[gothic-l] Re: Pietroasa (etymology +)

[czobor at CANTACUZINO.RO]

Dear Frithunanths,

I am the one who has to answer this question, since Pietroasa lies in 
my country, Romania.
First, Pietroasa is not a city, but a village in the county of Buzau, 
in the eastern part of Romania.
The name of the village, "Pietroasa", is not at all Gothic, but pure 
Romanian and modern, meaning "stony" (feminine gender), from Latin 
petrosa (Lat. petra = Romanian piatra = stone). The name comes from a 
stone quarry that existed in the zone.
The treasure is surely Gothic, fact confirmed by the bird-shaped 
fibulae, characteristic for Gothic-Gepidic art, and by the Runic 
inscription on a necklace "GUTANI(O)WIHAILAG" (the "O" is not sure, 
because in that place the necklace is broken), that is currently 
interpreted as "gutane weih-hailag", meanig "of the Goths sacred-holy 
[property]" (but there are also other readings and interpretations, I 
already posted a message on this subject to this list).
The treasure is currently attributed to the Visigothic leader 
Athanaric, that, according to Ammianus Marcelinus, organised a 
resistance against the invadig Huns in a place named by the Goths 
"CAUCALAND" (i.e. Hauha-land = "Highland") in the mountains called in 
Latin "Montes Serorum". This place was identified with the curvature 
zone of the Carpatian Mountais, namely with the Siriu mountains 
(indentifyable with the "Montes Serorum"), that are not far from 
Pietroasa, in the same county of Buzau. It is presumed that Athanaric 
buried the treasure (which was not his personal treasure, but the 
Visigothic national treasure) before the decisive combat with the 
Huns. Being defeated, he was forced to retreat south of Danube and was 
not able to recuperate the treasure, that remained buried until its 
incidental discovery by a local peasant, in the XIXth century.
But there are also other theories, one of them attributing the 
treasure to the Ostrogoths, one century later.
In this context it is noteworthy to mention the fact that another 
Gothic treasure was discovered not far from Pietroasa, in the 
neighboring county of Prahova, in a village named Chiojd. This 
treasure is attributed currently to an Ostrogothic princess.
I know quite well the zone, because my mother is from the Prahova 
county, and my father-in-law from the Buzau county, his birthplace 
being quite close to Pietroasa. So I can tell you that there is no 
Gothic influence in the folklore of the zone nor some other sort of 
infuence. One thing maybe, but this can be only pure coincidence: in 
the Buzau and Prahova counties there is a higher percent of 
fair-haired, blue-eyed people than in the neighboring areas of 
Romania, fact which could be interpreted by some contibution of Gothic 
blood (or, more scientifically said, of Gothic genetic material) in 
the local population. But I'm not sure if such an affirmation is 
sustainable.

Awiliudo thuk,

Fragkisks

<> GUTANI WIHAILAG <>


--- In gothic-l at y..., Friþunanþs Ximeneiks - <jimenezf at a...> (Fernando 
E. Jimenez) wrote:
> Wondering if anyone can shed some light on the etymology of the name 
of
> the city << Pietroasa >>. Any links to the Goths? -- ( 
Etymologically of
> folkloricly or any other wise.)
> Obviously, the "Treassure of Pietroasa" is a wonderful testimony to 
the
> wanderings of the Goths in the area.
> 
> 
> Thanks,
> F.X.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]


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