Scandza

Scandza was described as a "great island" by Gothic-Byzantine historian Jordanes in his work "Getica". The island was located in the Arctic regions of the sea that surrounded the world.
The "Getica", written in 551 AD, gives a history of the Goths, beginning in Scandza from where they later migrated to Gothiscandza, near the mouth of the Vistula River. It is believed that Jordanes was describing Scandinavia. The Swedish archaeologist Göran Burenhult describes this account as a unique glimpse into the tribes of Scandinavia in the 6th century.
Jordanes was a Roman citizen living in Constantinople but described himself as being of Gothic descent.
Geographical description through history.
Early Greek and Roman geographers used the name "Scandia" for various uncharted islands in Northern Europe. The name originated in Greek sources, which used it for a long time for different islands in the Mediterranean region. In the Iliad the name denotes an ancient city in Kythira, Greece. 
The first attested written use of the name for a Northern European island appears in the work of Roman Pliny the Elder, "Naturalis Historia" of c. AD 77. Pliny described "Scandia" as an island located north of Britannia. This island does not appear to be the same as the island Pliny calls "Scatinavia", located near Cimbri. In Claudius Ptolemy's "Geographia", written in the 2nd century AD, Scandia is described as the most easterly of the Scandiae islands, a group of islands located east of the Cimbrian peninsula. This is the region where Pliny had located "Scatinavia".
When Scandinavian scholars became familiar with the Roman records in the Middle Ages, Scandiae was used as an alternative Latin name for Terra Scania. The early 13th-century Latin paraphrase of the Scanian Law bears the title "Lex Scandiae provincialis".
Jordanes referred to Ptolemy's description of "Scandia" "as a great island shaped like a juniper leaf" (i.e. long and not round) "having bulging sides and which tapered down in the south at a long end". He also referred to Pomponius Mela's description of "Codanonia" (called "Scatinavia" by Pliny the Elder) which was located in the Codanian Gulf (probably Kattegat). "This island was in front of the Vistula and that there was a great lake" "from which sprang the river "Vagus"". "On the western and northern side it was surrounded by an enormous sea", "but in the east there was a land bridge which cut off the sea in the east forming the "Germanic Sea"". "There were also many small islands" (the Swedish and Finnish archipelagos) "where wolves could pass when the sea was frozen. In winter the country was not only cruel to people but also to wild beasts. Due to the extreme cold there were no swarms of honey-making bees."
In the 16th century, Olaus Magnus, a Swedish cartographer familiar with Pliny's writings, created a map where he placed the name "Scandia" in the middle of today's Sweden. In Olaus Magnus' map, the name denotes an area including "Svecia" (Svealand), "Gothia" and "Norvegia" (Norway), where he places various tribes described by the ancient geographers.
Although mainly a historical name, "Scandia" still occasionally continues in use today as a Latin name for Scandinavia. The Scandinavian Bishops Conference, an Episcopal Conference organized by the Catholic Church since 1923, is called "Conferentia Episcopalis Scandiae".
Midsummer sun and the midwinter darkness.
In the north, there was the nation of the "Adogit" (perhaps referring to the inhabitants of Hålogaland in Norway or the people of Andøya) who lived in continual light during the midsummer (for forty days and nights) and in continual darkness (for as long) during the midwinter. Due to this alternation they go from joy to suffering (the first description of the Scandinavian winter depression). The sun moreover seemed to pass along the horizon rather than rise from below.
Inhabitants.
Jordanes names a multitude of tribes living in Scandza, which he named a "womb of nations" (loosely translated), and says they were taller and more ferocious than the Germans (archaeological evidence has shown the Scandinavians of the time were tall, probably due to their diet). The listing represents several instances of the same people named twice, which was probably due to the gathering of information from diverse travellers and from Scandinavians arriving to join the Goths, such as Rodwulf from Bohuslän. Whereas linguists have been able to connect some names to regions in Scandinavia, there are others that may be based on misunderstandings.
On the island there were the "Screrefennae" (i.e. Sami peoples) who lived as hunter-gatherers living on a multitude of game in the swamps and on birds' eggs.
There were also the "Suehans" (Swedes) who had splendid horses like the Thuringians (Snorri Sturluson wrote that the 6th-century Swedish king Adils had the best horses of his time). They were the suppliers of black fox skins for the Roman market and they were richly dressed even though they lived in poverty. 
There were also the "Theustes" (the people of the "Tjust" region in Småland), "Vagoths" (probably the Gutes of Gotland), "Bergio" (either the people of "Bjäre Hundred" in Skåne, according to L Weibull, or the people of Kolmården according to others), "Hallin" (southern Halland) and the "Liothida" (either the "Luggude Hundred" or "Lödde" in Skåne, but others connect them to Södermanland) who live in a flat and fertile region, due to which they are subject to the attacks of their neighbours. Other tribes were the "Ahelmil" (identified with the region of Halmstad), the "Finnaithae" ("Finnhaith-", i.e. "Finnheden", the old name for Finnveden), the "Fervir" (the inhabitants of Fjäre Hundred) and the "Gautigoths" (the Geats of Västergötland), a nation which was bold and quick to engage in war. There were also the "Mixi", "Evagreotingis" (or the "Evagres" and the "Otingis" depending on the translator), who live like animals among the rocks (probably the numerous hillforts and "Evagreotingis" is believed to have meant the "people of the island hill forts" which best fits the people of Bohuslän). Beyond them, there were the "Ostrogoths" (Östergötland), "Raumarici" (Romerike), the "Ragnaricii" (probably Ranrike, an old name for a part of Bohuslän) and the most gentle "Finns" (probably the second mention of the Sami peoples mixed for no reason). The "Vinoviloth" (possibly remaining Lombards, "vinili") were similar.
He also named the "Suetidi"; a second mention of the Swedes It can also be relevant to discuss if the term "Suetidi" could be equated with the term "Svitjod". The Dani were of the same stock and drove the Heruls from their lands. Those tribes were the tallest of men.
In the same area there were the "Granni" (Grenland), "Augandzi" (Agder), "Eunixi", "Taetel", "Rugii" (Rogaland), "Arochi" (Hordaland) and "Ranii" (possibly the people of Romsdalen). The king Rodulf was of the Ranii but left his kingdom and joined Theodoric, king of the Goths.