[gothic-l] Gothic reference in Song of Igor

[dirk at SMRA.CO.UK]

A famouns Russian heroic poem contains a brief reference to the Goths.
Thus, the Song of Igor, written in the 12/13th century states:

"I vot gotskie krasnie devi sapeli na beregu sinego morya, svonya
russkim solotom, vospevayut vremya bosa, leteyut mect' sa
shcharukana..."

Which translates as:

"And then the beautiful girls of the Goths started to sing at the
coast of the blue sea, sounding of Russian gold, they sing of the days
of Bos and attend to the revenger of the Sharo-khan." (own
translation)


I have not seen an interpretation of this verse, but I suppose it
refers to the Crimean Goths, because I seem to remember that one
Crimean Gothic leader defeated a certain Bos in the 4th century. If
that is correct, I find it surprising that a 12/13th century poem
would still refer to the 4th century Goths. The link may be the
Russian principaltiy of Tmutarakan,which is frequently refered to in
the Song of Igor and which existed in the 10th/11th century on the
Taman peninsula, i.e. the area of the Tetraxitic Goths.


cheers,
Dirk



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