Kvenland - Possible Other Sources

Possible Other Sources

It is sometimes speculated that Sitones mentioned in Tacitus' Germania from 98 CE already have a connection to Kvens. Similarly it has been suggested that the Vinoviloth mentioned by Jordanes in De origine actibusque Getarum in the 6th century CE could have been Kvens. A more potential reference to Kvenland is Terra Feminarum ("Woman Land") mentioned by Adam of Bremen in his Gesta Hammaburgensis Ecclesiae Pontificum (Deeds of Bishops of the Hamburg Church) written in 1075 CE, a possible mistranslation of the name Kvenland. Another reference to a north-bound land of women is from an Icelandic manuscript from the 14th century that describes a kuenna land ("Woman Land") "north of India" and "near ... Albania" that would only have women with both reproduction organs. As the name appears in a geographical list of countries and Finland is nowhere to be found, it may also be a misunderstanding from an era that no longer recognized Kvenland any more. The text is however so convoluted, that relation to Kvenland is very speculative.