Auiones
Encyclopedia
The Aviones or Auiones were one of the Nerthus
-worshipping Germanic tribes of the 1st century mentioned by Tacitus
in Germania
, and they lived either in the southern Jutland Peninsula
, or on Öland
. They are mentioned in Widsith
as Eowan.
Tacitus wrote of the group as defended by rivers and forests:
Thus, according to Tacitus, the Aviones lived on the Jutland Peninsula
, near the Angles
; if their name is indeed related to islands, they possibly lived on the North Frisian Islands
. However, according to Kendrick
, they probably lived on Öland
. It is not only the meaning Island dwellers that connects them to the island Öland (meaning "Island land"), but also the Old English
name for the island which was Eowland (mentioned by Wulfstan of Hedeby
), "the land of the Eowan".
Nerthus
In Germanic paganism, Nerthus is a goddess associated with fertility. Nerthus is attested by Tacitus, the first century AD Roman historian, in his Germania. Various theories exist regarding the goddess and her potential later traces amongst the Germanic tribes...
-worshipping Germanic tribes of the 1st century mentioned by Tacitus
Tacitus
Publius 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...
in Germania
Germania (book)
The Germania , written by Gaius Cornelius Tacitus around 98, is an ethnographic work on the Germanic tribes outside the Roman Empire.-Contents:...
, and they lived either in the southern Jutland Peninsula
Jutland Peninsula
The Jutland Peninsula or more historically the Cimbrian Peninsula is a peninsula in Europe, divided between Denmark and Germany. The names are derived from the Jutes and the Cimbri....
, or on Öland
Öland
' is the second largest Swedish island and the smallest of the traditional provinces of Sweden. Öland has an area of 1,342 km² and is located in the Baltic Sea just off the coast of Småland. The island has 25,000 inhabitants, but during Swedish Midsummer it is visited by up to 500,000 people...
. They are mentioned in Widsith
Widsith
Widsith is an Old English poem of 144 lines that appears to date from the 9th century, drawing on earlier oral traditions of Anglo-Saxon tale singing. The only text of the fragment is copied in the Exeter Book, a manuscript of Old English poetry compiled in the late 10th century containing...
as Eowan.
Tacitus wrote of the group as defended by rivers and forests:
(Original Latin) "ReudigniReudigniThe Reudigni were one of the Nerthus-worshipping Germanic tribes mentioned by Tacitus in Germania. Schütte suggests that the name should be read Rendingi or Randingi and then the name would be the same as the Rondings of Widsith. They have otherwise been lost to history, but they may have lived in...
deinde et Aviones et Anglii et Varini et Eudoses et Suardones et NuithonesNuithonesThe Nuithones were one of the Nerthus-worshipping Germanic tribes mentioned by Tacitus in Germania. Schütte remarks that the name is probably corrupt and suggests that the correct forms were Teutones or Euthiones ....
. Nec quicquam notabile in singulis, nisi quod in commune Nerthum, id est Terram matrem, colunt eamque intervenire rebus hominum, invehi populis arbitrantur. ..." --Tacitus, GermaniaGermania (book)The Germania , written by Gaius Cornelius Tacitus around 98, is an ethnographic work on the Germanic tribes outside the Roman Empire.-Contents:...
, 40.
(English translation) "There follow in order the ReudigniReudigniThe Reudigni were one of the Nerthus-worshipping Germanic tribes mentioned by Tacitus in Germania. Schütte suggests that the name should be read Rendingi or Randingi and then the name would be the same as the Rondings of Widsith. They have otherwise been lost to history, but they may have lived in...
ans, and Aviones, and AnglesAnglesThe Angles is a modern English term for a Germanic people who took their name from the ancestral cultural region of Angeln, a district located in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany...
, and Varinians, and Eudoses, and Suardones and NuithonesNuithonesThe Nuithones were one of the Nerthus-worshipping Germanic tribes mentioned by Tacitus in Germania. Schütte remarks that the name is probably corrupt and suggests that the correct forms were Teutones or Euthiones ....
; all defended by rivers or forests. Nor in one of these nations does aught remarkable occur, only that they universally join in the worship of Herthum (NerthusNerthusIn Germanic paganism, Nerthus is a goddess associated with fertility. Nerthus is attested by Tacitus, the first century AD Roman historian, in his Germania. Various theories exist regarding the goddess and her potential later traces amongst the Germanic tribes...
); that is to say, the Mother Earth."--Tacitus, GermaniaGermania (book)The Germania , written by Gaius Cornelius Tacitus around 98, is an ethnographic work on the Germanic tribes outside the Roman Empire.-Contents:...
, 40, translated 1877 by Church and Brodribb.
Thus, according to Tacitus, the Aviones lived on the Jutland Peninsula
Jutland Peninsula
The Jutland Peninsula or more historically the Cimbrian Peninsula is a peninsula in Europe, divided between Denmark and Germany. The names are derived from the Jutes and the Cimbri....
, near the Angles
Angles
The Angles is a modern English term for a Germanic people who took their name from the ancestral cultural region of Angeln, a district located in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany...
; if their name is indeed related to islands, they possibly lived on the North Frisian Islands
North Frisian Islands
The North Frisian Islands are a group of islands in the Wadden Sea, a part of the North Sea, off the western coast of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. The German islands are in the traditional region of North Frisia and are part of the Schleswig-Holstein Wadden Sea National Park and the Kreis of...
. However, according to Kendrick
T. D. Kendrick
Sir Thomas Downing Kendrick KCB was a British archaeologist and art historian.Kendrick was born in Handsworth, a suburb of Birmingham, England, and educated at Charterhouse School and Oriel College, Oxford for a year before World War I, during which he was wounded, and rose to the rank of...
, they probably lived on Öland
Öland
' is the second largest Swedish island and the smallest of the traditional provinces of Sweden. Öland has an area of 1,342 km² and is located in the Baltic Sea just off the coast of Småland. The island has 25,000 inhabitants, but during Swedish Midsummer it is visited by up to 500,000 people...
. It is not only the meaning Island dwellers that connects them to the island Öland (meaning "Island land"), but also the Old English
Old English language
Old English or Anglo-Saxon is an early form of the English language that was spoken and written by the Anglo-Saxons and their descendants in parts of what are now England and southeastern Scotland between at least the mid-5th century and the mid-12th century...
name for the island which was Eowland (mentioned by Wulfstan of Hedeby
Wulfstan of Hedeby
Wulfstan of Hedeby was a late ninth century traveller and trader. His travel accounts, as well as those of another trader, Ohthere, were included in Alfred the Great's translation of Orosius' Histories...
), "the land of the Eowan".