Chud or Chude (, , ) is a term historically applied in the early East Slavic annals to several

Baltic Finnic peoples The Baltic Finnic peoples, often simply referred to as the Finnic peoples, are the peoples inhabiting the Baltic Sea region in Northern Europe, Northern and Eastern Europe who speak Finnic languages. They include the Finns, Estonians (including ...

in the area of what is now

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

Karelia Karelia (; Karelian language, Karelian and ; , historically Коре́ла, ''Korela'' []; ) is an area in Northern Europe of historical significance for Russia (including the Soviet Union, Soviet era), Finland, and Sweden. It is currentl ...

and Northwestern Russia. It has also been used to refer to other Finno-Ugric peoples.

Etymology

There are a number of hypotheses as to the origin of the term. ''Chud'' could be derived from the Slavic word ''tjudjo'' ('foreign' or 'strange'). Another hypothesis is that the term was derived from a transformation of the Finno-Ugric name for the wood grouse. Yet another hypothesis contends that it is derived from the

Sami Acronyms * SAMI, ''Synchronized Accessible Media Interchange'', a closed-captioning format developed by Microsoft * Saudi Arabian Military Industries, a government-owned defence company * South African Malaria Initiative, a virtual expertise ne ...

word ''tshudde'' or ''čuđđe'', meaning an enemy or adversary (). This, however, would have required prominent Sami presence in trading centers around

Lake Ladoga Lake Ladoga is a freshwater lake located in the Republic of Karelia and Leningrad Oblast in northwestern Russia, in the vicinity of Saint Petersburg. It is the largest lake located entirely in Europe, the second largest lake in Russia after Lake ...

Attestation in Slavonic sources

Arguably, the earliest attested written use of the word "Chuds" to describe Baltic Finnic peoples (presumably early

Estonians Estonians or Estonian people () are a Finnic ethnic group native to the Baltic Sea region in Northern Europe, primarily their nation state of Estonia. Estonians primarily speak the Estonian language, a language closely related to other Finni ...

) was 1100, in the earliest

Rus' chronicle The Rus' chronicles, Russian chronicles or Rus' letopis () was the primary Rus' historical literature. Chronicles were composed from the 11th to the 18th centuries, generally written in Old East Slavic (and, later, Ruthenian language, Ruthenian ...

s in the Old East Slavic language. According to the '' Primary Chronicle'', the Chud lived along the "Varangian Sea" (

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by the countries of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and the North European Plain, North and Central European Plain regions. It is the ...

), next to the ''Lyakhs'' (Poles) and Old Prussians. It goes on to narrate that the Chud were among the founders of the

Kievan Rus' Kievan Rus', also known as Kyivan Rus,. * was the first East Slavs, East Slavic state and later an amalgam of principalities in Eastern Europe from the late 9th to the mid-13th century.John Channon & Robert Hudson, ''Penguin Historical At ...

state. along with Krivichs, Veps,

Ilmen Slavs The Novgorod Slavs, Ilmen Slavs (, ''Il'menskiye slovene''), or Slovenes (not to be confused with the South Slavic Slovenes) were the northernmost tribe of the Early Slavs, and inhabited the shores of Lake Ilmen, and the river basins of the ...

and

Varangians The Varangians ( ; ; ; , or )Varangian
," Online Etymology Dictionary were

Yaroslav I the Wise Yaroslav I Vladimirovich ( 978 – 20 February 1054), better known as Yaroslav the Wise, was Grand Prince of Kiev from 1019 until his death in 1054. He was also earlier Prince of Novgorod from 1010 to 1034 and Prince of Rostov from 987 to 1010, ...

are said to have defeated "Chuds" in a battle in 1030 and then established the fort of "Yuryev" (in what is now

Tartu Tartu is the second largest city in Estonia after Tallinn. Tartu has a population of 97,759 (as of 2024). It is southeast of Tallinn and 245 kilometres (152 miles) northeast of Riga, Latvia. Tartu lies on the Emajõgi river, which connects the ...

). In other Old East Slavic chronicles, the term "Chuds" refers to several Finnic tribes, early Estonian groups in particular. Kievan rulers then collected tribute from the Chuds of the surrounding ancient Estonian county of

Ugaunia Ugandi (Latin: ''Ungannia'' or ''Ugaunia''; ; Low German: ''Uggn'') was an independent county between the east coast of Lake Võrtsjärv and west coast of Lake Pskov, bordered by Vaiga, Mõhu, Nurmekund, Sakala, Tālava, and The Princi ...

, possibly until 1061, when, according to the chronicles, Yuryev was burned down by an Estonian tribe called ''Sosols'' (probably Sackalians, Oeselians or Harionenses). Most of the raids against Chuds described in medieval East Slavic chronicles occur in present-day Estonia. The border lake between Estonia and the

Russian Federation Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

is still called ''Chudskoye'' (

Chud Lake Lake Peipus is the largest International waters, trans-boundary lake in Europe, lying on the international border between Estonia and Russia. The lake is the fifth-largest in Europe after Lake Ladoga and Lake Onega (in Russia), Vänern, Lake V� ...

) in modern Russian. However, many ancient references to Chuds talk of peoples very far from Estonia, like ''Zavoloshka Chuds'' between Mordovians and Komis.

Identity

Chuds have traditionally been believed to belong to the group of Baltic-Finnic peoples, though there have been some debate as to which specific group. After the first encounter with the Chuds,

Slavic people The Slavs or Slavic people are groups of people who speak Slavic languages. Slavs are geographically distributed throughout the northern parts of Eurasia; they predominantly inhabit Central Europe, Eastern Europe, Southeastern Europe, and N ...

tended to call other Finnic-speaking peoples Chuds, and thus became a collective name for the Finno-Ugric neighbours in Russian cultural tradition. Many writers contend that the Chuds were

Vepsians Veps, or Vepsians (), are a Baltic Finns, Baltic Finnic people who speak the Veps language, which belongs to the Finnic languages, Finnic branch of the Uralic languages. According to the 2002 Russian census, there were 8,240 Veps in Russia. Of t ...

, Fasmer posits them in

while Smirnov suggests the Setos are descendants of the Chuds. In recent research on

toponymy Toponymy, toponymics, or toponomastics is the study of '' toponyms'' ( proper names of places, also known as place names and geographic names), including their origins, meanings, usage, and types. ''Toponym'' is the general term for a proper na ...

of the Luga and

Volkhov Volkhov () is an industrial types of inhabited localities in Russia, town and the administrative center of Volkhovsky District in Leningrad Oblast, Russia, located on the river Volkhov (river), Volkhov east of Saint Petersburg, St. Petersbu ...

river catchment areas Finnish fennougrist Pauli Rahkonen has come to the conclusion, that the language spoken in the area has been Finnic only in the vicinity of the southern coasts of Lake Ladoga and the

Gulf of Finland The Gulf of Finland (; ; ; ) is the easternmost arm of the Baltic Sea. It extends between Finland to the north and Estonia to the south, to Saint Petersburg—the second largest city of Russia—to the east, where the river Neva drains into it. ...

, but more upstream of the two rivers, the language, as based on the evidence of hydronyms in the area, has represented other

Finno-Ugric languages Finno-Ugric () is a traditional linguistic grouping of all languages in the Uralic language family except for the Samoyedic languages. Its once commonly accepted status as a subfamily of Uralic is based on criteria formulated in the 19th centur ...

than Finnic. However, the ''Zavoloshka Chuds'' in the

White Sea The White Sea (; Karelian language, Karelian and ; ) is a southern inlet of the Barents Sea located on the northwest coast of Russia. It is surrounded by Karelia to the west, the Kola Peninsula to the north, and the Kanin Peninsula to the nort ...

catchment area seem to have spoken Finnic languages based on the evidence of substrate toponymy in northern Russia carried out recently by Finnish Finno-Ugrist Janne Saarikivi. (also )

Chuds in folklore

In Russian folk legends, the Chuds were described as exalted and beautiful. One characteristic of the Chuds was 'white-eyed', which means lightly colored eyes. Russian bylinas reminisce about the destruction of the Chuds when the Slavs were occupying their territories. When a Chud township was attacked, Chud women drowned themselves, along with their jewels and children, in order to avoid robbery or rape. In the chronicles which narrate about the founding of Russia, the Chuds are mentioned as one of the founder races, with the Slav and the Varyags (Varangians). Folk etymology derives the word from Old East Slavic language (''chuzhoi'', 'foreign'; or ''chudnoi'' 'odd'; or ''chud'' 'weird'), or alternatively from ''chudnyi'', wonderful, miraculous, excellent, attractive. Chuds or Tchuds are traditional generic villains in some Sami legends, as well as in the Sami-language movie ''

Pathfinder Pathfinder, Path Finder or Pathfinders may refer to: Aerospace * ''Mars Pathfinder'', a NASA Mars Lander * NASA Pathfinder, a high-altitude, solar-powered uncrewed aircraft * Space Shuttle ''Pathfinder'', a Space Shuttle test simulator Arts and ...

'' from 1987, which is loosely based on such legends.

Use of term in historical times

Later, the word ''Chuds'' was more often used for more eastern Finnic peoples, Veps and Votes in particular, while some derivatives of ''chud'' like '' chukhna'' or '' chukhonets'' were applied to more western

Finns Finns or Finnish people (, ) are a Baltic Finns, Baltic Finnic ethnic group native to Finland. Finns are traditionally divided into smaller regional groups that span several countries adjacent to Finland, both those who are native to these cou ...

and

. Following the Russian conquests of Finland 1714–1809, and increasing contacts between Finns and

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

, Finns perceived the word ''Chud'' to be disparaging and hinting at the

serfdom Serfdom was the status of many peasants under feudalism, specifically relating to manorialism and similar systems. It was a condition of debt bondage and indentured servitude with similarities to and differences from slavery. It developed du ...

that the Russians were believed to find fit for the Finns. However, as a disparaging word, it was rather ''chukhna'' that was applied also to Finns and Estonians as late as during the

Winter War The Winter War was a war between the Soviet Union and Finland. It began with a Soviet invasion of Finland on 30 November 1939, three months after the outbreak of World War II, and ended three and a half months later with the Moscow Peac ...

, 1939–1940, between the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

and

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

. In present-day Russian vernacular, the word ''chukhna'' is often used to denote the Veps. The name Chuds (or Northern Chuds) has been used for Veps people also by some anthropologists. In the mytho-poetical tradition of the Komi, the word ''chud'' can also designate Komi heroes and heathens; Old Believers; another people different from the Komi; or robbers—the latter two are the typical legends in Sámi folklore. In fact, the legends about Chuds (Čuđit) cover a large area in northern Europe from Scandinavia to the Urals, bounded by

in the south, the northern and eastern districts of the

Vologda Vologda (, ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Vologda Oblast, Russia, located on the river Vologda (river), Vologda within the watershed of the Northern Dvina. Population: The city serves as ...

province, and passing by the Kirov region, further into Komi-Permyak Okrug. It has from this area spread to Trans-Ural region through mediation of migrants from European North. ''Chud'' has become a swear word in the

Arkhangelsk Arkhangelsk (, ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia. It lies on both banks of the Northern Dvina near its mouth into the White Sea. The city spreads for over along the ...

region. As late as 1920, people of that region used legends of the Chuds to scare small naughty children.

References

Primary sources

* * (First edition published in 1930. The first 50 pages are a scholarly introduction.) **

External links

* * {{Gardariki History of ethnic groups in Russia Social history of Estonia Medieval ethnic groups of Europe Finno-Ugric peoples Baltic Finns