[gothic-l] Gaut, an additional view

[keth at ONLINE.NO]

Bertil wrote:
[quoting Otto Hoefler]
>"We know, however, that the Lombard King Audoin and
>hiss on Alnboin are said to descend ex genere Gausus.
>And this name, as the name of the progenitor in the
>sagas of the Gothic Amals, and the mythical forefathers
>of diverse English royal houses, Gapt, that is Gaut,
>a name that comes from the old Gautic god *Gautaz,
>a typical god genealogy."


The Langobards followed quite a different path to Italy
than the Goths. Their itineraries differed by thousands
of kilometers, and the centuries in which their respective
treks took place differed by many many centuries.
Thus there is no reason to believe that the Langobards
had a mythology or genealogy that agreed with that of
the Goths. Add to this that their place of origin differed
as well.

What evidence do we have about the religion of the Goths?
About the Langobards we have something in Paolo Diacono,
but it is very little. I believe the Getica contains even
less about the religion of the Goths. The reason must be
that the Langobards converted to Christianity much later
than the Goths.

In my opinion Hoefler is here merely repeating an opinion
that dates back to Jacob Grimm, and that quite a few
authors seem to have copied more or less blindly since.
There is no sign of any reasoning or explanation of why
he thinks so? Or some reference to relevant discussion?

To me it is clear that Grimm thought so because he was
a stong believer in ideas of Germanic unity. Hence it
*had* to be Gapt=Gaut, because that was exactly what his
axiom told him. Then *after* he has decided what the
truth is, *then* he starts looking for arguments to
support it: And the best thing he comes up with is
"manuscrip corruption". But in that fashion one can
prove anything one wished to prove. That is not science
but dogmatism.

Best regards
Keth






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