[gothic-l] Re: Amali insignia/ Gambara/gambr

[keth at ONLINE.NO]

Hello Francisc,
Yes, there are still eagles that nest in Norway.
We have the "havørn". (=ocean eagle)
In the Edda there are both eagles and ravens as important birds
in the mythology. Also in one of the "fornaldr sagas" there
is a story about some vikings going into Finland or Russia
and there was another kind of mythic bird there. I think 
the ON sources call it "gammr". If you look at Hermann Pálsson
and Paul Edwards "Seven Viking Romances" (penguin book, recommended!),
you will see they translate it as "vulture". But that is only
an assumption. It is difficult to prove that when 13th century
Icelanders talked about a "gammr" they actually meant a vulture.
But of course, it may very well have been just that.

The curved beaks of the many birds you find used in emblematic
fashion in Germanic art, is very peculiar indeed. See for example
the birds depicted on the Sutton Hoo shield. Once you have
memorized its "typology" you will recognize it on many other
pieces of Germanic decorative art. So perhaps this motif
has something to do with the Goths??

It cannot be a raven. Because ravens have a rather straight beak.
It can however have been meant as an eagle, but then "in über-
triebenem Stil" (sorry I couldn't find the right English
expression for that)

P.S. INTERESTING !!!

I just made an interesting discovery:
Looking up "gammr" (m.), the bird, in my ON dictionary, I saw
that it in Old Norse was ALSO called a "gambr" (m.).
Now that immediately brought the name "Gambara" of Langobardic
myth into my mind, who may be said to be, in a way, the mythic
mother of the Langobards, the one who knows how to negotiate
with the victory-granting deities, and through her cleverness
knows to turn the ordained defeat (against the Vandals) into
victory for the "Winnils" as they were called then, but who
in gratitude for their victory thenceforth changed their name to
"Langobardi".

Theory: Since the Old Norse "valkyrior" (battle maidens) 
were often represented as real physical persons (young women),
as often as supernatutural female spirits, who "choose"
the slain in battles, and are often also represented 
in bird's shape, the above complex of ideas seems to
be in general agreement with the outlines of Norse myth, as
it is known to us. It can therefore be theorized that the mythic
mother of the Langobards "Gambara" (see the "Historia")
may have been a woman, whose name indicated a certain mythic
bird, whose name has come down to us in Scandinavian/Icelandic
myth as "Gammr"/"Gambr". If that is the case, it is reasonable
to assume that such a (mythic) bird may have played an
important role not only in myth and legend, but also have
found its way into the then current emblematic representations.
Therefore, one may speculate if the bird represented
on e.g. the Sutton Hoo shield is meant as such a "gambr" bird.

Best regards
Keth



>--- In gothic-l at y..., keth at o... wrote:
>> ...
>> What you do find are the various bird forms, but they wouldn't
>> be vultures, I don't think, because there are no such birds
>> in Northern Europe, though there might be some in Iran (?)
>
>I have read somewhere that the bird-shaped fibulae of Goths and 
>Gepids, representing birds of prey, are due to Iranic influence.
>On the other hand, the Goths knew the eagles, since there is a word 
>for these birds in Gothic: ara, having cognates in other Germanic 
>languages (OE earn, Eng. ern(e), MLG arn, Germ. dial. Aar, etc.)
>
>Francisc
>
>
>
>
>
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