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{{Short description|Germanic people}}
Among the [[Germanic tribe]]s in [[Gaul]] mentioned by [[Tacitus]] in his ''[[Germania (book)|Germania]]'' were the '''Harii'''.
The '''Harii''' ([[West Germanic languages|West Germanic]] "warriors")<ref name=SIMEK132>Simek (2007:132).</ref> were, according to a single brief remark by the 1st century CE Roman historian [[Tacitus]], a [[Germanic peoples|Germanic people]]; the most powerful of the [[Lugii|Lugian]] group of states (''[[civitates]]''), who in turn dominated a large part of the [[Suebian]] part of [[Germania]] in an area north of the [[Sudetes|Sudeten]] and [[Carpathian Mountains]], in the region of present day Poland and eastern Germany.
 
In his work ''[[Germania (book)|Germania]]'', Tacitus says the Harii used black shields and painted their bodies black (''nigra scuta, tincta corpora''), attacking at night as a shadowy army, much to the terror of their opponents. Theories have been proposed connecting the Harii to the [[einherjar]], ghostly warriors in service to the god [[Odin]], attested much later among the [[North Germanic peoples]] by way of [[Norse mythology]], and to the tradition of the [[Wild Hunt]], a procession of the dead through the winter night sky sometimes led by Odin.
Little more is known of them beyond their mention by Tacitus, who described the Harii as:
:''"a fierce people who enhance their natural savageness by art and the choice of time. Their shields are black, their bodies painted black, and they choose black nights for battles and produce terror by the mere appearance, terrifying and shadowy, of a ghostly army. No enemy can withstand a vision that is strange and, so to speak, diabolical; for in all battles, the eyes are overcome first."''
 
==''Germania''==
Slender links with the [[Heruli]] are sometimes made by modern enthusiasts, based on an imagined etymological equivalence.
Regarding the Harii, Tacitus writes in ''Germania'':
<blockquote>
As for the Harii, quite apart from their strength, which exceeds that of the other tribes I have just listed, they pander to their innate savagery by skill and timing: with black shields and painted bodies, they choose dark nights to fight, and by means of terror and shadow of a ghostly army they cause panic, since no enemy can bear a sight so unexpected and hellish; in every battle the eyes are the first to be conquered.<ref name=ORCHARD36>Orchard (1997:36).</ref>
</blockquote>
 
==Theories==
[[Pliny]] and [[Tacitus]] (circa 95 CE) both mention [[Suebi]]an tribes called Harii or Hirri (see references at bottom of page). When Silinga, daughter of the last Heruli king Rhodoulph ("Honor-Wolf"?), married [[Lombards|Wacho, king of the Lombards]] (died 539), as his third polygynous wife, she named her son by him Walter (''"Walt-Hari"'', "ruler of the warriors"). Three classical sources, Procopius, the anonymous 7th century <i>Origo gentis Langobardorum</i>, and [[Paul the Deacon|Paulus Diaconus]], mention this episode. [Also note that the common name Harold is identical as well, from <i>Hari-Walt</i>.].
According to [[John Lindow]], Andy Orchard, and [[Rudolf Simek]], connections are commonly drawn between the Harii and the [[einherjar]] of Norse mythology; those that have died and gone to [[Valhalla]] ruled over by the god [[Odin]], preparing for the events of [[Ragnarök]].<ref name=ORCHARD36/><ref name=LINDOW104-105>Lindow (2001:104–105).</ref><ref name=SIMEK71>Simek (2007:71). See also discussion on the Odinic name ''Herjann'' in Simek (2007:143).</ref>
 
Lindow writes that regarding the theorized connection between the Harii and the Einherjar, "many scholars think there may be basis for the myth in an ancient Odin cult, which would be centered on young warriors who entered into an ecstatic relationship with Odin" and that the name ''Harii'' has been [[etymology|etymologically]] connected to the ''-herjar'' element of ''einherjar''.<ref name=LINDOW104-105/>
Germanic <i>harjaz</i> is derived from the Proto-Indo-European root <i>*koryos</i> (alternatively <i>korios, koros</i>), meaning warrior, and is related to Old Persian <i>kara<i> (host), Hittite <i>kuriwanas</i> (troop leader, governor), Greek <i>[[kouros]]</i> (young nude warrior) and <i>koiranos</i> (captain), Middle Irish <i>cuire</i> (troop), Gothic <i>harjis</i> (army, marauder band), Lithuanian <i>kare</i> (army), Old Prussian <i>karjis</i> (troop), and Old English <i>here</i> (harrier) [see Stuart Mann's <i>An Indo-European Comparative Dictionary</i>].
 
Simek says that since the connection has become widespread, "one tends to interpret these obviously living armies of the dead as religiously motivated bands of warriors, who led to the formation of the concept of the ''einherjar'' as well as the [[Wild Hunt]]".<ref name=SIMEK71/>
[[nl:Harii]]
 
== In works ==
* [[Heilung]] - Heilung's Warrior Choir is inspired by the Harii tribe.
 
==See also==
* [[Einherjar]]
* [[Furor Teutonicus]]
 
==Notes==
{{reflist}}
 
==References==
*[[John Lindow|Lindow, John]] (2001). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=KlT7tv3eMSwC Norse Mythology: A Guide to the Gods, Heroes, Rituals, and Beliefs]''. [[Oxford University Press]]. {{ISBN|0-19-515382-0}}
*Orchard, Andy (1997). ''Dictionary of Norse Myth and Legend''. [[Orion Publishing Group|Cassell]]. {{ISBN|0-304-34520-2}}
*Simek, Rudolf (2007) translated by Angela Hall. ''Dictionary of Northern Mythology''. [[Boydell & Brewer|D.S. Brewer]] {{ISBN|0-85991-513-1}}
 
{{Germanic peoples}}
{{Social class}}
 
[[Category:Early Germanic peoples]]
[[Category:Iron Age peoples of Europe]]
[[Category:Warriors of Europe]]
[[Category:Wild Hunt]]