Warnabi

The Warnabi, Warnavi, Warnahi, Wranovi, Wranefzi, Wrani, Varnes, or Warnower were a West Slavic tribe of the Obodrite confederation in the ninth through eleventh centuries. They were one of the minor tribes of the confederation. They were first mentioned by Adam of Bremen.

Etymologically their name is related to the river, the Warnow (also Warnof, Wrana, or Wranava), along which they settled in the region of Mecklenburg. It probably means "crow river" or "black river" in their Slavic language. It was probably derived from the Warni, a Teutonic people who had previously lived in the same area.

In the second half of the ninth century the chief city of the Warnabi was on an island in the Sternberger Lake at the site of the great castle of Raden. The centre of their culture was Parchim and Malikof was an important town. From 1171, 1185, and 1186 there are references to the land of the Warnabi: the "Warnowe". In 1189 it is called the "Warnonwe" and by 1222 this was called the "Wornawe".

ources

*Howorth, H. H. [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0959-5295%281880%299%3C181%3ATSOTSP%3E2.0.CO%3B2-7 "The Spread of the Slaves. Part III. The Northern Serbs or Sorabians and the Obodriti."] "The Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland", Vol. 9. (1880), pp 181–232.
* [http://www.genealogie-mittelalter.de/abodriten/warnower.html WARNOWER] at "Lexikon des Mittelaters".