Venedes
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Venedes is the term used in a number of ancient texts, starting with Tacitus, to describe an ethnic group living (presumably) in Central Europe. The exact identity of the Venedes is hotly debated, and most of the theories put forward surrounding them are controversial.
According to one theory, the Venedes are simply the same as the people now called Slavs. According to another theory, however, the Venedes were a distinct group, either indigenous to the area or simply a separate wave of immigrants. Those who see the Venedes as a separate group generally claim that the Venedes eventually merged with the Slavs, forming the modern Slavic ethnicity.
The linguistic study of the term "Venedes" is similarly controversial. Hypothetically related names or variations are "Wends", "Veneti", "Veneds", "Venetkeni", "Venetkini", "Venedi", "Vinedi", "Vendi", "Venethi", "Sclavi", "Sclavini", "Sclaveni", "Slovonici", "Slobenoi", "Wenets", "Venets" and "Wenetes".
Interestingly, the name for Russia in Finnish is Venäjä (Vene in Estonian) which is believed to be derived from the name of Venedes. Some believe that this indicates that the ancient Finns "recognized the linguistic ties of the ancient Venedes with Eastern Slavs". It has been seen as a proof of direct contacts between ancient Fennic and Slavic peoples.
Jordanes identified the Venedes with the Sclaveni (Slavs), but there is much dispute whether this identification represented some reality or was merely a misidentification.
Uncertain theories surrounding the Venedes
Nationalist ideologies have often made use of the uncertainty regarding the Venedes. Some Slovene scholars and individuals claim, for example, that the ethnonym "Slovene" is somehow etymologically related to the name of the Venedi.
By one hypothesis Venedes were the Proto-Slavs (Proto-Slovenes, Slo-veneti, Sloventi - from the last word Sloventi one might look for the Slovene word for Slovenes, when 't' is soften to 'c', producing Slovenci), an Aryan folk from Sorbian (Lusatian (Lusation), Wendish) culture along the Amber Path conquer and settle region between the Baltic sea and Adriatic Sea. The word *sloveninъ 'Slav', *slovene in Proto-Slavic means Slavs and is derived from one basis *slov- known in geographical names and is preserved in names of rivers Lithuanian Šlave, Russian Sluja, Polish Sława, Sławica. Very similar is also Croatian, Serbian slavelj, slavina 'bung, 'pipe'. If a hypothesis is correct *Slovene firstly meant *'inhabitants along the river *Slova or *Slovy '. Proto-Indo-European basis is *klou- 'to wash, to rinse', and is known, for example, in Latin cluere 'to clean, to wash', Lithuanian šluoti 'to clean, to wipe'. After older interpretation, which is weaker in word formation and stronger in meaning, the name of the nation *slovene might be derived from Proto-Slavic *slovo 'word'. If this surmise is correct regardless to word formation, the name of the nation primarily meant something like *'people, to whom is possible to talk and who understand our language'.
Another common claim is that the Venedes of the Vistula region were the same as the Italic Veneti who lived along the north Adriatic coast---a theory which is dismissed by scholars, due to no evidence whatsoever indicating such an identification (see Veneti (disambiguation)).
Related articles
Related links
- Veneti: First Builders of European Community (http://www.angelfire.com/country/veneti)
- http://www.prah.net/europaveneta/augustan/index.htm