[gothic-l] Re: Translating creeds?

[edmundfairfax@yahoo.ca [gothic-l]]

The only Gothic month-name that is extant is "naubaimbair : frumajiuleis," that is, the Latin name for 'November' rendered according to Gothic orthography followed by what appears to be a Gothic gloss "frumajiuleis" (lit. 'pre-jiuleis'). Based on the latter term, one has assumed that "jiuleis" is then the word for 'December.' 

 The quotation is from the so-called "Gothic Calendar," a single page which begins with a few entries for the end of October apparently and then the beginning of November.
 

 Based on this meagre source, one could posit that there were native Gothic names for the months. What the other names were is impossible to reconstruct, given that the later Germanic languages show such little agreement in nomenclature. In his biography of the Frankish king (section 29), Einhard, for example, writes that Charlemagne
 

 "gave the months of the years suitable titles in his own tongue. Before his time the Franks had known some of these by Latin names and others by barbarian ones."
 

 When Charlemagne's names are compared to those in Old English, very few agree. And in Old Norse, some months have more than one name.
 

 It should also be noted that before the adoption of the Latin system of timekeeping, the Germanic months were most likely lunar rather than solar; at least, the Old English sources suggest this. As such, the Germanic months would not have corresponded exactly to the Latin ones in terms of start- and end-dates.
 

 In short, it is quite impossible to reconstruct the Gothic or Proto-Germanic names of the months for want of pertinent comparanda.
 

 Edmund
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