[gothic-l] Gotþonic Names, Got-þjóð

[Anþanareiks]

               Gotthonic Names, Got-þjóð
                  by Gudmund Shutte
 
 
 
 
    14 (17). Deutsche  =speaking the popular language (or "speaking 
distinctly, deutlich)." The basic word is Gothic þiuda, O.N. þjóð, 
O.H.G. deota, ´people´; the word ´deuten´, also suggests itself. The 
derivative ´deutsch´is supposed to date from the 9th century(p. 82)
 
    24 (9) and 25 (25). Got-þjóð  and Goðlanders=Gothic peoples. Even 
among the Goths the name Gut-þiuda i.e. 'Gothic people´, was used; it 
occurs in the fragment of the Gothic calendar. It was the usual name 
employed among the people themselves and therefore the Greeks of a 
later period regularly used the form _____, in reality a diminutive 
of Guthiuda. With the Gothic heroic saga the form reached 
Scandinavia, and as the simplex ´Goth´was used already in Old 
Germanic times as a racial group-name, the compound acquired the same 
signification. We find some traces of this already in the Eddic lays, 
there employed, to be sure, in a vague mythical way. Müllenhoff 
explains that the Goþ-þjóð of the Ragnarok-episode simply means 
´divine race´ (D.A.); but Rydberg maintains unhesitatingly: ´Got-
thjod är Germanfolket och Germanlandet.´
    But our chief source is an Icelandic geography of the 14th 
century. Deducting the learned mythical features the passage is as 
follows: ´the Origin of all tradition in the ´Norroen´tongue took 
place when that language, which we call Norroen became established 
here...and this tongue embraced Saxony, Denmark, Sweden, Norway and 
some parts of England...and at that time these lands were called 
Goðlands and the people Goðþjóð´. The forms with ð or þ show the 
influence of mythological ideas; the name ´goths´was associated with 
´gods´. In the compound Got-þjóð the assimilation of tþ to þþ might 
very easily take place. Finnur Jónsson informs me that he believes he 
can show that the form Got-þjóð was the regular current form during 
the Eddic period, and therefore this form is to be preferred. The 
designations Got-þjóð and goðlands have never been used extensively. 
But they are interesting because they are connected with one of the 
first native definitions of our racial group. 


Mythical Conception.
    1). Sons of Mannus=descendants of the earthborn first man, 
inhabitants of Mannheim (Germania chpt. 2). The designation is 
derived from Tacitus´mythical family tree, which is the earliest 
monument of our native literature known to us; I shall cite it as 
´the family tree of Mannung´. According to Tacitus it was already old 
then, hence dates from pre-Christian times; and it is in accordance 
with that fact that the ethnic groupings therein contained were 
already then antiquated. Moreover certain elements may perhaps be 
regarded as going back to an Indo-European myth, a fact which has 
been discussed by Wackernagel. For the Aryans use precisely the same 
designation for themselves: the Hindus call their tribal ancestor 
Manus, his son Mânusas  (=men); the Iranians call the first human 
pair Mesia and Mesiane. The name was probably never current in 
practical use. (The Society for the Advancement of Scandinavian 
Study, Vol. 1, p. 71)
1. Sons of Mannus. Native, popular, very old, probably from pre-
Christian times. 
The mythical conception, represented by the native designation 'sons 
of Mannus' is probably the earliest in the whole group.  (p. 94)
 
 


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