IX.] THE NORTHERN MONGOLS. 337 



the Norsemen. These relations would even appear to be reflected 

 in the Norse mythology, which may be regarded as in great 

 measure an echo of historic events. The wars of the Swedish 

 and Danish kings referred to in these oral records may be 

 interpreted as plundering expeditions rather than permanent 

 conquests, while the undoubtedly active intercourse between the 

 east and west coasts of the Baltic may be explained on the 

 assumption that, after the withdrawal of the Goths, a remnant 

 of the Germanic populations remained behind in the Baltic 

 provinces. 



From Nestor's statement that all three of the Varangian 

 princes settled, not amongst Slavish but amongst 

 Finnish peoples, it may be inferred that the Finnish O rig?n." 

 element constituted the most important section in 

 the newly founded Russian State ; and it may here be mentioned 

 that the term " Russ " itself has now been traced to the Finnish 

 word Ruost (Ruosti], a " Norseman." But although at first greatly 

 outnumbering the Slavs, the Finnish peoples soon lost the political 

 ascendancy, and their subsequent history may be summed up in 

 the expression gradual absorption in the surrounding Slav popu- 

 lations. This inevitable process is still going on amongst all the 

 Volga, Lake and Baltic Finns, except in Finland and Lapland, 

 where other conditions obtain 1 . 



Most Finnish ethnologists agree that however much they may 

 now differ in their physical and mental characters and usages, 

 Finns and Lapps were all originally one people. Some variant 

 of Suoma* enters into the national name of all the Baltic groups 

 Suomalaiset, the Finns of Finland, Somelaized, those of Esthonia, 

 Samelats (Sabmelad), the Lapps, Samoyad, the Samoyedes. In 

 Ohthere's time the Norsemen called all the Lapps " Finnas " (as 



1 "Les Finnois et leurs congeneres ont occupe autrefois, sur d'immenses 

 espaces, les vastes regions forestieres de la Russie septentrionale et centrale, et 

 de la Siberie occidentale; mais plus tard, refoules et divises par d'autres 

 peuples, ils furent reduits a des tribus isolees, dont il ne reste maintenant que 

 des debris epars" (Travaitx Geographiqzies, p. 132). 



2 A word of doubtful meaning, commonly but wrongly supposed to mean 

 swamp or fen, and thus to be the original of the Teutonic Finnas, "Fen 

 People" (see Thomsen, Einfluss d. ger. Spr. auf die finnisch-lappischen> p. 14). 



K. 22 



