[gothic-l] Re: Early Germanic place-names in today Poland

[faltin2001]

Hi Ryszard,

I would be highly sceptical that Anglo-Saxon and Old Norse source can
be used to prove the existence of Goths in modern Poland at the time
of the Hunnic empire. Both sources that you cited are literature not
history. If we try to derive historical knowledge from literature, we
should also be inclined to believe that Theoderic lost the battle
against Odoacer and fled to the east (Hildebrandlied) or that
Ermanerich was Theodrich's uncle or the Theoderic was a contemporary
of Attila ((Niebelungenlied). Poets and storytellers of that time
used commonly known characters and created entirely new plots. They
would invent terms like Nest-Goths or Spear-Danes for purely literary
reasons. The only historical sources that attest the existance of
Gutones along the Vistula (not the Baltic Sea coasts) are Roman
authors of the first century.

In fact, Jordanes/Cassiodorus tell us with the 'image of the broken
bridge' that all links with a Gothic history at the Vistula was lost,
saying that nobody could ever go back north. Since Theoderic had
contact with many peoples, including the Baltic Galindi, he would
clearly have boasted of Goths at the Vistula if there were any. Yet,
Jordanes reports that the Vidivarii dwell at the Vistula, who, he
said were, a people gathered out of various tribes. These might have
been small remaining Germanic groups who, however, were not called
Goths.

cheers,

Dirk



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