The Lemovii were a Germanic tribe, only once named by Tacitus in the late 1st century. [1] [2] He noted that they lived near the Rugii and Goths and that they had short swords and round shields. [1] [2]
The Oksywie culture is associated with parts of the Rugii and Lemovii. [2] Also, the Plöwen group ( German: Plöwener Gruppe) of the Uecker-Randow region is associated with the Lemovii. [3]
The archaeological Dębczyn group might comprise the remnants of the Lemovii, probably identical with Widsith's Glommas, who are believed to have been the neighbors of the Rugii, a tribe dwelling at the Baltic Sea coast in today's Pomerania region before the migration period. [4] [5] Both "Lemovii" and "Glommas" translate to "the barking". [5] Germanic sagas report a battle on the isle of Hiddensee between king Hetel (Hethin, Heodin of the Glommas) and Rugian king Hagen, following the abduction of Hagen's daughter Hilde by Hetel. [4] Yet, there are also other hypotheses about the location of the Lemovii, and that their identification as Glommas, though probable, is not certain. [4]
The Lemovii have also been equated with Jordanes' Turcilingi, together with the Rugii with Ptolemy's Rhoutikleioi, also with Ptolemy's Leuonoi and with the Leonas of the Widsith. [5]