[gothic-l] Re: Barbarians and Gladiatorial Combat

[llama_nom]

Hi Mikael,

How did barbarians see the gladitorial combal?  As paradise,
according to one scholar!  Have you heard of M Olsen's theory that
Valhall was a memory of colloseum?  As described in Grimnismal and
Snorri's Gylfaginning, Valhall has 540 doors, and houses warriors who
spend every day fighting each other.  Rudolf Simek, in his Dictionary
of Northern Mythology (original: Lexikon der germanischen Mythologie)
suggests that even if the orignal heathen idea of Valhall was not
based on the Roman games, later knowledge of the colloseum could have
influenced the literary description.  He also mentions - although I
don't know the reason - that the number of the einherjar (Odin's
warriors) might show Hellenic influence: 800 x 540 = 432 000.  But
this doesn't work if Grimnismal intended the Germanic 'long hundred'
(=120).

Llama Nom


--- In gothic-l at yahoogroups.com, "Mikael Bynke" <adragoor at p...> wrote:
> Hi everyone,
> I'm going to write an essay on non Roman attitudes towards
gladiatorial
> combat during late antiquity, and I'm wondering if anyone knows
about any
> sources containing information about how the Goths (or indeed other
germanic
> tribes) viewed these spectacles. Didn't Theoderic try to revive the
practice?
> Otherwise I've always had the feeling that non Romans in general
and especially
> "barbarians" were quite sceptical towards the phenomenon. Am I
right about
> this? Does anyone have any further opinions?
>
> Mikael Bynke
>
> _______________________________________________________
> Skicka gratis SMS!
> http://www.passagen.se



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