Nahanarvali

The Nahanarvali, also known as the Nahavali, Naha-Narvali, and Nahanavali, were a Germanic tribe mentioned by the Roman scholar Tacitus in his Germania.

According to Tacitus, the Nahanarvali were one of the five most powerful tribes of the Lugii, living between the Oder and the Vistula. Tacitus mentions the Naharvali as the keepers of the sanctuary of the Lugii, a grove dedicated to the twin gods Alcis.

The text of Tacitus (Germania, 43^[1])

Suevia is divided and cut in half by a continuous mountain-range, beyond which live a multitude of tribes. The name of Ligii, spread as it is among many states, is the most widely extended. It will be enough to mention the most powerful, which are the Harii, the Helvecones, the Manimi, the Helisii and the Nahanarvali. Among these last is shown a grove of immemorial sanctity. A priest in female attire has the charge of it. But the deities are described in Roman language as Castor and Pollux. Such, indeed, are the attributes of the divinity, the name being Alcis. They have no images, or, indeed, any vestige of foreign superstition, but it is as brothers and as youths that the deities are worshipped.

dirimit enim scinditque Suebiam continuum montium iugum, ultra quod plurimae gentes agunt, ex quibus latissime patet Lugiorum nomen in plures civitates diffusum. valentissimas nominasse sufficiet, Harios, Helveconas, Manimos, Helisios, Naharvalos. apud Naharvalos antiquae religionis lucus ostenditur. praesidet sacerdos muliebri ornatu, sed deos interpretatione Romana Castorem Pollucemque memorant. ea vis numini, nomen Alcis. nulla simulacra, nullum peregrinae superstitionis vestigium; ut fratres tamen, ut iuvenes venerantur.

While Tacitus did not mention the Silingi, nor the locations of the Nahanarvali, it has been speculated that the Silingi, known from Ptolemy, were in approximately the same area.^[2]

References

^ "Cornelius Tacitus, Germany and its Tribes, chapter 43".
^ J.H.W.G. Liebeschuetz, "Gens Into Regnum: The Vandals". IN: Hans-Werner Goetz, Jörg Jarnut, Walter Pohl (ed.), "Regna and Gentes: The Relationship Between Late Antique and Early Medieval Peoples and Kingdoms in the Transformation of the Roman World", Brill, 2003, ISSN 1386-4165, p.62.

Sources

Tacitus, Germania.XLIII

[1] "Cornelius Tacitus, Germany and its Tribes, chapter 43".

[2] J.H.W.G. Liebeschuetz, "Gens Into Regnum: The Vandals". IN: Hans-Werner Goetz, Jörg Jarnut, Walter Pohl (ed.), "Regna and Gentes: The Relationship Between Late Antique and Early Medieval Peoples and Kingdoms in the Transformation of the Roman World", Brill, 2003, ISSN 1386-4165, p.62.

[1]

[2]

v t e Germanic peoples
Ethnolinguistic group of Northern European origin primarily identified as speakers of Germanic languages
History	Nordic Bronze Age Germania Pre-Roman Iron Age Roman Iron Age Romano-Germanic culture Germanic Iron Age Viking Age
Early culture	Architecture Art Calendar Clothing Family Festivals Folklore Proto-Germanic folklore Anglo-Saxon mythology Continental Germanic mythology Norse mythology) Funerary practices Anglo-Saxon Norse Law Anglo-Saxon Norse Literature Anglo-Saxon Norse Names Gothic Numbers Paganism Anglo-Saxon Gothic Norse Rings Scripts Gothic alphabet Runes Symbology Warfare Anglo-Saxon Gothic and Vandal Viking
Languages	Germanic parent language Proto-Germanic language East Germanic languages North Germanic languages West Germanic languages
Groups	Alemanni Brisgavi Bucinobantes Lentienses Raetovari Adrabaecampi Angles Anglo-Saxons Ambrones Ampsivarii Angrivarii Armalausi Auiones Avarpi Baemi Baiuvarii Banochaemae Bastarnae Batavi Belgae Germani cisrhenani Atuatuci Caeroesi Condrusi Eburones Paemani Segni Morini Nervii Bateinoi Betasii Brondings Bructeri Burgundians Buri Cananefates Caritni Casuari Chaedini Chaemae Chamavi Chali Charudes Chasuarii Chattuarii Chatti Chauci Cherusci Cimbri Cobandi Corconti Cugerni Danes Dauciones Dulgubnii Favonae Firaesi Fosi Franks Ripuarian Franks Salian Franks Frisiavones Frisii Gambrivii Geats Gepids Goths Crimean Goths Greuthungi Gutones Ostrogoths Thervingi Thracian Goths Visigoths Gutes Harii Hermunduri Heruli Hilleviones Ingaevones Irminones Istvaeones Jutes Juthungi Lacringi Lemovii Lombards Heaðobards Lugii Diduni Helisii Helveconae Manimi Nahanarvali Marcomanni Marsacii Marsi Mattiaci Nemetes Njars Nuithones Osi Quadi Reudigni Rugii Rugini Saxons Semnones Sicambri Sciri Sitones Suarines Suebi Sunici Swedes Taifals Tencteri Teutons Thelir Thuringii Toxandri Treveri Triboci Tubantes Tulingi Tungri Ubii Usipetes Vagoth Vandals Hasdingi Silingi Vangiones Varisci Victohali Vidivarii Vinoviloth Warini
Christianization	Gothic Christianity Christianization of the Franks Christianisation of Anglo-Saxon England Christianization of Scandinavia Christianization of Iceland
Category

See also

References

Sources