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[Tim Caldwell]

--- In gothic-l at yahoogroups.com, "Ingemar Nordgren" <ingemar at ...> 
wrote:
   
> >   Your "gothic concept" seems to me interesting - especially from
> one reason:
> >   maybe this facts could be responsible for (or at least could 
have
>  something to do with) the phenomenon which can be observed - more 
or
>  less - across all the germanic mediaval tradition, especially in 
epic
>  genre: I mean, that many of them - old english, scandinavian, 
german
> -  bear something like "gothic stamp" - concerning some heroes,
> events,  stories and so on. 
> >   Do You have, or anyone else, any additional idea, from what 
reason
> those traditions have such a "gothic stamp"?
> 
> The normal explanation is that the Gothic deeds were that great 
that
> they were remembered by all Germanic peoples and so were the Huns 
that
> nominally ruled for a period all the way up to the Baltic shore- 
if we
> beleive the Getica of course. The problem however is that most of 
this
> knowledge is transferred from the Icelandic literature of the 12th 
c.
> and later and hence it is hard to say really what remained of lore 
on
> the continent before that. There are the stories of Didrik of Bern 
of
> course, and the statue of Teoderik that was moved from Ravenna to
> Aachen is referred to on the Rök-stone in Sweden in the Viking 
period.
> He was known as Didrik of Bern after his death. Most  continental
> written lore however is pure medieval as far as I recall. Hence I 
dare
> not say too much in this respect but you might indeed have a clue 
with
> your suggestion. Most of the knowledge of lore anyway was saved up
> North and reexported it seems. If I am wrong, which of course is
> possible, I will quite sure be corrected by an expert on lore.
> 
> Best greetings
> Ingemar
>



Hi Ingemar and Michal,

I think this question about the "Gothic stamp" is very interesting- 
hadn't really thought about it before. Anglo-Saxon and Scandinavian 
sources seem quite familiar with Goths like Ermanaric who to my 
knowledge weren't particularly significant outside of Gothic 
territory. So maybe there's more to it than just the Goths' great 
deeds.

 I'm no "expert on lore", but I thought I'd throw in another theory. 
Tales like these tended to flow from people to people in the form of 
alliterative songs/poems recited by professional gleemen, who 
travelled the Germanic world learning, composing and reciting their 
songs. If the Gothic chieftains prized these poets even more than 
other Germanic peoples, and rewarded visiting poets particularly 
generously, the poets would be particularly attracted to Gothic 
lands, and learn a disproportionate amount of Gothic material.

The Anglo-Saxon poem Widsið might support this idea quite well. The 
poet who composed it, who says he hailed from the Myrging people of 
Angeln, mentions his visit to the Gothic king Eormanric right at the 
start of the poem, and later says:

"And I was with Eormanric for quite a while, 
where the king of the Goths was graciously kind to me. 
He, the ruler of the city-dwellers, gave me a collar 
in which there was six hundred coins' worth  
of pure gold, counted by shillings."

This generosity towards poets seems particularly significant given 
that the poet had already described Eormanric as an oath-breaker; 
and Anglo-Saxon tradition remembers Eormanric as a particularly 
cruel man who in some ways represented the antithesis of the 
Germanic kingly ideal. The poet also says:

"From there I travelled through the Gothic homeland --
I always sought out the best companions --
that was Eormanric's household guard!"

To a traveling poet, the best hosts will be the ones who are most 
appreciative of their work, and the most open-handed!

It was primarily these minstrels who were responsible for recording 
Germanic tribal "history", and their activities would be a decisive 
factor in controling what information and news was disseminated and 
remembered, and what was not. Whatever the explanation for 
the "Gothic stamp" is, it's quite possible that the travelling 
minstrels had an important part to play.

Cheers,
Tim









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