Etymology of Kven

The origin of the ethnonym Kven is uncertain. The term is used today by the Kvens of northern Norway and by some Tornedalians in northern Sweden.

The earliest known references to the term appear in Old English and Old Norse sources from the late ninth to the thirteenth centuries. The first recorded mention occurs in a ninth-century Old English Orosius, which includes an account of the Norwegian traveler Ohthere, who describes the Cwenas as a distinct group living in the far north, east of the Scandinavian mountains. Icelandic sagas, such as the Orkneyinga saga and Egil's Saga, also refer to Kvenland, suggesting it was regarded as a real geographical region during the Viking Age.{{Cite book |last=Elenius |first=Lars |title=The dissolution of ancient Kvenland and the transformation of the Kvens as an ethnic group of people. On changing ethnic categorizations in communicative and collective memories |year=2019 |language=en}}

Norwegian annals record a raid by the Kvens on Hålogaland in 1271, marking the last known appearance of Kvens in medieval Scandinavian written records. There are no mentions of the Kvens or Kvenland in medieval Swedish sources. This absence suggests that the ethnonym was used primarily within western Scandinavia, where it may have served to distinguish Finnish-speaking groups from Norwegians and Sámi.

From the 16th century onward, Finnish-speaking individuals began appearing in Norwegian tax records under the names Quæn or Qvæn. Larger waves of migration from Finland to northern Norway followed in the 18th and 19th centuries. The modern Kven population largely descends from these settlers, who established communities along the fjords of northern Troms and Finnmark.{{Citation |last=Forsgren |first=Arne |title=kvener |date=2025-07-04 |work=Store norske leksikon |url=https://snl.no/kvener |access-date=2025-07-13 |language=no |last2=Minken |first2=Anne}}

Proposals

Various etymologies have been proposed over time.{{cite book |last=Valtonen |first=Irmeli |title=The North in the Old English Orosius |date=2008 |publisher=Société néophilologique |isbn=978-951-9040-29-5 |publication-place=Helsinki |pages=386-393}} A common suggestion, first presented by Jouko Vahtola,Vahtola, J. (1994), Kvenerne – vem var de ursprungligen? In: Torekoven Strøm (eed.), Report from the seminar ”Kvenene – en glemt minoritet?” 14.11.94 at the University of Tromsø/Tromsø Museum.Vahtola, J. (2001), Folk och folkgrupper inom det nordliga rummet över tid. In: Tedebrand, L.-G. & Edlund, L.-E. (ed.), Tre kulturer i möte. Kulturens frontlinjer. Papers from the research program Kulturgräns norr, 27. Published by Johan Nordlander-sällskapet, 23. Umeå. is that kven etymologically originates from Old Norse hvein, meaning "swampy land."[http://starling.rinet.ru/cgi-bin/response.cgi?single=1&basename=\data\ie\germet&text_recno=409&root=config Etymology of hvein.]{{Dead link|date=July 2025}}

Nevertheless, kven is a root which in some cases translates to "woman" in Old Norse. Proto-Germanic *kwinōn, *kunōn; *kwēni-z, *kwēnō "woman" developed into various Old Norse forms: kona; kvǟn, kvān, kvɔ̄n; kvendi; kvenna, kvinna.[http://starling.rinet.ru/cgi-bin/response.cgi?single=1&basename=\data\ie\germet&text_recno=257&root=config Etymology of kwen.]{{Dead link|date=July 2025}} A reference to Terra Feminarum ("Woman Land") in Gesta Hammaburgensis ecclesiae pontificum by Adam of Bremen in 1075 CE is likely a translation of Kvenland.{{Citation needed|date=August 2019}} A 14th-century Icelandic manuscript describes a {{lang|is|kuenna land}} ("Woman Land") north of India populated by hermaphroditic women.[http://www.hum.ku.dk/ami/am764.html Manuscript "AM 764 4to"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060928080738/http://www.hum.ku.dk/ami/am764.html |date=2006-09-28 }}. See also [http://sagnanet.is/saganet/?MIval=/SinglePage&Manuscript=100203&Page=4723&language=english entire text in Icelandic]{{dead link|date=April 2018|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}.{{Primary source inline|date=July 2025}}

Alternatively, kven may be linked to Kainuu, a region of Eastern Finland whose etymology is also disputed. Similar sounding words to "kainuu" also exist in the Sami languages. In Northern Sami, Gáidnu is a rope made of roots for boats or fishing nets. Gáidnulaŝ refers to a clumsy person and Geaidnu stands for a road or a way.[https://kaino.kotus.fi/algu/index.php?t=sanue&sanue_id=13092 Geaidnu]. Álgu-database In the early Sami dictionaries Kainolats/Kainahaljo had the meaning Norwegian or Swedish man while Kainahalja had the meaning Norwegian or Swedish women, it could also have the meaning peasant. Helsing village, close to Torneå, was referred to as Cainho.Lexicon lapponicum, Erik Lindahl, Johann Öhrling, Typis Joh. Georg. Lange, 1780"{{Primary source inline|date=July 2025}}

References

Kven