Editing Lombards (section)

===Early history===
====Legendary origins====
{{Further|Hundings}}
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| image1            = Wodan Frea Himmelsfenster by Emil Doepler.jpg
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| caption1          = [[Wodan]] (Godan) and [[Frigg]] (Frea) looking out of a window in the heavens...
| image2            = Wodan Frea Himmelsfenster II by Emil Doepler.jpg
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| caption2          = ...and spotting the Lombard women with their long hair tied as to appear as beards
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According to their own legends, the Lombards originated in Northern Germany/Denmark zone{{sfn|Christie|1995|pp=1–6}} including modern-day Denmark. The Germanic origins of the Lombards is supported by genetic,<ref name="Vai_2019"/> anthropological,{{sfn|Christie|1995|pp=1–6}} archaeological and earlier literary evidence.{{sfn|Christie|1995|pp=1–6}}

A legendary account of Lombard origins, history, and practices is the ''Historia Langobardorum'' (''History of the Lombards'') of [[Paul the Deacon]], written in the eighth century. Paul's chief source for Lombard origins, however, is the seventh-century ''[[Origo Gentis Langobardorum]]'' (''Origin of the Lombard People'').

The ''Origo Gentis Langobardorum'' tells the story of a small tribe called the ''Winnili''<ref name="ReferenceA"/> dwelling in Northern Germany/Denmark zone<ref name="dick"/> (the ''[[Historia Langobardorum codicis Gothani]]'' writes that the Winnili first dwelt near a river called ''Vindilicus'' on the extreme boundary of [[Gaul]]).<ref name="HLcG2">''Historia Langobardorum codicis Gothani'', 2.</ref> The Winnili were split into three groups and one part left their native land to seek foreign fields. The reason for the exodus was probably [[Human overpopulation|overpopulation]].<ref>{{harvnb|Menghin|1985|p=13}}</ref> The departing people were led by Gambara and her sons Ybor and Aio <ref>Priester, 16. Grimm, ''Deutsche Mythologie'', I, 336. Old Germanic for "Strenuus", "[[Sibyl]]".</ref>{{r|r=Instead of ''Ybor'' and ''Aio'', [[Prosper of Aquitaine]] uses the names ''Iborea'' and ''Agio'', while [[Saxo Grammaticus]] calls them ''Ebbo'' and ''Aggo''. A folk song from [[Gotland]]<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lyschander |first=Claudius Christophorus |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pB1PAAAAcAAJ |title=Synopsis historiarum Danicarum, En kort Summa offuer Den Danske Historia etc |date=1622 |publisher=Waldkirch |language=da|page=263}}</ref> uses the names ''Ebbe'' and ''Aaghe''.<ref>Peters, p. 5</ref>}} and arrived in the lands of ''Scoringa'', perhaps the [[Baltic Sea|Baltic]] coast<ref>{{harvnb|Priester|2004|p=16}}</ref> or the [[Bardengau]] on the banks of the [[Elbe]].<ref name="Hammerstein-Loxten56">{{harvnb|Von Hammerstein-Loxten|1869|p=56}}</ref> Scoringa was ruled by the [[Vandals]] and their chieftains, the brothers Ambri and Assi, who granted the Winnili a choice between tribute or war.
[[File:PaulusDiaconus Plut.65.35.jpg|left|thumb|304x304px|[[Paul the Deacon]], historian of the Lombards, circa 720–799]]
The Winnili were young and brave and refused to pay tribute, saying "It is better to maintain liberty by arms than to stain it by the payment of tribute."<ref name="PD, VII">PD, VII.</ref> The Vandals prepared for war and consulted Godan (the god [[Odin]]<ref name="dick"/>), who answered that he would give victory to those whom he would see first at sunrise.<ref name="PD, VIII">PD, VIII.</ref> The Winnili were fewer in number<ref name="PD, VII"/> and Gambara sought help from Frea (the goddess [[Frigg]]<ref name="dick"/>), who advised that all Winnili women should tie their hair in front of their faces like beards and march in line with their husbands. At sunrise, Frea turned her husband's bed so that he was facing east, and woke him. So Godan spotted the Winnili first and asked, "Who are these long-beards?," and Frea replied, "My lord, thou hast given them the name, now give them also the victory."<ref>OGL, appendix 11.</ref> From that moment onwards, the Winnili were known as the ''Longbeards'' (Latinised as ''Langobardi'', Italianised as ''Longobardi'', and Anglicized as ''Langobards'' or ''Lombards'').

When Paul the Deacon wrote the ''Historia'' between 787 and 796 he was a [[Catholic]] monk and devoted [[Christianity|Christian]]. He thought the [[Paganism|pagan]] stories of his people "silly" and "laughable".<ref name="PD, VIII"/><ref name="Priester 2004 17">{{harvnb|Priester|2004|p=17}}</ref> Paul explained that the name "Langobard" came from the length of their beards.<ref>PD, I, 9.</ref> A modern theory suggests that the name "Langobard" comes from ''Langbarðr'', a [[List of names of Odin|name of Odin]].<ref>Nedoma, Robert (2005).''[https://www.academia.edu/36246147/Der_altisländische_Odinsname_Langbarðr_Langbart_und_die_Langobarden Der altisländische Odinsname Langbarðr: 'Langbart' und die Langobarden]''. In Pohl, Walter and Erhart, Peter, eds. ''Die Langobarden. Herrschaft und Identität''. Wien. pp. 439–444</ref> Priester states that when the Winnili changed their name to "Lombards", they also changed their old agricultural [[fertility cult]] to a cult of Odin, thus creating a conscious tribal tradition.<ref name="Priester 2004 17"/> Fröhlich inverts the order of events in Priester and states that with the Odin cult, the Lombards grew their beards in resemblance of the Odin of tradition and their new name reflected this.<ref>{{harvnb|Fröhlich|1980|p=19}}</ref> Bruckner remarks that the name of the Lombards stands in close relation to the worship of Odin, whose [[List of names of Odin|many names]] include "the Long-bearded" or "the Grey-bearded", and that the Lombard given name ''Ansegranus'' ("he with the beard of the gods") shows that the Lombards had this idea of their chief deity.<ref>{{harvnb|Bruckner|1895|pp=30–33}}</ref> The same Old Norse root Barth or Barði, meaning "beard", is shared with the [[Heaðobards]] mentioned in both ''[[Beowulf]]'' and in ''[[Widsith]]'', where they conflict with the [[Daner|Danes]]. They were possibly a branch of the [[Langobard]]s.<ref name=Hadubarder>[https://runeberg.org/nfbj/0531.html The article ''Hadubarder'' in ''Nordisk familjebok'' (1909).]</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Wilson Chambers |first=Raymond |title=Widsith: A Study in Old English Heroic Legend |date=2010 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |page=205}}</ref>

Alternatively, some etymological sources suggest an Old High German root, barta, meaning "axe" (and related to English halberd), while [[Edward Gibbon]] puts forth an alternative suggestion which argues that:

<blockquote>...Börde (or Börd) still signifies "a fertile plain by the side of a river," and a district near Magdeburg is still called the lange Börde. According to this view Langobardi would signify "inhabitants of the long bord of the river;" and traces of their name are supposed still to occur in such names as Bardengau and Bardewick in the neighborhood of the Elbe.<ref>{{cite book |last=Smith |first=William |title=A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities |date=1875 |publisher=John Murray |location=London |page=119}}</ref></blockquote>

According to the [[Gallaeci]]an [[Christian priest]], [[historian]] and [[theology|theologian]] [[Paulus Orosius]] (translated by [[Daines Barrington]]), the Lombards or Winnili lived originally in the Vinuiloth (Vinovilith) mentioned by [[Jordanes]], in his masterpiece [[Getica]], to the north of [[Uppsala]], Sweden. Scoringa was near the province of [[Uppland]], so just north of [[Östergötland]].

The footnote then explains the etymology of the name Scoringa:

<blockquote>The shores of Uppland and Östergötland are covered with [[skerry|small rocks and rocky islands]], which are called in German Schæren and in Swedish Skiaeren. Heal signifies a port in the [[North Germanic languages|northern languages]]; consequently, Skiæren-Heal is the port of the Skiæren, a name well adapted to the port of [[Stockholm]], in the Upplandske Skiæren, and the country may be justly called Scorung or Skiærunga.<ref>{{cite book|author=Orosius |title=The Anglo-Saxon Version, from the Historian Orosius, by Ælfred the Great together with an English Translation from the Anglo-Saxon |year=1773 |publisher=Printed by W. Bowyer and J. Nichols and sold by S. Baker |location=London |edition=Alfred the Great |translator-first=Daines |translator-last=Barrington |url=https://archive.org/details/anglosaxonversi00barrgoog/page/n559/mode/2up/search/scoringa |page=256 |access-date=7 May 2020 |language=en}}</ref></blockquote>

The legendary king [[Sceafa]] of [[Scandza]] was an ancient Lombardic king in [[Anglo-Saxon paganism|Anglo-Saxon legend]]. The Old English poem [[Widsith]], in a listing of famous kings and their countries, has Sceafa [weold] Longbeardum, so naming [[Sceafa]] as ruler of the Lombards.<ref>[[Widsith]], line 30</ref>

Similarities between Langobardic and Gothic migration traditions have been noted among scholars. These early migration legends suggest that a major shifting of tribes occurred sometime between the first and second century BC, which would coincide with the time that the [[Teutoni]] and [[Cimbri]] left their homelands in Northern Germany and migrated through central Germany, eventually invading Roman Italy.<ref>{{harvnb|Cardini|2019|p=80}}</ref>

====Archaeology and classical sources====
{{Germanic tribes (750BC-1AD)}}
[[File:Long555.PNG|thumb|Distribution of Langobardic burial fields at the [[Unterelbe|Lower Elbe]] Lands (according to W. Wegewitz)]]

The first mention of the Lombards occurred between AD 9 and 16, by the [[Roman Empire|Roman]] court historian [[Velleius Paterculus]], who accompanied a Roman expedition as prefect of the cavalry.<ref name="Menghin, 15"/> Paterculus says that under [[Tiberius]] the "power of the Langobardi was broken, a race surpassing even the Germans in savagery".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Velleius_Paterculus/2D*.html#ref:Langobardi |title=Velleius, Hist. Rom. II, 106. Schmidt, 5.}}</ref>

From the combined testimony of [[Strabo]] (AD 20) and [[Tacitus]] (AD 117), the Lombards dwelt near the mouth of the [[Elbe]] shortly after the beginning of the Christian era, next to the [[Chauci]].<ref name="Menghin, 15">{{harvnb|Menghin|1985|p=15}}</ref> Strabo states that the Lombards dwelt on both sides of the Elbe.<ref name="Menghin, 15"/> He treats them as a branch of the [[Suebi]], and states that:

<blockquote>Now as for the tribe of the Suebi, it is the largest, for it extends from the Rhenus to the Albis; and a part of them even dwells on the far side of the Albis, as, for instance, the Hermondori and the Langobardi; and at the present time these latter, at least, have, to the last man, been driven in flight out of their country into the land on the far side of the river.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0198:book=7:chapter=1&highlight=langobardi |title=Strabo, VII, 1, 3.}}</ref></blockquote>

Consistent with this, [[Suetonius]] wrote that Roman general [[Nero Claudius Drusus]] defeated a large force of Germans and drove some "to the farther side of the Albis (Elbe)" river.<ref>[[Suetonius]], [[The Twelve Caesars]], chapters II and III.</ref>

The German archaeologist Willi Wegewitz defined several [[Iron Age]] burial sites at the [[Unterelbe|Lower Elbe]] as ''Langobardic''.<ref>{{cite book|last=Wegewitz |chapter=Das langobardische Brandgräberfeld von Putensen, Kreis Harburg |publication-date=1972 |pages=1–29 |title=Problemi della civilita e dell'economia Longobarda |location=Milan |date=1964}}</ref>{{rp|19}} The burial sites are crematorial and are usually dated from the sixth century BC through the third century AD, so a settlement breakoff seems unlikely.<ref name="Menghin, 17">{{harvnb|Menghin|1985|p=17}}</ref> The lands of the lower Elbe fall into the zone of the [[Jastorf Culture]] and became [[Elbe-Germans|Elbe-Germanic]], differing from the lands between [[Rhine]], [[Weser]], and the [[North Sea]].<ref>{{harvnb|Menghin|1985|p=18}}</ref> Archaeological finds show that the Lombards were an agricultural people.<ref>{{harvnb|Priester|2004|p=18}}</ref>

[[Tacitus]] also counted the Lombards as a remote and aggressive [[Suebi]]an tribe, listing them between the Semnones on the Elbe, and the [[Nerthus]]-worshipping tribes whose land of rivers and forest stretched to the sea. Writing in the late first century AD, he described the Langobardi in his ''[[Germania (book)|Germania]]'' saying that "their scanty numbers are a distinction" because "surrounded by a host of most powerful tribes, they are safe, not by submitting, but by daring the perils of war".<ref>Tacitus, Germania, 38–40</ref>

Tacitus also noted that the Lombards were subjects of [[Marbod|Marobod]] the King of the [[Marcomanni]], who was allied with Rome when [[Arminius]] and his allies won the [[Battle of Teutoburg Forest]] in 9 AD. However, after the outbreak of war between Arminius and Marobod in 17 AD the Lombards and Semnones switched to the alliance of Arminius. They detested Marobod's title of king, and saw Arminius as a champion of freedom.<ref name="Tacitus, Ann. II, 45">Tacitus, Annals, II, 45.</ref>

In 47, a struggle ensued amongst the [[Cherusci]] and they expelled their new leader, the nephew of Arminius, from their country. The Lombards appeared on the scene with sufficient power to control the destiny of the tribe that had been the leader in the struggle for independence thirty-eight years earlier, for they restored the deposed leader to sovereignty.<ref>Tacitus, Annals, XI, 16, 17.</ref>

To the south, in 166 [[Cassius Dio]] reported that just before the [[Marcomannic Wars]], 6,000 Lombards and Obii (sometimes thought to be [[Ubii]]) crossed the [[Danube]] and invaded [[Pannonia]].<ref>Cassius Dio, 71, 3, 1.</ref><ref name="Menghin, 16">{{harvnb|Menghin|1985|p=16}}</ref> The two tribes were defeated, whereupon they ceased their invasion and sent Ballomar, King of the Marcomanni, as ambassador to [[Aelius Bassus]], who was then administering Pannonia. Peace was made and the two tribes returned to their homes, which in the case of the Lombards was the lands of the lower Elbe.<ref>{{harvnb|Priester|2004|p=21}}</ref><ref name="Zeuss471">{{harvnb|Zeuss|2012|p=471}}</ref><ref name="Wiese38">{{harvnb|Wiese|1877|p=38}}</ref><ref name="Schmidt35">{{harvnb|Schmidt|2018|pp=35–36}}</ref>

In the mid-second century, the Lombards supposedly appeared in the [[Rhineland]], because according to [[Claudius Ptolemy]], the Suebic Lombards lived "below" the [[Bructeri]] and [[Sugambri]], and between these and the [[Tencteri]]. To their east stretching northwards to the central Elbe are the Suebi [[Angili]].<ref name="Menghin, 15"/><ref>Ptolemy, Geogr. II, 11, 9.</ref> But Ptolemy also mentions the "Laccobardi" to the north of the above-mentioned Suebic territories, east of the [[Angrivarii]] on the [[Weser]], and south of the [[Chauci]] on the coast, probably indicating a Lombard expansion from the Elbe to the Rhine.<ref name="Menghin, 15"/><ref>Ptolemy, Geogr. II, 11, 17.</ref> This double mention has been interpreted as an editorial error by Gudmund Schütte, in his analysis of Ptolemy.<ref>{{cite book|last=Schütte |title=Ptolemy's Maps of Northern Europe |pages=[https://archive.org/stream/ptolemysmapsofno00schrich#page/34/mode/2up/search/angles 34], and [https://archive.org/stream/ptolemysmapsofno00schrich#page/118/mode/2up/search/angles 118]}}</ref> However, the ''Historia Langobardorum codicis Gothani'' also mentions ''Patespruna'' ([[Paderborn]]) in connection with the Lombards.<ref name="HLcG2"/>

From the second century onwards, many of the Germanic tribes recorded as active during the [[Principate]] started to unite into bigger tribal unions, such as the [[Franks]], [[Alamanni]], [[Bavarii]], and [[Saxons]].<ref name="Menghin, 16"/><ref name="Priester, 14">{{harvnb|Priester|2004|p=14}}</ref> The Lombards are not mentioned at first, perhaps because they were not initially on the border of Rome, or perhaps because they were subjected to a larger tribal union, like the Saxons.<ref name="Menghin, 16"/><ref name="Priester, 14"/> It is, however, highly probable that, when the bulk of the Lombards migrated, a considerable part remained behind and afterwards became absorbed by the Saxon tribes in the Elbe region, while the emigrants alone retained the name of Lombards.<ref>{{harvnb|Hartmann|2011|loc=II, pt I|p=5}}</ref> However, the ''Historia Langobardorum codicis Gothani'' states that the Lombards were subjected by the Saxons around 300 but rose up against them under their first king, Agelmund, who ruled for 30 years.<ref name="HLcG2"/><ref>{{harvnb|Menghin|1985|pp=17–19}}</ref> In the second half of the fourth century, the Lombards left their homes, probably due to bad harvests, and embarked on their migration.<ref name=Zeuss471/><ref name=Wiese38/><ref name=Schmidt35/><ref>{{harvnb|Priester|2004|pp=21–22}}</ref>

The migration route of the Lombards in 489, from their homeland to "[[Rugiland]]", encompassed several places: ''Scoringa'' (believed to be their land on the Elbe shores), ''Mauringa'', ''Golanda'', ''Anthaib'', ''Banthaib'', and ''Vurgundaib'' (''Burgundaib'').<ref name=Hammerstein-Loxten56/> According to the [[Ravenna Cosmography]], Mauringa was the land east of the Elbe.<ref>Cosmographer of Ravenna, I, 11.</ref>

The crossing into Mauringa was very difficult. The Assipitti (possibly the [[Usipetes]]) denied them passage through their lands and a fight was arranged for the strongest man of each tribe. The Lombard was victorious, passage was granted, and the Lombards reached Mauringa.<ref>{{harvnb|Hodgkin|2012|loc=Ch. V|p=92}}</ref>

The Lombards departed from Mauringa and reached Golanda. Scholar Ludwig Schmidt thinks this was further east, perhaps on the right bank of the [[Oder]].<ref>{{harvnb|Schmidt|2018|p=49}}</ref> Schmidt considers the name the equivalent of [[Gotland]], meaning simply "good land".<ref>{{harvnb|Hodgkin|2012|loc=Ch. V|p=143}}</ref> This theory is highly plausible; [[Paul the Deacon]] mentions the Lombards crossing a river, and they could have reached ''Rugiland'' from the Upper Oder area via the [[Moravian Gate]].<ref>Menghin, ''Das Reich an der Donau'', 21.</ref>

Moving out of Golanda, the Lombards passed through Anthaib and Banthaib until they reached Vurgundaib, believed to be the old lands of the [[Burgundes]].<ref>{{harvnb|Priester|2004|p=22}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Bluhme|1868|loc=Ch. XIII}}</ref> In Vurgundaib, the Lombards were stormed in camp by "[[Bulgars]]" (probably [[Huns]])<ref>{{harvnb|Menghin|1985|p=14}}</ref> and were defeated; King Agelmund was killed and Laimicho was made king. He was in his youth and desired to avenge the slaughter of Agelmund.<ref>Hist. gentis Lang., Ch. XVII</ref> The Lombards themselves were probably made subjects of the Huns after the defeat but rose up and defeated them with great slaughter,<ref>Hist. gentis Lang., Ch. XVII.</ref> gaining great booty and confidence as they "became bolder in undertaking the toils of war."<ref>PD, XVII.</ref> During the reign of [[Claffo|King Claffo]], the Langobards occupied parts of modern-day [[Upper Austria|Upper]] and [[Lower Austria]] and converted to [[Arian Christianity]]. In 505 the [[Heruli]]ans attacked and defeated them, obliging them to pay tax and withdraw to Northern [[Bohemia]]. In 508, [[Rodulf, Herule king|King Rodulf]] sent his brother to the Lombard court to collect tribute and extend the truce; however, he was stabbed by Rometrud, sister of [[Tato|King Tato]]. Rodulf personally led his forces against Tato, but was ambushed and killed from a hill.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Márki |first=Sándor |url=http://real-eod.mtak.hu/5753/1/000911018.pdf |title=A longobárdok hazánkban |publisher=Ajtai Kovách Albert Magyar Polgár Könyvnyomdája |year=1899 |location=Kolozsvár ([[Cluj-Napoca]]) |language=hu |trans-title=The Langobards in our homeland}}</ref>

In the 540s, [[Audoin]] (ruled 546–560) led the Lombards across the Danube once more into [[Pannonia]]. [[Thurisind]], King of the [[Gepids]] attempted to expel them, and both peoples asked for help from the Byzantines. [[Justinian I]] sent his army against the Gepids; however, it was routed on the way by the [[Heruli]]ans and the sides signed a two-year truce. Revenging what he felt as a betrayal, Thurisind made an alliance with the [[Kutrigurs]] who devastated [[Moesia]] before end of the armistice. The Langobard and Roman army joined together and defeated the Gepids in 551. In the battle, [[Audoin]]'s son, [[Alboin]] killed [[Thurisind]]'s son, [[Turismod]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Borovszky |first=Samu |url=http://mek.oszk.hu/01200/01267/html/index.htm |title=Nagy Képes Világtörténet |publisher=Franklin Társulat Magyar Irodalmi Intézet és Könyvnyomda Rt. |editor-last=Marczali |editor-first=Henrik |location=Budapest |language=hu |trans-title=Great Illuminated World History |chapter=A népvándorlás kora |trans-chapter=The Migration Period |chapter-url=http://mek.oszk.hu/01200/01267/html/04kotet/ind04kot.htm}}</ref>

In 552, the Byzantines, aided by a large contingent of [[Foederati]], notably Lombards, Heruls and Bulgars, defeated the last Ostrogoths led by [[Teia]] in the [[Battle of Taginae]].<ref name="HFH">{{cite book|title=Battles The World's History: Central and northern Europe |first=Hans Ferdinand |last=Helmolt |year=1907 |place=London}}</ref>