Etymology of Kven (original) (raw)

The origin of the name Kven is unclear. The name appears for the first time in a 9th-century Old English version, written by King Alfred of Wessex, of a work by the Roman author Orosius, in the plural form Cwenas. Today, however, Kven refers to Finnish (Kven) speaking people who have migrated to northern Norway in relatively recent times, with no connection to the Cwenas/Kænir mentioned in the sagas.