[202] It might, for instance, be supposed that the Ryger and Horder, who came from north-eastern Germania, were already mixed with short-skulled Slavs before their immigration to western Norway.
[203] Among the known brachycephalic peoples of Europe we have the Celts and the western Slavs, Poles, Czecks, etc. These are linguistically far apart, but it is a question whether the brachycephalic element in both is not originally the same. It must be borne in mind that, at the remote period of which we are now speaking, the linguistic difference between them was certainly small, and for that matter it is of little importance from which of them the first immigration into Scandinavia came.
[204] As Professor Alf Torp has pointed out to me, the word “Fin” must, on account of the Germanic mutation of sounds, be expected to have sounded something like “Pen” at that remote time. “Pen” in Celtic means head, and it is not altogether impossible that such a word might have been transformed into a national name.
[205] Cf. O. Solberg, 1909. The particulars here given of this remarkable find are for the most part taken from Solberg’s interesting paper, the proofs of which he has allowed me to see. He has also been kind enough to give me an opportunity of examining the objects.
[206] Lapps belonging to the Greek Church, who live in a Russian enclave on the Pasvik, Varanger Fjord. (Tr.)
[207] Curiously enough, no bones of the great bearded seal (Phoca barbata) are mentioned; but its absence may perhaps be accidental.
[208] In a grave in North Varanger some fragments were found, probably of walrus-tusk [cf. Solberg, 1909, p. 93].
[209] Professor G. Storm [1894, s. 97] and others have thought that the Karelian-Finnish name “Kantalaksi” (“Kandalaks”) and “Kantalahti” for the north-western bay of the White Sea, and the town at its inner end, may be a corrupted translation of the Norwegian name “Gandvik” for the White Sea, as “kanta” (“kanda”) might be the Finnish-Karelian pronunciation of the Norwegian “gand,” and the Finnish-Karelian “lahti” or “laksi” has the same meaning as the Norwegian “vik” (bay). Dr. Hansen, considering this explanation probable, takes it as proof that the Karelians must have come to the region later than the Norwegians, and later than the Beormas of Ottar’s time. But if the Karelians had immigrated thither after the Norwegians had given it this name, it would be equally incomprehensible that they should not have taken their place-names from the settled Beormas instead of from the casually visiting Norwegians. Storm’s explanation of the name “Kandalaks” is, however, in my opinion highly improbable; the casually visiting Norwegians cannot possibly have given the settled Beormas or Karelians the name of their own home. It is then, according to my view, much more probable that the Norwegian “Gandvik” is some kind of “popular etymological” translation of “Kantalaksi,” which must then be a name of Finnish-Karelian origin. I have asked Professor Konrad Nielsen, of Christiania, about this, and he has also discussed the question with Professor E. Setälä, and Professor Wichmann, of Helsingfors. All three are of my opinion. The meaning of “Kantalaksi” (or “Kannanlaksi,” from an older word “Kanðanlaksi,” where the first part is genitive) seems to Nielsen to be quite certain: “kanta” (genitive, “kannan”) is heel, basis. The name should, according to Setälä, be translated, “the broad bay.” The Norwegians must consequently have corrupted the first part of the name in a “popular etymological” manner to their “gand” (which means sorcery), and the latter part of the name they have translated by “vik” (bay). The name “Gandvik” may already have been known in Norway in the tenth century, as it is mentioned by the heathen skald, Eilif Gudrunsson, in Thorsdrápa. This seems to prove that the Beormas of the tenth century (and then evidently also of Ottar’s time) were Karelians, using the Karelian name “Kantalaksi” for the White Sea. This name consequently leads to conclusions contrary to those of Dr. Hansen, and it goes against the correctness of his views.
[210] Dr. Hansen seeks to explain the difficulty that the Beormas near the Dvina, according to the name of the goddess “Jomale” in the tale of Tore Hund’s journey to Beormaland, must have spoken Karelian, by supposing that the Beormas on the Dvina and those on the Gulf of Kandalaks were two entirely different peoples, although in the old narratives no support for such an assertion is to be found. Besides, we have above found evidence that the Beormas at Kandalaks also spoke Karelian, because this name is a Karelian word, which was used already in the tenth century.
[211] Cf. Björnbo and Petersen, 1904, p. 178. In Michel Beheim’s travels in Norway in 1450 “Wild lapen” are also mentioned, cf. Vangensten, 1908, pp. 17, 30 f.