View source for Lombards

==Legendary origins==
{{multiple image
| direction         = vertical
| width             = 240
| footer            =
| image1            = Wodan Frea Himmelsfenster by Emil Doepler.jpg
| alt1              =
| caption1          = [[Wodan]] (Godan) and [[Frigg]] (Frea) looking out of a window in the heavens...
| image2            = Wodan Frea Himmelsfenster II by Emil Doepler.jpg
| alt2              =
| caption2          = ...and spotting the Lombard women with their long hair tied as to appear as beards
}}
[[File:PaulusDiaconus Plut.65.35.jpg|left|thumb|304x304px|[[Paul the Deacon]], historian of the Lombards, circa 720–799]]

All three of the legendary accounts state that the Langobards were originally called Winnili, and they begin with the Winnili being ruled by two brothers, Ibor and Aio (or Agio), whose mother and advisor is named Gambara.

The ''Origo'' and the ''History'' of Paul the Deacon have them first living an island in the far north which the various manuscripts of these works spell in different ways: ''Scadan, Scandanan, Scadanan, or Scadinavia''. This appears to be an imitation of the 6th-century origin of the [[Goths]] written by [[Jordanes]].{{sfn|Christensen|2002}} The 7th-century writer Fredegar similarly says that the Langobardi came from ''Scathanavia'', but only says this is "between the Danube and the Ocean."{{sfn|Reichert|2004}}

The ''Codex Gothanus'' was written later than the other two records, but it appears to preserve some older material. It says that the Lombards set out from a river called Vindilicus at the far edge of [[Gaul]], then moved to "Scatenauga", which was a place on the lower Elbe.{{sfn|Reichert|2004|p=631}}

In contrast, the oldest of the three versions, the ''Origo'', reports a war between the Winnili and the [[Vandals]], who were attempting to force other peoples to pay tribute. In this version, the Winnili did not move from their home island until after they won this war, and changed their name to the Langobardi. The ''Origo'' gives no reason for leaving. In contrast, Paul the Deacon's ''History'' says that one third of the Winnili needed to leave the island because of over-population and a low-lying coast. In this version the war with the Vandals happened in the new homeland called ''Scoringa'', which is not mentioned in the other two sources. It was here that they also changed their tribal name according to Paul, but afterwards they decided to move again, this time because of famine. ''Scoringa'' was perhaps on the [[Baltic Sea|Baltic]] coast<ref>{{harvnb|Priester|2004|p=16}}</ref> or the [[Bardengau]] on the banks of the [[Elbe]].<ref name="Hammerstein-Loxten56">{{harvnb|Von Hammerstein-Loxten|1869|p=56}}</ref> Scoringa's etymology is uncertain, but it probably refers to a coastal shoreline region.{{sfn|Reichert|2004}}

In the Vandal war reported by the ''Origo'' and ''History'', the Winnili were young and brave and refused to pay tribute, saying "It is better to maintain liberty by arms than to stain it by the payment of tribute."<ref name="PD, VII">PD, VII.</ref> The Vandals prepared for war and consulted Godan (the god [[Odin]]<ref name="dick">{{cite book|last1=Harrison |first1=D. |last2=Svensson |first2=K. |date=2007 |title=Vikingaliv |publisher=Fälth & Hässler |location=Värnamo |isbn=978-91-27-35725-9 |page=74}}</ref>), who answered that he would give victory to those whom he would see first at sunrise.<ref name="PD, VIII">PD, VIII.</ref> The Winnili were fewer in number<ref name="PD, VII"/> and Gambara sought help from Frea (the goddess [[Frigg]]<ref name="dick"/>), who advised that all Winnili women should tie their hair in front of their faces like beards and march in line with their husbands. At sunrise, Frea turned her husband's bed so that he was facing east, and woke him. So Godan spotted the Winnili first and asked, "Who are these long-beards?," and Frea replied, "My lord, thou hast given them the name, now give them also the victory."<ref>OGL, appendix 11.</ref> From that moment onwards, the Winnili were known as the ''Longbeards'' (Latinised as ''Langobardi'', Italianised as ''Longobardi'', and Anglicized as ''Langobards'' or ''Lombards'').

In contrast, the ''Chronicon'' has the Winnili living first on a similarly named river, the ''Vindilicus'', near the furthest borders of [[Gaul]]. Once they started moving, their new dwellings were on the banks of the Elbe at a place called ''Stananauge''.<ref name="HLcG2">''Historia Langobardorum codicis Gothani'', [https://www.dmgh.de/mgh_ll_4/index.htm#page/642/mode/1up 2]</ref> The ''Vindilicus'' had in fact been mentioned in the earlier collection of etymologies by [[Isidore of Seville]], as a river where the Vandals supposedly originated. This sentence however comes immediately after a comment about the etymology of the name of the Langobards.<ref name=isid>Isidore of Seville, ''Etymologies'', [https://books.google.be/books?id=3ep502syZv8C&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&lpg=PA197&dq=Vindilicus&pg=PA197#v=onepage&q=Vindilicus&f=false 9.2.95]</ref> The ''Chronicon'' therefore apparently combined two distinct entries of Isidore.{{sfn|Reichert|2004}} The ''Chronicon'' does not mention the places on the migration route described by Paul and the ''Origo'' (see below), but it surprisingly says that after living on the Elbe, the Langobardi lived in Saxony at ''Patespruna'', which is probably intended to be [[Paderborn]]. The ''Chronicon'' says that the new tribal name was a result of the common people's voice (''vulgorum vocem'').<ref name="HLcG2"/>

When Paul the Deacon wrote the ''Historia'' between 787 and 796 he was a [[Catholic]] monk and devoted [[Christianity|Christian]]. He thought the [[Paganism|pagan]] stories of his people "silly" and "laughable".<ref name="PD, VIII"/><ref name="Priester 2004 17">{{harvnb|Priester|2004|p=17}}</ref> Paul explained that the name "Langobard" came from the length of their beards.<ref>PD, I, 9.</ref> A modern theory suggests that the name "Langobard" comes from ''Langbarðr'', a [[List of names of Odin|name of Odin]].<ref>Nedoma, Robert (2005).''[https://www.academia.edu/36246147/Der_altisländische_Odinsname_Langbarðr_Langbart_und_die_Langobarden Der altisländische Odinsname Langbarðr: 'Langbart' und die Langobarden]''. In Pohl, Walter and Erhart, Peter, eds. ''Die Langobarden. Herrschaft und Identität''. Wien. pp. 439–444</ref> Priester states that when the Winnili changed their name to "Lombards", they also changed their old agricultural [[fertility cult]] to a cult of Odin, thus creating a conscious tribal tradition.<ref name="Priester 2004 17"/> Fröhlich inverts the order of events in Priester and states that with the Odin cult, the Lombards grew their beards in resemblance of the Odin of tradition and their new name reflected this.<ref>{{harvnb|Fröhlich|1980|p=19}}</ref>