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Ranrike
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JORDANES

  • ac ragnaricii, "and the Ragnaricii". The latter word is easily open to translation, coming from two segments, riki "kingdom" and ragna "of the rulers", meaning the gods (see under Ragnarök ). Both words come from Indo-european ---reg-, "rule".


There is a possible parallel in the name 's Saevo mountain range, probably meaning "sea land", refers in part to Ranrike (see under Scandinavia ). Moreover, Rán is the name of a dangerous goddess, who raises storms at sea and collects the drowned in her net. Such a name support the "dangerous island" etymology of Scandinavia. However, this pattern is only a web of speculation.

There is no clear etymology of Rán. As the Indo-europeans did not have a word for sea, it may not be Indo-european, in which case it would be older than the Nordics in the region. Jordanes does give us a terminus ante quem for the use of Ragnaricii/Ranii: One of their kings, Rodwulf (of the Ranii), had left his kingdom to join Theodoric The Great in Ravenna .


HEIMSKRINGLA

In his Heimskringla , Snorri Sturluson relates how it first accepted the Swedish king Erik Emundsson as its ruler, only to be punished by the Norwegian king Harald Fairhair who spent a winter terrorizing the province from the sea.