Finnveden

Swedish

A historical map of Finnveden and the other small-countries that constituded Småland.

Alternative forms

• Finnheden, finnaithae, Finnheiði

Etymology

Debated.

The first half finn may refer to a people, or roaming hunters and fishers.

The second half may be Old Swedish ed/ede (“road”) referring to Lagastigen, or Old Swedish hed (“forest area”). The contemporary form comes from early folk etymological associations with ved (“woods”).

Earliest known form attested since 551 CE via Late Latin Finnaithae in De origine actibusque Getarum by Jordanes.

Proper noun

Finnveden ? (genitive Finnvedens)

1. A historical country later incorporated into Småland, Sweden.

Meronyms

• Sunnerbo
• Västbo
• Östbo

References

• Svenskt ortnamnslexikon (2016), page 74, by Swedish Institute for Language and Folklore and Uppsala University Department of Scandinavian Languages
• Jordanes (p. 551 CE) De origine actibusque Getarum‎^[1] (in Latin): “Post hos Ahelmil, Finnaithae, Fervir, Ganthigoth, acre hominum genus et at bella prumtissimum.”