[gothic-l] Goterkaellan

[Ingemar Nordgren]

Hello folks,
 I tried to send this as a file but it does not seem to have been
received. I had a picture of the cover included. Instead i copy the
written summary after the main message.

I have read the list from time to time and seen some very shrewd
interpretations of my book Goterkaellan-The Well Spring of the Goths. I
judge it nessecary to submit an English summary to straighten things up.
I am hoping to find an English and a German publisher as well but till
now I have been busy producing enough books in Swedish. The first
edition is already sold out and recently the  second edition is out for
sale. It is revised containing both a German and an English summary and
my examination of Nordic and Continental Ringnames has been adjusted to
the last results in a summary but the full examination is published in
Migracijske Teme 1-2, Zagreb 2000.

The book contains 444 numbered pages plus foreword et c, has soft cover
and is in B5 format (17,6 x 25 cm). The attached file contains the
summary and a picture of the cover.

Those interested in buying the book cheeper than in the bookstore may
contact me directly via mail.

I will probably not have time to perform a regular debate just now but I
follow the list when I can.

Kindly
Ingemar Nordgren, Ph.D.
Sjögrässtigen 15
S-533 73 KÄLLBY
Sweden
46-510-541851
ingemar.nordgren at ebox.tninet.se



The Well Spring of the Goths - Summary
This work rests on the hypothesis that the Goths were not a people, but
a number of different peoples and tribes, held together through a common
religious background. It means that not only the Vistula Goths, but also
other peoples, could regard themselves as Goths. The religion therefore
could be considered as the Gothic ethnicity. To verify this hypothesis
the book starts with an examination of a number of different
researchers' opinions  concerning the Germanic religion during the Iron
Age. The cults of the fertility gods and the combined god Óðinn-gaut are
carefully examined and analyzed, and it is tried to reconstruct the cult
of the presumed god Gaut, and to decide his possible place in the divine
pantheon of the Nordic gods. During this process it is judged nessecary
to try to follow the religious developement all the way from the
Stone-Age. In doing this conclusions are drawn from the archaeological
material, as well as from works within the field of history of religion
and from old Nordic sagas.
According to the hypothesis the cult of Gaut becomes actual in the end
of the Nordic Bronze Age, when the climate  gradually became less
favourable, and the local chieftains needed to establish a firmer
control of the warriors to guard the pastures of the cattle. Cattle
breeding became more and more important the less harwest the earth
yilded. It was not possible then to cultivate the clay-soil but it was
exellent for cattle breeding. Because of the climate it was nessecary to
keep the cattle in stables during the winter and it means the farm must
lie close to the pasturelands. Because of the poor harwest it was no
longer possible to run hughe farms with a lot of people sustained by a
chieftain. These circumstances initiated a developement towards small
farms run by single families, which for the chieftains resulted in a
loss of power, when people no longer depended of them for food and
shelter. During these circumstances, when the sacral king or chieftain
no longer convincingly could claim to be the sun-god reborn, it was
important to find a new motivation to recruite warriors. What then could
be better than a personification of the god in the local chieftain.
Farming was dependent on the protection by divine powers, and such a
protection the chieftains could offer in the shape of secret men's
leauges, which could be used as well as demon-hunters in the fields as
well as warriors' leauges.
The question is raised wether Gaut was a foreign war-god or if he
possibly was included in the old fertility cult. This sun-fertility
cult  of Bronze Age Scandinavia is connected with the common name of the
peoples worshipping the fruitful sun - Sviþioþ - meaning 'the
Sun-people'. The king, Svíakonungr, accordingly must be interpreted as
the 'Sun-king'.
Another problem is if, and  if so when, the cult of Óðinn is imported
from the continent, or if it is originally domestic in Scandinavia and
that Óðinn earlier was known under another name, for example Gaut. The
examination leads to the conclusion, that the cult of Óðinn att least
officially must be regarded as an immgrant. Still there is a possibility
that Gaut, who gives the impression of a shamanistic fertility-god,
could be regarded as a local variant of Óðinn, even if he was not the
chief god-king and maybe also limited to southern Scandinavia with
surroundings. Possibly he was from the beginning regarded mostly as a
creator-god and divine ancestor of the people, and later sacral
chieftains started to motivate their rule with genealogical inheritance
from the god. Such a motivation differs widely from the claim of the
Svíakonungr to be the reborn sun-god Ingr/Frejr. According to Skírnismál
he was the reborn Balðr and probably  earlier also ÚllR. He was indeed
literally the reborn sun. Regarding the later cult of Óðinn the
conclusion is drawn that it functioned very much like the hypothetical
cult of Gaut - it supported a similar social structure. Because of this
it is motivated to regard Gaut as in any case a variant of Óðinn. The
Goths seem to have aknowledged a sacral king quite a long time, but with
the continental cult of Óðinn a process is speeding up leading to the
transfer of power to the local chieftains, even if the very beginning of
this process goes back to the chieftains claiming genealogical descent
from Gaut. We become a number of  Gefolgschaft-kingdoms who in some
cases with  the aid of christianity are developed into modern states.
The Vistula Goths probably kept their sacral kingdoms' structure until
the arrival to the Black Sea, meaning that the institution of  Kindins
in Gutþiuða, which is thoroughly examined, represents the last stage of
the declining sacral kingdom of the Goths. The cult of Óðinn,  as well
as of Gaut,  is however no cult for the people but for kings, chieftains
and warriors. The opinion is forwarded that the people all the time
worships the old fertility-gods. The sacral king is primarily tied to
the peoples' cult. Just this function is executed by the kinsman -
Kindins - in the Gothic realm in Dacia.
The family of gods, resulting of the arrival of the cult of Óðinn, are
functionally examined. Ablabius of Jordanes is also hopingly identified
as the praetorian prefect of Rome under Constantine the Great.
It is concluded, that the peoples claiming descent from Gaut provenly
come from Scandinavian surroundings or that they claim to do so. This is
understood as another indication, that in the bottom it deals with a
declining cultic leauge. This leads to the conclusion that the names of
Svíar, as well as Goths, Gautar, Gutar and Ýtar (Jutes), are theophoric
names. The last mentioned group includes the peoples claiming descent
from Gaut - they are 'the humans', 'the outpoured'. The origin of this
cultic league may be sought in the former sun-cult-league, who's
tribes/peoples all regarded themselves as Sviþioþ - the sun people. Even
the Suebs might have been part of this. The tribes/peoples claiming
descent from Gaut and accordingly regarding each other as kind of kins,
even if this not automatically leads to  political unity, at about AD
called themselves or are mentioned in classic sources,
Gautar,Jutar,Gutar, Gutones/Gudones/Gutoi. As the cult of Gaut is
moulded into a politically more open form through a sacral king,
confronting the old sacral kingdom, and later through increasingly
stronger local chieftains, personifying the god in the warrior cult,
finally joins with the cult of Óðinn, and this cult is generally
accepted all over Scandinavia in about 500 AD, the result is, that the
old title Svíakonungr is then taken over by a ruler motivating his power
with descent from Óðinn.
The presumed kings of the later 'folklands' north of the Mälar lake
formally keep the claim to be related to Yngvi-Frejr, but now in the
form of a genealogical descent from Óðinn-gaut via Njorðr and
Yngvi-Frejr - a clearly odinistic claim.  The circumstance, that the
king is connected with the name of Upsala, does not mean that he
nessecarily must be tied to a decided place Upsala, because there are in
Scandinavia and Britain within the activity-area of the old mythic
Ynglinga- and Skilfinga-kings about 200 places with this name. These are
in several cases possible to tie to cult-places of the cult of
Frejr/Freja. The king, also a petty-king, was also the goðe, 'the
priest', of the local cult of Frejr/Freja. In the Mälar lake area the
women seemingly have preserved their positions within the cult better
than in other areas, which leads to the conclusion that this area, at
least within the fertility cult, has played a decisive role.
The question wether the Vistula Goths originate from Scandinavia, as is
supposed by Jordanes, can of course never be assuringly answered. In the
available material is however a number of factors indicated showing a
possible Scandinavian origin. Scandinavia includes in this sense the
whole Nordic area inclusive Denmark/Jutland with surroundings and the
Scandinavian peninsula up to middle Norway or, in other words, the whole
Baltic- and Kattegat region. A hughe emigration, as is described by
Jordanes, is hard to find evidence for in Scandinavia around AD. However
there are in Sweden evident indications in the form of terminated
grave-fields, specially in Västergötland, but also in other areas, and
in the whole country there is an evident lack of finds between
approximately 300 BC to AD. Also in Västergötland there is  quite a
great amount of migration-period gold, showing in the direction of
contacts with the Goths. Hachmann has raised objections against an
emigration  but they are partly rejected. Still it is nessecary to
consider his statement about the mentioning by Plinius of Pytheas'
knowledge of the Goths on the continent already about 350 BC. To explain
this you must consider the fact, that on the island of Gotland there are
terminated grave-fields and other indications of an emigration around
350-300 BC. As told above there is also a lack of finds on the Swedish
mainland during the same period. These circumstances may possibly be
interpreted in that way, that there could have been an emigration at
three different occasions,  which is another way of indicating three
different immigrations to the Vistula area.
The first emigration, perhaps with dominance from Gotland, should then
be dated at about 350 BC.  Among the Nordic dialects the dialect of
Gotland is most similar to the Gothic of Wulfila's bible. On the
mainland, according to Wessén, it is the dialects of Götaland
(Gautland). According  to Gutenbrunner these tribes might have intended
to establish extended trade-posts for the amber trade. In connection
with this trade Pytheas might have heard of the Goths. The second wave
then  should have arrived at about AD. It is nessecary to presuppose,
that the first immgrants have not superposed the old culture in the
Vistula area because of the not uniform graves, indicating that they
have lived as neighbours to the  other tribes. Archaeologically there
are similarities also with Östergötland. Probably in the second wave it
deals with a military organised enterprise with a common cult for the
whole area and with a grave-custom that can be traced from among else
Västergötland and West-Sweden. Earlier neighbour-peoples might now have
been gothizised, at least what concerns the cult. Peter Heather has also
pointed out the fact, that the Wielbark-culture gives the impression of
a great cultic league. The third wave, coming from the whole Baltic- and
Kattegat-region, you could connect with the Gepids as Jerzy Okulicz
convincingly has done.
Many linguists mean, that the Goths originate in Scandinavia. They are
however split into two factions. Either they mean that the Goths left
Scandinavia while they still spoke Proto-Germanic or that they spoke a
transition-language Goto-Nordic. That question is of no importance for
this work because for both possibilites it must be presupposed that the
first language-shifting, which evidently began about 300-200 BC and
resulted in dialectical differences, has influenced the Nordic languages
but not the Gothic. The emigration accordingly must be dated at about
this time either with a Proto-Germanic language or with a Goto-Nordic.
Ernst Schwarz means, that this language might be unchanged still during
the 1st c. BC. Through the name-form Goutai delivers Ptolemaios only
about 150 AD evidence that the languge-shifting has reached Scandinavia.
Linguistically is accordingly nothing to object against an emigration
but nor can you prove it in that way. Müllenhoffs thesis about a Gothic
immigration in Scandinavia,  is only supported by  the archaeologist
Kmiecinski and by Scherer. The cultural superpositioning by the
emigration which Jordanes places in the time of king Berig, and which
might be identical with the second wave, is confirmed through
archaeological changes indicating a military and religious, but not
nessecarily a totally cultural, superpositioning. Among else disappears
weapongraves completely - cf. Tacitus about 'the sueonic tribes', where
the kings have controlled all weapons, that they only could be used in
controlled fighting. As an alternative the custom of burying men without
weapons may be put in connection with the initiated warriors in
shamanistic mens' leagues. These warriors, initiated through symbolic
hanging and spearwound, were regarded as living dead. When such a
warrior dies another takes his place. If he already was regarded dead,
it was only the body that was buried and the weapons were still needed.
A woman maybe only died once and so the funeral was more costly and
women even had knives etc. with them. There is no way to decide exactly
why we have graves for men with no weapons in them, but these are at
least two suggestions. Maybe both could be correct?
It is agreed with Wenskus that the by Jordanes described emigration has
taken place under a sacral king but disagreed  with him when he means
the kingdom grew stronger during the process of migration. During the
actual migration is a sacral king of course strong and also when he
leads fights for freedom and defense when they are travelling. It is
quite another matter when they settle within their own boundaries and
there is peace. During those circumstances the real power lies with the
chieftains and  even in case of a defensive war the king then can give
no orders outside the boundaries. With the transition to the cult of
Óðinn-gaut he becomes, as already remarked, weaker and weaker until his
function totally disappears. For the Goths this process finally leads to
the arianic kingdoms in Italy and France/Spain, all ruled by a reiks and
not a þiuðans.
It has been regarded as pure chance that the Goths took the arianic
confession. In that way you may not explain why they stayed with it so
decisively in spite of the defiance of later church-officials. It does
also not explain the sucessful Gothic mission among all other
continental Germanic tribes with exeption of the Franks. Maybe it is
easier to understand if you regard the cultic background of the
Germanic warriors. Normally they were initiated to Óðinn-gaut and was
thereby symbolically hanged and stabbed by a spear - they were indeed
symbolically killed and reincarnated as 'living dead'. Their kings were
initiated in similar way and they also claimed to be descendants of
Gaut, later Óðinn-gaut.
In the arianism is Jesus God's son but also human, he is
killed(sacrified) and reincarnated (as a human). Such a process might
for the Germans be quite natural and understandable. Of course the arian
clergymen did not regard Christ as a mere human but the common folk
would hardly care of such finesses. The son could  of course not be the
same person as the father, and so even the Holy Ghost was added as the
same person by the nicenians. The arian opposal to this statement might
well be understood by the Germans as a rejection of a polyteistic
religion with three gods. They had been told there was only one god.
Still an important explanation is that it replaced the old common cult
with a new which differed from the neigbouring mediterranean folks and
in that way served as the new ethnicity, which stopped the Goths to
merge with the new cultures. Not until they accepted the catholic faith
did the ethnicity  finally begin to dissolve.

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