Shifting sands of Livonia

Among Estonian girls’ and women’s names, Liivi holds a special place; it honours a Baltic territory that no longer exists, and a Finnic language that is all but extinct. So, what is there to celebrate about Livonia?

Going back to the early 1200s the three Baltic States we know today were divided between northern Estonia, ruled by Danes, and lands to the south, Liefland and Courland, occupied by land-grabbing, German-speaking, crusading orders, operating with Papal blessing, and with autonomy from the Holy Roman Empire.

The borders were not quite the same as they are today, and they also shifted over time. The south of Livonia extended into what is now northern Latvia, and that is also where the last Livonian speakers lived in recent times or still live, at or near the Baltic coast, west of Rīga and south of the Estonian island of Saaremaa.

Our ancestors, if we could trace them back in time, would have been Livonians, geographically or politically, so the topic is not without interest. (Although, linguistically, they were Estonians, speaking northern or southern dialects.)

For an idea of how complex the history is, the progressive shifting of Livonia’s place in the Baltic is listed below, and dates are approximate:

1238 - 1346: Livonian Order rules southwest Estonia / northern Latvia

1346 – 1558: Livonia includes all of Estonia on the Danes’ departure from the north, and the end of the bishopric of Tartu

1558 – 1583: Livonian War, the end of the Livonian Order and the continuation of Baltic German rural overlords

1583 – 1710: Duchy of Livonia under Polish-Lithuanian rule until 1629, to then come under Swedish rule

1710 – 1723: Great Northern War in which Tsarist Russia is victorious

1723 – 1918: Rīga and then Livonian Governorate of Russia, situated south of the Estonian Governorate

1918 – 1939: Estonian independence, end of Livonia    

This list is neither here nor there if you are a Livonian speaker, and striving for this heritage to survive. The word liiv in Finnic languages means “sand”, and, so, Liivi means “sandy”.

The Livonian flag is a tricolour in horizontal stripes, from top to bottom of green-white-blue, representing the pine forests, sand and sea - a summary of the world of this traditionally seafaring and fishing people.

Sandy is certainly a description of the Baltic coast in northern Latvia at and beyond the western edge of the Gulf of Rīga, or in Estonian, Liivi laht.

In 2023 the University of Tartu published a book on learning the Livonian language. The accompanying flyer reveals a language that is similar to Estonian, and also quite different. Compare and contrast: meil on uus laev, “we have a new boat” in Estonian, and in Livonian, mä’ddõn u’m ūž lǭja.

If one did learn Livonian, to whom would you speak? According to Wikipedia, the last known native speaker died in 2013, although a child was later located in 2020 who could speak the language fluently. It turns out her parents are Livonian language revivalists. About 40 people today speak Livonian as a second language, and 210 are said to know some Livonian.

Similar numbers are registered in Latvia as ethnic Livonians. The government of this country has set aside a coastal area of 12 traditional Livonian settlements as a Livonian cultural space, protected from development. This is centred on Slītere National Park, just to the west of Cape Kolka; the main settlement is Mazirbe.

A dialect similar to Livonian is spoken on the Estonian island of Kihnu, which is situated in the Gulf of Rīga, which the Livonians call “little sea” or piški meŗ, translatable into Estonian as pisike meri.

Long live the Livonians.