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 A.D. Roman historian Tacitus in his ethnographic work ''Germania''. In ''Germania'', Tacitus records that a group of G ...

-worshipping Germanic tribes 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 ...

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

Schwerin Schwerin (; Mecklenburgisch-Vorpommersch dialect, Mecklenburgisch-Vorpommersch Low German: ''Swerin''; Polabian language, Polabian: ''Zwierzyn''; Latin: ''Suerina'', ''Suerinum'') is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Germ ...

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 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 Angles most commonly refers to: *Angles (tribe), a Germanic-speaking people that took their name from the Angeln cultural region in Germany *Angle, a geometric figure formed by two rays meeting at a common point Angles may also refer to: Places ...
, 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.

Widsith

Neidorf suggests that the tribal name ”sweordwerum” in line 61 of

Widsith "Widsith" (, "far-traveller", lit. "wide-journey"), also known as "The Traveller's Song", is an Old English poem of 143 lines. It survives only in the '' Exeter Book'' (''pages 84v–87r''), a manuscript of Old English poetry compiled in the la ...

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