[gothic-l] Weder-Geats

[keth at ONLINE.NO]

Anthony Appleyard wrote:

>We also seem to be back at that old query: were the Geats / Gautar the same
>people as the Goths?


Maybe in the same way that the Cartagians (PUNIC wars), were of
the same origin as the Phoenicians?

Other similarities:

Rugiland - Migration Period Niederösterreich
Rogaland - SW Norway (Jordanes -- Viking Age -- Now)
Rügen    - Baltic coast (how old is the name?)



Also, we have composite appelatives, such as:

danr = man from Denmark
Eydanir = danes who live on islands.
rygr  = man from Rogaland
holm-rygir = island dwellers of Rogaland.
Eygotaland = the danish isles
Reidgotaland = legendary land, either Jutland or Norther Poland
                               or in that neighborhood.

Reidgotaland could be that part of Gotaland where horses are used for transport,
whereas Eygotaland could be that part where ships are used for transport.

Further examples:
Vestrgautar - people from Västergötaland (Sweden)
Vestr-Agdir - western part of Agdir  (s. Norway)
Austragdir -  eastern part of Agdir  (S. norway)


Such designations all refer to the same basic word,
but are qualified by geographic/topographic first parts.
Jordanes tells us that the root word is always the name of a group of
people (tribe).

Thus, the time-tried nomenclature suggests that they were originally
the same group or related groups. But I don't know about

goti = man from Gotland/Götaland  (plural gotnar?)
Gotland = the island
Gotaland = Eygotaland + Reidgotaland?
Gautland = todays Götaland.

(all quotes from the ON dictionary)

There appears to be a difference between Gotaland and Gautaland (= not the same)
(but as you go far back in time it probably would be - the question is how far?)

Best regards
Keth



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