Phinnoi

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Phinnoi were one of the people living in Scandinavia (Scandia), mentioned by a Greek scientist Ptolemy in his Geographia around 150 CE. Ptolemy mentions them twice, but provides no other information on them.[1]

Today, Phinnoi are most commonly seen as the forefathers of the Sami people, who inhabited most of the Scandinavian peninsula in the times of Ptolemy. The name seems to have been a form of the Germanic word finn, an old common nominator for Finns and the Sami people, both speakers of Finno-Ugric languages.

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  1. ^ See Ptolemy's Geog. II.II.XI.16. According to Ptolemy, the seven tribes of Scandia were: Chaidenoi, Phavonai, Phiraisoi, Phinnoi, Goutai, Daukiones and Leuonoi.

[edit] See also