Kvens of the past

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:Kvenland redirects here.

:Disambiguation: This article is about ancient Kvens. For information on the contemporary ethnic group in Norway, see Kven.

Kvenland (a.k.a. Cwenland or Quenland) is an ancient name for an area in Fennoscandia, most probably the same as Iron Age Finland. Kvenland is only known from a Norwegian account from the 9th century and from two Icelandic sagas written down probably in the 13th century. As a name for a country, Kvenland seems to have been out of ordinary usage already at the beginning of the second millennium.

Swedish, Russian and Sami sources do not have any information about Kvenland. The reason why Finland was called "Kvenland" in the old Norwegian and Icelandic sources is probably just because they called the Sami people "Finns" and needed to distinguish Finns from them. The origin of the name "kven" is not clear.

Some historians have speculated Kvenland to be a country of its own in the Northern Finland called Kainuu or Kainuunmaa. This assumption has however not been confirmed with any archeological findings.

Contents

1 Ottar and King Alfred
2 Hversu Noregr byggdist and Orkneyinga saga
3 Egil's saga
4 Kvenland and Kvens later in historical time
5 Conclusions
6 Other views
7 Kvens today
8 See also
9 References
10 Further reading

Ottar and King Alfred

A Norwegian adventurer and traveler Ottar had come to England around 890 CE. King Alfred of England had his stories written down and included in his publication "The Old English Orosius", the history of the world. Ottar's story contains the first and only contemporary reference to Kvenland that has survived: [Ottar's description of Kvenland]

"He said that the Northmen's land was very long and very narrow. -- Wild moors lie towards the east and up along towards the cultivated land. Sami people (Finnas) live on the moors. -- Then Sweden (Sweoland) is along the land to the south, on the other side of the moors, as far as the land to the north; and Kvenland (Cwena land) along the land to the north. The Kvens (Qwenas) harry the Northmen across the moor, sometimes the Northmen them. And there are very many fresh water lakes beyond the moors; and the Kvens carry their ships overland into the moors, whence they harry the Northmen, they have very small and very light ships."

Like emphasized in the text itself, Ottar's account is an oral statement written down, not a scientific publication. Kvenland part is very short, just three sentences. Ottar's rather confusing way of placing Kvenland makes it difficult to give any accurate location for it. Firstly, Ottar had Sami people living "on the moors". In the 9th century, Sami people lived all around northern Fennoscandia all the way down to southern part of present-day Finland. Ottar's "moors" seem to be a very wide concept, most likely covering all of northern wilderness. Sweden is told to be on the other side of the moors and along the southern Norway. So, Sweden was considered to be "along" Norway even if the moors were in between. Sweden then continued "as far as the land to the north" most likely meaning that it existed on the other side of the moors all the way up to the level where northern Norway started. At that time, the northernmost part of Sweden was not much further than today's Uppsala. Kvenland then existed along the northern part of Norway, clearly on the other side of the moor as well, since Kvens are told to harry the Northmen "across the moor" and the moor was said to be "up along towards the cultivated land". Logical assumption is also that Kvenland continued where Sweden ended. Leaving from northern Norway (Hålogaland at the time of Ottar), the first sizeable Iron Age settlement across the wilderness is the southwestern part of the present-day Finland. Many other locations could also suit Ottar's loose words, if only evidence for them to be prominent enough already in the 9th century existed.

A possible interpretation of Ottar's description of Nordic countries. Borders roughly follow the 9th century populations.

Noteworthy is that the Sami people and Kvens are not discussed at the same time. Ottar does not give any reason to assume that Kvens and Sami people lived on the same area.

Ottar's words about lakes and Kvens' boats have traditionally been interpreted so that the lakes were in Norway or at least very close to it. However, there is no such reference in the original text. The lakes are said to be beyond the moor - far in the wilderness, and the conflict took place there. The most probable place in the 9th century Fennoscandian wilderness with "very many fresh water lakes" is the lake district in today's central and eastern Finland and northwest Russia. That was along the Northmen's route to east and an important hunting area for the Finns. And as such an ideal location for continuous conflicts.

Hversu Noregr byggdist and Orkneyinga saga

The more legendary of the two sagas mentioning Kvenland exists in two very different versions. They are known as Hversu Noregr byggdist [Hversu Noregr byggdist] and Orkneyinga saga [Orkneyinga saga]. Orkeyinga is written around 1200 CE by an unknown Icelandic author. Hversu is only known to have survived in one single copy in Icelandic Flateyjarbók from 1387 CE, but may have been written earlier. Orkneyinga makes a bold claim that Norwegian rulers were descendants of the king Fornjót that "reigned over Gotland, which we now know as Finland and Kvenland". Hversu is more modest and only states that a descendant of Fornjót "ruled over Gothland, Kvenland, and Finland". Distance in time and place had clearly generated confusion in Baltic geography among Icelandic writers or the texts have deteriorated when they have been manually copied over and over again. Whether Finland and Kvenland are separate or synonyms, remains open.

Fornjót ("Ancient Giant") and his closest followers are purely mythological figures that are mentioned in other sagas as well, however without any reference to Kvenland or Finland. This might indicate that the writer copied them to the saga from other contexts.

In spite of the frame being legendary, Orkneyinga contains an at least somewhat realistic description of a Kvenland prince Nór traveling from Kvenland to Norway, attacking areas around present-day Trondheim and lake district in the south, conquering the country and uniting it under his rule. Kvenland/Finland/Gotland is said to have situated "to the east of the gulf that lies across from the White Sea; we call that the Gulf of Bothnia." Nordic geography is again only partially valid, since Gulf of Bothnia is not connected to the White Sea. If the events really recall anything that happened early on during the first millennium, the archaeologically verifiable Iron Age locations that best match this description are areas in northwestern Varsinais-Suomi and Satakunta, as well as southern Pohjanmaa (possibly deserted by the 9th century). It must be noted, however, that the entire Iron Age Finnish permanent habitation fits within this context as well, since the saga does not say that Kvenland was on the coast, but just east of the Gulf.

This is how Nór started his journey to Norway:

"But Nor, his brother, waited until snow lay on the moors so he could travel on snow-shoes. He went out from Kvenland and skirted the Gulf, and came to that place inhabited by the men called Lapps; that is beyond Finnmark."

The writer is clearly telling the story from a Norwegian perspective: travelling from Kvenland, Nór got to a land "beyond Finnmark" which clearly indicates that some space existed between Nór's starting point and Finnmark: he had to travel from Kvenland to get to a land that is on the other side of Finnmark. Kvenland and Norway seemed to be quite far from each other. This matches with the earlier assumption that Nór started his journey from somewhere in the present-day southwestern Finland, traveling northwards along the coast.

The word "Lapp" is not known in any other saga. It is an old Finnish word ("lappi") for all kinds of traveling groups of people living around the wilderness, including the Sami people. Norwegians themselves called Sami people "Finns", so there could actually be a remnant of the original Finnish story visible here.

After a brief and successful fight with the "Lapps", Nór continued:

"But Nor went thence westward to the Kjolen Mountains and for a long time they knew nothing of men, but shot beasts and birds to feed to themselves, until they came to a place where the rivers flowed west of the mountains. -- Then he went up along the valleys that run south of the fjord. That fjord is now called Trondheim."

Starting somewhere on the eastern coast of the Gulf of Bothnia, Nór had either went all the way up and around the Gulf, or skied across - it was winter, and the Gulf might have been frozen. Whatever the case, he ended around Trondheim in central Norway and started his conquest of the country.

There is no mention of Kvenland after that any more. Again only a handful of words had been reserved for Kvenland mainly telling where it was or had been.

Nór's journey from Kvenland to Norway is missing from Hversu. In fact, Hversu does not even mention that Nór came from Kvenland at all, only stating that "Norr had great battles west of the Keel". Entire travel may have been lifted from some other context and added to Orkneyinga in a later phase by an unknown author that wanted to make the saga more adventurous. However, the conflict itself between Kvens and Norwegians remains a fact as verified by Ottar even though it might not have ended in the conquest of Norway.

Egil's saga

"Egils saga" is an epic Icelandic saga possibly by Snorri Sturluson (1179-1241 CE), who may have written it between the years 1220 and 1240 CE. The saga covers a long period of time, starting in Norway in 850 CE and ending around year 1000 CE. It contains a short description of Egil's brother Thorolf co-operating with a Kvenland king Faravid against invading Karelians.

Rather accurate geographical details about Kvenland's location are given in chapter XIV: [Egil's Saga, Chapter XIV]

"Finmark is a wide tract; it is bounded westwards by the sea, wherefrom large firths run in; by sea also northwards and round to the east; but southwards lies Norway; and Finmark stretches along nearly all the inland region to the south, as also does Halogaland outside. But eastwards from Naumdale is Jamtaland, then Helsingjaland and Kvenland, then Finland, then Kirialaland; along all these lands to the north lies Finmark, and there are wide inhabited fell-districts, some in dales, some by lakes. The lakes of Finmark are wonderfully large, and by the lakes there are extensive forests. But high fells lie behind from end to end of the Mark, and this ridge is called Keels."

Saga's Finmark extended much wider than it does today, covering all of northern Fennoscandia all the way south to Helsingjaland (Hälsingland) and Kirialaland (Karelia). Kvenland is given here to exist along Finmark as well, most probably on the same borderline than other listed areas, which indicates a rather southern location. There is no reason to assume otherwise, especially since "Finmark stretches along nearly all the inland region to the south, as also does Halogaland outside", which leaves no room for Kvenland in the north.

Worth noting is that the saga is the only source that seems to clearly separate Finland and Kvenland, listing them as neighboring areas. However, Finland is not listed in all of saga's surviving versions indicating that it might be a later addition by someone who did not recognize Kvenland any more.

Saga says that "eastwards from Naumdale is Jamtaland", but actually the direction is southeast. Also Helsingjaland is southeast, not east, of Jamtaland (Jämtland). It is widely assumed that viking compass had a 45 degree rotation of cardinal points meaning that their "east" was actually southeast. Having this correction in the list it makes prefect sense.

In chapter XVII Thorolf goes to Kvenland again: [Egil's Saga, Chapter XVII]

"That same winter Thorolf went up on the fell with a hundred men; he passed on at once eastwards to Kvenland and met king Faravid."

Now if Thorolf went to mountains around his homeland Naumadal (Namdalen) and went "eastwards", ie. southeast, he would've first come to Jamtaland and then to Helsingjaland. These are the same lands that were listed earlier in the saga, giving here meaning for them to be listed in the first place - track to Kvenland from Naumadal went straight through Jamtaland and Helsingjaland. Now going further southeast from Helsingjaland across the Gulf of Bothnia Thorolf ends up in the southwestern tip of present-day Finland, center of Finland's Viking era population. Placing Kvenland there seems to have no conflict with the text or archeology. (See map.)

Lands mentioned in Egil's Saga, and Thorolf's possible route from Namdalen to Kvenland.

Again, as with Ottar, it must be noted that Sami people and Kvens are not discussed at the same time in Egil's saga. The saga tells how Norwegians suppressed and taxed the Sami people (Chapter X), but there is no indication that Kvens would have competed with the Norwegians of the Sami control or lived near or among them.

A lot of debate has taken place whether the saga provides truthful information of Iron Age Kvenland by mentioning that the Kvens had a real-sounding king and a law to divide the loot. The saga places the confrontation of Norwegians and Karelians on the 9th century, but this is not likely to have happened at that time: Karelians extended their activities to Finmark only from the 12th century onwards. Further deteriorating saga's credibility is that Kvenland's activities against Karelians seem to follow the same pattern than Kvenland's activities against Norwegians in the Orkneyinga saga. When Thorolf and Faravid attack Karelians for the second time, they, starting from Kvenland,

"-- resolved to go on the fell again as in the winter before; and with four hundred men they made a descent on Kirialaland, and attacked those districts for which they thought themselves a match in numbers, and harrying there took much booty, returning up to Finmark as the winter wore on."

which would indicate that Karelia was somewhere right under the mountains, which is not the case at all. Either the writer has not been aware of the geography or the story has remnants that are left from the original account, heavily modified to make room for a fabricated story about Norwegians and Kvens fighting against invading Karelians. The text would clearly better describe an attack to Norway from Kvenland, a similar event that took place in Orkneyinga saga. Both sagas, written in Iceland around the same time, might have freely based their Kvenland stories on the same source that is now lost.

Kvenland and Kvens later in historical time

Besides the above-mentioned texts, there is no reference to Kvenland in the written sources. There are also no other Icelandic sagas or old Norwegian sources that would mention "Finland" in a Norwegian context.

As a name for a country, Kvenland seems to have gone out of ordinary usage already at the beginning of the second millennium. Finland as an independent, however not organized, entity seized to exist in the 13th century when it was assimilated to Sweden. Need for other countries to have a specific name for it diminished and inlined with the Swedish way. Swedish never used the name "Kvenland" for anything. However, Norwegians kept using the name "Kven" for those Finns that started moving to northern Fennoskandia around the time of the Swedish conquest. There was a clear need to have a distinct name for the Finns in the north, since Norwegians, unlike their neighbors, called the Sami people "Finns" and using the same name for the Finns on the same area would have been confusing.

Today, "kven" is reserved for the Norway's Finnish-speaking population in the present-day Northern Norway.

Conclusions

Based on the study above, the following assumptions about the ancient Kvenland and Kvens can be made with a high certainty:

Kvenland was a Norwegian/Icelandic name for Iron Age Finland
Kvens are the same as Finns
Norwegians and Kvens had occasional conflicts
Kvens did not compete with the Norwegians in the north
Kvens had light boats that they used in the lakes

Other views

Like all countries lost in the history, Kvenland has generated plenty of exciting theories about its origin. Some people familiar with the subject fiercely disagree that Norwegians' Kvenland would've been the same as others' Finland.

Some Finnish historians, like Kyösti Julku Julku, Kyösti - Kvenland - Kainuunmaa. 1986, have claimed that Kvenland should be translated as "Kainuu", which would have been an organized kingdom ruling over much of the northern Fennoskandia. This claim has not been verified by any archaeological findings and is purely based on disputable and partial interpretation of the above-mentioned sources. There is no evidence that names "Kvenland" and "Kainuu" would be related. To be a prominent player in the history, Kvenland/Kainu is too absent from Finnish and Karelian mythology and traditions, and remains an academic hypothesis alone. However, even without any evidence, Kainuu has become Finland's own "mini-Atlantis", living the life of its own, and the quest to find it goes on.

Kvenland has also been associated with the legendary Pohjola, a mystical country in Finnish mythology ruled by a fierce witch, Louhi. There is however no evidence that they would have anything to do with each other.

Kvens today

See article about Kvens.