Swedes (Germanic tribe)
![Sweden in the 12th century. Svealand in yellow, Götaland in blue and Gotland in green.
Swedes
Geats
Gutes](/Images/godic/202502/14/Scandinavia-12th_century1939.png")
![Gamla Uppsala was the main religious and political centre of the tribe.](/Images/godic/202502/14/Royal_mounds1939.JPG")
![The Runestone DR 344 is one of the earliest surviving instances of the name Svíþjóð, in Scandinavia (only Runestone DR 216, Beowulf and probably also the Getica are earlier).](/Images/godic/202502/14/Dr344_Runsten1940.jpg")
![The Roman empire under Hadrian (ruled 117-38), showing the location of the Suiones Germanic tribe, inhabiting central Sweden](/Images/godic/202502/14/Roman_Empire_1251940.png")
The Swedes (Swedish:svear; Old Norse: svíar / suar (probably from the PIE reflexive pronominal root *s(w)e, "one's own [tribesmen/kinsmen]"; Old English: Sweonas) were a North Germanic tribe.
The first author who might have written about the tribe is Tacitus, who in his Germania, from 98 CE mentions the Suiones. Jordanes, in the sixth century, mentions Suehans and Sueones.