The
Irminones, also referred to as
Herminones or
Hermiones, were a group of early
Germanic tribes settling in the
Elbe watershed and by the
1st century AD expanding into
Bavaria,
Swabia and
Bohemia.
Irminonic or
Elbe Germanic is a conventional term grouping early
West Germanic dialects ancestral to
High German.
The name Irminones comes from Tacitus’s Germania (98 AD) who categorized them as one of the tribes of Mannus. Other West Germanic proto-tribes were the Ingvaeones and Istvaeones, all of them living in the "Central region" of Germania, as well as the Suebi, which include the Semnones, the Quadi and the Marcomanni.
Mela then begins to speak of the Scythians.
In Nennius the name Mannus (see Mannaz) and his three sons appear in corrupted form, the ancestor of the Irminones appearing as Armenon. His sons here are Gothus, Valagothus/Balagothus, Cibidus, Burgundus, and Longobardus, whence come the Goths (and Ostrogoths, Visigoths, Crimean Goths), Valagoths/Balagoths, Cibidi, Burgundians and Lombards/Langobards.
