FENNI
Eth.
FENNI a population of the north and northeastern parts of Europe, first mentioned by Tacitus (
Germania, 46), as one different from and contrasted to those of
Germania. In Ptolemy, the only other author who gives their name, the form is
Φίννοι. The extent to which the Fenni coincided with the modern Laps of Lapland, rather than with the Finns of Finland (or
vice versâ), is considered under the articles SITONES, SCYTHIA, and
SARMATIA At present the
name alone will be noticed.
It belongs to the same language with the word
Æstyi==Eastmen (
q. v.), viz. the German; and, of this, to the Scandinavian branch.
Finn is
not the name by which either the Finlanders or the Laplanders know themselves. It
is the term by which they are known to the Northmen.
This helps to verify the statement that the chief sources of the information of the classical writers concerning the Baltic were German.
[
R.G.L]