[gothic-l] Re: Alans and Huns

[czobor at CANTACUZINO.RO]

About the Alans, three more thinks are to be said:

1. In Crimea, Alans lived together with Crimean Goths, becoming 
eventually assimilated by the later; the bishopric of Crimea was 
called "the bishopric of Goths ans Alans". This couls explain the 
presence of Iranic words in Crimean Gothic, such as sada "hundred", 
hazer "thousand", stap "goat".

2. A group of Alans migrated in Pannonia some 1000 years ago and 
settled between the Tissa river and Danube. In Hungarian they are 
called "Jász". They became liguistically assimilated by the 
Hungarians, but are until now a distinct ethnic group. Their original 
language is considered the source of some Iranic words of Hungarian 
(for instance, ezer "thousand", very similar to the corresponding 
Crimean Gothic word - hazer).

3. There are modern descendants of Alans who conserved their original 
Iranic language: the Ossetians of Caucasia.

Francisc

--- In gothic-l at y..., Bertil Häggman <mvk575b at t...> wrote:
> Francisc et al,
> 
> Concerning the Alans I think one should also keep in mind
> that they had an alliance with Rome at times. The Alans probably to
> some extent influenced the Roman cavalry tactic. But the
> Alans were not only warriors. They were merchants with
> close relations to the Mediterranean world. There is a
> Greek monument at Taman of 208 AD praising the 
> Alan interpreter. The Roman Emperor Maximinus the 
> Thracian had a Gothic father and an Alan mother. One
> could also speak of Alan assimilation of Goths. See Ammianus
> Marcellinus, Res Gestae, who wrote that "almost
> all of the Alans are tall and good looking, their hair
> is generally blond". Alans found in graves in the Volga
> region were tall for their time: 182-189 centimeters.
> They were victims of the Huns (BTW, have never seen
> of Huns cooperating with Goths on an equal basis so to
> say. The Goths were of course for a period subjected by 
> the Huns. But there were Hun mercenaries in Roman
> service. Huns were used by Rome against the
> Burgundians).
> 
> Alan colonists fought the Ostrogoths and were
> settled in Italy. The Alans left many traces in Gaul. They
> joined Athaulf in 414 AD in southern Gaul. Aetius also
> settled Alans in Gaul. They often belonged to the higher
> levels of society. Alans (except for those in North
> Africa) seem to have taken to mainstream Christianity.
> Don't know much on Alan culture in Gaul but the Alans
> seem to have operated in small groups and were thus
> easily assimilated. But their horsemanship may have
> influenced chivalry in thre early Medieval times. 
> 
> Generally it seems there was mutual assimilation and
> interaction between Alans, Goths, Avandals and Rome.
> 
> Avars are also interesting as an interacting people with
> the East Germanics and with Rome.
> 
> Generally the subject of these interactions between
> Nomadic peoples and the Goths is a fascinating story,
> which certainly belongs to this list.
> 
> Gothically
> 
> Bertil


You are a member of the Gothic-L list.  To unsubscribe, send a blank email to <gothic-l-unsubscribe at egroups.com>. 

Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/