Germani/germen and Cimbri/kīm-, same idea behind the names

Tuomo Pekkanen
Germani as a Translation of Sciri
Indogermanische Forschungen 1971
pp. 151âˆ'164

' More than thirty explanations have been suggested for the name Germani, but none has been accepted by any large number of scholars. So far it has not even been possible to establish for sure whether the name is to be explained from Germanic or non-Germanic linguistic stock.1 Both the Celtic and the Germanic interpretations are beset with difficulties, and the Veneto-Illyrian theory defended by W. Steinhauser2 and H. Rosenfeld3 remains only one of the hypotheses. The Greeks and the Romans thought that Germani was = Latin germani = Greek γνήσιοι, `αδελφοί.4 As a matter of fact, no other explanation exists in ancient literature. Although this etymon has been classed as "absurd",5 it has also found supporters among prominent scholars, e. g. Below, Holtzmann, Laistner, Hartmann, Birt,6 Gudeman7 and Collinder. As far as I know, after Collinder nobody has seriously taken into consideration the Latin theory. Nevertheless, 1 think there must be something in it, and in this paper I shall bring under discussion a new aspect in favour of the Latin origin of the name. I am not going to discuss the previous theories in detail, but will content myself with taking up facts and opinions that are necessary to elucidate my own stand: point on the problem.

'It is not possible to establish exactly when the name Germani appeared for the first time in the ancient literary records. As: far as we can be certain, the first author to mention it was Caesar, and although Posidonius may have known it, we have no evidence that it was used by any author before 58 B. C.8 E. Schwarz thinks that it was between 100 and 60 B. C. that the Romans gradually learned to distinguish the Germans from their Celtic neighbours.9.

Strabo in his handbook of geography (7, 1, 2) explains that "the parts beyond the Rhine, immediately after the country of the Celti, slope towards the east and are occupied by the Germans, who, though they vary slightly from the Celtic stock in that they are wilder, taller, and have yellower hair, are in all other respects similar, for in build, habits, and modes of life' they are such as I have said the Celti are." Then he continues: "Audi also think that it was for this reason that the Romans assigned to them the' name 'Germani', as though they wished to indicate thereby that they were 'genuine' Galatae, for in the language of the Romans 'germani' means 'genuine'."10 Strabo's suggestion that Germani was an ellipsis of Galli germani, γνήσιοι γαλάται, can scarcely be accepted. Nevertheless» we must not throw the baby out with the wash. That the explanation given by Strabo for the Latin origin of the name is not to the point» does not prove that he might not be right when considering it to be Latin, The word germanus has several different meanings,11 and it may be that Strabo took it in a different sense from that in which it was originally used, to denote the northern barbarians.

According to Strabo 7,1,1 the territories of the Germanic tribes extended in the east as far as the Bastarnae and the Tyregetae and the River Borysthenes (Dnieper): ταυ~τα δ` `εστ`ι τά τε γαλατικά `έθνη κα`ι τ`α γερμανικ`α μέχρι βασταρνω~ν κα`ι Τυρε: γετω~ν κα`ι του~ ποταμου~ βορυσθένους. In 7,2,4 he emphasizes that it was difficult to say which tribes occupied the lands beyond Germany, but referring to his sources he states that most authorities thought that they were the Bastarnae: τι δ` `εστ`ι πέραν της γερμανίας κα`ι τί τω~ν `άλλων τω~ν ´εξης, ε`ίτε βαστάρνας χρ`η λέγειν, ´ως ο´ι πλείους ´υπονοου~σιν, ... ο`υ ´ράδιον ε`ιπει~ν. In 7,3,17 he once more explains that the country of the Bastarnae bordered on that of the Germans: `εν δ`ε τη~ μεσογαία˛ βαστάρναι μ`εν τοι~ς Τυρεγέταις ´όμοροι κα`ι γερμανοι~ς. The etymon given by Strabo to Germani may now be examined in the light of the fact that the eastern neighbours of the Germans were called Bastarnae, accordmg to him and his predecessors.

If we agree with Strabo that Germani is = Latin germani, Greek γνήσιοι, we might suppose that there also existed a group, the name of which had the opposite meaning and that it was a contrast to this group that the name Germani originally 'expressed. Now the opposite of γνήσιος is νόθος 'bastard, base-born, i. e. born of a slave or concubine'.12 If we suppose that there was a group the name of which had the meaning of γνήσιοι, consequently there might also be found those whose name was equivalent to νόθοι. It is not difficult to find such a name.

The name of the eastern neighbours of the Germans, the Bastarnae, has been compared by Much with the Gothic widu-wairna 'orphan', actually 'son of a widow' ('Waise', Witwensohn'), *þiwairnō 'harlot' actually 'daughter of a menial' ('Dirne', 'Knechtstochter'). In his opinion the name should be considered as a compound, the latter part of which has a common origin with the Greek `έρνος 'shoot', 'sprout', 'offspring' ('Sproß', 'Sprößling'). The first part of it he connects with Old French bast 'unlawful intercourse' (Kebsehe') which, he considers to be of German origin, and the meaning of the compound is thus 'the Offspring of unlawful intercourse', 'the Bastards'.13 It may be noted that Much presented his etymology of Bastarnae quite independently of Strabo's explanation of Germani. On the other hand, Strabo pays no attention to the origin of the name Bastarnae. Most probably he had no concept of it at all. Anyway, it cannot be denied that the etymologies of Strabo and Much - though separated by some 1900 years! - complement one another in a surprising manner: If we accept one of them, we must also accept the other, unless we prefer to reject both. If Bastarime was νόθοι, Germani must have been γνήσιοι, and these two names cannot be separated from one another semantically,

There is one more important conclusion to be drawn from the above considerations. According to Strabo Germani was a Latin word, but the name Bastarnae, as explained by Much, was of Teutonic origin. But originally the concepts γνήσιοι and νόθοι must have existed in the same language, If Bastarnae was a Teutonic name, there must also have been an equivalent to Germani in the Teutonic language, and it must have been this equivalent that gave rise to the Latin name, i. e. wastranslated from the Teutonic form into Latin. It must also be sup-posed that the name in question had a transparent meaning so that it could easily be understood and translated from one language to another,14

Strabo, it is true, does not consider Germani as a translation. It is perfectly clear from the explanation given by him to it that he thought the name had been given by the Romans to the group in question because of its outward similarity to the Galatae, not because of its being γνήσιοι in regard to its eastern neighbours. When we accept the semantic relation between Germani (γνήσιοι), and Bastarnae (νόθοι), we may regard Strabo's explanation as a subjective theory, based on the fact that he was aware of the Latin origin of the name.

If we start from the assumption that the origin of the name Germani is connected with that of the Bastarnae and consider the former as Latin, the latter as Teutonic, it is in the geographical neighbourhood of the Bastarnae that we must try to find the tribe or group of tribes which bore the Teutonic name which was translated with the Latin germani, Following the sources concerning the Bastarnae as far backwards as possible, it is in principle possible to find the name in question in its untranslated Germanic form.

Our most important source about the early history of the Bastarnae is the anonymous Periegesis ad Nicomedem regem, generally known as Pseudo-Scymnus.l5 The poem, was in all probability written between 133 - 116 B.C.16 The Bastarnae appear in V. 794 as neighbours of the Thracians: θρα˛~κές τε βαστάρναι τ` `επήλυδες. Müllenhoff concluded that Pseudo-Scymnus derived his information about the Bastarnae from Demetrius of Callatis,17 whom he mentions by name in vv. 117, 719, 793 (796), 879, and Mullenhoff's views have generally been accepted,18 The word `επήλυδες 'incomers', 'immigrants', gives evidence of the fact that Demetrius, who lived circa 200 B.C., was aware of the arrival of the Bastarnae to the regions around the month of the Danube. On the evidence of Pomp. Trog. prol. 28 the time of the Bastarnic migration has been fixed to 233 - 230 B.C.19

In the sources concerning the events of the second century B. C. the Bastarnae are sometimes called γαλάται.20 So Polybius 25, 6, 2f. uses the names βαστάρναι and γαλάται when speaking of the same group, and Plutarch, in his biography of Aemilius Paulus 9,6, states: ´υπεκίνει δ`ε (περσε`υς) κα`ι γαλατάς το`υς περ`ι τ`ον `ίστρον `ω˛κημένους, βαστέρναι καλου~νται, στρατ`ον ´ιππότην κα`ι μάχιμον; "he (sc. Perseus) also secretly stirred up the Galatae settled along the Danube, who are called Basternae (=Bastarnae), an equestrian host and warlike." The fact that the Bastarnae could be called γαλάται has given rise to the opinion that the Galatae, who in the so-called Protogenes-inscription21 of Olbia (dated between 290 - 200 B. C.) are mentioned together with the σκίροι as persecutors of the Scythians and Sar-matians living between the rivers Hypanis (Bug) and Borysthenes (Dnieper), should be identical with the Bastarnae.22 Even chronologically the invasion of the γαλάται and σκίροι would fit well with the appearance of the Bastarnae on the lower Danube in the latter half of the third century B. C.

If we accept the identity of the γαλάται of the Protogenes-inscription with the Bastarnae, suggested and defended by several prominent scholars, we reach the result that in the earliest written testimony of their history the Bastarnae appear together with a group called σκίροι: γαλάτας" (= βαστάρνας) κα`ι σκίρους πεποιη~σθαι συμμαχίαν.

Although the ethnic origin of the Bastarnae has been an object of disputes among scholars,23 the Sciri are unanimously classed among the Germans, and their invasion is considered as the first historically known conflict between the Germanic barbarians and people of the classical world.24 The name Sciri is derived by R. Much and others from German *skīra- (cf. Gothic skeirs, Old Nordic skírr, Old English scīr, English sheer, Old Saxon skīri, High German schier, Swedish skär) "clear', 'pure', 'sheer', unblemished ('glänzend', 'rein', lauter', 'umvermischt'), cf. Old Nordic skírborinn, skírgetinn 'of genuine birth' (Von echter Geburt'),25 It is thus, as already noticed by Much, the opposite of Bastarnae, 'the Bastards', The name Sciri, according to the etymon given by Much, is certainly of a transparent nature, i.e. it could be understood in its appellative meaning by those who spoke the Teutonic language, and, if necessary, be translated from one language to another. Interpreters familiar with Latin must have been able to translate it to the Romans, and if we ask for its Latin, equivalent, there can scarcely be found a more adequate one than germani = γνήσιοι, the opposite of νόθοι.

Starting from the fact that, according to Strabo (7,1,1; 7,2, 4; 7,3,17), the territories of the Germanic tribes bordered in the east on those of the Bastarnae, and following the sources on the latter as far backwards as possible, it has thus been possible to establish that the first historically known Germanic neighbours of the Bastarnae bear a name that can be translated with the Latin germami. The relation between the names Sciri and Bastarnae has´previously been noticed by many scholars, but so far nobody has paid any attention to the fact that when we consider Germani as a Latin word, the same relation also continues in the opposites Germani and Bastarnae, 'the Pure', 'the Unmixed' 'the Unblemished' and 'the Bastards';

The contacts between the Bastarnae and the Roman Empire begin in the first half of the second century B.C.26 In 182 B.C. Philip of Macedon had the intention of destroying the Dardanians, a people always most hostile to Macedonia, and giving the Bastarnae homes in Dardania, whence they might be sent to plunder Italy. Because of the death of Philip in 179 this plan could not be carried through in full (Livy 40, 5 and 57); his son Perseus, however, was able to retain the Bastarnae as his allies and an army of about thirty thousand Bastarnae, under the command of Clondicus, arrived in Dardania, where conflicts came about between, them and the Dardanians (Livy 40, 58; ib. 41, 19 and 23; Oros. 4,20,34; Polyb. 25, 6). In the year 175 Roman envoys were sent to investigate the situation in Macedonia, and having returned to Rome they reported on the war, which was in progress in Dardania. At the same time envoys had also arrived from King Perseus, who were to explain on his behalf that he had neither invited the Bastarnae nor was he instigating any of their actions (Livy 41,19, 4f.; App. Mac. 11). It was through these envoys that the Romans for the first time came in direct contact with the Bastarnae In 165 the above mentioned Clondicus was once more ready to aid Perseus against the Romans, but through his avarice the king lost the assistance of his allies (Livy 44, 26f.; Diod 30, 19; Plu. Aem. 9; 12 and 13; App. Mac. 18). We find the Bastarnae among the enemies of the Romans during the wars that Mithridates Eupator, King Of Pontus 120 - 63 B.C., waged against them (App. Mith, 15; 69; 71; Memnon 39 = EHG III 545; Iustin. 38,3). Therefore they were also mentioned in the announcement of the triumphal procession that Pompeius led in Rome in 62 B.C. (Plin. nat. 7, 98). C. Antonius, the colleague of Cicero, while governor of Macedonia was defeated near the city of the Istrians by the Bastarnae, who came to their aid (Dio 38,10). Finally M. Licinius Crassus fought successfully against them in Moesia in 29 B.C., although he was not able to put an end to their repeated invasions of Thrace (Dio 51, 23 - 26; Livy per. 134; Ps. Aur. Vict. epit. 1, 7). Anyway Augustus could boast in Monumentum Ancyranum that the Bastarnae through their envoys had sought the friendship of the Romans.

R. Wenskus has pointed out that the name Bastarnae by reason of its disparaging significance can scarcely have been that used by the Bastarnae themselves. He thinks that this designation was given to them by the Sciri, whose name has the opposite meaning.27 If we agree with him on this, we are led to the conclusion that it was through the Sciri that the name of the Bastarnae first became known in the Greco-Roman world. One could assume that the alliance (συμμαχία) between the γαλάται (= βαστάρναι) and the σκίροι, attested in the Protogenes-inscription, continued during the Bastarnic invasion of Dardania and the Mithridatic wars, and that the leaders of their united army, who maintained outside contacts, were Sciri, but the main bulk consisted of the Bastarnae proper. Accepting this assumption we may conclude, that it was doling the conflicts with, the Bastarnae that the Romans first came into contact with the Germani-Sciri,

After its appearance in the Protogenes-inscription the name Sciri is not mentioned until the Elder Pliny in his Natural History 4,97: quidam haec habitari ad Vistlam usque fluvium a Sarmatis, Venedis, Sciris . . . tradunt, "Some authorities report that these regions as far as the River Vistula are inhabited by the Sarmatae, Venedi, Sciri." We do not know anything about the authorities from which Pliny had received this information, but it is worth noting that the Sciri are expressly mentioned as living on the River Vistula, which the Romans thought to be the eastern frontier of Germany.38 R. Much already paid attention to the striking fact that Pliny in the passage quoted does not mention the Bastarnae at all, although, they ought to be placed between the Venedi and the Sciri. He thought that in this case the missing Bastarnae might have been included with the Sciri29. The hypothesis of Much implies that the relations between the Sciri and the Bastarnae were so close that jointly they could be called Sciri If we accept this, we may assume as well that together they might also be called Bastarnae and that the Sciri are also included in those sources in which the Bastarnae alone are explicitly mentioned. This assumption would support the theory advanced above that the Sciri were involved in the conflicts between the Bastarnae and the Romans, although their name is missing in the sources concerning these conflicts. Nevertheless, the other alternative, which Much did not take into consideration at all, would be that the missing Bastarnae in Plin. nat. 4, 97 are included with the Venedi. In favour of this alternative it may be noted that the Venedi do not appear in Strabo at all. He calls the eastern neighbours of the Germans βαστάρναι in several passages and expressly points eat (7,2,4) that it was the most common opinion among the authorities he knew that the inhabitants of the area beyond Germany were called by that name. The account of Strabo agrees with the information gathered from Plin. nat. 4, 97, if we presume that the same group dwelling to the east of Germany was called βαστάρναι by the former, and Venedi by the latter. The βαστάρναι . , . ´όμοροι.. . . γερμανοι~ς of Strabo 7, 3,17 would correspond to Venedi, Sciri of Plin. nat. 4, 97. The name Germani is a translation of Sciri; Bastarnae might be considered as an abusive name for the population also called Venedi by its western neighbours. The latter hypothesis as well as the ethnic origin of the Bastarnae have recently been discussed by me in Arctos, Suppl. I, pp. 150 - 162, and therefore I will not linger on them here.

The Sciri are totally absent from our sources from Pliny until the fourth century.30 That important authors, such as Tacitus, Ptolemy and others, pass over them in silence, may well be due to the fact that their name had become firmly established among the Romans in its Latin' translation, so that the individual group of the Sciri-Germani could not be distinguished from the Germans in general. Norden has pointed out that the generic name Germani was reduced in course of time to a literary word, which by influence of Horace and Virgil was more often used by poets than prosewriters, whereas in real life and mostly even in the historians the Germanic tribes were called by genuine tribal names, such as e. g. Alemanni and Francis.31 I think the reappearance of the Sciri in the sources from the fourth to the sixth century might be accounted for by the fact that at that time the generic Germani had definitely become antiquated in colloquial use.

Most attempts to explain the origin of the name Germani have been based on the famous "Namensatz" of Tacitus' Germania 2,3), which therefore has become one of the most disputed sentences in Latin literature.32 As it is not proper to pass over it in silence, I must emphasize that Ϊ fully agree with those scholars who assume that in it Tacitus treated Germani as a Latin word, intelligible to any of his readers.33 Strabo, in his explanation of the name took the Latin germanus 'as 'genuine' and thought that the Germans were 'genuine Galatae'; Tacitus - or it would, be better to say the quidam, whose opinion he quotes - , however, understood germamus as consanguineus and expounded the theory that all the tribes beyond the Rhine were called Gewmni after the victorious Germani-Tungri because: it was feared that they were germani/consanguinei of these Transrhenanic conquerors.34

The main thought, expressed by Tacitus in Germ. 2, 3, that the extensive use of Germami was due to the generalization of the name of a restricted number of Transrhenane barbarians, is no doubt correct.38 Tacitus, however, did not know that it was on the eastern frontier of the Teutonic world that the name Germani had its origin as an opposite to that of the Bastanae.

Nevertheless, it seems to me that there are in Tacitus' Germania some traces of the contrast which appears between the names Sciri (Germami) 'the Pure', 'the Unmixed' and Bastarnae 'the Bastards', In Germ. 2, 1 Tacitus emphasizes that the Germans were "free from, any admixture of foreign blood by immigration and friendly intercourse" (minimeque aliarum gentium adventibus et hospitiis mixtos). In c. 4 he carries the same argument farther by associating himself with the opinions of those who held that the peoples of Germany were "a race untainted by intermarriage with other races, a pure people resembling no one but themselves" (nullia aliis aliarum nationum conubiis infectos propriam et sinceram et tantum sui similem gentem). The words proprius and sincerus, by which Tacitus characterizes the physical type of the Germans, are used In Latin as synonyms of germanus. Cf. Forcellini, Totius Latinitatis lexicon s. v.. germanus 10: verus, proprins, sincerus, non fucatus, merus; ibid. s. v. sincerus: purus, integer, nulla alia re admixtus, incorruptus, verus; s. v. proprius 6: legitimus, germanus, Thus they are also equivalents to that Germanic word from, which the name Sciri is derived. When discussing the tribes that bordered on the Germans in the east, Tacitus mentions the "Peucini, whom some people call Bastarnae" (c. 46,1 Peucini, quos quidam Bastarnas vocant) and explains that they, "owing to intermarriage, show to some extent the debased appearance of the Sarmatians" (conubiis mixtis nonnihil in Sarmatarum habitum foedantur). This being the state of things, it can be established that the Germans were to Tacitus minime mixti, nullis aliis aliarum nationum conubiis infecti, proprii et sinceri, ie. unmixed, unblemished, pure (= Sciri), but the Bastarnae seemed to him conubiis mixtis foedi. It has been pointed out that Tacitus goes much too far in conceiving that the Germans were "unmixed", for the skulls found in ancient graves of Ger-many prove a prehistoric intermingling of races.36 I think the mistake may originally "be due to the meaning of Germami. If the name had its origin in that of a group which called itself 'the Pure' (= Sciri) in regard to its neighbours, it is quite possible that the 'purity' was later on associated with all those tribes to which the name was extended.

I would like to sum up the main result of this contribution with, the words of A. Gudeman: "Man wird .... nolens volens in den sauren Apfel beißen müssen und das viel heimgesuchte Wort in der Bedeutimg zu nehmen haben welche der Römer demselben gegeben."37 Gudeman regretted that he could not point out the barbarian word which he thought had been translated with the Latin germani. Collinder, who moved along the same lines, suggested the Suebi, which he interpreted as 'sui generis1, α`υτοφυής.38 My suggestion is Sciri.

1 Η.Rοsenfeld, "Kultur der Germanen",
Abriß der Geschichte antiker Randkulturen, herausgegeben von W.D. v. Barloewen,
Oldenbourgs Abriß der Weltegeschichte, Munchen 1961, p. 17.
K. Much, Die Germania des Tacitus. Dritte, beträchtlich. erweiterte Auflage, unter Mitarbeit von H. Jankuhn herausgegeben von W. Lange. Heidelberg 1967, pp. 70ff.
B. Collinder "The name Germani", Arkiv för nordisk filologi 59 (5.följd 3) (1944) 19-39.
K. Kraft, "Zur Entstehung des Namens ,Germania'", Sitzungsber d. wiss. Gesell. an der J.W. Goethe-Univers. Frankfurt/Main 9 (1970) Nr. 2, pp. 7f.
2 "Herkunft, Anwendung und Bedeutung des Namens 'Germani'", Festschrift für Dietrich Kralik, Horn N. Ö.. 1954, pp. 9-25.
3 "Germania vel ad monte' und der Name der Germanen", BzN. 12 (1961) 250ff.
4 Much, 'Die Germania p. 71.
5 E. Norden, Die germanische Urgeschichte in Tacitus Germania, Darmstadt 19594s p. 81 n. 1.
6 For the references, see Collinder, Art, cit. pp. 22, 26f., 33ff.
7 "Zur Germania des Tacitus", Philologus 58 (N. F. 12) (1899) 25ff
8 Collinder, Art. cit, pp. 20f.
9 Germanische Stammeskunde zwischen den Wissenschaften, herausgegeben vom Konstanzer Arbeitskreis für mittelalterliche. Geschichte, Konstanz-Stuttgart 1967, p. 12.
10 δι`ο δ`η καί μοι δοκου~σι "ρωμαι~οι του~το α`υτοϊς Θέσθαι. το`ύνομα, ´ως `άν γνησίους γαλάτας φράζειν βουλόμενοι· γνήσιοι γ`αρ ο´ι γερμανο`ϊ κατ`α τ`ην ´ρωμαίων διάλεκτον. The text and the English translation are those of H. L. Jones, The Loeb Classical Libtary 19542.
11 Î`. Walde & J. B. Hofmann, Lateinisches. etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg 1938, s.v.
germanus, -a: "Bruder (Schwester) von denselben Eltern";
sek. "leiblich, verwandt; stammecht, unvermischt, leibhafbig";
T. Lewis & Ch. Short, A Latin. Dictionary, Oxford 19512, s. v,
"of brothers and sisters who have the same parents, or at least the same father, full, own (very freq. and class.)";
"an own or full brother, own or full sister (rare)";
"Of or belonging, to brothers and sister, brotherly, sisterly (very rare);"
"genuine, real, actual, true (a favorite expression of Cicero)";
H. G. Liddell & R. Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, Oxford 19539, s.v. γνήσιος "belonging to the race, i.e. lawfully begotten, born in wedlock"; "genuine, legitimate, lawful, real".
12 Liddell & Scott, s. v.
13 "Die Südmark der Germanen", Beiträge zur Geschichte der deutschen Sprache und Literatatur 17 (1893) 37;
"Der Eintritt der Germanen in die Weltgeschichte",Germanistische Forschungen.(Festschrift anläßlich des 60 semestrigen. Stiftungsfestes des Wiener Akademischen Germanistenvereins), Wien 1925, p. 22;
Die Germania p. 528;
"Germanische Stämme in Ostdeutschland im klassischen Altertum",
in:
Der ostdeutsche Volksboden, Aufsätze zu den Fragen des Ostens, herausgegeben von W. Volz, Breslau 1926, p. 104.
Much's etymology has been widely accepted among scholars, see:
S. Gutenbrunner, Germanische Frühzeit in den Berichten, der Antike, Halle/Saale 1939, p. 93;
E. Schwarz, Germanische Stammeskunde, Heidelberg 1955, p.49;
E. Fehrle, Tacitus Germania, herausgegeben, übersetzt und mit Erläuterungen versehen von E. F.
Fünfte überarbeitete Auflage besorgt von R. Hünnerkopf, Heidelberg 1959, p. 134;
E. Petersen, "Die Bastarneri und Skiren", in:
Vorgeschichte der deutschen Stämme,
herausgegeben von H. Reinerth, III (1940) p. 868;
F. Kluge & W. Mitzka,
Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, Berlin. 1960 18, s.v. Bastard;
R. Wenskus, Stammesbildung und Verfassung. Das Werden der frühmittelalterlichen gentes, Köln-Graz 1961, p, 22;
K. K. Klein, "Germanen in Südosteutopa", Südosteuropa 1 (1959) 34 n. 9. For the objections raised by H. Fromm against it, see Much, Die Germania p. 528.
14 Cf. Collinder, Art. cit. pp. 26f.
15 A. Diller,
The Tradition of the Minor Greek Geographers,
Philological Monographs Published by the American Philological Association 14
(1952)165.
16 Fr. Gisinger in:
Realencyclopädie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft,
Zweite Reihe III, Stuttgart 1927,
s.v. Skymnos, cc. 674f.
17 Deutsche Altertumskunde II, Berlin 1887, 104; ibid. III, 1892, 38; cf. Gisinger, Art. cit. c. 685.
18 L. Schmidt, Geschichte der deutschen. Stämme bis znm Ausgang der Völkerwanderung: Die Ostgermanen, München 19342, pp. 87f.; Schwarz, Germanische Stammeskunde (1955) p. 47.
19 Schmidt, loc. cit. My abbreviations of the Greek and. Latin sources are those used in Thesaurus linguae Latinae and in the Greek-English Lexicon of Liddell & Scott.
20 For the sources on the Bastarnae, see M. Schönfeld, Wörterbuch der altgermanischen Personen- und Völkernamen, Heidelberg 19652, pp. 44f., 283, and A. Heeren,. De chorographia a Valerio Flacco adhibita, Diss. Gottingae 1899, pp. 60f. Cf. also T. Pekkanen, The Ethnic Origin of the Doulosporoi, Arctos, Aeta Philologica Fennica Suppl. I, Helsinki 1968, p. 113, and the literature listed in. n. 13 above.
21 Published in O. Fiebiger & L. Schmidt, Inschriftensammlung zur Geschichte der Ostgermanen, Akad. d. Wiss, Wien, Phil-hist. Denkschriften 60:3, 1917, no.1, and in B. Latyschev, Inscriptiones antiquae orae septentrionalis Ponti Euxini Graeeae et Latinae, vol. I, Petropoli 1916, no. 32. The lines concerned read as follows: τω~ν δ`ε α`υτομόλων `επαγγελλόντωγ γαλάτας κα`ι σκίρους πεποιη~σθαι συμμαχίαν κα`ι δīύναμιν συνη~χθαι μεγάλην κτλ, "the deserters told that γαλάται and σκίροι had made alliance and collected great forces" etc.
22 Fiebiger & Schmidt ad locum, and the literature mentioned in n. 13. Cf. also K. Kretschmer in: Realencyclopädie der class. Altertumswiss. s.v. Sciri.
23 For my criticism of the different theories, .and for my hypothesis of their being identical with the σπόροι of Procopius, see Arctos Suppl. I,
pp. 150-162.
24 Fiebiger & Schmidt ad locum,
25 Much, Die Germania p. 528; Schönfeld, Wörterbuch der altgermanischen. Personen und Völkernamen p. 200.
26 For the history of the Bastarnae, cf.
Müllenhoff, Deutsche Altertumskunde 11, 104-112;
Schmidt, Die Ostgermanen pp. 86-99;
Ihm in: Realencyclopädie der classischen Altertumswissensehaft III, 110-113; Schwarz, Germanische Stammeskunde (1955) pp.47-53.
27 Stammesbildung und Verfassung pp. 22, 34, 63.
28 Arctos. Suppl. I, p. 63 n. 2.
29 Deutsche Stammeskunde, Sammlung Göschen. 126, Leipzig 1905, pp.130ff.
30 The sources on the Sciri are enumerated by Schönfeld, Wörterbuch s.v.
31 Die germanisehe Urgeschichte pp. 425 f.
32 Cf. B Melin, "Zum Namensatz der Germania", Eranos 61 (1963) 143ff
33 See. Collinder, Art. cit. pp. 26f. and Gudeman, Art. cit. pp. .26f.
34 For a detailed discuss ion. of the problems connected with the interpretation of Tac. Germ. 2, 3, see my article in Arctos 7 (1972).
35 For other examples of this kind of generalization, see
Norden, Die germanische Urgeschichte pp. 406ff.;
Collinder, Art. cit. p.23;
Taciti De origine et situ Germanorum, ed. J.G.C.Anderson, Oxford 19582, p. 43.
36 Anderson, op. cit, p. 53.
37 Art. cit. p. 28.
38 Art. cit. pp. 32 f.'


I find this interesting, since I have earlier, in connection with my attempt to find the interconnections of *(p)kYiN- "clean" and "pure", also "of pure breed", the concept which slavers and slaving societies find so important

http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/cybalist/message/66719

tried to connect the Sciri with the Cimbri, with the same sense

http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/cybalist/message/66888

so it seems Latin 'Germani' and Germanic 'Cimbri' might be related too.

But not only that, it seems both words are derived from word meaning "germ, seed",

cf. Latin germen


Ernout-Meillet
'genō, -is et gignō, -is, genuī, genitum, gignere
...
Formes nominales et dérivés:
...
8 germen, -inis n.: germe, bourgeon, rejeton; par extension, "descendance":
- est quod ex arborum surculis nascitur; unde et germanί quasi eadem stirpe geniti, P.F.84,8.
Attesté seulement depuis Lucrèce; mais germānus est dans Ennius et Plaute, et la forme est sûrement ancienne. M.L.3744,
- De là
germinō,-ās "germer" et "laisser pousser"; M.L.3745 et *germiniāre 3745a;
germinātiō, germinātus,-ūs (Colum.Plin.);
germināscō,-is (b.lat. );
con-, e:-, prae-, prō-, re-germinō, termes techniques d'agriculture'


with PWGermanic *kīm-, *kīn- (my guess, both <- *kīN-)

Dansk Etymologisk Ordbog
'kim en '(plante)anlæg'; æ. og no. kim(e);
lån fra
mnty. kīm(e), af
oldfrank. kīmo, modsv.
oldhty. kīmo, kīm,
ty. Keim;
hører ligesom fx
got. keinan 'spire',
oldhty. chīnan 'spire, spaltes, åbne sig'
til sa. rod som I. kile.'

Grimm
Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache

KEIM, m. germen, gemma; ahd. chîm und chîmo Graff 4, 450, mhd. kîme wb. 1, 805a, gewiss auch kîm; die schwache form noch im 15. jh., kyme Dief. 261a. 472a neben der starken kym, keym das.; jetzt nur starkformig, aber nach J. Pauls keimenflor landsch. noch schwach, vorarlb. chîma Fromm. 4, 324. mnd. kyme Dief. 472a, nnd. kiem br. wb., kîm, pl. kîmen Schambach, dän. kime, kiim, schwed. (nur am malz) kim; nnl. mit anderm vocal, kiem f. (dem nd. mhd. î entspricht da ij)
[Bd. 11, Sp. 452]

1) Formen und herkunft.
a) früher findet sich käum, keum geschrieben, so bei Kirsch käumlein, noch bei Steinbach käum (neben keim): der erste käum. Reichart land- und gartenschatz (1753) 1, 69. es erscheint aber schon im 16. jh.: wiltu die äpfel lang gut behalten, soltu sie auf den käumen (sing.) oder putzen (s. DWB butze) und nit auf die stile legen. Sebiz 378, also schwachf. käume m.; s. weiter unter keimen 1, a, auch keime. steht auch das ie im nl. kiem für altes iu?
b) sicher alt ist eine nebenform kein, die sich in keinspitzlein zeigt; schon in einem rhein. voc. des 15. jh. kien pullula, auch in einem niederd. voc. kyne Dief. 472a, noch nnd. kîn (pl. kîne und kînen) Schambach, Danneil, auch ditmars., wangerog., ostfries. (kien), also kîn und kîne, wie kîm und kîme. ebenso nl. keen f. keim (pl. keenen), bei Kil. kene germen regerminans, doch mit anderm vocal; mit wieder anderm schott. chun keim an lagernden kartoffeln, gerste (diesz u stimmt wol wieder zum hd. äu vorhin). s. keinen unter keimen.
c) das goth. hatte ein starkes verb keian keimen, sprieszen, das sich in uskijanata φυέν Luc. 8, 6 verrät (praet. kai, kijum, p. p. kijans, gramm. 4, 26, ahd. wäre es chîan), und dazu stellt sich keim als ableitung, ebenso mit andrer bildung hd. keid keim und keist, ahd. chîdi und chîst. s. weiter keimen.
2) Bedeutung.
a) pflanzenkeim: pullula, keim, sprusz, spruszling. voc. th. 1482 q 2b;

ob ein regen eÊ' (das korn) begieÊ'e,
daÊ' iht kîmen (gen. gl.) darûÊ' schieÊ'e. Renner 19910;

(Ceres) nimmt von ihres kranzes spitze
einen kern, mit kraft erfüllt,
senkt ihn in die zarte ritze,
und der trieb des keimes schwillt.
Schiller 55b;

nun vereinzelt schwellen sogleich unzählige keime.
Göthe 1, 328;

schon die primel hob geheim
unter dorn den gelben keim.
Voss (1825) 4, 44;

wie die braunen keime (der bäume im frühjahr)
halb entgrünt sich blähn. 4, 45.

keime am malz, an kartoffeln, der kohlstrunk treibt keime. dazu blütenkeim, fruchtkeim, blattkeim, ferner kornkeim, hopfenkeim, erbsenkeim, kartoffelkeim u. s. w.
b) die blüte am reifen obst, der butzen, s. Sebiz unter 1, a.
3) Die andern bedeutungen des schwesterwortes keid zeigen sich spurweise auch bei keim.
a) korn: von der haberzins wegen sind sie (die hofjünger) auch einhellig also (wegen dessen was rechtens ist), das er (der den zins entrichtet) keinen distelkolben davon wannen sol noch kein stroh das nur ein kym hab, das mag er wol dabei lassen. weisth. 1, 254, 'kein hälmchen an dem auch nur ein korn hängen geblieben ist' (vom dreschen her), nur das kann ja der sinn sein. s. unter DWB keid 2.
b) halm, stengelein: rosmarin kaim oder stengel. bauernstands lasterpr. 177; im Nassauischen keim sogar schlechthin für rosmarinzweig, wie er bei kindtaufen, hochzeiten gebraucht wird (Kehrein 220). dafür bürgt auch, zugleich wol für hohes alter, 'kaim pianta, frutice' (neben 'germe') im cimbr. wb. 134a, wol pflänzchen, und selbst stäudchen. auch Stieler 947 gibt keim surculus. s. DWB keid.
4) Man übertrug es später auf die gesamte natur, als willkommenen ausdruck für den schwer zu bezeichnenden begriff des lebenskeims überhaupt:
der luft, dem wasser wie der erden
entwinden tausend keime sich
im trocknen, feuchten, warmen, kalten.
Göthe 12, 72;

die in der natur eines organischen körpers (gewächses oder thieres) liegenden gründe einer bestimmten auswickelung heiszen, wenn diese auswickelung besondere theile betrifft, keime. Kant 10, 31. vom menschen: sehr verschieden der kaum befruchtete keim eines stupiden von dem erhabenen charakter eines verklärten Esajas. Lavater aussichten in die ewigkeit (1773) 1, 135. von thieren: die kraft den keim eines einzigen wurms mit dem bloszen willen auf einmal zu bilden. das. 2, 116; was sie (die schmetterlinge) nachlassen, sind keime verherrender raupen. Herder 9, 331. auch die naturwissenschaft braucht das wort, vgl. Oken 4, 301 ff.
5) Übertragen, wie andere erscheinungen des pflanzenlebens (wachsthum, blüte, frucht u. s. w.), auf das menschenleben, äuszeres und inneres, einzelnes und allgemeines.
a) der erste unscheinbare anfang eines zukünftigen das daraus zu werden verspricht oder geworden ist: dieses gut (die tugend), wie es in diesem anfangszustand der hauptinhalt unsers glücks und unsrer bestimmung ist, musz zugleich der keim der glückseligkeit auf eine ewige fortdauer sein, da unsre seele dasselbe nie, ohne ihr wesen zu verlieren, verlieren kann. Gellert (1784) 5, 201, die glückseligkeit ist in der tugend so enthalten wie der zweig oder die frucht im keim; einen fingerzeig nenne ich, was schon irgend einen keim enthält, aus welchem sich die noch zurückgehaltne wahrheit entwickeln läszt. Lessing 10, 319; Andres, der mensch trägt in seiner brust den keim der vollkommenheit. Claudius 6, 184; welchen lebensschwangern keim der zukunft wir mit uns nehmen. Herder zerstr. bl. 6, 224;

meiner palmen keime starben,
eines mildern lenzes werth.
Bürger (1789) 1, 219;

durch drangsal, gott, und harte mühe
regst du des geistes kraft,
damit sein schwangrer keim entblühe
zu edler wissenschaft.
Voss (1825) 3, 136;

ja, lieber Wilhelm, meinem herzen sind die kinder am nächsten auf der erde. wenn ich ihnen zusehe und in dem kleinen dinge die keime aller tugenden, aller kräfte sehe die sie einmal so nöthig brauchen werden, wenn ich in dem eigensinne künftige standhaftigkeit und festigkeit des charakters, in dem muthwillen guten humor (wie im keime vorgebildet) .. erblicke. Göthe 16, 41; sollten die keime dessen, was uns begegnen wird, nicht schon von der hand des schicksals ausgestreut, sollte nicht ein vorgenusz der früchte, die wir einst zu brechen hoffen, möglich sein? 19, 58;
freue dich, vater, des herrlichen jungen,
wenn einst die schlafenden keime gereift.
Schiller 2a;

begraben in des wurmes triebe,
umschlungen von des sinnes lust,
erkanntet ihr (künstler) in seiner brust
den edeln keim der geisterliebe. 24a;

kann ich dafür, wenn eine knechtische
erziehung schon in meinem jungen herzen
der liebe zarten keim zertrat? 246a;

es müssen einmal in Asien menschen gelebt haben, deren ereignisse die ersten keime der fabel geworden sind. Wieland bei Böttiger lit. zust. 1, 255; das gewissen .. dieser keim aller persönlichkeit. Novalis (1837) 1, 279;
das ist die seligkeit, die dort sich wird entfalten
in jeder seele die sie hier im keim enthalten.
Rückert weish. des Brahm. 8, 91;

das ist der keim zu künftigen groszen entwickelungen; die zarten keime des neuen guten wollen ängstlich gepflegt sein; damit war der keim der veredelung in seine seele gepflanzt.
b) dann aber auch von schlimmen, verderblichen dingen:
kein keim von geiz wuchs in der reinen brust.
Haller (1777) 268,

zugleich 'auch nicht das geringste', wie keid, keidel;
der schwachheit letzten keim, reisz ihn aus deiner brust.
Gotter 2, 434;

jedes beschränkte wesen bringt als erscheinung den keim der zerstörung schon mit sich. Herder gott (1787) 238; das traurigste, was die französische revolution für uns bewirkt hat, ist unstreitig das, dasz man jede vernünftige und von gott und rechtswegen zu verlangende forderung als einen keim von empörung ansehen wird. Lichtenberg (1800) 2, 234; er hatte den keim der krankheit schon lange in sich; er trägt den keim des todes mit sich herum.
c) 'im keime' ist was eben erst zu keimen miene macht: sie als brautleute, obgleich noch sehr im keime, verbargen doch nicht ihre zärtlichkeit. Göthe 24, 279; das hiesze eure groszen anschläge im keim zertreten. 42, 110; lassen sie uns .. unsern zwist .. im keime abbrechen. Kretschmann (1786) 3, 2, 45, wie man einen keim 'abbricht'; ein talent im keim ersticken. Gotter 1, 447;
da liegen meine hoffnungen - sie stirbt
im keim, die junge blume eures friedens,
und keine schöne früchte sollt' ich schauen.
Schiller 512a;

zerstört
im keim die ungeborenen geschlechter. 539b;

die empörung im keim ersticken, zertreten u. ä.'


Note that the Venetic(?) suffix -st- occurs in Germanic as well as in Slavic čist-, Romanian cinst-

'KEIST, m. ein nur schweiz., aber altes und lehrreiches wort.
1) keim, z. b. rübkeist an rüben, wie sie den winter über und im frühling ausschlagen, dazu keisten keimen. Stalder 2, 94; cheist, cheiste Schmidts idiot. bern. Fromm. 2, 372b. mhd. ist es zwar noch nicht bezeugt, aber schon ahd. in vrumichîst primitiae gloss. jun. 220 (gramm. 2, 198. 260), gebildet wie frumiwahst primitiae Graff 1, 688, gleich frumikîdi sp. 440 (nachträglich zu dort: mhd. kîde wies F. Bech nach, Germ. 7, 491); vom ursprung s. sp. 455. es besteht auch älter nl., doch mit anderm vocal, keest germen Kil., keesten germinare, pullulare Binnaert.
2) das schweiz. keist ist aber auch same von menschen und thieren, davon keisten onanizare. Stalder a. a. o.; und ähnlich ist eine andere bed. des nl. keest, medulla arboris, ovi umbilicus Kil., mark, lebenskern, lebenskeim im ei (vgl. keimkern). es läszt sich denken, wie man den namen des hervorbrechenden zarten pflanzenkeims auf das ähnlich aus dem innern hervorquellende mark u. ä. übertrug. s. dazu weiter keut.'

and further

'KEID, keit, f. m. n. , keim, setzpflänzchen, korn, kleinigkeit, ein altes, nur in mundarten erhaltnes wort,
ahd. chîdi, alts. kîth, ags. cîð.
1) fränk., schwäb. keid fem., kohlpflänzling, krautsetzling. Schmeller 2, 282. Schmid 308, dazu keidsamen, kohlsame, aus dem man pflänzchen zieht. alterthümlicher schweiz. kide, kyde und kydel, fem. und masc., stengel, zarter zweig wodurch eine frucht in der erde keimt. Stalder 2, 98. in einer oberrhein. [Bd. 11, Sp. 440] ordnung der kleinzehnten (s. d.) von 1409 kîd pl.: was man auch kydt verkauft usz der markt, die hie gewachsen weren, die soll man auch verzehenden. Mones zeitschr. 3, 408, wol junge krautpflänzchen. als neutr. in den deutschen gemeinden in den venet. Alpen; kait, pl. kaitar, keim, sprosz, ableger, setzling. Schmeller cimbrisches wb. 134a; dazu 'kîden keimen, in der Schweiz, Vorarlberg'. Bergmann daselbst.
Das wort ist mhd. noch nicht nachgewiesen, auch ahd. nur einmal in frumikîdi, auch als n., bei Otfried IV. 34, 12 vom auferstandnen Christus: er was thaÊ' frumikîdi, mystisch gemeint, der 'erste keim' (goth. fruma primus, frumabaur erstgeboren), d. i. der aus dem grabe wuchs zur auferstehung, der anfang unserer eigenen wiedergeburt; vgl. 'vrumichîst primitiae' gl. jun. 220, s. keist und keidel.
2) auch in mittelrhein. mundarten lebt es noch, als neutrum, mit ein wenig abweichender bed.: auf dem Westerwalde, in Nassau, auf dem Hundsrück keit, pl. keiter, dem. keitche korn, gerstekeit, haferkeit, kornkeit (also der fortpflanzende keim). aber auch ströhkeit strohhalm, urspr. wol hälmchen überhaupt, dem setzling unter 1 ähnlich; auch ags. cîð ist festuca. Kehrein gibt auch aus Nassau 'krautsetzling'. dann aber für kleinigkeit, kein keitche nicht, 'eigentlich kleines samenkorn' Rottmann ged. in Hundsr. mundart, auch auf der Eifel Schmitz 227a, Frommann 6, 15; s. ebenso keidel.
3) mit kurzem vocal am Niederrhein: in Aachen das kitt, auch nach nrh. art mit verschiebung kitz m., kitzche n., ein 'biszchen', auch ein weilchen, kräftiger en hôrkitt (hôr haar), ôgekitt (vgl. 'nicht ein auge voll' Gotthelf 4, 291, dazu Neidhart 41, 20. Tit. 3813, 3). Müller u. Weitz 108. 89. ebenso westf., in der grafschaft Mark kidsken Woeste in Kuhns zeitschr. 4, 136 (die endung ist sken); dann im fernen osten in den nrh., md. colonien: siebenb. kitzgen ein klein wenig, nordungr. kitzen n. stückchen (z. b. brot). Schröer 69b, nachtr. 36b. und ganz ebenso schott. chit ein kleines stückchen brot oder speise (vgl. umgekehrt 'biszchen' als 'wenig'), engl. dial. chit aber noch der erste keim, dazu chit keimen, chitting keimender same. Halliwell 247b. gab es etwa eine ags. alts. nebenform kith? oder kit? vgl. Diefenbach goth. wb. 2, 449.'


The PWGerm. *kīn- "(mystical, allgorical) germ, seed" might even be related to Latin *ger-/*gen-, though obviously the whole family
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/cybalist/message/66888
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/cybalist/message/66719
as mentioned before can't be connected through regular IE correspondences, so would have had to be a loan at least in part of the languages involved.




Torsten