[gothic-l] Re: Trailing the Eruli in the North

[faltin2001]

--- In gothic-l at y..., "troels_brandt" <trbrandt at p...> wrote:
> --- In gothic-l at y..., "faltin2001" <dirk at s...> wrote:
> > --- In gothic-l at y..., andreas.schwarcz at u... wrote:
> .........
> > > we cannot even say to which of the seven tribes mentioned he
> > > belonged and why he went into exile. Jordanes does not say that
> > > he came voluntarily. "Contempto proprio regno" just means that
he
> > > left his own realm, but does not tell us anything about the
> > > circumstances. He may have been forced into exile, but we
cannot
> > > say anything for sure.
> >
> >
> >
> > Hello Andreas,
> >
> > my translation of the Getica maybe bad, but it says about Roduulf
> >
> > "But he despised his own kingdom and fled to the embrace of
> > Theodoric, king of the Goths, finding there what he desired."
> >
>
> Dirk,
>
> I prefer to follow Andreas' version, but your Mierow-transalation
> presents even clearer the universal statement of a loser. This is
the
> explanation he would give, if he had to leave - and how often will
a
> king leave his throne because of bad climate, low cultural level or
> unruly inhabitants, if he is able to rule them? Cassiodorus
> (Jordanes) probably just referred what Roduulf told.
>
> Troels


Troels,

I agree a king would not normally leave his kingdom for climatic
reasons. And Theodric and his court would have laughed at him if this
Roduulf really told them that this was the reason for his departure.
A greater fool and coward could hardly be found if this was the real
reason.

I think the reality is a different matter in this case. Cassiodorus
only wanted his readers to know that Roduulf 'dispised his kingdom'
and therefore fled to the embrace of Theoderic. By placing Roduulf's
contempt of his kingdom at the end of an uninviting description of
the island of Scandza, the author wants to stress the point and make
sure that all readers get the idea that Scandza is not a 'nice'
place. Trying to explain this passage with real events or real human
behaviour would in my view be mis-leading, which is why I tend to
think that the whole passage might be a literary invention.


Dirk













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