[gothic-l] Re: Rackus

[hrafnsnest]

Hail Alle,
  Its been awhile since I've posted any comments here, but this post
regarding Herr Rackus' position merited a response.  Taking into
consideration the time-frame in which he wrote, his conclusions do
not suprise me.  Many of the "scholars" writing at that time (turn of
the last century) were "neo-romantics".  Victor Rydburg is a prime
example.  While many of Herr Rydburgs conclusions are thought
provoking, he still, nonetheless, tried to fit everything into a nice
package to explain those things that were difficult to interpret.
The other one that has always bothered me, is Nora Chadwick stating
the the Germanic people are ultimatly Celtic.  I find this
interesting in that Tacitus drew a distiction between them based on
language and custom, as did others.

  While I have not read Herr Rackus' book, I can only repond to what
was posted here.  It seems to me that the opposing view could be just
as valid, in that much of this can be explained by inter-cultural
exchange, ie. - Gotic loan words, Gotic place names, Gotic surnames,
asf., all being borrowed by the local tribes that the Gots came into
contact with.  After all, the evidense cited reflects a later time
period, long after the Gots had either left or been assimilated into
the various culture groups, be they Slavs, Greeks, Latins, or
otherwise.  Granted, we find that the Germanic tribes borrowed words
and customs from others as well. But one cannot conclude that just
because, say for example, native Americans have names like Bill, Sam,
Betty, and Sue, that the English language is derived from the Indians.
However, I'm sure that in a thousand years, archeologists digging
up "native American" sites, would hardly be able to tell the
difference between them and any other "group" living as
contemporaries.

Also, what passage is Rackus referring to in the following:
>> Finally, an interesting point mentioned by Rackus, "Tacitus
asserts that the Goths were not Germans.  He writes, `Gothinos
Gallica, Osos Pannonica lingua coarguit non esse Germanos.' (Rackus
407)."

Just a few thoughts.........
Valulfr Vaerulsson




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