Scandinavia

Scandinavia is the cultural and historic region of the Scandinavian Peninsula and some surrounding areas. The Scandinavian countries are in present day understood as Norway, Sweden and Denmark, even if the latter actually does not reside on the Scandinavian Peninsula. These countries have mutually recognized each other as parts of political and cultural Scandinavia, since the golden days of the nationalist movements in respective countries in the middle of the 19th century CE.

Etymology

The etymology for the names Scandinavia and Skåne (Scania) is considered to be the same.

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The name is most probably derived from the Germanic *Skaðin- meaning "danger" (cf. English scathing and unscathed) and *awjo meaning "island". It may have referred to the dangerous banks around Skanör (skan- is the same as in Scandinavia, and -ör means "sandbanks") and Falsterbo in Skåne in southernmost Scandinavia.

Related Topics:
Skanör - Falsterbo

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Alternatively, the first element is sometimes attributed to the Scandinavian giantess Skaði from Norse mythology.

Related Topics:
Giantess - Skaði - Norse mythology

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The original form is considered to be *Skaðinawjo, which gave rise to different forms in Germanic languages and by non-Germanic scribes. In Beowulf we meet the forms Scedenigge and Scedeland. Ptolemy uses the form Scandia, and Scatinavia appears in Roman texts, e.g. Pliny the Elder, whereas Pomponius Mela used the deviant form Codanovia. The form Scadinavia, the original home of the Langobards, appears in Paulus Diaconus' Historia Langobardorumhttp://www.fh-augsburg.de/~harsch/Chronologia/Lspost08/PaulusDiaconus/pau_lan1.html, but in other versions of Historia Langobardorum appear the forms Scadan, Scandanan, Scadanan and Scatenaugehttp://www.northvegr.org/lore/langobard/001.php. In Jordanes' history of the Goths (AD 551) we meet the form Scandza their original home, separated by sea from the land of Europe (chapter 1, 4)http://www.acs.ucalgary.ca/~vandersp/Courses/texts/jordgeti.html.

Related Topics:
Beowulf - Ptolemy - Pliny the Elder - Pomponius Mela - Langobards - Paulus Diaconus - Goths - Scandza

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The name of the Scandinavian mountain range, Skanderna in Swedish, is artificially derived from Skandinavien in the 19th century, in analogy with Alperna for the Alps. The commonly used names are Kölen "the Keel" or fjällen "the fells, the mountains".

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