[gothic-l] Weder-Geats

[Frank Kermes]

>   Tore Gannholm <tore.gannholm at swipnet.se> wrote (Subject: Re:
>Beowolf--the Goth?):-
> > Weder is a ram. the one year old sheep male. ... The ram is the national
> > symbol of Gotland. Already in the 13th century it was the official seal
>of
> > the Gotlandic republic. You can see it on http://gotland.luma.com

Hmm.  A possibility I had never thought of before (not knowing any
Gotlanders, y'see . . .;))  But, just off the cuff, how far back before its
official attestation could we extend the existence of the Ram symbol?  And
would an Anglo-Saxon audience have known that?  And I think Widsith makes a
mention of Onela's lake battle that might correspond with Southern Sweden,
though I know I'm getting some names wrong . . .

>Is there an unusually large amount of sheep-breeding in south Sweden?

I don't know, though I don't think that Gotland is quite South Sweden :)


>We also seem to be back at that old query: were the Geats / Gautar the same
>people as the Goths?

And what's the old answer?

Cheers,
Frank
_________________________________________________________________
Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com


You are a member of the Gothic-L list.  To unsubscribe, send a blank email to <gothic-l-unsubscribe at egroups.com>.
Homepage: http://www.stormloader.com/carver/gothicl/index.html