[gothic-l] The Goths from Gotland -- and gothic proto-vikings..

[Bertil Häggman]

Anthony,

Don't actually see a link here. The Scandinavians
who travelled on the rivers of present Russia down
to the Black Sea and to Arab countries were from
Sweden, Norway and Denmark, as far as we can
speak about states at this time. Varjagi, Varangians,
Rus were the names of warrior-tradesmen coming
from the other side of the Baltic Sea.

Some sources regard Varangian as connected with
the word for "oath" relating to the Varangian Guard
in Constantinople, which originally were Scandinavians.

In Novgorod (Holmgardr in Scandinavian) there was a
permanent Varangian trading center located in the
business area (torgovaja storona) of the city.

One source is the German draft of a treaty with Great
Novgorod dating from around 1229-1231. In it one reads
"curia gotensium " (i.e. Gotskij dvor, Gothic court), an
interesting tidbit, maybe something for our friends on the
Gothic-L. Curia gotensium is followed by the words "cum
ecclesia et cimiterium Sancti Olaui". There was obviously
a St. Olaf Church in Great Novgorod.

Gothically

Bertil

> A similar Viking route is what the Russians called the {put' v Varjag
> iz Greky} = "road from the Varangians to the Greeks", from
> Aldegjuborg (= "Ladoga Fort", where Leningrad is now) along parts of
> 3 of the great rivers of Russia to the Black Sea, with two portages.
> Many places along that route had both Russian and Norse names: Kijev
> = Koenugard = "shipyard"; Novgorod = Nygard; Ostrov#nyj Prag (some
> dangerous rapids on the Dnieper; # = the hard jer) = Holmfors; etc.



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