[gothic-l] Wielbark Culture

[Tore Gannholm]

Professor Wolframs paper apppeard as Origo et religio. Ethnic 
traditions and literature in early medieval texts. Early Medieval 
Europe 3 (1994) 19-38.

Some quotes: "A striking example is Walter Goffart, /The/ Narrators 
/of B,arbarian History, A.D. 550-800/ (Princeton, 1989), P. 77, n. 
276: 'Wolfram ... claims that these incidents (notablv the Gothic 
acclamation of their proceres as Ansis: see below n. 40) take place 
"in grauer Vorzeit", a halfmillenium before the time counting.' The 
quoted reference, however, shows that Goffart simply replaced 
Jordanes by Wolfram to prove his point that the latter's Geschichte 
der Goten 'seems to have been conceived in the form of an updated 
Getica'"

"Misrepresentation does not release us, however, from the obligation 
of reconsidering the traditions abused in the manner described above. 
Can we indeed properly speak of 'archaic traditions' in the first 
place?24 Scholars have already made up their minds in their critique 
of the sources. Whence comes our information? How much credit do our 
informants deserve? Are they really the 'Narrators of Barbarian 
History'? Are Walter Goffart and his supporters correct in denying 
their corporate identity and interpreting these works as harmless 
literature or irony, or even love stories?25 But how could it be 
otherwise when modern scholars search in Christian, classically 
educated, medieval authors for concepts and traditions which are 
supposed to mirror pre-Christian ethnic historicity, that is, 'real' 
archaic pagan life ?26"

"These observations give us something to think about. First of all, 
heroic saga and heroic poetry are not the same. Secondly, ethnic 
traditions in early medieval texts cannot be studied as mere 
literature belonging only to the time they came to be written down. 
The methods, skills and techniques of exegesis are also required. 
Northrop Frye is highly praised, and rightly so, but in his brilliant 
book The Great Code one looks in vain for Matthew I, 1 ff., where 
Christ's threefold fourteen-generation family tree is delivered. Thus 
The Great Code's index does not contain the entry 'genealogy'. This 
one-sided approach toward an origo gentis such as the bible is 
followed by Walter Goffart with the result that his Narrators of 
Barbarian History, though an intelligent, witty, and even amusing 
book,68 misses the point because it commits the methodological sin of 
treating every text polemically as mere literature, that is, as its 
author's creation ex nihilo. Consequently, Goffart dislikes 
continuity as a whole and neglects any archaic texture, that is, all 
the prefabricated elements of tradition, which past authors (re)used 
to construct their texts. As to Goffart's argument that his 
'Narrators' are authors of politically situated and programmatic 
literature, this is no different from every other text that was ever 
written.69 Even granting Goffart were correct that Jordanes had 
composed the Getica as an ironic piece of literature and a 'love 
story', this says nothing about, let alone against, the elements from 
which Jordanes ultimately constructed his stories. Consequently, the 
statement that something is literature is no value  judgement or even 
verdict, and, certainly, does not make the exegetic historian 
jobless. The genealogies composed for Theodoric the Great, Rothari, 
the Scandinavian kings or, say, Alexander III of Scotland (1249) 
start with gods or demi-gods. These genealogies are, of course, 
literature, but their message still served its purpose, that is, to 
legitimize kingship by ethnic traditions no matter how deeply rooted 
in 'genuine' oral memoriae. Or in other words, even the most radical 
travesty of founding gods and heirs presupposes the belief in their 
existence albeit euhemeristically transformed and distorted. The gods 
of the pedigrees must have originally embodied sacred realities, and 
this is true whether in the Middle Ages they are still presented as 
sacred, or demonic, as divine, or human, as power, or as aniles 
fabulae (old women's tales).70"

Tore






>Hi Dirk, I never received any comment regarding this post.  Thoughts?
>
>Christensen:
>
>"My omission of the discussion of the archaeological discoveries in
>what is now Poland is intentional. They are normally identified with
>the Goths (the Wielbark culture). However, the basis for this
>identification is Jordanes's Getica along with the texts
>mentioned here, written by Strabo, Pliny, Tacitus, and Ptolemy. If
>the
>archaeologists did not find the name-related material here, they
>would naturally not be able to attach any names of certain peoples to
>their finds since, to my knowledge, no inscriptions have been found
>that indicate any particular ethnicity. The archaeologists are
>therefore unable to prove that the antique texts deal with Goths
>(Christensen 2002:40)."
>
>Christensen, A.S. Cassidorus Jordanses and the History of the Goths
>Studies in a Migration Myth. Copenhagen. Museum Tusculanum Press:
>2002.
>
>Regards,
>

This is very interesting. Christensen is a historian and only looks
at written sources. As there is almost no contemporary written
sources we have to look at the archaeological evidence. The
archaeologist can read the written sources to get a hint where to
dig. If the written sources have any substance the archaeologists
will find the proof they need.

In the case of the Getica we don't  know what is coming down through
the oral tradition and what is invented by Cassiodorus and Jordanes.

Herwig Wolfram writes "After having conquered the Romans, the Goths
understand that their leaders are not ordinary humans but demigods,
which is why they call them Ansis/Aesir. Do not expect to find real
names in Theoderiks genealogy, most of them emanate from sources
about the Getae, while the Ansis/Amal tradition is of oral Gothic
origin. This was politically important for Theoderic in order to be
accepted by the old Italian families.

Some say this is all taken from litterary sources but that is not
true. The expulsion of the witches, for example, was to be of
Jewish-Christian origin, but since the word "halliurunnae" (witches)
has a Gothic stem, it must be part of the original tradition."
"Wolfram argues that the concept, that all barbarian history is
nothing but litterature, is wrong. He feels that there is always a
core of historical tradition hidden somewhere. He specially mentions
Walter Goffart's "Narrators of Barbarian History" in which these
simplifications are made."


In recent years extensive excavations have taken place in the Vistula
area and Elblag.
This was presented at a symposium in Lidköing in 1992 where professor
Jerzy Okulicz-Kozaryn, Warszawa read a paper about his latest
findings.


see http://www.stavgard.com/Gotland/romaniron_/kulturcentrum/default.htm

Summary page 42

The paper was presented in German but I only have it in the Swedish
version translated and published by Ingemar. I hope he has the
original which I would like to include in this page.

Afterwards there was a discussion where professor Herwig Wolfram from
Wien was very pleased and stated that with this paper it was the
first time he gets a view over what the Wielbark culture actually is.

Professor Okulicz-Kozaryn was very convinced with his interpretations
about a common Baltic culture with the center in the Elblag area. It
is the Ember trade that is very profitable that is foundation of this
culture.

He writes: "The preliminary discussion of research results from the
Weklice cemetery presented here, with an attempt to present them in a
broader historical context shows that we are not dealing here with a
marginal and minor area of the Wielbark Culture but with one of the
centres of the amber coast, crucial for understanding the
far-reaching ties between the Baltic region and various areas of the
Roman Empire and European Barbaricum. "

"It is difficult not to associate such a strong economical position
of the group in question with the organization of the southward
migrations of population. It is surprising that no existing
publications concerning the migration of Goths and Gepidae engaged in
such a basic comprehensive confrontation of sources."

He has no misgivings about Gotland being a part of this.

Tore


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