Goths

The Goths were the first of the Germanic tribes to form a recognised kingdom, although few records exist to describe either it or their earlier migrations other than brief mentions by Roman writers. According to their own traditions, the Goths originated in a land called 'Gothiscandza', identified as southern Scandinavia (modern Sweden). It was population pressure which caused them to move en masse towards the southern shore of the Baltic Sea. Exactly the same circumstances repeated themselves in the fifth century, when the Danes began to migrate from southern Scandinavia. While there is little archaeological evidence to support the traditional Gothic origin story, it is generally accepted as being based on reality. The best source of information on the early Goths is the sixth century Byzantine historian, Jordanes. While his work is thought to be unreliable to an extent, the story of the Goths' origins is generally accepted. Once out of Scandinavia and on the Baltic coastline of northern Germany and Poland, they appear to have settled around the Oder and Vistula, before beginning a slow, steady drift intoUkraine, or Scythia as it was known to the ancients. The names of few early kings are known, and even they are thought by many scholars to be later inventions by Jordanes. The Goths were constantly attended by a subject tribe, the Heruli (who later emerged in Italy as part of the Gothic kingdom of Rome), and to an extent by the Scirii also. In their earliest stages, in Scandinavia, the Goths have been identified by some as the Geatsof Beowulf, but this seems to rely solely on incorrect dating for the events of the poem. Edward Dawson considers there to be a distinct possibility that the Goth name emerged as a result of Gaulish influence on a tribal name that derived from Woden/Wodan (the god rather than the Anglian king, not necessarily one and the same thing). The use of Godan instead of Wodan by the Langobard tribe is very tantalising, given the known tendency of Gaulish to convert a 'w' into a 'gw or 'gu' sound. It seems possible that Wodan (Odin), Goth and God are cognates. Not all Goths migrated into Continental Europe. Some elements clearly remained behind, or at least were influential enough to leave their name behind. Both Old Norse and Old English records clearly separate the Geats from the Goths, but they are still depicted as being closely related to each other, and perhaps may have shared a common origin. The Swedish counties of Västergötland and Östergötland remember the Geats and Goths, while the Norse kingdom of Vingulmark seems to remember the Vinguligoth of sixth century Byzantine writer, Jordanes. This group have also been linked to the first century Reudigni of Tacitus. (Additional information by Edward Dawson.)