History
Svealand was the original Sweden, to which it gave its name. This is supported by linguistics and is based on early medieval sources, such as the sagas. In Old Norse and in Old English, Svealand and Sweden are synonymous, and described as a separate country from Götaland/Gautland/Geatland.
- In Sögubrot af Nokkrum for instance, Kolmården between Svealand and Östergötland is described as the border between Sweden and Östergötland (...Kolmerkr, er skilr Svíþjóð ok Eystra-Gautland...).
- In Hervarar saga, king Ingold I rides to Sweden through Östergötland: Ingi konungr fór með hirð sína ok sveit nokkura ok hafði lítinn her. Hann reið austr um Smáland ok í eystra Gautland ok svá í Svíþjóð.
- Sweoland is mentioned in the travels of Ohthere of Hålogaland around 890.
- The lord Bo Jonsson Grip was probably the one who was best acquainted with the geography of the Swedish kingdom since he owned more than half of it. In 1384, he stated in his will that the kingdom consisted of Swerige (Sweden, i.e. Svealand), Österland (i.e. Finland) and Göthaland (i.e. Götaland).
- The 15th century Swedish version of the Þiðrekssaga says that Vilkinaland was formerly a name for Sweden (Swerige) and Götaland: wilcina land som nw är kalladh swerige oc götaland.
A crusade to the east started by the kings of Svealand during the 12th century eventually conquered the provinces of Österland, an older name for Finland.
In the early Middle Ages the modern province of Gästrikland was part of Tiundaland, one of the three constituent parts of the modern province of Uppland, and therefore counted as a part of Svealand.
For a time in the early 19th century, the province of Värmland belonged to the Court of Appeal for Svealand. Even though Värmland historically belonged to Götaland (from 1815 until a new court, Hovrätten för Västra Sverige, was instituted), it has by custom long been considered part of Svealand.
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—Tacitus (c. 55–c. 120)
“Every generation rewrites the past. In easy times history is more or less of an ornamental art, but in times of danger we are driven to the written record by a pressing need to find answers to the riddles of today.... In times of change and danger when there is a quicksand of fear under men’s reasoning, a sense of continuity with generations gone before can stretch like a lifeline across the scary present and get us past that idiot delusion of the exceptional Now that blocks good thinking.”
—John Dos Passos (1896–1970)
“Yet poetry, though the last and finest result, is a natural fruit. As naturally as the oak bears an acorn, and the vine a gourd, man bears a poem, either spoken or done. It is the chief and most memorable success, for history is but a prose narrative of poetic deeds.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)