[gothic-l] Germanic Migrations

[Bertil Häggman]

Dirk,

Am sorry to read your description of the historians role,
but as you are probably a linguist yourself, I can understand
that you feel that your discipline should be held forward.
I notice with regret that you don't answer my question of 
how much of the theories you present have ended up
in history books, mainly in Germany, as these writings
seem to point toward a Germanic original home in Germany.
But you limit yourself to stating that these theories have
found their way into literature (?).

The linguistic articles you have named certainly merits
study but they must be taken for what they are, theories
based on thoughts about an era where no written material
exists. 

Germanically

Bertil

> there is no ranking of disciplines. History uses written documents as 
> source of study. If there are no written documents, historians cannot 
> contribute very much. In the time frame and area we are speaking
> about there are practically no written sources that means that 
> archaeologists and linguists must uncover the evidence. That does not 
> mean that a historian cannot attempt an interpretation on the basis
> of later written documents, if the written sources are not too far 
> removed in time. By the nature of things, a historian cannot research 
> the culture of Scandinavia in say 1000 BC, there is simply nothing
> for him/her to study. Thus it is the disciplines that can work with 
> the primary evidence which should foreward theories on such an issue. 
> The people cited here are at the centre of this research. The material
> has certainly found its way into the literature, as the evidence 
> itself constitutes literature. Also, a new idea (that may be better 
> than the old literature) is by definition not represented in the old 
> literature. This does not discount the value of the idea. If it is 
> better the single idea is worth more than the old literature. The only 
> way to see whether the new ideas are better is to engage with the 
> evidence and provide counter evidence.
> 
> Dirk
> 
> --- In gothic-l at egroups.com, Bertil Häggman <mvk575b at t...> wrote:
> > Dirk,
> > 
> > In my opinion the three categories are
> > 
> > 1) historian
> > 2) archaelogist
> > 3) linguist
> > 
> > Of course linguists have their importance and
> > as a matter of fact their methods often can learn
> > historians and archaeologists one or two things.
> > The linguistic material you present are of course
> > interesting but I think you are drawing to wide
> > conclusions from them. To be of real value
> > they have to be combined with the views of
> > historians and archaelogists. It would be interesting
> > to know if any of the material you are introducing
> > has found its way into history books in England
> > and Germany. I can assure you that it hasn't in Sweden.
> > You may well call me speculator if you want, I still
> > think historic research counts, and counts importantly.
> > 
> > Germanically
> > 
> > Bertil
> > 
> > > linguist are often in the happy situation of working with 'the 
> real 
> > > thing'. As you know, names, i.e. place names are the graveyards
> of 
> > > languages and linguists can be the archaeologists of languages. 
> For  
> > > scientists such as the mentioned persons who have all presented 
> major 
> > > , recent contributions to the field by presenting real evidence, 
> being 
> > > called 'speculators' is quite insulting to them. I think it would 
> be 
> > > better to engage with the evidence and provide counter evidence 
> > > otherwise you could run danger of being called a speculator 
> yourself.
> 
> 
> 
> You are a member of the Gothic-L list.  To unsubscribe, send a blank email to <gothic-l-unsubscribe at egroups.com>.
> Homepage: http://www.stormloader.com/carver/gothicl/index.html
> 
> 


-------------------------- eGroups Sponsor -------------------------~-~>
Create your business web site your way now at Bigstep.com.
It's the fast, easy way to get online, to promote your business,
and to sell your products and services. Try Bigstep.com now.
http://click.egroups.com/1/9183/8/_/3398/_/973271982/
---------------------------------------------------------------------_->

You are a member of the Gothic-L list.  To unsubscribe, send a blank email to <gothic-l-unsubscribe at egroups.com>.
Homepage: http://www.stormloader.com/carver/gothicl/index.html