The Aviones or Auiones (*''Awioniz'' meaning "island people") were one of the

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

-worshipping Germanic tribes of the 1st century 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. Tacitus’ two major historical works, ''Annals'' ( ...

in ''

Germania Germania ( ; ), also more specifically called Magna Germania (English: ''Great Germania''), Germania Libera (English: ''Free Germania''), or Germanic Barbaricum to distinguish it from the Roman provinces of Germania Inferior and Germania Superio ...

'', and they lived either in the southern Jutland Peninsula, or on

Öland Öland (, ; ; sometimes written ''Oland'' internationally) is the second-largest Swedish island and the smallest of the traditional provinces of Sweden. Öland has an area of and is located in the Baltic Sea just off the coast of Småland. ...

. They are mentioned in '' Widsith'' as Eowan. Tacitus wrote of the group as defended by rivers and forests:

''(Original Latin)'' " Reudigni deinde et Aviones et Anglii et Varini et Eudoses et Suardones et Nuithones 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 more specifically called Magna Germania (English: ''Great Germania''), Germania Libera (English: ''Free Germania''), or Germanic Barbaricum to distinguish it from the Roman provinces of Germania Inferior and Germania Superio ...
'', 40.

''(English translation)'' "There follow in order the Reudignians, and Aviones, and Angles, and Varinians, and Eudoses, and Suardones and Nuithones; 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 A.D. Roman historian Tacitus in his ethnographic work ''Germania''. In ''Germania'', Tacitus records that a group of G ...
)''; that is to say, the Mother Earth."--Tacitus, ''
Germania Germania ( ; ), also more specifically called Magna Germania (English: ''Great Germania''), Germania Libera (English: ''Free Germania''), or Germanic Barbaricum to distinguish it from the Roman provinces of Germania Inferior and Germania Superio ...
'', 40, translated 1877 by Church and Brodribb.

Thus, according to Tacitus, the Aviones lived on the Jutland Peninsula, near the Angles; if their name is indeed related to islands, they possibly lived on the

North Frisian Islands The North Frisian Islands (, ; ''Öömrang'' and ''Fering'' ; ''Söl'ring'' ; ) are the Frisian Islands off the coast of North Frisia. The term covers both the North Frisian Islands in the narrow sense (in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany) and the Dan ...

. However, according to

Kendrick Kendrick may refer to: *Kendrick (name), including a list of people with the surname or given name Places United States *Kendrick, Florida *Kendrick, Idaho *Kendrick, Oklahoma Schools *Kendrick School, in Reading, Berkshire, England, United King ...

, they probably lived on

.Kendrick, T.D. (1930), ''A History of the Vikings'', New York, Charles Scribner's Sons. It is not only the meaning ''Island dwellers'' that connects them to the island Öland (meaning "Island land"), but also the

Old English Old English ( or , or ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. It developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...

name for the island which is Eowland (mentioned by Wulfstan of Hedeby), "the land of the Eowan".

References

{{reflist Early Germanic peoples

See also

References