289:
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 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 the Gods, they have accomplished a thing of infinite difficulty; that to them nothing remains even to be wished.
253:, 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 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
44:
293:
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'
288:
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
245:
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
256:
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
499:
Mikko
Heikkilä: Bidrag till Fennoskandiens språkliga Förhistoria i tid och rum. University of Helsinki. 2014. tps://helda.helsinki.fi/bitstream/handle/10138/135714/bidragti.pdf - Abstract in English pp.
174:("softest Finns"). The Screrefennae 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
265:, 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.
233:
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
210:) 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
284:
viewed its etymology as unclear and listed a couple of alternative proposals (i.e. a derivation from Proto-Celtic *Ăľenn- "hill"). Tacitus describes the Fenni as follows:
237:
throughout different interpretations. Nevertheless, according to some linguists, certain linguistic evidence may be interpreted supporting the idea of an archaic
198:. 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
706:
249:
Another theory is that
Tacitus' Fenni and Ptolemy's northern Phinnoi were the same people and constituted the original Sámi people of northern
688:
133:(Φιννοι), generally believed to be synonymous with the Fenni. He locates them in two different areas: a northern group in northern
384:
474:
765:
760:
716:
484:
51:
and surrounding peoples in AD 125. The map shows two possible locations of the Fenni, based on possible readings of
606:
117:
overrun in their predatory excursions all the woody and mountainous tracts between the
Peucini and the Fenni"
770:
141:), then believed to be an island; and a southern group, apparently dwelling to the East of the upper
242:
238:
17:
35:
581:
308:
543:
8:
207:
226:
739:
580:
Ante Aikio 2007: The study of Saami substrate toponyms in
Finland. Onomastica Uralica.
30:
This article is about ancient people of Europe. For the Welsh town called Y Fenni, see
712:
480:
162:(Scandinavia), he mentions three groups with names similar to Ptolemy's Phinnoi, the
102:
84:
392:
221:
It has also been suggested that
Tacitus' Fenni could be the ancestors of the modern
191:
145:(SE Poland). It remains unclear what was the relationship between the two groups.
111:
in 98 A.D. Their location is uncertain, due to the vagueness of
Tacitus' account:
655:
303:
107:
89:
262:
222:
215:
114:
230:
754:
602:
281:
142:
80:
380:
250:
203:
48:
545:
The Early Period of Sámi History, from the Beginnings to the 16th Century
138:
68:
31:
743:
644:
509:
125:
513:
318:
234:
195:
175:
629:
155:
43:
651:
640:
313:
258:
120:
64:
60:
56:
52:
633:
211:
150:
202:
as a generic name, to denote the various non-Germanic (i.e.
582:
http://mnytud.arts.klte.hu/onomural/kotetek/ou4/08aikio.pdf
555:
553:
67:
river). Another location given by Ptolemy, in northern
229:
writes that Tacitus may well have been describing the
148:
The next ancient mention of the Fenni/Finni is in the
276:
seems to have been a form of the proto-Germanic word
550:
190:
Tacitus was unsure whether to classify the Fenni as
71:, is not shown as the map does not cover that region
280:, denoting "wanderers" or "hunting folk", although
708:Ethnicity and nation building in the Nordic world
669:Anderson, J.G.D. (1958) Textual note to Tacitus'
752:
601:
514:On Germanic-Saami contacts and Saami prehistory
185:
339:
337:
335:
333:
379:
129:in ca. 150 AD, mentions a people called the
330:
178:of southern Sweden. It is unclear who the
721:
559:
472:
42:
455:
453:
14:
753:
463:, Indiana University Press, 1999, p226
412:
410:
389:Historia de Gentibus Septentrionalibus
158:. In his description of the island of
681:Hansen, L.I. & Olsen, B. (2004):
542:Doug Simms, The University of Texas,
27:Ancient people of northeastern Europe
450:
407:
268:
96:
24:
592:Svensk Etymologisk Ordbok (online)
25:
782:
691:(The Norway Post, 19 August 2000)
101:The Fenni are first mentioned by
722:Whitaker, Ian (1980). "Tacitus'
696:The settlement of Finland begins
608:A Handbook of Germanic Etymology
385:"The Description of Scricfinnia"
595:
586:
574:
565:
536:
527:
518:
503:
493:
466:
687:Kinsten, Silje Bergum (2000):
683:Samenes Historie fram til 1750
441:
432:
423:
373:
364:
355:
346:
13:
1:
618:
119:. The Greco-Roman geographer
324:
186:Ethno-linguistic affiliation
7:
297:
10:
787:
766:Hunter-gatherers of Europe
689:"The Northern Sami People"
623:
473:Spilling, Michael (1999).
154:of 6th-century chronicler
79:were an ancient people of
29:
761:Ancient peoples of Europe
663:
571:Hansen & Olsen (2004)
698:in Eino Jutikkala (ed.)
243:Paleo-European languages
361:Ptolemy II.11 and III.5
675:Bosi, Roberto (1960):
391:. Rome. Archived from
291:
72:
36:Fenny (disambiguation)
34:. For other uses, see
732:The Classical Journal
702:(trans. Paul Sjoblom)
286:
83:, first described by
46:
705:Tägil, Sven (1995):
700:A History of Finland
241:dialect and unknown
771:Finno-Ugric peoples
438:Anderson (1958) 217
123:, who produced his
81:northeastern Europe
461:Kalevala Mythology
459:Juha Pentikäinen,
73:
103:Cornelius Tacitus
85:Cornelius Tacitus
16:(Redirected from
778:
747:
613:
612:
603:Vladimir E. Orel
599:
593:
590:
584:
578:
572:
569:
563:
557:
548:
540:
534:
531:
525:
524:Tägil (1995) 118
522:
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497:
491:
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457:
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377:
371:
368:
362:
359:
353:
352:Mattingly (1970)
350:
344:
341:
269:Material culture
227:Juha Pentikäinen
97:Ancient accounts
21:
786:
785:
781:
780:
779:
777:
776:
775:
751:
750:
694:Pirinen, Kauko
666:
626:
621:
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395:on 18 July 2011
378:
374:
369:
365:
360:
356:
351:
347:
342:
331:
327:
304:Finn (ethnonym)
300:
271:
188:
180:mitissimi Finni
172:mitissimi Finni
99:
39:
28:
23:
22:
15:
12:
11:
5:
784:
774:
773:
768:
763:
749:
748:
738:(3): 215–224.
726:and Ptolemy's
719:
703:
692:
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679:
673:
665:
662:
661:
660:
649:
638:
625:
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573:
564:
549:
535:
533:Kinsten (2000)
526:
517:
502:
492:
485:
465:
449:
440:
431:
429:Tacitus G.45-6
422:
406:
372:
370:Jordanes G.III
363:
354:
345:
328:
326:
323:
322:
321:
316:
311:
306:
299:
296:
270:
267:
246:Fennoscandia.
223:Finnish people
187:
184:
98:
95:
26:
9:
6:
4:
3:
2:
783:
772:
769:
767:
764:
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745:
741:
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733:
729:
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717:1-85065-239-2
714:
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667:
658:
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653:
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639:
636:
635:
631:
628:
627:
610:
609:
604:
598:
589:
583:
577:
568:
561:
560:Whitaker 1980
556:
554:
547:
546:
539:
530:
521:
515:
511:
506:
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488:
486:9780761409519
482:
478:
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426:
420:(1960) pp44-7
419:
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310:
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295:
294:description.
290:
285:
283:
282:Vladimir Orel
279:
275:
266:
264:
260:
254:
252:
247:
244:
240:
239:Indo-European
236:
232:
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201:
197:
193:
183:
181:
177:
173:
169:
165:
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157:
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146:
144:
143:Vistula river
140:
136:
132:
128:
127:
122:
118:
116:
110:
109:
104:
94:
92:
91:
86:
82:
78:
70:
66:
62:
58:
54:
50:
45:
41:
37:
33:
19:
735:
731:
727:
723:
707:
699:
695:
682:
676:
670:
659:(ca. 100 AD)
654:
648:(ca. 150 AD)
643:
637:(ca. 550 AD)
632:
607:
597:
588:
576:
567:
544:
538:
529:
520:
505:
495:
475:
468:
460:
443:
434:
425:
417:
397:. Retrieved
393:the original
388:
381:Olaus Magnus
375:
366:
357:
348:
343:Tacitus G.46
292:
287:
277:
273:
272:
255:
251:Fennoscandia
248:
220:
204:Balto-Slavic
199:
189:
179:
171:
167:
164:Screrefennae
163:
159:
149:
147:
134:
130:
124:
112:
106:
100:
88:
76:
74:
49:Roman empire
40:
208:Finno-Ugric
139:Scandinavia
69:Scandinavia
47:Map of the
32:Abergavenny
755:Categories
645:Geographia
619:References
510:Ante Aikio
168:Finnaithae
126:Geographia
93:in AD 98.
677:The Lapps
447:Pirinen 9
418:The Lapps
416:R. Bosi,
383:(1658) .
325:Citations
319:Finningia
278:*fanĂľian-
235:Estonians
196:Sarmatian
176:Finnveden
671:Germania
656:Germania
630:Jordanes
605:(2003).
298:See also
261:and the
214:and the
192:Germanic
156:Jordanes
108:Germania
90:Germania
744:3297154
728:Phinnoi
652:Tacitus
641:Ptolemy
624:Ancient
476:Estonia
399:6 March
314:Sitones
259:Peucini
160:Scandza
135:Scandia
131:Phinnoi
121:Ptolemy
65:Vistula
63:(upper
61:Ptolemy
57:Livonia
53:Tacitus
18:Phinnoi
742:
715:
664:Modern
634:Getica
512:2006:
483:
309:Finnic
263:Venedi
216:Veneti
212:Aestii
151:Getica
115:Venedi
59:) and
740:JSTOR
724:Fenni
274:Fenni
200:Fenni
182:was.
113:"The
77:Fenni
713:ISBN
481:ISBN
401:2009
231:Sámi
206:and
170:and
75:The
730:".
500:7-8
194:or
105:in
87:in
757::
736:75
734:.
711:,
552:^
479:.
452:^
409:^
387:.
332:^
225:.
218:.
166:,
746:.
611:.
562:.
489:.
403:.
137:(
55:(
38:.
20:)
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