The Alauni (Gaulish: Alaunoi, earlier *Alamnoi, 'the nomads, wanderers') were a Gallic tribe dwelling around the lake Chiemsee (in present-day Germany) during the Roman period.
Name
They are mentioned as Alaunoí (Ἀλαυνοί) by Ptolemy (2nd c. AD), and as Alaunorum in the Notitia Dignitatum (5th c. AD).
The ethnic name Alauni is a latinized form of the Gaulish Alaunoi, which can be translated as 'the errants, wanderers, or nomads', in contrast to the names of the Anauni ('the staying ones') and Genauni ('the natives'). It derives from an earlier *Alamnoi (sing. *Alamnos), which is close to the Proto-Celtic stem *alamo- ('herd'; cf. OIr. alam, Welsh alaf), built on a root *alǝ- ('to wander'). The name of the Gallic deity Alaunos is related.
According to scholar Lionel S. Joseph, the semantic opposition between the Alauni and Anauni recalls the later opposition between the wandering fían and the settled túath in early Ireland.
Geography
The Alauni lived near Chiemsee, a lake in present-day Bavaria. Their territory was located east of the Cosuanetes, north of the Ambisontes, south of the Baiovarii.
References
- Ptolemy. Geōgraphikḕ Hyphḗgēsis, 2:13:2.
- Notitia Dignitatum, oc 42:68.
- Falileyev 2010, s.v. Alaunoi.
- ^ Delamarre 2003, p. 37.
- de Bernardo Stempel 2015, p. 88.
- Joseph, Lionel (2022). "Varia I: Gaulish divine names Vellaunos and Alaunos, and Old Irish follaithir 'rules'". Ériu. doi:10.1353/eri.0.0003. ISSN 2009-0056. S2CID 249187452.
- Talbert 2000, Map 19: Raetia.
Bibliography
- de Bernardo Stempel, Patrizia (2015). "Zu den keltisch benannten Stämmen im Umfeld des oberen Donauraums". In Lohner-Urban, Ute; Scherrer, Peter (eds.). Der obere Donauraum 50 v. bis 50 n. Chr. Frank & Timme. ISBN 978-3-7329-0143-2.
- Delamarre, Xavier (2003). Dictionnaire de la langue gauloise: Une approche linguistique du vieux-celtique continental. Errance. ISBN 9782877723695.
- Falileyev, Alexander (2010). Dictionary of Continental Celtic Place-names: A Celtic Companion to the Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World. CMCS. ISBN 978-0955718236.
- Talbert, Richard J. A. (2000). Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World. Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0691031699.
