Svear

The Svear were an ancient people of Scandinavia, dwelling on the eastern coast of Sweden in the area of Uppsala and Stockholm, in the area around the shores of Lake Mälaren, the ancestral home of the original Swedes. They gave their name to the nation of Sweden, which in the Swedish language is Sverige, from Svea riket, the kingdom of the Svear.

In literature, the Svear are named in the Old English epic Beowulf as Sweonas, and by the Roman author Tacitus under the name Sueones in his Germania. In the work of Adam of Bremen, about the Hamburg-Bremen archbishops, they are denoted Sueones. By Jordanes in the History of the Goths, they are called Suehans, and by Snorri Sturluson they are called Svias.

Much debate is raised as to whether the original domains of the Sveas was really the heartland of todays Uplandia, or if the term was used commonly for all tribes within the territory, such as Gauts/Götar, Värmlänningar, Finnvedingar, Väringar etc. - in the same way as old Norways different provinces were collectively referred to as 'Nortmanni'. The official view is that the Svear, from Uplandia, dominated the Swedish territories and thus gave it its name.

The Svear are believed to be the ones that first formed the nation of Sweden, around the pagan (heathen) Asa-cult center in Ubsola, commonly translated into modern day language as Uppsala.

See also: Svealand, Lands of Sweden