The Suarines or Suardones were one of the

Nerthus In Germanic paganism, Nerthus is a goddess associated with a ceremonial wagon procession. Nerthus is attested by first century AD Roman historian Tacitus in his ethnographic work ''Germania''. In ''Germania'', Tacitus records that a group of Germ ...

-worshipping

Germanic tribe This list of ancient Germanic peoples is an inventory of ancient Germanic cultures, tribal groupings and other alliances of Germanic tribes and civilisations in ancient times. The information comes from various ancient historical documents, beginn ...

s mentioned by

Tacitus Publius Cornelius Tacitus, known simply as Tacitus ( , ; – ), was a Roman historian and politician. Tacitus is widely regarded as one of the greatest Roman historians by modern scholars. The surviving portions of his two major works—the ...

in ''

Germania Germania ( ; ), also called Magna Germania (English: ''Great Germania''), Germania Libera (English: ''Free Germania''), or Germanic Barbaricum to distinguish it from the Roman province of the same name, was a large historical region in north-c ...

''. They have otherwise been lost to history, but Schütte suggests that their name lives on in the name of the town

Schwerin Schwerin (; Mecklenburgian Low German: ''Swerin''; Latin: ''Suerina'', ''Suerinum'') is the capital and second-largest city of the northeastern German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern as well as of the region of Mecklenburg, after Rostock. It ...

Literary attestation

Tacitus

Tacitus mentions them amongst a group of tribes defended by rivers and forests, that worshipped

''(Original Latin)'' " Reudigni deinde et Aviones et Anglii et
Varini The Varini, Warni or Warini were one or more Germanic peoples who originally lived in what is now northeastern Germany, near the Baltic sea. They are first named in the Roman era, and appear to have survived into the Middle Ages. It is proposed ...
et Eudoses et Suardones et
Nuithones The Nuithones were one of the Nerthus-worshipping Germanic tribes mentioned by Tacitus in ''Germania''. Schüttebr>remarks that the name is probably corrupt and suggests that the correct forms were Teutones or Euthiones (Jutes). ''(Original Latin ...
fluminibus aut silvis muniuntur. Nec quicquam notabile in singulis, nisi quod in commune Nerthum, id est Terram matrem, colunt eamque intervenire rebus hominum, invehi populis arbitrantur. ..." --Tacitus, ''
Germania Germania ( ; ), also called Magna Germania (English: ''Great Germania''), Germania Libera (English: ''Free Germania''), or Germanic Barbaricum to distinguish it from the Roman province of the same name, was a large historical region in north-c ...
, 40.

''(English translation)'' "There follow in order the Reudignians, and Aviones, and
Angles The Angles ( ang, Ængle, ; la, Angli) were one of the main Germanic peoples who settled in Great Britain in the post-Roman period. They founded several kingdoms of the Heptarchy in Anglo-Saxon England. Their name is the root of the name ...
, and Varinians, and Eudoses, and Suardones and
Nuithones The Nuithones were one of the Nerthus-worshipping Germanic tribes mentioned by Tacitus in ''Germania''. Schüttebr>remarks that the name is probably corrupt and suggests that the correct forms were Teutones or Euthiones (Jutes). ''(Original Latin ...
; 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 (
Nerthus In Germanic paganism, Nerthus is a goddess associated with a ceremonial wagon procession. Nerthus is attested by first century AD Roman historian Tacitus in his ethnographic work ''Germania''. In ''Germania'', Tacitus records that a group of Germ ...
)''; that is to say, the Mother Earth."--Tacitus, ''
Germania Germania ( ; ), also called Magna Germania (English: ''Great Germania''), Germania Libera (English: ''Free Germania''), or Germanic Barbaricum to distinguish it from the Roman province of the same name, was a large historical region in north-c ...
, 40, translated 1877 by Church and Brodribb.

Widsith

Neidorf suggests that the tribal name ”sweordwerum” in line 61 of Widsith#Tribes_of_Widsith might be a corrupted form of this name. Neidorf, Leonard
"The Dating of ''Widsith'' and the Study of Germanic Antiquity."
''Neophilologus'' 97 (2013): p. 168.

Modern theories

According to some Italian scholars, there is trace of this tribe in a modern Lombard surname ('' Suardi'') as well in the surname Lusuardi. Both surnames belong to the same genetic family - Haplogroup U152 Z36.

Literary attestation

Tacitus

Widsith

Modern theories

References

See also