TheAvionesorAuiones(*Awionizmeaning "island people" ) were one of theNerthus-worshippingGermanic tribesof the 1st century mentioned byTacitusinGermania,and they lived either in the southernJutland Peninsula,or onÖland.They are mentioned inWidsithasEowan.[1]
Tacitus wrote of the group as defended by rivers and forests:
(Original Latin)"Reudignideinde et Aviones etAngliietVarinietEudosesetSuardonesetNuithonesfluminibus aut silvis muniuntur. Nec quicquam notabile in singulis, nisi quod in commune Nerthum, id est Terram matrem, colunt eamque intervenire rebus hominum, invehi populis arbitrantur.... "--Tacitus,Germania,40.[2]
(English translation)"There follow in order theReudignians,andAviones,andAngles,andVarinians,andEudoses,andSuardonesandNuithones;all defended by rivers or forests. Nor in one of these nations does aught remarkable occur, only that they universally join in the worship ofHerthum (Nerthus);that is to say, the Mother Earth. "--Tacitus,Germania,40,translated 1877 by Church and Brodribb.[3]
Thus, according to Tacitus, the Aviones lived on theJutland Peninsula,near the Angles; if their name is indeed related to islands, they possibly lived on theNorth Frisian Islands.However, according toKendrick,they probably lived onÖland.[4]It is not only the meaningIsland dwellersthat connects them to the island Öland (meaning "Island land" ), but also theOld Englishname for the island which isEowland(mentioned byWulfstan of Hedeby), "the land of the Eowan".
See also
editReferences
edit- ^"Schütte, Gudmund.The Cult of Nerthus".Archived fromthe originalon 2005-02-21.Retrieved2005-06-19.
- ^Tacitus',Germania,40,Medieval Source Book. Code and format by Northvegr.[1]Archived2008-04-04 at theWayback Machine
- ^Tacitus',Germania,40;translation fromThe Agricola and Germania,A. J. Church and W. J. Brodribb, trans., (London: Macmillan, 1877), pp. 87- 10, as recorded in theMedieval Sourcebook[2]
- ^Kendrick, T.D. (1930),A History of the Vikings,New York, Charles Scribner's Sons."Northvegr - A History of the Vikings".Archived fromthe originalon 2005-09-05.Retrieved2005-09-09.