Kven people

The people

The term Cwen (a.k.a. Cween, Kven, Kveen Quen, Queen) refers to the northern Scandinavian people, who are of a pre 20th century Finnish origin. In modern terminology, however, only those of Finnish background living in Northern Norway are called Cwens.

The towns and communities around the Varanger Fjord in notheastern Norway still today possess the most visible and strong Cwen (Kveen) culture, traditions and population anywhere. In many ways, the Varanger Fjord area nearby today's border between Norway and Russia indeed is the center of today's "Cwenland", i.e. land traditionally inhabited by the Cwen population.

E.g., such places by the Varanger Fjord (a vast bay of water, connected to the Arctic Ocean - Varangerfjorden in Norwegian - in northeatern Norway) as Bugoynes (Pykeija in Finnish), Vadso (Vesisaari in Finnish), Kirkenes (Kirkkoniemi in Finnish) and Vardo (Vuoreija in Finnish) are perfect examples of today's remaining Cwen centers in north-eastern Norway.

The following further distinguishion between the Finnic Cwens and the Finnic Samis must be made:

In the Scandinavian languages the term Cwen (Kveen) has never been meant to refer to the Sami people (a.k.a. Lapps in Finland) eventhough they too are members of the Finnic (a.k.a. Fenno-Ugric) group of peoples, and eventhough they have - throughout the known history - inhabited the same norhtern Scandinavian territories with the Cwens.

Furthermore, the people of a Finnish background outside today's borders of Northern Norway - on the Finnish, Swedish or Russian side - in the modern day terminology are never referred to as Cwens, but simply Finns instead, regardless how many generations they may have been living in their respected areas, and despite the fact that their respected areas still during the middle ages were part of the area then known as Cwenland.

In modern terminology the word Cwen refers only to the Finnish people - and their descendants - who settled in Northern Norway before the 20th century and who today inhabit the extreme most norhern coastal areas of the Scandinavian peninsula, by the Arctic Ocean and - in particular - its Barents Sea, in areas that today belong - for the most part - to Norway, but some to Russia as well (the Finns on the Russian side, however, are usually no longer referred to as Cwens by anyone). In the past, also Sweden-Finland and - later - Finland had posessions (e.g. Petsamo) in the areas in question.

In a slight contrast to the Cwens, traditionally - also today - the Fenno-Ugric Sami people have inhabited - and presently inhabit - the areas just slightly more inland from the seas and oceans (than the Cwens) - within Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia -, whereas the bulk of the seafearing Cwen population up to these days has concentrated mainly to the coastal areas of the northern seas and large lakes and rivers.

However, due to the mixing of populations and cultures in the historical Cwenland territories the descendants of Cwens (i.e. Finns) e.g. at the Gulf of Bothnia and the White Sea areas are no longer referred to as Cwens by anyone. Only the Cwens of Northern Norway by the Arctic Ocean and particularly its Barents Sea in north-eastern Scandinavia - who up till the latter part of the 20th century were rather isolated - still today proudly and visibly carry the Cwen title, traditions and heritage. Pretty much everywhere else the representatives of the Cwen culture and people have become more or less invisible and mixed with the local populations and traditions, due to many migration waves and settling of newcomers during several centuries, beginning in the latter part of the Middle ages.

History

The Cwens have throughout the known history been great sea- and fishermen, and thus the main Cwen population centers all around the historic Cwenland territories have located along big bodies of waters, such as the Gulf of Bothnia, the Atlantic Ocean, the Arctic Ocean, the Barents Sea and the White Sea, and by the large fjords such as the Varanger Fjord, and by large lakes such as the Lake Inari, and by large rivers such as the Cwenland river (a.k.a. River Kalix in Swedish or Kainuujoki in Finnish), the Torne River, the Kemijoki River, etc.

Already during the first millennium A.D. the northernmost Finns on the Scandinavian peninsula were called Cwens by the Norse (today Norwegians) - and to a large extend by others as well -, and at the time nearly all major wars, border disputes, trade and cultural exchanges up in Northern Scandinavia took place between the Norse and the Cwens.

In the return of the second millennium A.D. the Finnish Karelians - sometimes with the support of the Slavic groups, such as the Novgorodians - participated in the border and other disputes near and within Cwenland. In the middle ages and during the Viking age Cwenland covered the vast majority of the Northern Scandinavian and Fennoscandian territories.

In the epic Finnish Kalevala legend - as in Finnish language in general - Cwenland has always been known as Kainuu or Kainu. Compared with the modern day Finnish province of Kainuu the traditional, historic territories of Kainuu - i.e. Cwenland - reached much further up north-west and north than at the present time.

In the past, centuries ago, the traditional lands of the Cwens (a.k.a. the Cwenland, Kvenland, Kveenland or Quenland) reached all the way from the above mentioned coastal areas of the Arctic Ocean in the northernmost tip of the Scandinavian peninsula down to the middle parts of today's Sweden and Finland, reaching - on the Finnish side - the moderm day provinces of Kainuu and Oulu (Oulun lääni in Finnish) and - on the Swedish side - the areas by the Gulf of Bothnia, including the modern day cities of Luleå and Umeå, and - on the west-east dimension - from the coastal areas of the Atlantic Ocean in North-Western Scandinavia near the modern day Norwegian Lofot Islands all the way to the White Sea in east (now part of Russia).

Traditionally - already during the Viking age, and before -, the Norwegians have called the above described area - i.e. the entire northernmost territories of Scandinavia, east from the Norwegian Atlantic coast - Cwenland, the land of the Cwens (or Cweens, Kvens, Kveens, Quens, Queens) . By Cwens the Norwegians have always meant the extreme northernmost Scandinavian people of Finnic background (discluding the Finnic Samis) whome the Finnish people have throughout the known history known as the people of Kainuu, a.k.a. kainuulaiset.

In Finland, the entire northern part of the historic Cwenland within the modern day Finnish boundaries has for the last several centuries been referred to as Lapland. Cwenland - Kainuu - in today's Finland is a province southeast from the province of Lapland. The modern day province of the Finnish Kainuu no longer reaches the Baltic Sea, nor the White Sea, nor the areas by the Varanger Fjord by the Barents Sea.

It was previously assumed by historians that regions in today's Southern Lapland and below were not inhabited by the South Sami groups, and hence Cwens were the only true indiginous people of those regions. This statement is not supported by modern research.

The earliest known written mentionings of the Cwens in history are from the early Viking age. However, the stories and legends of the Finnish epic Kalevala are - to a large extend - based on the history of the Cwens (kainuulaiset/kainulaiset in Finnish) and Cwenland (Kainuu/kainu in Finnish).

The most recent studies - the latest ones in 2005 having concentrated in research and findings at the Enontekiö and Inari districts in Northern Finland - support the view that as much as the Samis also the Finns - historically referred to as Cwens up north - are indiginous for the areas they have throughout the known history inhabited, i.e. at least since the end of the last ice age in Scandinavia, approximately over 10 000 years ago. A number of other archeological findings in Finland - dating approximately 7000-9000 BC - also support this view.

Wars in Cwenland

According to the Northern Norwegian Viking leader Ottar from Björkoy in Hålogaland (Haalogaland) (see also: Ottar from Hålogaland, near Troms (Tromsa), as well as the sagas by Egil the Finnish Kveens (a.k.a. Cwen people or Cwens, Quens) were in charge of the large northernmost territories of the Scandinavian Peninsula during the 9th century AD, and presumably long before that.

Ottar met the English King Alfred the Great in England in the end of the 9th century and made a thorough account to him of the life in Northern Norway and the Kveens, and about his exploration trip to the White Sea. This account was included to the translation by Alfred the Great of the World History of Orosius. This was the first genuine and comprenensive account of the North, and thus it is a principle source in the exploration of the Nordic history.

According to these and other historical documents the Norwegians and the Finnish Cwens united their forces on the 9th century against the attacks by the Finnish Karelians who - with the assistance of Novgorod - made advances up North, particularly coming to the 11th century.

Some Finnish tribes fought with the vikings, others against them. In 1154 AD The Arab historian and scientist Al Idrisi wrote that the King of Finland had possessions in Norway. In 1187 AD - According to a Swedish chronicle and some other documentation - the Finnish Karelians conquered the Swedish capital and destroyed it.

In 1251 the Karelians fought against the Norwegians and in 1271 the Kveens and the Karelians cooperated in battles against the Norwegians in Haalogaland. These battles had a lasting effect in life in the entire Northern Scandinavia.

The Finnish Cwens and other Finnish or Fenno-Ugric (closely related to Finns) groups participated in the Viking conquests in Russia, the British Isles and elsewhere.

During several following centuries a gradual and slow process of a Swedish expansion in today's Finland and the formation of Sweden-Finland took place, not through wars or battles fought between the Finns and the Swedes, but rather scirmishes between the Finns themselves, others - in the west - symphatizing with the catholic Swedes and others - in the east - with the orthodox Russians. This period saw many tendencies and attempts to autonomy for the eastern half of Sweden-Finland, i.e. today's Finland.

Since the Viking Age the historic Cwenland territories have had an important role to play in many wars having to do with Finland.

Varangian and other Viking connections

The historic Viking age Norse sagas tell about the kings of the Cwens. Egil's saga tells about Nór, founder of Norway, and his ancestors who lived in Cwenland.

Historians have for long drawn connections between the Varangians and the Finns. It has been agreed upon that e.g. the early residents of Kiev and Moscow - at least part of them - spoke language closely related to the modern day Finnish. Were the indiginous people of those areas members of the Finnic (Fenno-Ugric) people, or were the so called Varangians settling to these territories Finnish, is still a subject of depate and further research.

The newest archeological research and findings - such as the approximately millennium old jewlery findings made in the Lake Inari district in Northern Finland in the summer of 2005 - seem to support the links that have been offered between the Cwens and the Varangians.

Furthermore, whereas the White Sea and the Varanger Fjord areas have been known to belong to the historic heartland territories of the Cwens - and they still are -, and whereas the Norse and the Cwens are known to have cooperated in these areas in various ways during the Viking age (and presumably already long before) - importantly, such as in the Viking age wars against the Finnish Karelians and Slavic groups such as the Novgorodians -, these most recent archeological findings bring yet more understanding to the claimed connections between the Cwens and the Vikings.

All latest findings and research seems to point to the direction that the Cwens indeed did not only fight along with the Vikings - such as the Norse - in the wars within Scandinavia and Fennoscandia - such as in the wars against the Karelians and the Novgorodians, but that they also travelled - either alone or in unison with other Vikings - to distant places outside Scandinavia, likely e.g. to the British Isles and today's south-western Russia.

In Britain well supported claimes have been made by researchers about the connection between the English language term "gueen" and the Cwens - Quens in historic Latin language writings -, who are assumed to have brought the word to the Brittish Isles during the first millennium AD.

Interestingly, what the historic Slavic writings call wars in today's north-western Russia against the "Varangians" - Variags in old Slavic teminology - are discribed as battles against the Cwens in the historic Norse writings from the same periods.

Varangian Finns in today's - and in traditional - Finnish writings and terminology, on the other hand, refers to the Finns of the extreme north-eastern Scandinavia, i.e. the Cwens - today referring to the descendants of Finns (Cwens) aroud the Varangian Fjord, known better in English as Varanger Fjord and in Finnish language as Varangin vuono. Up todate the Varangian Fjord area of Norway has remained the cultural center of the Cwen population of Norway.

Cwens today - the Finns of Northern Norway

In today's Norway the term Cwen (sometimes written also: Cween, Kven, Kveen, Quen, Queen) refers to the Finnish minority people in Northern Norway, who have settled there before the 20th century.

After the middle ages and the migration of the so called Tornedalians the next larger migration wave up north - this time again reaching the coastal areas of today's Norway - happened in the early 18th century. The following Cwen migration to Northern Norway - and to the areas that were a part of the Republic of Finland up till 1944 - took place in the beginning of the 19th century, reaching a peak during the famine in Finland in the 1860s.

The immigrants now were - for the most part - poor farmers looking for land in areas that today form the Norwegian provinces of Nordland, Troms and Finnmark. The first immigrants arrived to parishes such as Alta, Nordreisa, Lyngen and Balsfjord. The later arrivers settled in the eastern parts of Finnmark, along the Varanger Fjord. They integrated quickly into the Norwegian society to live along with the Norwegians and Sami people. For instance, in places like Vadsø - where they were the majority of the population - they soon considered the Norwegian cultural identity as a standard.

At first, the authorities welcomed the Finnish immigrants, because their arrival stimulated the local economy, bringing new and more efficient methods for the arctic agriculture. From around 1880 on the Cwens were treated as a minority and they were forced to use the Norwegian instead of the language of their own. This was a common type of policy in the whole of Europe at the time.

Besides, Norway had its own so called Norwegization policy in the late 1800s. It effected hardest the Sami population. The Cwens, on the other hand, had quite a similar cultural identity with the Norwegians, and they usually also spoke Norwegian. The policy nevertheless effected the Cwen culture, traditions and language as well.

From 1970s on the Cwens and the Samis in Norway have openly been allowed to use the original mother tongue of the Cwens, i.e. an old Cwen dialect of Finnish language and to teach it to their children at schools. This new policy was enforced via special language laws for minorities.

Today, most speakers of the so called Cwen Finnish are found mostly in the extreme north-eastern parts of Norway, in such communities as Bugoynes and Neiden (Municipality of Sør-Varanger), Vestre Jakobselv and Vadso (Vadsø Municipality) and Børselv (Municipality of Porsanger). A few older speakers may still be found also in the municipalities of Nordreisa and Storfjord. Bugøynes - by Varanger Fjord - perhaps remains the most vital of all the remaining Cwen communities in Norway.

Besides Norway, in the historical and traditional Cwenland territories of Northern Scandinavia and areas that today are part of north-western Russia, the descendants of the Cwens are no longer referred to as Cwens.

Tornedalians - the Finns of Northern Sweden

The Tornedalians or Tornedalian Finns are - from historical perspective - members of the historic Cwen people (i.e. descendants of Finns) in the area known as Cwenland in historic Viking age writings - such as historic Norse sagas and Swedish Viking age chronicles, Scandinavian folklore and oral poetry - Finnish Kalevala in particular.

Historically, the term Tornedaleans referred to the Cwens of the most south-western parts of the historic Cwenland territories, in areas that are now mainly part of north-eastern Sweden near the Torne Valley district - and west from there -, but also in areas on the east side of the Torne River Valley, i.e. on the Finnish side of the modern day Swedish-Finnish border. However, the influence of the Tornedaleans and their culture reached all the way up north, to the coastal areas of the Arctic Ocean (today's north-eastern Norway and north-western Russia), where - over time - part of the Tornedaleans settled.

In today's terminology the term Tornedaleans refers to the descendants of the above mentioned peoples inhabiting the north-eastern part of Sweden, above the Gulf of Bothnia and around the Torne River Valley. Today's Tornedaleans therefore are considered - by most - as the Finns of Northern Sweden.

The Tornedalians were a group of early Cwens who - beginning in the 9th century A.D. - immigrated from today's south-western Finland - mainly from Häme - and settled around the Gulf of Bothnia and the river valleys nearby, such as the river valleys of the Cwenland river (a.k.a. River Kalix in Swedish) or Kainuujoki in Finnish), the River Tornio, the River Kemijoki, etc.

The last known larger migration of the Tornedalians took place in the beginning of the 9th century A.D. They immigrated from today's south-western Finland - mainly from Häme - and settled for the most part around the norhern end of the Gulf of Bothnia and along the river valleys nearby, such as the river valleys of the Cwenland river (a.k.a. River Kalix in Swedish) or Kainuujoki in Finnish), the Torne River, the Kemijoki River, etc.

The possibility to collect taxes from the Sami people, fur trade and endless game for hunting were among the most important factures contributing to the migration fo the southern FinnsTornedealians up north.

Beginning in the 13th century the Tornedalians helped to push the Swedish (Swealand's) expansion in north, to areas that since have become part of the kingdom of Sweden. In trade the Sweas (today: Swedes) refrained from tackling the traditional rights of the Cwens, such as their trading and hunting rights, as well as their right to tax the Sami population of the north, in the area that during the last centuries of the Middle ages became to be known as Lappia (later Lapland on the Finnish side of Swedish-Finnish border) in maps and official govenrnment language of Sweden (a.k.a. Sweden-Finland.

These special rights granted to the Cwens by the Sweas - presumably first by King Magnus Ladulås (Maunu Ladonlukko in Finnish) in the the late 1200s - became to be known as the Birk rights. They enabled the Cwens to continue their traditional businesses in the territories of the historic Cwenland as up till then.

Eventually, the taxation of the Samis in Lappia and some of the surrounding areas became to be shared fully by the two Finnic groups , the Tornedaleans and the Karelians who over the centuries had sometimes battled against each other. Getting along now - united - they were better able to fence off the competing Norse (later Norwegians) - who before had shared the Sami taxation rights with the Cwens within parts of Northern Scandinavia - and the Slavic groups, such as the Novgorodians (later Russians), making advances from south-east of today's Finland.

The Tornedaleans speak a language called Meänkieli, which up till recently was considered by many - especially by the Finns in Finland - to be a Finnish dialect rather than a language odf its own, but which has as of 2005 received a legal minority language status in Sweden. Meänkieli is quite similar to standard Finnish language spoken in the modern day Finland.

Despite of the Finnish and Russian demands of including much of today's Swedish Torne River Valley territory into the autonomous Russian Grand Duchy of Finland - from the River Kalix west -, that area remained part of the Kingdom of Sweden as a result of the peace trety signed Between Russia and Sweden in 1809, after the so called Finnish war which ended that year. The Swedish-Finnish border was drawn at the River Tornio, and that border has stood official up todate.

During the first decades of the 1900s a strong Finnish national movement to create the so called Greater Finland saw day light. Much of the histocic Cwenland areas were then a subject of special interest in Finnish minds, including the Torne Valley area left to Swedish side in the peace treaty of 1809.

Map of Finland. For Greater Finland, add (in bluish gray) East Karelia, (in dark blue) Estonia and Ingria, (in green) part of Finnmark, and (in purple) part of Torne Valley. The picture includes the treaty of Tartu 1920 and the treaty of Paris 1947 borders of Finland.

Cwen language / Meänkieli language

The Cwen language - a.k.a Kveeni language - is a Fenno-Ugric language spoken in Northern Norway. There are 22 different Fenno-Ugric (a.k.a. Uralic) languages in total. According to recent information and hypotheses the peoples speaking the Uralic languages have inhabited Europe for at least ten millennia. Even before the great migration of Indo-Europeans to Europe, the Uralic languages were spoken in central and eastern Europe. Thus, the Uralic peoples are in fact indigenous peoples in Europe.

There are two Fenno-Ugric languages in Norway: The Cwen language and the Sami language. These languages belong to the same language group, but the Cwen (a.k.a. Kven, Kveeni or Quen) and Sami peoples cannot understand each other. The Norwegian government accepts only the Sami people as indigenous people of Norway, and therefore only the Sami language can be used in Norwegians schools and kindergartens, in addition to Norwegian. The Cwens (Kveenis) are excluded.

The Cwen language has been considered merely a dialect of the Finnish language up till recent times, rather than a language of its own, although some linguists have been calling it a language already for long. However, the year 2005 has brought a significant change in the policies and attitudes on this field. The "Cwen language" was then secured a status of an official minority language in Northern Norway by the Norwegian government, equal to the status granted to the Sami language before.

According to most recent official Norwegian statistics in 2005, both groups declare over 25 000 native speakers of their languages - as their mother tongue - on their respected areas in Northern Norway. This number does not include the speakers of the modern day regular Finnish language in Norhern Norway - nor does it include those Cwens, who have turned into Norwegian as their first language over time.

In north-easten Norway, mainly around Varanger Fjord, the spoken Cwen is quite similar to a standard Finnish, whereas the few remaining Cwen speakers in the west, from Alta to the Lyngen Fjord, speak Finnish with more particularities, due to a deeper isolation from Finland.

Althoug Cwen Finnish is for the most part based on Finnish, it has many Norwegian loan words, e.g. tyskäläinen (meaning "German" in English, tysk in Norwegian, saksalainen in Finnish). The Cwen Finnish also uses some old Finnish words which no longer are used in Finland. The modern day Finnish Kainuu dialect is largely of the same origin as the Cwen Finnish.

Furthermore, each of the larger Finnish migration waves from the southern parts of today's Finland have left their signs to the Cwen Finnish dialect. Particularly the migration of the so called Tornedalians - from the 9th century up to the 13th century - brough south-western Finnish effects to the spoken Cwen Finnish dialect.

The language spoken by the Cwen population in north-eastern Sweden - the Tornedaleans - was also granted a legal status of an official minority language in Sweden in 1999. That language - called Meänkieli - is now tought in the Swedish school system as a language of its own, despite of some outcry from Finland, where many perceive Meänkieli too close to the modern day Finnish to be a language of its own.

Both, Meänkieli - spoken in north-eastern Sweden - and Cwen language - spoken in north-eastern Norway, are now in a process of being included to the group of Fenno-Ugric languages.

Some of the exsisting major Fenno-Ugric languages (a.k.a Finno-Ugric or Finnic languages) are:

Cwen, Erzya, Estonian, Finnish, Forest-Nenets, Hungarian, Kamass, Khanty, Komi, Livonian, Mansi, Mari, Meänkieli, Nganasan, Selkup, Tundra-Nenets, Veps and Vote.

For the entire list of the Fenno-Ugric languages please visit: Finno-Ugric languages.

Historical usage of the term

Cwens refers to a historical group - or an alliance - of people who were fishermen, hunters and warriors, usually associated with a western and south-western Finnic people. Some of the only few historical sources of Cwens are the Anglo-Saxon chronicles and Norse sagas where e.g. in Orkneyinga saga it is stated that the Cwens ruled in Cwenland, presumably along the coast shore of the Gulf of Bothnia and all the way up north to the Arctic Ocean from there.

Historians estimate that the most active and strong period of the Cwen society exsisted ca. 800-1100 AD. Although findings are quite sparse, there is some archaeological support - e.g. from the grave findings in Ostrobothnia - of a class based hierarchy, presumably based mainly on fur trade, in which the leading class seems to have consisted of Finnish traders. These particular archeological findings date to the 6th century.

Recently, in the beginning of the 21st century - including in 2005 - promissing jewlery findings at the Lake Inari district in Northern Finland have been made. These findings are located in the heart of the historic Cwenland, and the items found date to the most active period of the Cwen society in the end of the 10th century.

The first known written use of the term Cwen can be found from the Account of the Viking Othere. The information given is based to the voyage of a Northern Norwegian (i.e. Norse) leader Ottar to Northern Scandinavia and the Arctic Ocean in the end of the 9th century. In these historical writings "Cwenaland" is said to have located above the "Sweoland" (the land of the Sweos - i.e. the modern day Southern Sweden. Notice: today's Northern Sweden was part of the historic Cwenland up to the last centuries of the middle ages).

In these types of early writings the term Cwen is sometimes believed to have been used to distinguish the reindeer herders, called Fenni, from the non-herders, called Cwen. The old viewpoint that Cwen is equal to the Finnish kainulaiset (or kainuulaiset) and Cwenland to the Finnish Kainuu has not found full etymological acceptance by some researchers. On the other hand, some researchers believe the term Fenni to refer to all of the historic Finnic people of the north - i.e. both the Samis and the Cwens.

Furtheremore, the Finns (historically known as Cwens in northern Scandinavia) are also known to have been reindeer herders - and deer herders prior to Middle ages -, eventhough not to as large extend as the Samis. Therefore, it is possible that some further away historians during the Viking age - such as Al Idrisi - could have confused the Samis with the Cwens

The spelling Quen is used in Latin texts from the 17th century on.