[gothic-l] Re: Wolfs/dogs

[faltin2001]

Here is a link to a site that provides a picture of the sword 
scabbard of Gutenstein (South Germany/Alamannic areas), which shows a 
mythicial creature called a 'wolf-skin warrior' holding a ring sword. 
Since ring swords were a symbol of Germanic warrior elites, the wolf 
will likely have played a special role in their identity. 

http://www.archaeologie-online.de/magazin/thema/2000/03/d2.php3

As for the Goths, I am not aware of any depiction of wolfs or dogs on 
Gothic artefacts. It was certainly not present in the original 
Wielbark culture in modern northern Poland from which the Goths 
emerged, since the so called 'animal style' was developed at a much 
later stage. The most important animal symbol in the Gothic culture 
seemed to have been the eagle, which they adopted from the Sarmatian 
steppe tribes. 

cheers,
Dirk 














--- In gothic-l at y..., Ingemar Nordgren <ingemar.nordgren at e...> wrote:
> 
> 
> gothic-l at y... wrote:
> 
>  >
>  >    From: "hrafnsnest" <mimir at s...>
>  > Subject: Wolf/Dog Motifs
>  >
>  > Hail All!
>  >
>  >    I just finished _The One Eyed God - Odinn and the Indo-
Germanic
>  > Mannerbund_, by Kris Kershaw, Journal Of Indo-European Studies,
>  > Washington D.C., 2000.  A fantastic read, covering the Eurasian
>  > Steppes and the wolf/dog motifs of the various tribes who dwelt 
their.
>  > However, there was not very much info. on the Goths or other 
related
>  > EGmc tribes who were in close cultural contact with the various 
Indo-
>  > Iranian tribes.  Are there any wolf / dog motifs among these 
EGmc's
>  > besides the few names of Gothic kings?
>  >
>  > Wassail!
>  > Jeff
> 
> Hi Jeff,
> 
> About the Goths specificially I can not say something straight 
forward,
> but the dog/wolf motiv is very common in Scandinavia and the  areas
> around the South coast of the Baltic where also the Goths lived. The
> Torsö plates e.g. show warriors in wolfguise, you have the 
dogs/wolves
> of Óðinn often reproduced in later German carnevals. The Langobards 
had
> the dog as their special totem. I suggest you read Otto Höflers
> "Geheimbünde der Germanen", Moritz Diesterweg Verlag, Frankfurt a/M
> 1934, where you can find a lot of these things. It also contains a
> special supplement about werewolfs in Balticum and a lot of 
information
> about Scandinavian and German werewolfs and the odinistic warrior 
cults.
> 
> Best
> Ingemar


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