--- In
cybalist@yahoogroups.com, Juha Savolainen <juhavs@...> wrote:
> This case of ancient and evident *fenna-envy is so hilarious and
intriguing that I have to ask when did it arise in your opinion?
The name was evidently in use in the first century, so it must have
arisen by then, perhaps during the initial contact between Finnic and
Germanic peoples. Opinions differ as to who was included among the
original *Fenno:z. OE Finnas and ON Finnar certainly included the
Saami. My comment about envy was of course a joke; the intended
meaning of the term was probably something like 'virile, potent' not
necessarily in the sexual sense (perhaps connected with the
non-Germanic Scandinavians' reputation as formidable wizards and
magicians); the Finns can take it as a compliment anyway ;-)
Piotr