Charudes

Charudes is the scholarly Latinization of an Germanic tribe known in Ptolemy as the Charoudes. They are stated (Book 2, Chapter 10)^{[clarification needed]} to have lived on the east side of the Cimbric Chersonese, Ptolemy's term for Jutland.^{[citation needed]} Their name suggests that their origins were from Hardanger in Western Norway.^[1]

People of classical times

The Charoudes are believed to be the home population of an earlier unit of 24,000 military Harudes, who crossed the Rhine under the command of Ariovistus (Julius Caesar, De Bello Gallico, 31, 37 and 51), but no evidence connects the two. In Caesar, Ariovistus had been petitioned by the Celtic Sequani for assistance in their war against the Celtic Aedui. In return, Ariovistus was promised land grants, although exactly where is not certain.

In any case, gathering forces from a wide area of Germany, Ariovistus crossed the Rhine with large numbers and defeated the Aedui. The Germanic tribes, however, had their own agenda. They were interested in resettling large tracts of Celtic country, among both the Sequani and the Aedui. The Celts appealed to Caesar. Romans and Germans raced to the strategic fortified city of Vesontio (Besançon), but the Romans arrived first and occupied the city. They met and routed the Germanic army in the land between the city and river, effecting a massacre as the Germans tried to escape over the river, in 58 BC. The fate of the 24,000 Harudes is not known.

Some Harudes in Germania must have survived, as they continued to trouble the Romans in the reign of Augustus, the first emperor (if you do not count Julius). We have some documentary evidence that they did exist: the Res Gestae Divi Augusti, "Deeds of the Divine Augustus". In this long inscription, the Charydes of Jutland are said to have petitioned the friendship of Rome.

Germanic migrations

During the later age of Germanic migrations, the Harudes do not appear in Jutland. Instead, the Angles and Jutes are there, who migrate to Britain. In Tacitus the Angles are further south. Perhaps not all the Harudes left Jutland, and the Harudes could have been a constituent of the Jutes. Hardsyssel, a traditional district (syssel) of western Jutland, is thought to be derived from Harudes. Its inhabitants were called harder in Danish.

Norway and beyond

The Angles were probably occupying territory abandoned at least in part by the Harudes, as the latter migrated into Norway. There they are believed to be the Hǫrðar people who settled in Hordaland and gave name to the fjord Hardanger.

In a second theory, the Hǫrðar are identical to the Arochi dwelling in the Scandza mentioned in the Getica of Jordanes, which dates to the 6th century, but might refer to any time prior to then. The ch in that case would be a corruption of th, with the initial h not expressed.

Jordanes had read Ptolemy, but he claimed to be writing of times before those of Ptolemy. A comparison of Germanic geography in the works of the two men has raised some questions concerning the direction in which some Germanics migrated. On the whole, based on Jordanes, the direction has been taken to be southward from Scandinavia, and it is possible that the Charudes of Ptolemy's Jutland arrived there in prehistory from a more ancient Hordaland.

On the other hand the Hǫrðar could have intruded locally and late into Norway. Some have expanded this idea into a theory that the Goths originated in Germany and entered Scandinavia in the age of Germanic migration. As this hypothesis discounts Jordanes' judgement but accepts his tribal picture, it is not generally accepted.

Etymology

Latin Harudes is also attested in Old English as Hæredas and related to Old Norse Hörðar "Hords, inhabitants of the Hardangerfjord in Norway". This name is considered to be an extension of Germanic *xaruþaz (IE *k^osdho) "forest" (cf. OE harað, OHG hard "mountain forest, wooded hills", MHG hart), making the Harudes the "forest-dwellers" ^[2]. This root is considered to stem from Indo-European *k^óss meaning "pine, conifer"^[3], akin to Russian sosná "pine", Greek kônos "pinecone, pine-seed, cone", kôna "pitch", kýneion "hemlock; giant fennel", Oroshi sānĵ "post".

See also

Ancient Germanic culture portal

• List of Germanic peoples

Notes

1. ^ Orel, Vladimir. A Handbook of Germanic Etymology. Leiden, Netherlands: Brill, 2003: 164.
2. ^ Orel, Vladimir. A Handbook of Germanic Etymology. Leiden, Netherlands: Brill, 2003: 164.
3. ^ Mallory, J.P. and D.Q. Adams. The Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture. London: Fitzroy and Dearborn, 1997: 428.

References

• Cleasby, Vigfusson, Craigie, Icelandic-English Dictionary, Oxford, 2nd edition, 1957, ISBN 0-19-863103-0