[gothic-l] Re: "Eruli", "Goths", "Danes" and wherefrom the runes

[Tore Gannholm]

>
>
>Tore,
>
>the fact that the Heruls were scattered among several other peoples
>of the same region can be established from the contemporary sources
>like Procopius who reported about the defeated and starving Heruls
>who sought refuge first among Gepids and then among Romans.

Dirk,
I know that there are various interpretations and I think it has to 
remain interpretations even if it is by wellknown scolars. They are 
only human.

Still we may not forget that Procopius writes in VI 1-6 XV
http://www.stavgard.com/Gotland/tacitus_/procopius/default.htm

"When the Eruli, being defeated by the Lombards in the above 
mentioned battle, migrated from their ancæstral homes, some of them, 
as has been told by me above, made their home in the country of 
Illyricum, but the rest were averse to crossing the Ister River, but 
settled at the very extremity of the world: at any rate, these men, 
led by many of the royal blood, traversed all the nations of the 
Sclaveni one after the other, and after next crossing a large tract 
of barren country, they came to the Varni, as they are called. After 
these they passed by the nations of the Dani, without suffering 
violence at the hands of the barbarians there. Coming thence to the 
ocean, they took to the sea, and putting in at Thule, remained there 
on the island."

Apparently Procopius only knew of these two groups.

Further it can be noted that Procopius knew the name of the Danis but 
the name Svear was not yet known. My suggestion is that the people 
that settled in the Lake Mälar  area adopted that name.

see also
http://www.stavgard.com/Gotland/beowulf_/upsal_/tumuli/default.htm

and
http://www.stavgard.com/Gotland/beowulf_/upsal_/annals/default.htm

Tore



>  Also,
>Cassiorodus attested that defeated Heruls also fled to Italy after
>the annihlation of their kingdom by the Langobards. (See the archives
>of this list and/or Germanic -L for the exact references) The
>integration of Heruls into the Langobards can be deducted from the
>Historia Langobadorum, which reports that the Langobardic king took
>the royal insignia of the Herulic king. This act likely meant that he
>also took the overlordship of the followers of Rodolph, the last
>independent Herulic king. Also, interation of defeated enimies is a
>directly attested custom for the Langobards and will no doubt have
>taken place in 509AD. Wacho's marriage to Silinga, the daughter of
>Rodolph was likely instigated in order to facilitate the integration
>and garner support among Herulic factions among the Langobards.
>
>Dirk
>


-- 

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/