[gothic-l] Re: Amali insignia

[dirk at SMRA.CO.UK]

--- In gothic-l at y..., "Francisc Czobor" <czobor at c...> wrote:
> --- 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

Hi Francisc,

eagles lived all over Europe in these days and they are still living
in the Alps and other parts and they played an important role in the
mythology of many peoples. For the Romans it was usually associated
with the dead and the eagle carried the soul of the dead away to
heaven. Ostrogothic 40-nummi coins show a sitting Eagle, spreading its
wings and turning its head backwards. This eagle is, most likely
aluding to Roman traditions rather than Gothic beliefs, as this would
be in keeping with the design on other Ostrogothic coins (Romulus and
Remus, Roma-head, Victory, etc.)

cheers,

Dirk




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