[gothic-l] Re: Danparstadir - Reidgotaland

[dirk at SMRA.CO.UK]

--- In gothic-l at y..., keth at o... wrote:
> Hi Dirk,
> You wrote:
> >> similar to using Sir Walter Scott's writing to
> >> reconstruct English medieval history. Hence, terms
> >> like Reidgota etc. are of no historical value as long
> >> as they cannot be confirmed by historical sources,
> >> because for all we know they may only have existed
> >> in the imagination of 8th/9th century story-tellers.
> 
> 9 generations is not *very* short. I read somwhere that
> there is a natural 180 year limit. That is, when a person gets
> to be 85 years old, he can still remember what his 90
> year old great grandfather told him when he was 10.
> What his great grandfather tells, is about his father's
> life around the time he was born and grew up. If we then
> add up the numbers we get 170 years. Well, when I saw this
> described by someone else, I think the number was 180 years.
> 
> 180 years is approx. 6 generations.
> 9 generations (Rök stone) is somewhat longer.
> But since they are more general events than mere family
> history, that are being described, more people can then
> confirm the events as well as the names of people and
> places. And that should extend the "horizon of visibility"
> in folk memory somewhat.



Hi Keths,

people in these times rarely lived to the age of 90 years to be able 
to remember what their 90 year old grandmother had told them when they 
were 10. Over a period of 180 years a story would have been told 
thousands of times by thousands of different people. If this 180 year 
horizon had worked than the Hildebrandlied should have provided a more 
accurate account of events. 





> 
> Besides, we do have confirmation from a presumably old poem
> like Vafþrudnismál, which is geographically quite separated
> from Rök. Also, what I think we have not sufficiently
> discussed, are the Old English sources, where the "Hrædgothas"
> are *ALSO* mentioned. (date: before the Rök stone)
> 
> Thus we have several independent confirmations from a wide
> geographical area. I therefore think this is a real name.



Are they really independent or are they all based on a comon folklore? 
 For example, one author Rudolf of Fulda wrote down a story according 
to which the Saxons migrated from Britain to North Germany (Hadeln to 
be precise)thus reverting the direction of their migration. This one 
story sparked off many seemingly independent histories and stories 
according to which the Saxons came from Britain.  Anyway, I don't say 
it is not worth pursueing the identidy of these Hreidgothas, maybe 
some real people were at some time really called by that name, but you 
would also find that many independent sources refere to Amazons, 
trolls and witches, why not try to locate them?


cheers,
Dirk
 


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