Svitjod in the context of Folkland (Swedish provinces)

⭐ Core Definition: Svitjod

Svitjod (also spelled Svithiod; Old Norse: Svíþjóð, Old Swedish: Svethiudh) was an early name for both the people known as the Svear and the land they inhabited. In medieval times, the name usually referred to their central territory in what is now Uppland in eastern Sweden. The name is composed of the ethnonym Svear and the word *thiudh, meaning "people".

Over time, it was also used more broadly as a poetic or historical name for the whole Swedish kingdom. In Norse literature, Svitjod could also refer to a vast eastern region, including parts of what is now Russia, known as "Great Svitjod" (see Garðaríki).

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⭐ Core Definition: Svitjod
Svitjod in the context of Roslagen
Svitjod in the context of Sitones

Svitjod in the context of Roslagen

59°31′30″N 18°24′30″E / 59.52488°N 18.40820°E / 59.52488; 18.40820

Roslagen is a coastal area in eastern Uppland in Sweden. It constitutes the northern part of the Stockholm archipelago and extends north along the coast. The old designation for the area was Roden.

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Svitjod in the context of Sitones

The Sitones were a Germanic people living somewhere in Northern Europe in the first century CE. They are mentioned only by Cornelius Tacitus in 97 CE in Germania. Tacitus considered them similar to Suiones (ancestors of modern Swedes) apart from one descriptor, namely that women were the ruling sex. Phonetical equivalent of ᚦ (þurisaz) may have been documented equivalent to either T or D, explaining sitones, suiones and suehans as local differences similar to viking age runestone carvings describing siþiuþu, suiþiuþu and suoþiauþu meaning Svitjod (Sweden).

Speculations on the Sitones' background are numerous. According to one theory, the name is a partial misunderstanding of Sigtuna, one of the central locations in the Swedish kingdom, which much later had a Latin spelling Situne.

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