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Favonae is a Latinization of GreekPhauonai, the name of aGermanic people inPtolemy’sGeography (2.10) located in easternScandinavia.[1] They are not found elsewhere in classical sources. Moreover, Ptolemy’s view of the north is so distorted that the location of his east Scandinavia remains uncertain.
However, theGreek spelling, Phau-, gives a possible clue to its meaning. It looks likeOld English feaw-, "few", which, following the analogy ofHarudes, would have come from *faw-. TheAmerican Heritage Dictionary lists theIndo-European root as *pau- "few, little", becoming *fau- inGermanic *fawaz byGrimm's Law.
There is a name of the same meaning in modernSweden:Småland, which would have been at a location known to Ptolemy in southeastern Scandinavia. It means "small land", which name refers to its broken and uncultivatable terrain; i.e., the province includes only small land for settlement purposes. As the name is based on the terrain, it would have been most likely kept over the centuries. The terrain encouraged emigration fromKalmar toMinnesota, where the land was much bigger.
As the name of the Favonae is based on the terrain, they might well have been known by some other, ethnic name, not reported by Ptolemy.
There is a notable suggestion by Kendrick, published in 1930, that the Favonae were not in Sweden but were on the coast ofFinland opposite. This hypothesis is based entirely on the argument that theLevonii of Ptolemy are the Swedes proper and therefore the east of them must be Finland. However, Kendrick also argues that theChaideinoi could not have been in Hedemark because the latter was too remote for Ptolemy. If Hedemark is to be considered remote, then Finland must be even more so; moreover, Ptolemy does mention the Finns and does not identify them with the Favonae. Kendrick does not supply us with any names from Finland.[2]
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