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Kvenland
Kvenland, known as ''Cwenland'', ''Kænland'' or similar terms in medieval sources, is an ancient name for an area in Fennoscandia and Scandinavia. Kvenland, in that or nearly that spelling, is known from an Old English account written in the 9th century, which used the information provided by the Norwegian adventurer and traveler Ohthere, and from Nordic sources, primarily Icelandic. One possible additional source was written in the modern-day area of Norway — all the known Nordic sources date to the 12th and 13th centuries. Other possible references to Kvenland by other names or spellings are also discussed on this page.
==Old English Orosius==
A Norwegian adventurer and traveler named Ohthere visited England around 890 CE. King Alfred of Wessex had his stories written down and included them in his Old English version of a world history written by the Romano-Hispanic author Orosius. Ohthere's story contains the only contemporary description about Kvenland that has survived from the 9th century:〔(Online edition of Ohthere's description of Kvenland ). A more faithful edition of the original text is in Thorpe, B., ''The Life of Alfred The Great Translated From The German of Dr. R. Pauli To Which Is Appended Alfred's Anglo-Saxon Version of Orosius'', Bell, 1900, pp. 250-52. Note that in translations here the names of places, countries and people have been harmonized to forms used in Wikipedia, while forms used in the text are presented in parentheses.〕
() said that the Norwegians' (Norðmanna) land was very long and very narrow ... and to the east are wild mountains, parallel to the cultivated land. Finnas inhabit these mountains ... Then along this land southwards, on the other side of the mountain (''sic''), is Sweden ... and along that land northwards, Kvenland (Cwenaland). The Kvens (Cwenas) sometimes make depredations on the Northmen over the mountain, and sometimes the Northmen on them; there are very large () meres amongst the mountains,〔Given the context, "geond", with a range of possible meanings in "throughout", "over" and "as far as", is best understood as "amongst"; and "moras", with a range of possible meanings in "moors" or "mountains", is best understood as "mountains", though "moors" may be intended. The word ''mór . Earlier in the text Ohthere is reported to have said that "that land is very long north from thence, but it is all waste, except in a few places, where the Finnas dwell here and there".〕
Ohthere's mention of the "large () meres" and of the Kvens' boats are of great interest. The meres are said to be "amongst the mountains", the words used in the text being ''geond þa moras''.〔 Ohthere may be referring to the Southern Norwegian lake district, which is also referred to in ''Orkneyinga saga''. This way, the reference would have included Lake Mjøsa, an area which is known to have been inhabited at that time: the Orkneyinga saga tells how these inhabitants were attacked by men from Kvenland.〔
The mention of the "very light ships" (boats) carried overland has a well-documented ethnographic parallel in the numerous portages of the historical river and lake routes in Fennoscandia and Northern Russia. According to the philologist Irmeli Valtonen, "() text does not give us a clear picture where the ''Cwenas'' are to be located though it seems a reasonable conclusion that they lived or stayed somewhere in the modern-day areas of Northern Sweden or Northern Finland."〔Irmeli Valtonen: A Land beyond Seas and Mountains: A Study of References to Finland in Anglo-Saxon Sources. A paper in the book ''Suomen varhaishistoria'' (of Finland ). Edited by Kyösti Julku. Rovaniemi 1992.〕
The name "Kven" briefly appears later in King Alfred's ''Orosius''. The Kven Sea is mentioned as the northern border for the ancient Germany, and Kvenland is mentioned again, as follows:
... the Swedes (Sweons) have to the south of them the arm of the sea called East (Osti), and to the east of them Sarmatia (Sermende), and to the north, over the wastes, is Kvenland (Cwenland), to the northwest are the Sami people (Scridefinnas), and the Norwegians (Norðmenn) are to the west.〔Cf. (Geography of Alfred )〕
The term ''Sarmatism'' was first used by Jan Długosz in his 15th century work on the history of Poland.〔Andrzej Wasko, (Sarmatism or the Enlightenment ): The Dilemma of Polish Culture, ''Sarmatian Review'' XVII.2.〕 Długosz was also responsible for linking the Sarmatians to the prehistory of Poland, and this idea was continued by other chroniclers and historians such as Marcin Bielski, Marcin Kromer and Maciej Miechowita.〔 Miechowita's ''Tractatus de Duabus Sarmatiis'' became influential abroad, and for some time it was one of the most widely used reference works on the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.〔
The Viking compass is believed to have had a 45 degree rotation of cardinal points.〔See e.g. Weibull, Lauritz. ''De gamle nordbornas väderstrecksbegrepp''. Scandia 1/1928; Ekblom, R. ''Alfred the Great as Geographer''. Studia Neuphilologia. 14/1941-2; Ekblom, R. ''Den forntida nordiska orientering och Wulfstans resa till Truso''. Förnvännen. 33/1938; Sköld, Tryggve. ''Isländska väderstreck''. Scripta Islandica. Isländska sällskapets årsbok 16/1965.〕 If the territories listed in King Alfred's ''Orosius'' are examined with that in mind, the Norwegians would be to the northwest of Sweden, and the Sami people would be to the north. These points are correct after rotation based on the difference between the Viking and modern compasses. Kvenland is then situated to the northeast of Sweden and might be placed somewhere around the present-day Swedish Norrland or the western part of the present-day Finland. The information of Kvenland being situated "over the wastes", northwards from the Viking-period "Sweden" (corresponding roughly to the south-central part of present-day Sweden) matches the idea of Kvenland extending to Norrland.〔 There is no "Finland" mentioned anywhere either in the original or the updated version of Orosius' history.
抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』
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