The name Corsica, when viewed through the etymological lens of the Between Two Iberias project, invites a striking comparison with Lazica, the ancient Kartvelian region known as the “country of the Laz.” By analogy, Corsica can be interpreted as the “country of Corsa,” a toponym that unveils a cultural narrative deeply rooted in Kartvelian linguistics. In Megrelian, the term korsa (ქორსა) translates to “beardless,” a meaning that illuminates the origins of Corsica’s name in a vivid and convincing manner: Corsica emerges as the “land of the shaved,” a designation tied to a cultural practice that resonates with Kartvelian traditions.
The connection between Corsicans and Kartvelians extends beyond linguistics, finding expression in shared cultural practices, most notably the tradition of polyphonic choral singing—a hallmark of both Georgian and Corsican heritage—and the fierce custom of vendetta, a blood feud akin to those found in Svaneti. In Corsica, the vendetta carries a symbolic weight tied directly to the act of shaving: a Corsican man engaged in a blood feud refrains from shaving his beard until vengeance is exacted. To wear a beard in Corsica, therefore, is to signal one’s involvement in a vendetta—a declaration of intent to kill or avenge. For those who wish to avoid such assumptions, shaving becomes a necessity, marking Corsica as a land where the absence of a beard defines social identity. Thus, korsa—“beardless”—aptly names this island the “country of the shaved,” a toponym that encapsulates a cultural norm born of vendetta.
This tradition of blood revenge offers a broader lens through which to trace Kartvelian influence across the ancient world. Consider the Laz people of Turkey’s Black Sea coast, particularly in regions like Rize, where vendetta remains a defining cultural practice. Similarly, the Ait Uriagel (Ait Variager) tribe, the largest Amazigh (Berber) group in Morocco’s Rif region, upholds a stringent code of vendetta known as qanun, a set of rules governing blood revenge. This same term, Kanun, appears among the Albanian Ghegs, renowned for their own fierce vendettas, where it also serves as a legal code for resolving feuds. The Kabyles of Algeria, too, practice vendetta, though with less severity than their Rif counterparts. These parallels—spanning Lazona, Albania, Kabylia, the Rif, Corsica, and Sardinia—point to a shared cultural thread, one that unites lands with strong Kartvelian origins. Where vendetta thrives, we find the echoes of ancient Kartvelo-speaking peoples, their traditions preserved across continents and centuries.
The reach of this Kartvelian legacy extends even to the Americas, as evidenced by one of the most famous vendettas in history: the Hatfield-McCoy feud in Kentucky, USA. This prolonged conflict, emblematic of blood revenge, mirrors the vendetta traditions of Kartvelian lands, suggesting that the cultural practices of Kartvelo-speaking peoples may have traveled far beyond their ancestral homeland, carried by migrations or cultural diffusion.
Corsica’s name and its vendetta tradition, therefore, are not isolated phenomena but part of a broader Kartvelian cultural continuum. From the Megrelian korsa to the qanun of the Rif and the Ghegs, these connections reveal a profound unity among regions historically linked to Kartvelian languages and customs. As we continue our Kartvelology journey, let Corsica—the “land of the shaved”—and its vendetta heritage serve as a testament to the enduring influence of Kartvelian culture, a legacy that binds distant lands through shared words, songs, and codes of honor.
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