[gothic-l] Eruli

[Bertil Häggman]

The Eruli Riddle

Have with interest followed the new debate on the Eruli
on this Gothic list. Although a discussion on the Eruli
maybe should be at home on the Germanic list, I am taking the
opportunity to add a few words. On the Germanic list
I have presented extensive argument concerning the
role of the Goths and the Eruli as pre-Vikings. Will leave
that argument for a while and return to the important
question of the origin of that people.

In my opinion there is very little on the origin, only Jordanes.
Of course Prokopius wrote that the remigrating Eruli
returned to their ancestral home in Scandinavia. Of course
the settlement "close to the Gauti" possibly in Blekinge in south-
eastern Sweden was actually not a return to the ancestral
home in Denmark.

Possibly the Eruli left Denmark around 200 AD. We can find
that people on the Black Sea from around 250 AD, so 200 AD
sounds likely. What area of Denmark would at the time be
so developed, that it could be ancestral land of the Eruli and
other peoples? The answer ought to be Sealand, not Jutland,
developing later.

We know that Prokopius' remigrating Eruli passed the nations
(note the plural) of the Danes (Danon ta etne), without suffering
violence at the hands of the Danes. Jordanes provides info
that the Eruli were driven out by the Danes. Seemingly the
dispute 300 years later is forgotten. The remigrating Eruli
can pass the Danish islands without attacks by the Danes.

The Jordanes passage on the Eruli is not very clear,
admittedly, but we can understand that the Eruli were
the tallest race in Scandinavia, but in spite of their
physical strength they were driven from their homes (propriis
sedibus) by the Danes. The Danes were of the same stock
as the Swedes, if we are to believe Jordanes. But were there
really Swedes around 500 AD? The Swedes are mentioned by
Tacitus many hundred years earlier but then disappear from
written sources.

Personally I think the Eruli passed Scania on their remigrating
route to southeastern Sweden (Blekinge). I have developed
my views in the 1999 article "Eruli Influence in South Scandinavia-
Migration and Remigration" naturally taking the Soesdala finds
into account. These wetland sacrifices have much in common with
customs of the peoples of the steppe. Interesting is also that the world's
largest bracteate was found near the church and the medieval
royal seat of South Aasum in Scania not that far from Blekinge.

Erulically

Bertil


------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~-~>
Make good on the promise you made at graduation to keep
in touch. Classmates.com has over 14 million registered
high school alumni--chances are you'll find your friends!
http://us.click.yahoo.com/l3joGB/DMUCAA/4ihDAA/wpHWlB/TM
---------------------------------------------------------------------_->

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

Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/