18 Mr, W. S, L. Szyrma on the Uelation of the 
Finns. In the name of Vanir, fighting with the Aser or Scandina- 
vians, some have detected the roots of Vandals, or Vends, or 
Northern Slavonians, and seen in these myths the records of 
prin^eval wars. 
The Kymhrians followed the other Kelts, the ancestors of the 
Ancient Britons and Armoricans. Then, after the lapse of ages, came 
the great and conquering Thracian and Pelasgian nations, whence 
sprung the classic races of Greece and Home, At length — perhaps 
■within the limits of the Historic age — the last great migration of the 
peoples come. On their light barks the Oriental multitudes 
traverse the dark waters of the Euxine. They are tall and slight- 
limbed men, with the bright eyes and lively manners of their sunny 
clime. Gay, high-spirited, courageous, liable to enthusiasm, ex- 
hausting itself by its very energy, they people the wilderness of their 
new homes. They pass up the Borysthenes and Dniester, and then 
part into divers tribes. Some build on the banks cities, humble 
imitations of the great capitals they perhaps had aided to rear in 
Mesopotamia. Stone is rare, but the rich plains yield timber from 
their forests, and the "Builder-nation" astound by their edifices 
the Scythian savages. Other tribes, less industrious, hollow the 
Carpathians into cavern temples and houses, like the aborigines of 
Hindostan did. From the Danube to the Baltic they fix their 
colonies on every fertile spot, where their labours of agriculture 
might prove productive. Their swarthy skins grow bleached with 
the cold Northern air, their soft Eastern language becomes rugged 
and harsh, like the rude winter's blast. The stunted Finns call 
them the Giants, or the Builders, (Buclini of Herodotus;) the 
Southern Merchants, as they see their bright eyes, called them the 
"Lizard-eyed," (SaiiromatceJ ; or from their cavern homes the 
"Earth-men," (Neuri;) from the colour of their dress (Melan- 
cMeni ) ; but they call themselves Slavonians, the Men of the 
Word.^:< 
* This name may be derived from Slowo, ( pron, slovo,) a word, or 
Slaiva, glory. 
