[gothic-l] Gaut, an additional view

[sunburst]

Hails!

>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.


Alboin of the Longobards was a "Gausi" if for no other reason than that his
mother Rodalinda, was descended from Amalaberga of Ostrogoths, daughter of
Amalafrida, daughter of Theodemir, and sister of Theodoric the Great.  In
that sense, he was descended from Gapt/Gaut.  I have not been able to find
any evidence for any kind of Gautic descent for Alboin's father Audoin (Paul
the Deacon had far too little to say on this), but the fact that Alboin
called himself Gausi instead of Amali implies a further geneological
connection, whether real or invented.

While there is no proof that Audoin was related to the Lethingi,  Wacho had
married Autrogusa of Gepids (notice the "-gusa, element, including the s
instead of t, just as in Alboin's Gausi).  If Audoin was related somehow,
there may have been an unrecorded genealogical tradition of the Gepids,
begining with Gapt of Gaut which Alboin was calling upon in his designation.

I should leave it to others to point out how the Longobards apparently
originated on Gotland, but I will say that the similarities between the
early tale of the Goths and the Longobards, ie. sailing from Scandza,
battling the Vandals, then encountering the Amazons, perhaps indicates that
the Goths and Longobards were originally one people, or at least one
borrowed the story of the other.

Albareiks


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