We have Abraham as our father...

[akoddsson]

'We have Abraham as our father...' The phrase should sound familiar 
enough to anyone who has read the Bible, refering as they do to the 
Jewish origination myth from Abraham. Many folk have such 
origination myth, and a Gothic version is also recorded in the 
medieaval text of Guta Saga. According to the story, a certain 
Thieluar was the first to find Gutland (presumably a very long time 
ago ;). His son, Hafthi, has a wife Hvita Stierna (White Star) and 
together they have 3 sons: Guti, the oldest, Graipr and 
Gunnfiaunn. 'Guti skal Gutland aiga, Graipr skal annarr haita, ok 
Gunnfiaunn thrithi' - Goth shall Gotland own, Graipr shall the other 
be called and Gunnfiaunn the third. These three then divide Gutland, 
their inheritance, Graipr receiving the northern part, Guti the 
middle and Gunnfiaunn the southern part. Now, Gutland is large, so 
that we can imagine that these three were quite wealthy by the 
standards of the time. Their descendants would be less wealthy, as 
the saga then relates a Gothic mass-migration from Gutland, as the 
land could hold no more. Hafthi and Hvita Stierna's oldest son is 
just called Goth (Gotl. Guti, Go. *Guta). Now, to the best of my 
knowledge, this is the only historical person to bear the personal 
name 'Goth'. Naturally enough, he figures in the Gothic origination 
myth. Written in the Gothic of Wulfila's time, we can figure that at 
least 3 words from the Germanic root *geut- (verb *geutan) were then 
in the language (but likely others as well):

Guta - a Gothic mythical ancestor; personal name; any Gothic person
Gutland - the land of the Goths
Gutthiuda - the Gothic nation

Of course, this does not tell us _why_ they were so called (from the 
root *geut-), which name-giving appears lost in the mists of time.

Regards,
Konrad





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