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Scandza was described as a "great island" by the Roman historian Jordanes in his work Getica, written while in Constantinople around 551 AD. This island was located in the Arctic regions of the sea that surrounded the world. He described the area to set the stage for his treatment of the Goths' migration to Gothiscandza, the island in front of the Vistula river. Composed of information from several sources, his account contains several accurate descriptions of the mouth of the Vistula river. It is possible that Jordanes was describing Scandinavia. Prominent Swedish archaeologist, Göran Burenhult, regards Jordanes' as a unique glimpse into the tribes of Scandinavia in the 6th century.〔 Jordanes was himself of Gothic descent. It is believed that Jordanes wrote Getica for the Romans to consider Goths not as barbarians who conquered them but as equals who also had a glorious ancient history, literature, philosophy and who became emperors by intermarrying the Roman royal families. ==Geographical description through history== Early Greek and Roman geographers used the name ''Scandia'' for various uncharted islands in Northern Europe. The name originated in Greek sources, which used it for a long time for different islands in the Mediterranean region.〔 Rubekeil, Ludwig (2002). "Scandinavia in the light of ancient tradition". In'' The Nordic Languages: an international handbook of the history of the North Germanic languages''. Eds. Oskar Bandle et al., Vol I. Berlin and New York: de Gruyter, 2002. ISBN 3-11-014876-5, p. 601. 〕 In the Iliad the name denotes an ancient city in Kythira, Greece.〔 Blackie, John Stuart (1866). ''Homer and the Iliad''. Notes, Philological and Archaeological. Edmonston and Douglas, 1866. (Digitized ) 30 August 2006. 〕 The first attested written use of the name for a Northern European island appears in the work of Roman Pliny the Elder, ''Naturalis Historia'' of c. AD 77.〔 Helle, Knut (2003). "Introduction". ''The Cambridge History of Scandinavia''. Ed. E. I. Kouri et al. Cambridge University Press, 2003. ISBN 0-521-47299-7. 〕 Pliny described "Scandia" as an island located north of Britannia.〔 (Chapter 30. (16.)- BRITANNIA ).''. The Natural History. Pliny the Elder.'' John Bostock. Taylor and Francis, 1855. 〕 This island does not appear to be the same as the island Pliny calls "Scatinavia", located near Cimbri. In Claudius Ptolemy's ''Geographia'', written in the 2nd century AD, Scandia is described as the most easterly of the Scandiae islands, a group of islands located east of the Cimbrian peninsula.〔Ptolomy, (Book II, Chapter 10: Greater Germany (Fourth Map of Europe) ); interpreted by Bill Thayer. 〕 This is the region where Pliny had located "Scatinavia". The name "Scandia" was therefore after Ptolemy generally associated with the southern part of Scandinavian peninsula by the early Roman geographers, who thought of Scandinavia as an island. When Scandinavian scholars became familiar with the Roman records in the Middle Ages, Scandiae was used as an alternative Latin name for Terra Scania. The early 13th-century Latin paraphrase of the Scanian Law bears the title ''Lex Scandiae provincialis''.〔 Herzog, Johann Jakob et al. (1896). ''Realencyklopädie für protestantische Theologie und Kirche''. J. C. Hinrichs Theology, published 1896. (Digitized ) 15 November 2006.〕 Jordanes referred to Ptolemy's description of ''Scandia'' "as a great island shaped like a juniper leaf" (i.e. long and not round) "having bulging sides and which tapered down in the south at a long end".〔 He also referred to Pomponius Mela's description of ''Codanonia'' (called ''Scatinavia'' by Pliny the Elder) which was located in the Codanian Gulf (probably Kattegat). "This island was in front of the Vistula and that there was a great lake" "from which sprang the river ''Vagus''". "On the western and northern side it was surrounded by an enormous sea", "but in the east there was a land bridge which cut off the sea in the east forming the ''German Sea''". "There were also many small islands" (the Swedish and Finnish archipelagos) "where wolves could pass when the sea was frozen. In winter the country was not only cruel to people but also to wild beasts. Due to the extreme cold there were no swarms of honey-making bees." In the 16th century, Olaus Magnus, a Swedish cartographer familiar with Pliny's writings, created a map where he placed the name "Scandia" in the middle of today's Sweden. In Olaus Magnus' map, the name denotes an area including "Svecia" (Svealand), "Gothia" and "Norvegia" (Norway), where he places various tribes described by the ancient geographers. Although mainly a historical name, ''Scandia'' still occasionally continues in use today as a Latin name for Scandinavia. The Scandinavian Bishops Conference, an Episcopal Conference organized by the Catholic Church since 1923, is called ''Conferentia Episcopalis Scandiae''. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Scandza」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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