About Gästrikland. They suspect they took the name from the outpost village of Gestereke. Today Gästre. "Geest" meaning high and dry sand terrain and "eke" meaning oak.

[@proto-germanicsongsandtexts]

I'm a little skeptical for this. First, "eke" means oak, "ek" in old swedish, but "eik" in old norse. but not "ik". I know this seems insignificant but linguistically it isnt. I can't find any other old norse word relating to trees that starts with "ik". Second, geest exists in dutch and german, and might come from a very hypothetical PG word for infertile/barren., something like "gaist". Which also means "terror" or "ghost". reconstructed further into old norse, this word would be "geist", and "gest" in modern swedish. But these words arn't attested. Besides, if Gästrikland indeed comes from these words, it would mean "the land of the infertile oak", which seems a little bit odd.

[@nafets87]

@@proto-germanicsongsandtexts Ah, thank you for your thoughts and research! I live in Gästrikland myself and it have always been a head scratcher about the name. It feels unique in Sweden. I have also heard about the theory about "Guest-Rich" and "Guest-kingdom" but I haven't found any historical connections to back it up. There is the word: "Gast" in Swedish that means more or less ghost or something supernatural. But it is more natural for the word "Gest" to develop to "Gäst" I think. There is the word "Gest" in modern Swedish but it means more of hand signal (gesture) or making a good act.

[@proto-germanicsongsandtexts]

@@nafets87 , The "gest" as a gesture, comes from latin. So that is very unlikely to have something to do with Gästrikland. The possibility of it being related to ghosts, or spirits of the land (comparable to the icelandic Landvættur) fascinates me, as it could relate to norse mythology. But I wouldn't want to fall into the trap of suggesting something that is too hypothetical. "the land of the abundant ghosts/spirits". sounds really cool though.

[@nafets87]

@@proto-germanicsongsandtexts I would absolutely adore the name The Land of the Abundant Spirits!

[@stefansalo6571]

sverige is more likely to be svearike (land of the swedes) but svearike maybe sounded like sverige in old norse?

[@robertohlen4980]

Sverige is the Danish name, Svea Rige, funnily enough.

[@stefansalo6571]

@@robertohlen4980 indeed

[@larsdahlen319]

​@@robertohlen4980 It is possible that there is a difference between the kingdom of Sweden - Sverige (The land that the Swedish king controls) and where the Swedes live - Svealand. The king was Sveriges, Götes and Vendes Konung up to 1973 . During the present king it has been changed to Sveriges konung.

[@bennyklabarpan7002]

@@larsdahlen319 The origin is Sve/Svi refering to the Swedes (Svear). Svith would have become Svid in west germanic. There is no question Sweden/Sverige is named after the people of Svealand

[@larsdahlen319]

@@bennyklabarpan7002 No doubt.

[@Gubbe51]

Are you recording in a cave with a rotating machine that makes the noise? It is a pity that such an intresting subject is recorded in such acustically bad surroundings.

[@proto-germanicsongsandtexts]

The subject is all that matters.

[@margaretaglad8154]

Svitjod means that they burned away dry weed before they used the soil for sowing the next crop. Svitjod = svedjebränning or den svidda jorden. Check it. Google has exellent translations.

[@proto-germanicsongsandtexts]

While it is true that "svíða" means to singe, the word "Svíþjóð doesn't originate from this word. It is very unlikely because of the structure of this word: "jóð" doesn't mean anything in old Norse. It is not the same word as "jǫrð" (earth). Otherwise i could say that "beard" and "bead" are the same word. Svíþjóð realy just mean's Svii-þjóð (swede-people/tribe) as stated in this video. This is a common scientifically accepted etymology, among scholars that is.

[@marcusjohansen8061]

as a dane yes we are partly demi gods

[@c.m.bellman5721]

more akin to devils ;)

[@ing-mariekoppel1637]

Skade or Skadi is the fog coming up from water in mornings and evenings. Much such fog in ancient Sca(n)dinavia. The land of water mist.

[@olasvensson757]

Bleke= calm water/sea

[@proto-germanicsongsandtexts]

I have read some claims for that, but wasn't able to back it up. In what language to you think it means "calm sea"?

[@olasvensson757]

@@proto-germanicsongsandtexts well we still say ”bleke” in Swedish. If you sail from the north to the south and going west to the Blekinge archipelago the water will be calm.

[@olasvensson757]

@@proto-germanicsongsandtexts If i remember it right it comes from the same word as black, ash which sounds funny because now we think of the colour of charcoal and not the white/gray ash

[@olasvensson757]

@@proto-germanicsongsandtexts I read a long time ago that during the Viking Age, that people from Blekinge were called ”blackmen”

[@proto-germanicsongsandtexts]

@@olasvensson757 All right, fair enough. But couldn't "bleke" come from the word blek anyway? It is confusing in Protogermanic, because Blaikaz means pale/white, Blakaz means black. So bleke could come from either. Maybe they said bleke because the sea was "dead" (no wind) and a dead man is well.. livid..

[@ferrothorn9022]

I live in river mouth

[@chrunchyfalcon2071]

How did you learn proto-germanic?

[@proto-germanicsongsandtexts]

Gather documents about its grammar, phonology and vocabulary, and you're free to go.

[@bjabbbjabb1286]

?

[@BurnBird1]

That's a very surface level analysis of the name.

[@whyukraine]

Aesir - Ansuz: Ancestors. Same in Etruscan, interestingly. Asatru is ancestor worship, then.

[@proto-germanicsongsandtexts]

Ancestor have a much different origin. It's a latin compound word : ante (before)- cedere (to go) + tor (agent noun suffix). it roughly means "the for-go-er". Whereas Ansuz comes from a PIE root h₂emsus, a word related to "giving birth" , "to produce" or "to cause" . Its the same root as hindu Asura, and iranian "ahura". Asatru followers indeed value ancestors, but Aesir is unrelated to the word "ancestor".

[@JHenryEden]

what is scandinavia is related to "skandi" (schande = shame)

[@proto-germanicsongsandtexts]

Unlikely. Linguistic patterns seem not to align for this hypothesis. Although, the difference between the "island of Murder", and "the island of shame" isn't that big ^^

[@JHenryEden]

@@proto-germanicsongsandtexts was just throwing a thought around. i think the PG word for shame was skandiz or skandaz.

[@Lasoundmusiq2023]

The name Danmark arrives because of King Dan he saw a mark and named it Danmark. Scandinavia was ounce upon a time ruled by the Danish Queen Margrethe 1th (Kalmar Union). Also read about the Germanic King of Scandinavia. His name was King Kivik. Saxo Grammatius wrote the Norse Saga (Old Norse Nørron) ect. Study Futhark

[@larsdahlen319]

It should be noted those of us living in Skandinavien does not see us as Skandinavians we see us Norse or Nordbor. Skandinavia coms from Skandia the latin name for Skåne so it is not a name from Nordic decent.

[@proto-germanicsongsandtexts]

Its latin name comes from protogermanic. So it pre-dates the schism between the North and the West-germanics.

[@larsdahlen319]

@@proto-germanicsongsandtexts But still it is not a name used by people living in Scandinavia today even less in proto-germanic times.

[@larsdahlen319]

@@proto-germanicsongsandtexts During protogermanic time it did not exist any common feeling of that Scandinavia was one geografical or political entety so the need for a name for Scandinavia did not exist. Scandinavia was not used before medieval times and then in latin scrips so trying to find connections to Proto-Germanic goods is a long stretch.

[@proto-germanicsongsandtexts]

@@larsdahlen319 , I know, and I never claimed I wanted to find the real name of the region back then, it is impossible. All I do, in all of my videos, is exactly what i say in my introduction: translating the modern name back to protogermanic, or at least try to do so.

[@larsdahlen319]

@@proto-germanicsongsandtexts But you can not try to trace the name of Skandinavien back to any proto-germanic time because there did not exist any need for the name during that time.

[@bjabbbjabb1286]

,?

[@BurnBird1]

Except we have another meaning for the word, which means fjord, firth, etc. Which makes much more sense as an explanation, especially since the area is full of towns with that word in it. No sailor ever regretted sailing there and nobody's ever claimed that pirates ruled that land.

[@francisdec1615]

It's related to the German word 'eng' - narrow.

[@bjabbbjabb1286]

@@francisdec1615 ?

[@bjabbbjabb1286]

@@francisdec1615?

[@BurnBird1]

@@bjabbbjabb1286 who are the "some" here? What you are saying is not claimed by *any* reputable scholar or expert in the field. Your friends down at the gas station don't count.

[@hjalmarolethorchristensen9761]

Aaaahhh hahah... Hostióz Helpu Ufar fatai jaga iz wóðnas weraz

[@mroldnewbie]

The "borderlands" idea of Denmark is total nonsense. Sure, the part of the word may ORIGINATE in a word that meant that at an earlier point in time in a proto language, but that doesn't fucking mean that the name itself meant that, unless it was used at that point in time. According to our own mythology it means the land of DAN, a person and/or a tribe. Case closed. Not "borderlands" what absolute bullshit. Think of England, it means the land of the Angles, does it not? But what does Angle mean? What was the root of that word and what did it mean 2000 years ago? This way of thinking completely changes the meaning of a word by going back in time long before the word was created, to look at the deep origin of the individual parts and the interpret this as being the meaning of the much later word. It's like the island Cook Island. It is named after a person named Cook. Not cooking food. Researching the deeper origin of the name Cook is irrelevant to the meaning of the name of the island.

[@joelmattsson9353]

Sure, but mark *did* mean borderland in old norse and proto-norse, though. Denmark meant borderland of the danes when the word first came about, and the 'land of dan' interpretation is a much later folk etymology based on meanings those words took on many centuries after the fact. Denmark was the borderlands of the danes because the danes conquered their neighboring tribes such as the jutes. The region under the control of the danes became known as the dane-mark, while the core area that was the homeland of the danes themselves was sjælland and eastern skåne. If the myth of Dan and the land of Dan is close to your heart, i get it, and nothing is stopping you from cherishing it, same as nothing is stopping you from cherishing tales of the norse gods. But know that it is myth, it is ahistorical. Getting upset at scholars for challenging long held belief is not a good look, my man.

[@Ozoal]

You sir, didn't listen to the intro. And got angry over futilities.

[@larsdahlen319]

​​@@joelmattsson9353If Danmark means borderland (gränsland) who has named it to borderland ? Swedes or Germans ? No one that is living in a country says to themselves that they live in a borderland. The neighbours can say that they live in a border land but not the people living in the country.

[@joelmattsson9353]

@@larsdahlen319 i'm sure the danes didn't originally consider their core territories in Sjælland and Skåne to be part of their marches, their borderlands, only the lands surrounding them that they had conquered. Their greater kingdom was what was the dane-mark, not their core homeland. But over time the kingdom just became known as denmark and eventually _all_ it's inhabitants became considered danes. Same as how how in the modern day if you're from the kingdom of sweden you're considered a swede, even if you're not actually from Svealand. A millennium and a half ago, the swedes were just one tribe among many, alongside geats and jämts and hälsings and more. But the swedes were historically the most powerful tribe, and when the kingdom was unified it became known as svea rike, the kingdom of the swedes. And over time, the definition of swede has gradually shifted to mean *any* inhabitant of the kingdom of sweden, regardless of ancient tribal affiliation. The danes were an ancient tribe that ruled over many other tribes in southern scandinavia, and all of the lands and tribes they ruled over were known as the dane mark, the danish borderlands. Eventually this concept evolved into the modern kingdom of denmark, where everyone is considered a dane, regardless of if they're actually from jutland or bornholm. Regardless of if their ancient ancestors would have considered themselves jutes or burgundians, not danes.

[@larsdahlen319]

​​​@@joelmattsson9353Skåne was not a part of the original Denmark. Skåne where counted as a indipendent kingdom up to the end of the viking age . The king of Denmark were counted as Danmarks & Skånes konung. De Skånska Landskapen (conties) is Skåne, Blekinge and Halland. That means that Skåne is not only Skåne but Skåne, Blekinge and Halland. When Denmark loses Skåne, Blekinge & Halland to Sweden 1658 they lose Skåne not Skåne, Blekinge & Halland according to documents from the time. By the way I count myself as Bleking and only in the second hand as a Swede. The same if you are from Gotland, Härjedalen .....

[@JensOverby]

Scandinavia - comes from Scania - or Skåne, which is a region in southern Sweden - once a part of Denmark.

[@bjabbbjabb1286]

?

[@BurnBird1]

They are both related to the PIE word for "to pour" but you would need to back up your reasoning. Sweden was Christianized from the south and then upwards, meaning that the Geats would have been Christianized before the Swedes (if such a tribal distinction was still even made at that time).

[@bjabbbjabb1286]

@@BurnBird1 cristianity came in waves. It was fought back several times, priests was killed churches burnt and so on. One could argue sweden was christened not untill AD850 by a priest with the name of Anskar, and it was done from the middle . (Center ) the city of Birka in the lake Mälaren was his seat. It was a tradehub reaching in every direction. Far north It took probably 100- 150 years.southwards It spread all the way to Småland, but there It stopped 200years. Hostile hedens. The same happend from the South Coast. Fierce fighting took place,, and hedens prevailed. Not untill Denmark ,and norway was securely christened, the hedens joined. Long story short. The Vikings changed gods depending on where they fitted. IF it was conviniant to confess to any god at any time, they did. For example, many were muslims, wore arab cloths, and so on. One has to se them as pragmatic travellers, adopting different cultures. Not too long ago a ring was found inscripted with a sura praising Allah.

[@bjabbbjabb1286]

@@BurnBird1 the guets was specially flexible, and was known to be either this or that, but mostly greedy. They were travelling money Exchange banks, one coul say. Much like the hansa was , half a century later. Later still the house of flugger. The templars formed the most prominent bunch of these likeminded moungers.

[@bjabbbjabb1286]

?

[@BurnBird1]

I'm guessing this is the part where the drugs started hitting really hard.

[@bjabbbjabb1286]

?