[gothic-l] Re: The Formation of the Goths

faltin2001 dirk at SMRA.CO.UK
Tue Jan 22 12:02:39 UTC 2002


--- In gothic-l at y..., "Bertil Haggman" <mvk575b at t...> wrote:
> "From this island of Scandza, as from a factory of tribes
> or a wom of peoples...the Goths are said to have migrated
> long ago under their king Berig. As soon as they had dis-
> embarked from their ships and had set foot on land, they
> gave the place a name; for even today it is said to be
> called Gothiscandza. From there they soon advanced
> against the settlements of the Ulmerugi, who at that
> time lived on the shores of the sea, made war upon
> them, engaged in a battle, and drove them from the land.
> At that time they subjugated their neighbors, the Vandals,
> and by their victories forced the to jin the Gothic rule...
>
> This is the beginning of the memoria, the Amal tribal
> history of the Goths, which Cassiodorus recorded and
> which Jordanes preserved for posterity. As late as the
> sixth century Theoderic the Great insisted that his family
> had originated in Scandinavia and had made the long
> trek from there by way of eastern Pomerania and the
> Vistula to the Black Sea, thence to Pannonia and Moesia,
> and finally to Italy. In view of the enormous energy that
> scholarship has invested in defending or refuting the
> Scandinavian origin of the Goths, one could ask why
> we do not believe Theoderic and accept his claim - of
> course not as hard fact but as motif of a saga..."
>
> When rereading the above section of Chapter 2 of Wolfram
> (1988) I was struck by the similarity of the middle ground
> taken by Professor Wolfram similar to that of Professor
> Hermodsson in _Goterna_.
>
> Gothically
>
> Bertil





This is one of your main problems. You just take a passage, which you
like, out of context from any source or book and present it as 'the'
opinion of an authorative author. You should read Wolfram's section
on 'origo and religio' (I think that is how it is called. I provide
the reference tomorrow) to get a full and correct understanding of
his views in this matter. He states that there was no migration of a
Gothic tribe or people from Scandinavia, but helds that some
traditions of the Goths were linked to Scandinavia.

Dirk



------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~-->
Tiny Wireless Camera under $80!
Order Now! FREE VCR Commander!
Click Here - Only 1 Day Left!
http://us.click.yahoo.com/WoOlbB/7.PDAA/ySSFAA/wWMplB/TM
---------------------------------------------------------------------~->

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/



More information about the Gothic-l mailing list