[gothic-l] Early Medieval Topoi: to Ingemar

[dirk at SMRA.CO.UK]

Hello Ingemar,

In our last discussion you have repeatedly stated that certain 
Germanic tribes claimed origin from Scandinavia and used this as prove 
for common geographical and cultic/Gautic origin. In the following I 
shall try to lay out how I think these origin claims should be viewed 
to understand its real historical value. 

In my view there are at least three main early medieval topoi for the 
origin of Germanic tribes. The Scandza topos, the biblical topos and 
the Troy topos. Most significantly, already Jordanes Getica alludes to 
all three of them. The Scandza topos most likely originated from a 
Roman view that all northern Barbarians came from an island in the 
northern ocean; a well-spring of peoples which constantly decended 
upon the borders of the Roman world. Describtions of Scandza/Scandia 
are already found by Ptolemy. The first historians of the Goths up to 
Jordanes picked up this view and embellished it with tribal legends. 
Jordanes' Getica than became the model for the Origo gentis 
Langobardorum, which besides the Scandza/Scadanan topos also used the 
description of Scandza and its population from classical Roman 
sources and other elements of the Getica. 

The Origo Gentis in turn became the model for all (but one) 
Langobardic histories, most notably Paulus Deaconus' Historia 
Langobardorum who also used Jordanes' work directly, which can be seen 
from a string of analogies. For example, Jordanes (Getica. I.) 
describes the Goths as coming from Scandza, where the most fertile 
people live, which is echoed by Paulus (Hist., I, 1) when he describes 
the people in the North as fabulously fertile. Then Jordanes (Getica 
II, 10-15) provides an excurse about Britain, while Paulus (Hist. I, 
4) provides a (completely unnecessary) excurse about the West at the 
same point. Jordanes (Getica II, 16-24) then returns so Scandza and 
describes the mid-summer night, while Paulus (Hist. I, 5-6) also 
reports about the length of days and nights on Scadanan. While the 
stories depart at this point further analogies exist like the common 
enemies the Vandals, the Amazons etc. 

The only Langobardic history that is relatively independent of the 
Origo is the Codis Gothanis (c800AD), which stated that the Langobards 
came from Scatenauge at the Elbe river, and which reports about 
battles against the Saxons at Patersprunna/Paderborn. It is the only 
history that reports real historical names. However, while this is no 
more reliable than the histories based on the Origo Gentis, it shows 
that other legends were around at the time of Paulus. Also, several 
Langobardic histories that do resort to the Scandza topos place 
Scandza on the continent (e.g. the Fredegar Chronicle).

The Troy topos was of almost similar importance as the Scandza topos. 
Even Jordanes alluded to the Troy topos for the origin of the 
Goths/Getic people. Jordanes (Getica IX 58-60)  sought to link the 
Goths' history via a dynastic relationship between the Getic king 
Telephus and the kings of Troy, to Homer's Troy. This was done in 
order to make the Goths equals with the Romans and the Getic history 
is likely based on Dio Chrysostomos. Unrelatedly, the Fredegar 
Chronicle developed a Troy topos for the origin of the Franks. 
However, most interestingly the Franks also have a Scandza topos. When 
Frechulf got hold of Jordanes' Getica in the early 9th century, he 
changed the Troy topos of the Franks and claimed that they also 
originated from Scandza. (Freculphi Chron. I 2, 17) "
Alii vero 
affirmant eaos de Scanza insula, quae vagina gentium est, exordium 
habuisse, de qua Gothi et caeterae nations Theotiscae exierunt
".

Interestingly, the Troy topos was also used for the Saxons. In 
Widukind of Corvey's second edition of Rerum gestarum Saxonicarum, he 
claimed that the Saxons originated from Macedonia. In contrast, in his 
first issue, Widukind had place the Saxon homeland in Scandinavia, 
saying that they were identical with the Dani et Northmanni 
(Rerum.gest. Saxon. I 2). Abbot Rudolf of Fulda in turn stated that 
the Saxons originated in Britain and had migrated from there to the 
region of Hadeln in North Germany. Interestingly, an origin from 
Britain is also alluded to in the Getica, but swiftly dismissed by 
Jordanes. It is possible that a Britainnia topos was also `in the air' 
at this time, although its following seemed to be limited.

Jordanes also alludes to a biblical origin of the Goths, which also 
adopted a life on its own in later works. Jordanes (Getica IV, 29) 
shows himself surprised that Flavius Josephus, who called the Magog 
Scythians does not also identify them as Goths since Scythians are 
Goths. Unrelatedly, Ambrosius of Milan (De fide II 16, 137f) also made 
the identification of Goths and Magog when writing that "Gog iste 
Gothus est". Ambrosius was the basis for Isidor of Seville who also 
identified the Goths with Magog on several occasions (Isisor Hist. 
Gothorum 66).

This underscores, that tribal histories are not historical accounts
 in a modern sense. The Scandza topos is not more credible as the Troy 
or biblical topos on the basis of these legends. Of course these 
histories do contain fragments of tribal legends that report 
historical events. However, for the Langobards, for example, several 
authors have shown that the first `true' folk memories start only as 
late as the arrival in Rugiland. 

But even for those tribal legends that were interwoven with classical 
sources there must have been certain models and analogies. Thus, we 
encounter the migration with three ships in the Gothic legends and in 
the Saxon legends, while the Langobards never mention any crossing of 
the sea. The names of the leaders are often modelled after animals. 
The Gothic name Berig may relate to Gothic baira the bear, while the 
Saxons arrived in Britain under Hengist and Horsa (the stallion and 
the horse) and one of the Langobardic leaders is Ybor, the boar.

All in all, I think that this makes it clear that the Scandza topos, 
just like the other topoi of Germanic tribal histories cannot simply 
be regarded as true and genuine memories. Especially the fact that 
several topoi were used for one and the same tribe underlines that 
none of them can simply be taken as the one and true legend. This 
would be arbitrary. For a medieval audience the Troy topos was just as 
real or unreal as the biblical and Scandza topos. Only that the 
Scandza topos suvived longer, in fact until the present day. Most 
likely none of the topoi represented real tribal true memory, or as 
Goffart put it "As for Scandza itself, the idea that an authentic 
Gothic tradition should have referred to an island of that name is no 
more plausible than that hoary legends among native peoples of North 
America should refer tothe State of Alaska or the Yukon Territory, let 
alone the Hudson's Bay". (p89)

cheers,

Dirk




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