Favonae
Encyclopedia
Favonae is a Latinization of Greek Phauonai, the name of a Germanic people in Ptolemy
’s Geography
(2.10) located in eastern Scandinavia
. They are not found elsewhere in classical sources. Moreover, Ptolemy’s view of the north is so distorted that the location of his east Scandinavia remains uncertain.
However, the Greek
spelling, Phau-, gives a possible clue to its meaning. It looks like Old English feaw-, "few", which, following the analogy of Harudes, would have come from *faw-. The American Heritage Dictionary lists the Indo-European
root as *pau- "few, little", becoming *fau- in Germanic
*fawaz by Grimm's Law
.
There is a name of the same meaning in modern Sweden
: Småland
, which would have been at a location known to Ptolemy in southeastern Scandinavia. It means "small land", which name refers to its broken and uncultivatable terrain; i.e., the province includes only small land for settlement purposes. As the name is based on the terrain, it would have been most likely kept over the centuries. The terrain encouraged emigration from Kalmar
to Minnesota
, where the land was much bigger.
As the name of the Favonae is based on the terrain, they might well have been known by some other, ethnic name, not reported by Ptolemy.
There is a notable suggestion by Kendrick, published in 1930 (see under Dauciones
), that the Favonae were not in Sweden but were on the coast of Finland
opposite. This hypothesis is based entirely on the argument that the Levonii of Ptolemy are the Swedes proper and therefore the east of them must be Finland. However, Kendrick also argues that the Chaideinoi could not have been in Hedemark because the latter was too remote for Ptolemy. If Hedemark is to be considered remote, then Finland must be even more so; moreover, Ptolemy does mention the Finns and does not identify them with the Favonae. Kendrick does not supply us with any names from Finland.
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...
’s Geography
Geography
Geography is the science that studies the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. A literal translation would be "to describe or write about the Earth". The first person to use the word "geography" was Eratosthenes...
(2.10) located in eastern 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,...
. They are not found elsewhere in classical sources. Moreover, Ptolemy’s view of the north is so distorted that the location of his east Scandinavia remains uncertain.
However, the Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
spelling, Phau-, gives a possible clue to its meaning. It looks like Old English feaw-, "few", which, following the analogy of Harudes, would have come from *faw-. The American Heritage Dictionary lists the Indo-European
Indo-European languages
The Indo-European languages are a family of several hundred related languages and dialects, including most major current languages of Europe, the Iranian plateau, and South Asia and also historically predominant in Anatolia...
root as *pau- "few, little", becoming *fau- in Germanic
Germanic languages
The Germanic languages constitute a sub-branch of the Indo-European language family. The common ancestor of all of the languages in this branch is called Proto-Germanic , which was spoken in approximately the mid-1st millennium BC in Iron Age northern Europe...
*fawaz by Grimm's Law
Grimm's law
Grimm's law , named for Jacob Grimm, is a set of statements describing the inherited Proto-Indo-European stops as they developed in Proto-Germanic in the 1st millennium BC...
.
There is a name of the same meaning in modern Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
: Småland
Småland
' is a historical province in southern Sweden.Småland borders Blekinge, Scania or Skåne, Halland, Västergötland, Östergötland and the island Öland in the Baltic Sea. The name Småland literally means Small Lands. . The latinized form Smolandia has been used in other languages...
, which would have been at a location known to Ptolemy in southeastern Scandinavia. It means "small land", which name refers to its broken and uncultivatable terrain; i.e., the province includes only small land for settlement purposes. As the name is based on the terrain, it would have been most likely kept over the centuries. The terrain encouraged emigration from Kalmar
Kalmar
Kalmar is a city in Småland in the south-east of Sweden, situated by the Baltic Sea. It had 62,767 inhabitants in 2010 and is the seat of Kalmar Municipality. It is also the capital of Kalmar County, which comprises 12 municipalities with a total of 233,776 inhabitants .From the thirteenth to the...
to Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
, where the land was much bigger.
As the name of the Favonae is based on the terrain, they might well have been known by some other, ethnic name, not reported by Ptolemy.
There is a notable suggestion by Kendrick, published in 1930 (see under Dauciones
Dauciones
The Daukiones or Dauciones were a Germanic tribe mentioned by Ptolemy as living in Scandia, i.e. Scandinavia....
), that the Favonae were not in Sweden but were on the coast of Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
opposite. This hypothesis is based entirely on the argument that the Levonii of Ptolemy are the Swedes proper and therefore the east of them must be Finland. However, Kendrick also argues that the Chaideinoi could not have been in Hedemark because the latter was too remote for Ptolemy. If Hedemark is to be considered remote, then Finland must be even more so; moreover, Ptolemy does mention the Finns and does not identify them with the Favonae. Kendrick does not supply us with any names from Finland.