Editing Rugii (section)

==Origins==
===Scandinavia===
Jordanes makes a references to a people called the Rugii still living in Scandinavia in the sixth century, in the area near the Dani, who are normally presumed to be the Danes.<ref>Jordanes, ''Getica'', L,261.266; LIV,277</ref>{{sfn|Andersson|2003}}

According to an old proposal, the Rugii possibly migrated from southwest Norway to [[Pomerania]] in the 1st century AD.<ref name=britannica>{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/512463/Rugi |title=Rugi (people) |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Britannica Online]] |publisher=[[Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.]] |access-date=8 September 2012}}</ref> [[Rogaland]] or Rygjafylke is a region (fylke) in south west Norway. Rogaland translates "Land of the Rygir" (Rugii), the transition of ''rygir'' to ''roga'' being sufficiently explained with the general linguistic transitions of the [[Norse language]].{{sfn|Andersson|2003}}

Scholars suggest a migration either of Rogaland Rugii to the southern Baltic coast, a migration the other way around, or an original homeland on the islands of Denmark in between these two regions.{{sfn|Andersson|2003}} None of those theories is so far backed by archaeological evidence.{{sfn|Andersson|2003}} Another theory suggests that the name of one of the two groups was adapted by the other one later without any significant migration taking place.{{sfn|Andersson|2003}} 

Scholars such as Andersson regard it as very unlikely that the name meaning "rye-eaters" or "rye-farmers" was invented twice. In favour of a Scandinavian origin, despite doubts about the early cultivation of Rye, he cites the sixth century claim of Jordanes that Scandinavia was the "womb of nations".{{sfn|Andersson|2003}} Others such as Pohl have argued that the similarity of names has been uncritically interpreted to indicate tribal kinship or identity, feeding a debate about the location of an "original homeland" without any reference to historical sources. Pohl also suggests that one possibility suggested by the work of [[Reinhard Wenskus]] and the [[Vienna School of History]] is that the name of the Rugii could have been spread by small elite groups who moved around, rather than mass migration.{{sfn|Pohl|2003}}

===Southern Baltic coast===
{{Further|Early history of Pomerania}}
[[File:Roman Empire 125.png|thumb|right|300px|The [[Roman Empire]] under [[Hadrian]] (ruled 117–138): the Rugii inhabit a region corresponding to modern [[Pomerania]] (northern Germany and Poland)]]
The Rugii were first mentioned by [[Tacitus]]<ref>Tacitus, ''Germania'', [[wikisource:Germania#XLIV|Germania.XLIV]]</ref> in the late first century.{{sfn|Andersson|2003}}<ref name=Rives311/> Tacitus' description of their contemporary settlement area was at the "ocean", adjacent to the [[Lemovii]] and [[Gutones]]> The Gutones are generally considered to be early [[Goths]], and also mentioned by [[Ptolemy]], who placed them east of the [[Vistula]]. This is generally seen as the southern coast of the [[Baltic Sea]], the later [[Pomerania]].{{sfn|Andersson|2003}}<ref name=Oxfordtranslation836/><ref name=Rives311/> Tacitus distinguished the Rugii, Gutones and Lemovii from other Germanic tribes, saying they carried round shields and short swords, and obeyed kings.{{sfn|Andersson|2003}}<ref name=Oxfordtranslation836>The Works of Tacitus: The Oxford Translation, Revised, With Notes, BiblioBazaar, LLC, 2008, p.836, {{ISBN|0-559-47335-4}}</ref><ref name=Rives311>J. B. Rives on Tacitus, Germania, Oxford University Press, 1999, p.311, {{ISBN|0-19-815050-4}}</ref>

In 150 AD, the geographer [[Ptolemy]] did not mention the Rugii in this region, but he did mention a place named ''Rhougion'' (also transliterated from Greek as ''Rougion'', ''Rugion'', Latinized ''Rugium'' or ''Rugia'') and a tribe named the ''Routikleioi'' in roughly the same area, between the rivers Vidua and Vistula.<ref>Ptolemaeus II,11,12</ref> Both these names have been associated with the Rugii.{{sfn|Andersson|2003}}<ref name=Rives311/>

In the 6th century, Jordanes wrote an origin story (''[[Origo gentis]]'') about the Goths, the ''[[Getica]]'', which claims that the Goths and many other peoples came from Scandinavia, the "womb of nations", many centuries before his time. Upon the arrival by boat of the Goths from Scandinavia, in the coastal area of "[[Gothiscandza]]", the Goths expelled a people called the ''Ulmerugi''.<ref>Jordanes, Getica, IV,26</ref>{{sfn|Andersson|2003}}<ref name=Rives311/> 

The [[Oxhöft culture]] is associated with parts of the Rugii and [[Lemovii]].<ref name=Rives311/> The archaeological [[Gustow group]] of [[Western Pomerania]] is also associated with the Rugii.<ref>Magdalena Ma̜czyńska, Tadeusz Grabarczyk, ''Die spätrömische Kaiserzeit und die frühe Völkerwanderungszeit in Mittel- und Osteuropa'', Wydawn. Uniwersytetu Łódź, 2000, p.127, {{ISBN|83-7171-392-4}}</ref><ref>Horst Keiling, ''Archäologische Funde von der frührömischen Kaiserzeit bis zum Mittelalter aus den mecklenburgischen Bezirken'', Museum für Ur- und Frühgeschichte Schwerin, 1984, pp.8:12</ref> The remains of the Rugii west of the Vidivarii, together with other Gothic, [[Vistula Veneti|Veneti]], and [[Gepids|Gepid]] groups, are believed to be identical with the archaeological [[Dębczyn culture]].{{sfn|Machajewski|2003|p=282}}

According to an old proposal, in the 2nd century AD, eastern Germanic peoples then mainly in the area of modern Poland, began to expand their influence, pressing peoples to their south and eventually causing the [[Marcomannic Wars]] on the Roman Danubian frontier. Given the coincidence of the same name on the Baltic and Danube, the Rugii are one of the peoples thought to have been involved. While modern authors are sceptical of some elements of the old narrative, the archaeology of the [[Wielbark culture]] has given new evidence to support this idea.<ref>{{cite book|last=Heather|first=Peter|year=2009|title=Empires and Barbarians: The Fall of Rome and the Birth of Europe|place=Oxford and New York|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-989226-6|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ho8sAQAAIAAJ}}, pp.96-107</ref> 

In his ''Getica'' Jordanes claimed that the 4th-century Gothic king [[Ermanaric]], who was one of the first rulers west of the [[Don river]] to confront the [[Huns]] as they entered Europe, ruled an empire stretching from the [[Baltic Sea]] to the [[Black Sea]]. In a list of the peoples conquered by him the name "Rogas" appears.{{sfn|Christensen|2002|loc=ch. 6}}