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{{Short description|Northern Germanic people}} | |||
'''Geatas''' (<!-- but also often '']'', --please don't anticipate your argument -->''Gautar'' in ], ''Götar'' in ]) is the ] spelling of the name of the ''Geats'', a ]n people living in ], land of the Geats, currently within the borders of modern ]. The name of the Geats lives on in the ] of ] and ], the Western and Eastern lands of the Geats, as well as in many ]s. The city ''Göteborg'', known in English as ], was the Geats (''Geatsburg'' or ''fortress of the Geats''), when it was founded in ].{{fact}} <!--what about Gautlefr River? and why should this contentios data belong to the lead? --> | |||
{{about|the North Germanic tribe|the Thracian tribe|Getae}} | |||
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2024}} | |||
].]] | |||
The '''Geats''' ({{IPAc-en|g|iː|t|s|,_|ˈ|g|eɪ|ə|t|s|,_|j|æ|t|s|}} {{respell|GHEETS|,_|GAY|əts|,_|YATS}};<ref>{{cite Merriam-Webster|Geat}}</ref><ref>{{cite American Heritage Dictionary|Geat}}</ref> {{langx|ang|gēatas}} {{IPA-ang|ˈjæɑtɑs|}}; {{langx|non|gautar}} {{IPA-non|ˈɡɑu̯tɑr|}}; {{langx|sv|götar}} {{IPA|sv|ˈjø̂ːtar|}}), sometimes called '']'',<ref>E.g. ] (on Swedish history), {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051211180329/http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/OMACL/Volsunga/ |date=11 December 2005 }}, {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200804043940/http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/9701 |date=4 August 2020 }} or {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141108030836/http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/anskar.html |date=8 November 2014 }} and the ] and some modern scholarly works on Germanic tribes.</ref> were a large ] tribe who inhabited {{lang|sv|]|italic=no}} ("land of the Geats") in modern southern Sweden from antiquity until the ]. They are one of the ] groups of modern ], along with the tribes of ] and ]. The name of the Geats also lives on in the ] of {{lang|sv|]|italic=no}} and {{lang|sv|]|italic=no}}, the western and eastern lands of the Geats, and in many other ]s. | |||
The Swedish dialects spoken in the areas that used to be inhabited by Geats form a distinct group, '']''. | |||
==Etymology== | |||
{{see|Gaut|Name of the Goths}} | |||
The etymology of the name ''Geat'' (Old English ''{{lang|ang|Geatas}}'', from a ] *''Gautaz'', plural *''Gautōz'') is similar<ref name="Hellquist">{{cite book|title= Svensk etymologisk ordbok|last= Hellquist|first= Elof|language= sv|chapter= göt|url= https://runeberg.org/svetym/0306.html|access-date= 1 March 2014|archive-date= 4 March 2014|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140304115338/http://runeberg.org/svetym/0306.html|url-status= live}}</ref> to that of '']'' and '']'' (*''Gutô'', plural *''Gutaniz''). The names derive from ] grades of the Proto-Germanic word *''geutaną'', meaning "to pour".<ref name=rb>{{Cite web|url=https://runeberg.org/nfbj/0480.html|title=887–888 (Nordisk familjebok / Uggleupplagan. 10. Gossler – Harris)|date=22 September 1909|website=runeberg.org|access-date=6 March 2011|archive-date=3 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303175545/http://runeberg.org/nfbj/0480.html|url-status=live}}</ref> They have the literal meaning "they who pour their seed".<ref>''Svenskt ortnamnslexikon'', ], Uppsala 2003, pages 103 och 92 (articles "Götaland" and "Gotland").</ref> (For more information see ].) The names could also allude to watercourses in the land where they were living,<ref>An interpretation of both names of ] and ] according to the etymology sentences in their respective articles in ].</ref> but this is not generally accepted to be the case, partly because that would mean that the names' similarity would be coincidental.<ref name="Hellquist" /> | |||
A more specific theory about the word ''Gautigoths'' is that it means the Goths who live near the river ''Gaut'',<ref name=rb/> today's ] ({{langx|non|Gautelfr}}).<ref> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140502144832/http://www.ne.se/klar%C3%A4lven |date=2 May 2014 }} about ], which says that Klarälven was called ''Gautelfr'' in records from the 13th century. See also {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110807092344/http://www.ne.se/g%C3%B6ta-%C3%A4lv |date=7 August 2011 }}</ref> It might also have been a conflation of the word ''Gauti'' with a ] of ''Goths''.<ref> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110926211936/http://g3.spraakdata.gu.se/saob/show.phtml?filenr=1/92/76.html |date=26 September 2011 }} in ].</ref> In the 17th century the name ''Göta älv'', 'River of the Geats', replaced the earlier names ''Götälven'' and ''Gautelfr''.<ref name=rb/> The etymology of the word ''Gaut'' (as mentioned above) derives from the Proto-Germanic word *''geutan'', and the extended meaning of "to pour" is "flow, stream, waterfall", which could refer to ] or to the river itself.<ref name=rb/> | |||
The short form of ''Gautigoths'' was the Old Norse ''{{lang|non|Gautar}}'', which originally referred to just the inhabitants of ], or the western parts of today's ], a meaning which is retained in some Icelandic sagas.<ref name=rb/> | |||
==History== | ==History== | ||
{| align="right" | |||
The earliest mention of the Geats may appear in ] (] A.D.), where they are referred to as '''Goutai'''. In the ], they were referred to as '''Gautigoths''' and '''Ostrogoths''' (the Ostrogoths of ]) by ] and as '''Gautoi''' by ]. In the Norse ] they are referred to as '''Gautar''', and in '']'' and '']'' as '''Geatas'''. | |||
|] ] ] | |||
|- | |||
|Mentions of Geats, Sea-Geats and Wederas in the manuscript of ''Beowulf''. | |||
|} | |||
===Early history=== | |||
The Geats were formerly politically independent of the ], whose old name was '']'' (''Sweon'' or ''Sweonas'' in OE). However, starting in the ], the Geats slowly lost their independence and became tributaries of the Swedish kings.{{fact}} <!-- chronology is suspect: what do you know about the "Swedes" in the 500s? seems to be some sort of Swedish megalomania at play--> | |||
The earliest known surviving mention of the Geats appears in ] (2nd century AD), who refers to them as ''Goutai''. In the 6th century, ] writes of the ''Gautigoths'' and ''Ostrogoths'' (the Ostrogoths of ]); and ] refers to ''Gautoi''. The Norse ] know them as ''Gautar''; '']'' and '']'' as ''Gēatas''.<ref> | |||
Michael Alexander's 1995 (Penguin Classics) edition of ''Beowulf'' mentions a variant: ''Gēotas''</ref> ''Beowulf'' and the ]s name several ], but only ] finds confirmation in ''Liber Monstrorum'' where he is referred to as "Rex Getarum" and in a copy of ''Historiae Francorum'' where he is called "Rege Gotorum". These sources concern a raid into ], ca 516, which is also described in ''Beowulf''. C. 551, some decades after Hygelac's raid, Jordanes described the Geats as a nation which was "bold, and quick to engage in war".<ref name="larsson0443">{{Cite book|last=Larsson|first=Mats G. |year=2004|title=Götarnas riken |publisher=Atlantis |place=Stockholm|pages= 43 }}</ref> | |||
The ] included many North Germanic people who were losers in the brutal tribal warfare of Scandinavia. The place-name ''-gate'' marks the site of Geatish settlement, often alongside strategically important ] and nearby ] and/or ] settlements.<ref>Margary, Ivan D. (1973). Roman Roads in Britain, 3rd ed. London: Baker.</ref> Defeated Jutes like Hengest and his brother Horsa fled to Kent, while Geats defeated by encroaching ] moved to ] where they founded ] by the ], originally the settlement of the ''Geatlings''.<ref name="shippey">{{Cite book|last=Shippey|first=Tom |year=2018|title=Laughing Shall I Die |publisher=Reaction Books Limited|place=London|isbn=978-1-78023-909-5|pages=56 }}</ref> It has also been suggested that East Anglia was settled by Geats at this time,<ref name="farell269">{{Cite book|last=Farrel|first=R.T.|year=1972|title=Beowulf, Swedes and Geats|publisher=Viking Society for Northern Research, University College, London|pages=269|url=http://vsnrweb-publications.org.uk/Beowulf%20Swedes%20andGeats.pdf|access-date=18 August 2021|archive-date=11 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210711013208/http://vsnrweb-publications.org.uk/Beowulf%20Swedes%20andGeats.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> or by ] who also came from Götaland, bringing the traditions of ''Beowulf'' with them.<ref name="newton">{{Cite book|last=Newton|first=Sam|year=1993|title=The Origins of Beowulf, and the Pre-Viking Kingdom of East Anglia|publisher=D. S. Brewer, Cambridge}}</ref> | |||
This has been explained with their involvement in the Gothic wars in southern Europe, which brought a great deal of Roman gold to Götaland, but also naturally depleted their numbers (see '']''). ] is believed by enthusiasts to contain such traditions handed down from the ]. It relates that when the ] ] invaded the land of the Goths and the Gothic king ] desperately tried to marshal the defenses, it was the ] ] who answered his call. This piece of evidence clearly demonstrates that the Goths and Geats were different peoples. | |||
Any peace that eventually settled in southern Scandinavia was most likely due to exhaustion, and a Danish archaeologist has summarized that in the mid-6th century, and after, Scandinavia "went down to hell".<ref name="shippey"/> Scandinavian wares appear to have stopped arriving in England, c. 550, suggesting that contact was broken.<ref name="farell269"/> | |||
''Beowulf'' and the ]s name several ], but only ] finds confirmation in ''Liber Monstrorum'' where he is referred to as ''Rex Getarum'' and in a copy of ''Historiae Francorum'' where he is called ''Rege Gotorum''. These sources concern a Viking raid into ], ca ], which is also described in ''Beowulf''. Some decades after the events related in this epic, Jordanes described the Geats as a nation which was ''bold and quick to engage in war''. | |||
===Political centralization in Scandinavia=== | |||
In the '']'', ] writes about several battles between ] and Geats. He wrote that in the ], there were battles between the Geats and the Norwegian king ], a battle the Geats had to fight without assistance of the Swedish king ]. He also wrote about ]'s expedition into Götaland and ]'s battle against ] of ], and about ]'s battles with the Geats during his war with ]. | |||
According to Procopius there were 13 "very numerous nations" on the Scandinavian peninsula in the 6th century, which is supported by recent archaeological analyses. Several scholars consider this to be a reasonable number of independent kingdoms at the time, with each consisting of one or more tribes, as reported by Jordanes.<ref name="iversen250">{{Cite book|last=Iversen|first=Frode |year=2020|chapter=Between Tribe and Kingdom – People, Land, and Law in Scandza AD 500–1350|title=Rulership in 1st to 14th century Scandinavia |publisher=De Gruyter|doi=10.1515/9783110421101-004|pages=250 |isbn=9783110421101 |s2cid=213596339 }}</ref> However, by 1350, these 13 kingdoms had been reduced in number to only two, Norway and Sweden.<ref name="iversen246">{{Cite book|last=Iversen|first=Frode |year=2020|chapter=Between Tribe and Kingdom – People, Land, and Law in Scandza AD 500–1350|title=Rulership in 1st to 14th century Scandinavia |publisher=De Gruyter|doi=10.1515/9783110421101-004|pages=245–304 |isbn=9783110421101 |s2cid=213596339 }}</ref> The Geats were one of the largest tribes.<ref name="iversen295">{{Cite book|last=Iversen|first=Frode |year=2020|chapter=Between Tribe and Kingdom – People, Land, and Law in Scandza AD 500–1350|title=Rulership in 1st to 14th century Scandinavia |publisher=De Gruyter|doi=10.1515/9783110421101-004|pages=295 |isbn=9783110421101 |s2cid=213596339 }}</ref> | |||
Procopius and Jordanes both mention the Geats, but after them, foreign sources about Scandinavia are scarce until the 9th century, when Anglo-Saxon and Frankish sources do shed some light on the area. In these, the Geats are absent, which has led some scholars to conclude that they were no longer an independent nation and had been subsumed by the Swedes.<ref name="stål1"/> Norwegian and Icelandic scaldic sources from the 10th century however indicate that they were still politically independent, sometimes opposing Norwegian kings. It has been suggested that their absence from older sources is instead due to their being an inland people.<ref>{{cite book|last=Sawyer|first=Peter|title=När Sverige blev Sverige|year=1991|publisher=Viktoria Bokförlag, Alingsås|page=12}}</ref> | |||
In the ], the Swedish ] was extinct with ]. ], a Geat, was elected king of Sweden, and the Geats would be influential in the shaping of Sweden as a ] kingdom. However, this election also ushered in a long period of civil unrest between Christians and pagans and between Geats and Swedes. | |||
The nature and the processes of ] have been much debated among Swedish scholars. The scarcity and sometimes debated veracity of sources has left much room open for interpretation. The oldest medieval Swedish sources present the Swedish kingdom as retaining differences between provinces, in laws as well as in weights and measures.<ref name="stål1"/> Some scholars have argued that the Geats were subjugated by the Swedes, and have suggested various dates for such an event, from the 6th to the 9th centuries.<ref name="stål1">{{Cite book|last=Ståhl |first=Harry |year=1976 |title=Ortnamn och ortnamnsforskning |publisher=Almquist & Wiksell |place=Uppsala |pages= 131 }}</ref> Others have wanted to see a more gradual merging, and that the Geats were slowly subsumed into the more powerful kingdom of Sweden, and in many respects they maintained their own cultural identity during the Middle Ages.<ref name="farell">{{Cite book|last=Farrel|first=R.T.|year=1972|title=Beowulf, Swedes and Geats|publisher=Viking Society for Northern Research, University College, London|pages=270|url=http://vsnrweb-publications.org.uk/Beowulf%20Swedes%20andGeats.pdf|access-date=18 August 2021|archive-date=11 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210711013208/http://vsnrweb-publications.org.uk/Beowulf%20Swedes%20andGeats.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> Still others have put emphasis on how it was individual rulers, not ethnic groups, who were driving the process towards a unified kingdom, and that the process was very complicated.<ref>{{cite book|last=Sawyer|first=Peter|title=När Sverige blev Sverige|year=1991|publisher=Viktoria Bokförlag, Alingsås|pages=9–10}}</ref> | |||
The Geats were not treated as equals with the Swedes. In the ], bishop ] (]-] of ] reminded the Geats that they had to accept the election of the Swedes at the ], by adding the following line on the top of the first page: ''Sveær egho konung at taka ok sva vrækæ'' meaning ''It is the Swedes who have the right of choosing and deposing the king''. | |||
Papal letters from the 1080s style the recipients as "king of the Swedes" or "king of the West Geats". In another papal letter from the 1160s, the title ''rex Sweorum et Gothorum'' is first attested.<ref>{{cite book|last=Sawyer|first=Peter|title=När Sverige blev Sverige|year=1991|publisher=Viktoria Bokförlag, Alingsås|pages=58–59}}</ref> The Swedish kings began the custom of styling themselves as also the kings of the Geats in the 1270s.<ref name="dick">{{Cite book|last=Harrison|first=Dick|year=2002|title=Sveriges historia: Medeltiden|publisher=Liber, Stockholm|pages=58, 70–74 }}</ref><ref name="Henriksson">{{Cite book|last=Henriksson|first=Alf|year=1963|title=Svensk historia I|publisher=Bonniers, Stockholm|pages=86–88}}</ref><ref name="weibull">{{Cite book|last=Weibull|first=Jörgen|year=1993|title=Swedish History in Outline|publisher=The Swedish Institute, Stockholm|pages=18}}</ref> | |||
One of these Swedish kings was ], who in ] was riding with his retinue in order to be accepted as king by the Geats of ]. As he despised the Geats, he decided not to demand hostages from their prominent ]. He was slain near ]. | |||
===Dynastic struggles=== | |||
The distinction between Swedes and Geats lasted during the Middle Ages, but the Geats became increasingly important for Swedish national claims of greatness due to Geats' old connection with the Goths. They argued that since the Goths and the Geats were the same nation, and the Geats were part of the kingdom of Sweden, this meant that the Swedes had defeated the Roman empire. The earliest attestation of this claim comes from the ], ], during which the Swedish delegation argued with the Spanish about who among them were the true Goths. The Spaniards argued that it was better to be descended from the heroic ] than from stay-at-homers. This cultural movement, which was not restricted to Sweden went by the name '']'' or in Swedish ''Göticism'', i.e. ''Geaticism'', as ''Geat'' and ''Goth'' were considered synonymous back then. | |||
In the 11th century, the Swedish ] became extinct with the death of ]. ], a Geat, was elected king of the Swedes, and the Geats would be influential in the shaping of Sweden as a Christian kingdom. However, this election also ushered in a long period of civil unrest between Christians and pagans and between Geats and Swedes. The Geats tended to be more Christian, and the Swedes more pagan, which was why the Christian Swedish king ] fled to Västergötland when deposed in favour of ], a king more favourable towards ], in the 1080s. Inge would retake the throne and rule until his death c. 1100. | |||
]]] | |||
To this day, the Swedish kings still formally call themselves ''svears och götars konung'' (''king of Swedes and Geats'', or ''Rex Sweorum et Gothorum''). | |||
In his '']'' (book 13), the Danish 12th-century chronicler ] noted that the Geats had no say in the election of the king, only the Swedes. When the West Geatish law or ] was put to paper, it reminded the Geats that they had to accept the election of the Swedes: ''Sveær egho konong at taka ok sva vrækæ'' meaning ''"It is the Swedes who have the right of choosing and also deposing the king"'' and then he rode ]n ''"mæþ gislum ofvan"'' – ''"with hostages from above "'' through ], the Geatish provinces and then through ] and ] to be judged to be the lawful king by the ]s of their respective ]. One of these Swedish kings was ], who in 1125 was riding with his retinue in order to be accepted as king by the different provinces. According to material appended to the oldest manuscript of the ], he decided not to demand hostages as he despised the Geats, and was slain near ]. | |||
In a ] of Sweden that was issued by ] in the 1350s, it was stated that twelve men from each province, chosen by their things, should be present at the ] when a new king was elected. | |||
==On Geats and Goths== | |||
:''Main article: ]'' | |||
The distinction between Swedes and Geats lasted during the Middle Ages, but the Geats became increasingly important for Swedish national claims of greatness due to the Geats' old connection with the Goths. They argued that since the Goths and the Geats were the same nation, and the Geats were part of the kingdom of Sweden, this meant that the Swedes had defeated the Roman empire. The earliest attestation of this claim comes from the ], 1434, during which the Swedish delegation argued with the Spanish about who among them were the true Goths. The Spaniards argued that it was better to be descended from the heroic Visigoths than from stay-at-homers. This cultural movement, which was not restricted to Sweden went by the name '']'' or in Swedish ''Göticism'', i.e. ''Geaticism''. | |||
] and the dark pink area is the island of ]. The red area is the extent of the Wielbark Culture in the early ], and the orange area is the ], in the early ]. The dark blue area is the ]]] | |||
''Geatas'' was originally ] *''Gautoz'' and ''Goths'' and '']'' were *''Gutaniz''. *''Gautoz'' and *''Gutaniz'' are two ablaut grades of a Proto-Germanic word *''geutan'' with the meaning "to pour" (modern Swedish ''gjuta'', modern German ''giessen'') designating the tribes as "pourers of semen" or "men".{{fact}} <!--obsviously a far-fetched speculation, one of many --> They were consequently two derivations from the same proto-Germanic ethnonym, cf. ] and ], ] and ], ] and ] in ]s. | |||
After the 15th century and the ], the Swedes and the Geats appear to have begun to perceive themselves as one nation, which is reflected in the evolution of ''svensk'' into a common ethnonym.<ref name=national>The article ''Svear'' in '']''.</ref><ref>The earliest attestation of this meaning is from the mid-15th century ''].''</ref> It was originally an adjective referring to those belonging to the Swedish tribe, who are called ''svear'' in Swedish. As early as the 9th century, ''svear'' had been vague, both referring to the Swedish tribe and being a collective term including the Geats,<ref name=national/> and this is the case in ]'s work where the Geats (''Goths'') appear both as a proper nation and as part of the ''Sueones''.<ref name=national/> The merging/assimilation of the two nations took a long time, however. In the early-20th century, '']'' noted that ''svensk'' had almost replaced ''svear'' as a name for the Swedish people.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://runeberg.org/nfcg/0605.html|title=1129–1130 (Nordisk familjebok / Uggleupplagan. 27. Stockholm-Nynäs järnväg – Syrsor)|date=22 September 1918|website=runeberg.org|access-date=4 December 2006|archive-date=3 January 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070103091640/http://runeberg.org/nfcg/0605.html|url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
It is a long-standing controversy whether the ] were Geats. ] claimed that the ] came from the island of ]. He also claimed that on this island there were three tribes called the ''Gautigoths'' (cf. ''Geat/Gaut''), the ''Ostrogoths'' (cf. the Swedish province of '']'') and ''Vagoths'' (]s?). | |||
At the same time, the Swedish ancestors were often referred to as Geats, especially when their heroism or connection to the Goths was to be stressed. This practice disappeared during the 19th century, when the ]s gradually took over the role as the heroic ancestors. | |||
Some enthusiasts interpreted the findings of ] archaeologists as supporting Jordanes' claim. They found the Gothic finds in Poland to be similar to those of southern Sweden. Scandinavian burial customs, such as the ] (domarringar), which are most common in Götaland and Gotland, and ] (bautastenar) appeared in northern Poland in the ] AD, suggesting an influx of Scandinavians during the formation of the Gothic ] . Moreover, in ], in Sweden, there is a sudden disappearance of villages during this period. The languages of Goths and Geats were strikingly different, however. <!--Polish archeologists are not neutral, either. Their agenda is to prove that the Slavs were settled in Poland before the coming of Goths and other Germanic tribes. --> | |||
==Society== | |||
==On Gautar and Geatas== | |||
The Geats were traditionally divided into several ]s, or districts, which had their own things (popular assemblies) and laws. The largest one of these districts was Västergötland (West Geatland), and it was in Västergötland that the ] was held every year, in the vicinity of ]. Despite the name, the thing was only for the inhabitants of Västergötland and ]. The equivalent in ] was ]. | |||
The generally accepted identification between the ''Götar'' and ''Gautar'' as the ''Geatas'' of Beowulf is mainly based on the observation that the Ö monophthong of modern Swedish and the AU diphthong of ] correspond to the EA diphthong of ]. | |||
Unlike the Swedes, who used the division ], the Geats used ''hærrad'' (modern Swedish '']''), like the Norwegians and the Danes. Surprisingly, it would be the Geatish name that became the common term in the Swedish kingdom. This is possibly related to the fact that several of the medieval Swedish kings were of Geatish extraction and often resided primarily in Götaland. In Västergötland and Dalsland, there were also a higher-level division where one or more hærrad made up a ''bo'' linked to a ]. | |||
== Modern legacy == | |||
Today, the merger of the two nations is complete, as there is no longer any tangible identification in Götaland with a Geatish identity, apart from the common tendency of residents of the ] of Västergötland and ] to refer to themselves as ''västgötar'' (West Geats) and ''östgötar'' (East Geats), similarly to how residents of other provinces refer to themselves. The dialects spoken in those provinces and some surrounding areas are also collectively called ]. Although the city ''Göteborg'' (]) has formerly been considered to have been named after the river ], it may instead have been named after the Geats ('fortress of the Geats') when it was founded in 1621.<ref name="wahlberg">{{Cite book|last=Wahlberg|first=Mats|year=2003|title=Svenskt ortnamndslexikon|publisher=Språk och folkminnesinstitutet |pages=103}}</ref> | |||
Until 1973 the official title of the ] was "King of Sweden" (earlier: of the Swedes), the Geats/Goths and the ] (with the formula ''Sveriges, Götes och Vendes konung'', in Latin ''N.N. Dei Gratia, Suecorum, Gothorum et Vandalorum Rex''). The title "King of the Wends" was copied from the Danish title, while the Danish kings called themselves "Kings of the Gotlanders" (which, like "Geats", was translated into "Goths" in Latin). "Wends" is a term normally used to describe the Slavic peoples who inhabited large areas of modern east Germany and Pomerania. See further in the Misplaced Pages articles ] and ]. | |||
The titles, however, changed in 1973 when the new king ] decided that his royal title should simply be "King of Sweden". The disappearance of the old title was his decision alone. | |||
==Goths== | |||
{{Main|Goths}} | |||
[[File:Chernyakhov.svg|right|250px|thumb| | |||
{{legend|#A6D96A|Traditional ]}} | |||
{{legend|#D01C8B|The island of ]}} | |||
{{legend|#D7191C|], in the early 3rd century}} | |||
{{legend|#FDAE61|], in the early 4th century}} | |||
{{legend|#C2A5CF|] at its greatest extent, 117 AD}}]] | |||
''Geatas'' was originally ] *''Gautoz'' and ''Goths'' and '']'' (''Gotlanders'') were *''Gutaniz''. *''Gautoz'' and *''Gutaniz'' are two ablaut grades of a Proto-Germanic word *''geutan'' with the meaning "to pour" (modern Swedish ''gjuta'', modern German ''giessen''). The word comes from an Indo-European root meaning ''to pour, offer sacrifice.''<ref>"god" in ''The Oxford English Dictionary Online.'' (2006).</ref> There were consequently two derivations from the same Proto-Germanic ethnonym.<ref>cf. ] and ], ] and ], ] and ] in ]s.</ref> | |||
It is a long-standing controversy whether the Goths were Geats. Both Old Icelandic and Old English literary sources clearly separate the Geats (Isl. ''Gautar'', OEng ''Geatas'') from the Goths/] (Isl. ''Gotar'', OEng. ''Gotenas''); but the Gothic historian ] wrote that the Goths came originally to ] from the island of ]. Moreover, he described that on this island there were three tribes called the ''Gautigoths'' (cf. ''Geat/Gaut''), the ''Ostrogoths'' (cf. the Swedish province of '']'') and ''Vagoths'' (]?) ‒ this implies that the Geats were Goths rather than vice versa. The word ''Goth'' is also a term used by the Romans to describe related, culturally linked tribes like the ] and the ], so it may be correct to label Geats as Goths. | |||
Scandinavian burial customs, such as the ] (domarringar), which are most common in Götaland and ], and ] (bautastenar) appeared in what is now northern Poland in the 1st century AD, suggesting an influx of Scandinavians during the formation of the Gothic ].<!-- these pages are very cautious about migration --><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.muzarp.poznan.pl/archweb/gazociag/title5.htm |title=The Goths in Greater Poland |language=pl |publisher=Muzarp.poznan.pl |access-date=14 June 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010630011348/http://www.muzarp.poznan.pl/archweb/gazociag/title5.htm |archive-date=30 June 2001 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.arkeologi.uu.se/publications/opia/gothicabstract.htm |title=Gothic Connections {{!}} Abstract |access-date=21 August 2004 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040821091243/http://www.arkeologi.uu.se/publications/opia/gothicabstract.htm |archive-date=21 August 2004 }}</ref> Moreover, in ], in Sweden, there is a sudden disappearance of villages during this period.<ref>Oxenstierna, Graf E.C. : Die Urheimat der Goten. Leipzig, Mannus-Buecherei 73, 1945 (later printed in 1948).</ref> Contemporary accounts beginning in the fourth century further associated these groups with the earlier '']'' of Dacia, but this is now disputed. | |||
==Fringe theories== | |||
===Götaland theory=== | |||
The Götaland theory (Swedish "Västgötaskolan") is a disparate group of theories, which have attempted to prove that some events and even places that are traditionally placed around ], especially ones that are associated with the formation of medieval Sweden, instead should be located to Västergötland. The methods ranged from relatively scholarly efforts to ].<ref name="larsson04169">{{Cite book|last=Larsson|first=Mats G. |year=2004|title=Götarnas riken |publisher=Atlantis |place=Stockholm|pages=33–34, 90}}</ref> This "school" was brought to prominence in the 1980s following a TV series by ]. While some serious scholars have attempted to place more emphasis on the Geats in the early history of Sweden than was traditional, Västgötaskolan has never reached any acceptance. | |||
=== Identity of the Gēatas=== | |||
The generally accepted identification of Old English ''Gēatas'' as the same ethnonym as Swedish ''götar'' and Old Norse ''gautar'' is based on the observation that the ''ö'' monophthong of modern Swedish and the ''au'' diphthong of ] correspond to the ''ēa'' diphthong of ]. | |||
Correspondences: | |||
{| class="wikitable" | {| class="wikitable" | ||
|+Correspondences | |||
!style="text-align: left"| ] | |||
!style="text-align: left"| ] | |||
!style="text-align: left"| ] | |||
!style="text-align: left"| Modern English | |||
|- | |- | ||
|brauð || bröd || brēad || bread | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
|- | |- | ||
|laukr || lök || lēac || onion, cf. leek | |||
| | |||
bröd | |||
<br>löv | |||
<br>öst | |||
<br>dröm | |||
<br>död | |||
<br>röd | |||
<br>nöt | |||
<br>köp | |||
<br>öga | |||
<br>hög | |||
<br>söm | |||
<br>töm | |||
<br>öd | |||
| | |||
brauð | |||
<br>lauf | |||
<br>austr | |||
<br>draumr | |||
<br>dauðr | |||
<br>rauðr | |||
<br>naut | |||
<br>kaup | |||
<br>auga | |||
<br>haugr | |||
<br>saumr | |||
<br>taum | |||
<br>auð | |||
| | |||
bread | |||
<br>leaf | |||
<br>east | |||
<br>dream | |||
<br>dead | |||
<br>read (red) | |||
<br>neat (head of cattle) | |||
<br>ceap (purchase) | |||
<br>eage (eye) | |||
<br>heah (high) | |||
<br>seam | |||
<br>team | |||
<br>ead (wealth) | |||
|- | |- | ||
|lauf || löv || lēaf || leaf | |||
|- | |||
|austr || öst || ēast || east | |||
|- | |||
|draumr || dröm || drēam || dream | |||
|- | |||
|dauðr || död || dēað || death | |||
|- | |||
|rauðr || röd || rēad || red | |||
|} | |} | ||
Thus, ''Gēatas'' is the ] form of ] ''Gautar'' and modern Swedish ''Götar''. This correspondence seems to tip the balance for most scholars. It is also based on the fact that in '']'', the ''Gēatas'' live east of the '']'' (across the sea) and in close contact with the ''Sweon'', which fits the historical position of the Geats between the Danes and the Swedes. Moreover, the story of Beowulf, who leaves ''Geatland'' and arrives at the ] court after a naval voyage, where he kills a beast, finds a parallel in ]. In this saga, ] leaves ''Gautland'' and arrives at the ] court after a naval voyage and kills a beast that has been terrorizing the Danes for two years (see also ]). | |||
etc. | |||
====Jutish hypothesis==== | |||
There is a hypothesis that the Jutes also were Geats, and which was proposed by Pontus Fahlbeck in 1884. According to this hypothesis the Geats would have not only resided in southern Sweden but also in ], where ] would have lived. | |||
The Geats and the Jutes are mentioned in ''Beowulf'' as different tribes, and whereas the Geats are called ''gēatas'', the Jutes are called ''ēotena'' (genitive) or ''ēotenum'' (dative).<ref name="Nerman1925">{{cite book |last1=Nerman |first1=Birger |author1-link=Birger Nerman |title=Det Svenska Rikets Uppkomst |date=1925 |publisher=Ivar Haeggström |location=Stockholm |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UiYrzQEACAAJ |access-date=24 December 2020 |archive-date=20 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230420104219/https://books.google.com/books?id=UiYrzQEACAAJ |url-status=live }}</ref>{{rp|108}} Moreover, the Old English poem '']'' also mentions both Geats and Jutes, and it calls the latter ''ȳtum''.<ref name="Nerman1925" />{{rp|108}} However, Fahlbeck proposed in 1884 that the Gēatas of ''Beowulf'' referred to Jutes and he proposed that the Jutes originally also were Geats like those of southern Sweden.<ref name="Nerman1925" />{{rp|109}} This theory was based on an Old English translation of ]'s '']'' attributed to ] where the Jutes (''iutarum'', ''iutis'') once are rendered as ''gēata'' (genitive) and twice as ''gēatum'' (dative)<ref name="Nerman1925" />{{rp|108–109}} (see e.g. the '']'' which identifies the Geats through ''Eotas'', ''Iótas'', ''Iútan'' and ''Geátas''). Fahlbeck did not, however, propose an etymology for how the two ethnonyms could be related.<ref name="Nerman1925" />{{rp|109}} | |||
Thus, ''Geatas'' is the ] form of ] ''Gautar'' and modern Swedish ''Götar''. | |||
Fahlbeck's theory was refuted by Schück who in 1907 noted that another Old English source, the '']'', called the Jutes ''īutna'', ''īotum'' or ''īutum''.<ref name="Nerman1925" />{{rp|109}} Moreover, Schück pointed out that when Alfred the Great's translation mentions the Jutes for the second time (book IV, ch. 14(16)) it calls them ''ēota'' and in one manuscript ''ȳtena''.<ref name="Nerman1925" />{{rp|110}} Björkman proposed in 1908 that Alfred the Great's translation of Jutes as Geats was based on a confusion between the West Saxon form ''Geotas'' ("Jutes") and ''Gēatas'' ("Geats").<ref name="Nerman1925" />{{rp|110}} | |||
This correspondence seems to tip the balance for ''most'' scholars. It is also based on the fact that in '']'', the ''Geatas'' live east of the '']'' (across the sea) and in close contact with the ''Sweon'', which fits the historical position of the ''Gautar'' between the ''Daner'' and the ''Svear''. | |||
As for the origins of the ethnonym ''Jute'', it may be a secondary formation of the toponym Jutland, where ''jut'' is derived from a ] root *''eud'' meaning "water".<ref>{{cite web| last = Hellquist| first = Elof| title = Jut-, Jute| work = Svensk etymologisk ordbok| publisher = ]| year = 1922| url = https://runeberg.org/svetym/0372.html| access-date = 21 November 2007| language = sv| archive-date = 24 November 2007| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071124055533/http://runeberg.org/svetym/0372.html| url-status = live}}</ref> | |||
Moreover, the story of Beowulf, who leaves ''Geatland'' and arrives at the ] court after a naval voyage, where he kills a beast, finds a parallel in ]'s saga. In this saga, ] leaves ''Gautland'' and arrives at the ] court after a naval voyage and kills a beast that has been terrorizing the Danes for two years (see also ]). | |||
====Gutnish hypothesis==== | |||
Since the 19th century, several other nations have been suggested to correspond to the Geats, such as the ] (Curt Weibull), the ] (Pontus Fahlbeck 1884), the Goths and the ], (See e.g. the '']'' which identifies the Geats through '''''Eotas''''', '''''Iótas''''', '''''Iútan''''' and '''''Geátas''''') with the '''Jutes''' referred to in the ]'s ''Ecclesiastical History of the English People.'' ' | |||
Since the 19th century, there has also been a suggestion that Beowulf's people were ] (from the island of ] in Sweden). According to the poem, the ''weather-geats'' or ''sea-geats'', as they are called are supposed to have lived east of the Danes/Dacians and be separated from the Swedes by wide waters. Some researchers have found it a little far-fetched that ''wide waters'' relates to ] in Västergötland or Mälaren. The ''weather'' in ''weather-geats'', and ''sea-geats'' marks a people living at a windy, stormy coast by the sea. The Geats of Västergötland were historically an inland people, making an epithet such as ''weather-'' or ''sea-'' a little strange. Moreover, when Beowulf dies he is buried in a mound at a place called ''Hrones-naesse'', meaning "the cape of whales". Whales have for obvious reasons never lived in Vänern, where, according to ], Beowulf is buried. However, an expanse of water separates the island of ] from the Swedes. The island lies east of Denmark/Dacia and whales were once common in the Baltic Sea where Gotland is situated. The name of the Gutes in Swedish, '']'', is an ablaut-grade of the same name as that of the Geats in Beowulf. These facts made the archaeologist ] come to the conclusion that the ''weather-Geats'' may have been Gutes. This was supported by another Swedish archaeologist ]. According to Rausing, Beowulf may be buried in a place called ''Rone'' on Gotland, a name corresponding to the ''Hrones'' in ''Hrones-naesse''. Not far from there lies a place called ''Arnkull'' corresponding to the ''Earnar-naesse'' in Beowulf, which according to the poem was situated closely to Hrones-naesse. | |||
This theory does not exclude the ancient population of Västergötland and Östergötland from being Geats, but rather holds that the Anglo-Saxon name ''Geat'' could refer to West-geats (Västergötland), East-geats (Östergötland) as well as weather-geats (Gotland), in accordance with Jordanes account of the Scandinanian tribes Gautigoth, Ostrogoth and Vagoth. | |||
These hypotheses have been suggested in spite of the fact that, in both Beowulf and ], the Geats are clearly distinguished from both Jutes ''Eótenas'' (or ''Ytum'') and ]. Thus any identification between the Geatas and these two nations is refuted by the two source texts themselves. <!-- this is so obviously POV, that I'll have to remove the passage if the wording is not changed within several days --> | |||
==See also== | |||
In addition, the reconstructed root for both ''Geat'' and ''Gaut'' is *''Gaut-'', whereas the reconstructed root of ''Goth'' and ''Got''(-land) is *''Gut''-. The root of ''Jute'' is usually regarded as ''unknown''. <!-- this is so obviously POV, that I'll have to remove the passage if the wording is not changed within several days --> | |||
* ] | |||
* ] | |||
* ] | |||
* ] (Geatish Dyke) | |||
* ] | |||
==References== | |||
Even if the identification made in this article is generally accepted, the matter is not dead and it will continue to raise harsh feelings even in the future—especially in ], where the debate about Sweden's history prior to the 11th century is infected. | |||
{{reflist}} | |||
<!-- Some ]s of the highly controversial ] deny the connection between the Geats and the ''Gautar'', and consider the established version of history to be a '''fraud'''. Since '']'' depicts the Geats and the Swedes as two opposing tribes, and as they want to make the '']'' (whom scholars place in ]) synonymous with the ''Gautar'' in ], they have to argue that ''Geat'' and ''Gaut'' aren't related. Unfortunately, their argumentation is limited to referring darkly to Curt Weibull, who speculated that the Geats were the same the Danes (who are also described as a different tribe from the Geats in ''Beowulf'', save a single ] where the Geats are called "]", cf. ''Danish'' as a generic name for Scandinavians in ]). For such a discussion see the following link (the text is in Swedish): http://home.swipnet.se/dx/vaggan/skolan.htm --totally unscientific piece of Swedish chauvinism, declaring any opposing point of view a "fraud". These flames belong to the talk page more than to the article itself. --> | |||
{{Germanic peoples}} | |||
== See also == | |||
{{Beowulf}} | |||
*] (Geatish Dyke) | |||
*], ] | |||
*] | |||
*] | |||
*] | |||
*] | |||
*] | |||
*] | |||
*]s | |||
*] | |||
*] | |||
] | ] | ||
] | ] | ||
] | ] | ||
] | ] | ||
] | ] | ||
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] |
Latest revision as of 13:51, 4 January 2025
Northern Germanic people This article is about the North Germanic tribe. For the Thracian tribe, see Getae.
The Geats (/ɡiːts, ˈɡeɪəts, jæts/ GHEETS, GAY-əts, YATS; Old English: gēatas [ˈjæɑtɑs]; Old Norse: gautar [ˈɡɑu̯tɑr]; Swedish: götar [ˈjø̂ːtar]), sometimes called Goths, were a large North Germanic tribe who inhabited Götaland ("land of the Geats") in modern southern Sweden from antiquity until the Late Middle Ages. They are one of the progenitor groups of modern Swedes, along with the tribes of Swedes and Gutes. The name of the Geats also lives on in the Swedish provinces of Västergötland and Östergötland, the western and eastern lands of the Geats, and in many other toponyms.
The Swedish dialects spoken in the areas that used to be inhabited by Geats form a distinct group, Götamål.
Etymology
Further information: Gaut and Name of the GothsThe etymology of the name Geat (Old English Geatas, from a Proto-Germanic *Gautaz, plural *Gautōz) is similar to that of Goths and Gutes (*Gutô, plural *Gutaniz). The names derive from ablaut grades of the Proto-Germanic word *geutaną, meaning "to pour". They have the literal meaning "they who pour their seed". (For more information see Goths § Etymology.) The names could also allude to watercourses in the land where they were living, but this is not generally accepted to be the case, partly because that would mean that the names' similarity would be coincidental.
A more specific theory about the word Gautigoths is that it means the Goths who live near the river Gaut, today's Göta älv (Old Norse: Gautelfr). It might also have been a conflation of the word Gauti with a gloss of Goths. In the 17th century the name Göta älv, 'River of the Geats', replaced the earlier names Götälven and Gautelfr. The etymology of the word Gaut (as mentioned above) derives from the Proto-Germanic word *geutan, and the extended meaning of "to pour" is "flow, stream, waterfall", which could refer to Trollhättan Falls or to the river itself.
The short form of Gautigoths was the Old Norse Gautar, which originally referred to just the inhabitants of Västergötland, or the western parts of today's Götaland, a meaning which is retained in some Icelandic sagas.
History
Mentions of Geats, Sea-Geats and Wederas in the manuscript of Beowulf. |
Early history
The earliest known surviving mention of the Geats appears in Ptolemy (2nd century AD), who refers to them as Goutai. In the 6th century, Jordanes writes of the Gautigoths and Ostrogoths (the Ostrogoths of Scandza); and Procopius refers to Gautoi. The Norse Sagas know them as Gautar; Beowulf and Widsith as Gēatas. Beowulf and the Norse sagas name several Geatish kings, but only Hygelac finds confirmation in Liber Monstrorum where he is referred to as "Rex Getarum" and in a copy of Historiae Francorum where he is called "Rege Gotorum". These sources concern a raid into Frisia, ca 516, which is also described in Beowulf. C. 551, some decades after Hygelac's raid, Jordanes described the Geats as a nation which was "bold, and quick to engage in war".
The Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain included many North Germanic people who were losers in the brutal tribal warfare of Scandinavia. The place-name -gate marks the site of Geatish settlement, often alongside strategically important Roman roads and nearby Visigothic and/or Jutish settlements. Defeated Jutes like Hengest and his brother Horsa fled to Kent, while Geats defeated by encroaching Swedes moved to Yorkshire where they founded Gillingshire by the Tees, originally the settlement of the Geatlings. It has also been suggested that East Anglia was settled by Geats at this time, or by Wulfings who also came from Götaland, bringing the traditions of Beowulf with them.
Any peace that eventually settled in southern Scandinavia was most likely due to exhaustion, and a Danish archaeologist has summarized that in the mid-6th century, and after, Scandinavia "went down to hell". Scandinavian wares appear to have stopped arriving in England, c. 550, suggesting that contact was broken.
Political centralization in Scandinavia
According to Procopius there were 13 "very numerous nations" on the Scandinavian peninsula in the 6th century, which is supported by recent archaeological analyses. Several scholars consider this to be a reasonable number of independent kingdoms at the time, with each consisting of one or more tribes, as reported by Jordanes. However, by 1350, these 13 kingdoms had been reduced in number to only two, Norway and Sweden. The Geats were one of the largest tribes.
Procopius and Jordanes both mention the Geats, but after them, foreign sources about Scandinavia are scarce until the 9th century, when Anglo-Saxon and Frankish sources do shed some light on the area. In these, the Geats are absent, which has led some scholars to conclude that they were no longer an independent nation and had been subsumed by the Swedes. Norwegian and Icelandic scaldic sources from the 10th century however indicate that they were still politically independent, sometimes opposing Norwegian kings. It has been suggested that their absence from older sources is instead due to their being an inland people.
The nature and the processes of how Geats and Swedes came to form one kingdom have been much debated among Swedish scholars. The scarcity and sometimes debated veracity of sources has left much room open for interpretation. The oldest medieval Swedish sources present the Swedish kingdom as retaining differences between provinces, in laws as well as in weights and measures. Some scholars have argued that the Geats were subjugated by the Swedes, and have suggested various dates for such an event, from the 6th to the 9th centuries. Others have wanted to see a more gradual merging, and that the Geats were slowly subsumed into the more powerful kingdom of Sweden, and in many respects they maintained their own cultural identity during the Middle Ages. Still others have put emphasis on how it was individual rulers, not ethnic groups, who were driving the process towards a unified kingdom, and that the process was very complicated.
Papal letters from the 1080s style the recipients as "king of the Swedes" or "king of the West Geats". In another papal letter from the 1160s, the title rex Sweorum et Gothorum is first attested. The Swedish kings began the custom of styling themselves as also the kings of the Geats in the 1270s.
Dynastic struggles
In the 11th century, the Swedish House of Munsö became extinct with the death of Emund the Old. Stenkil, a Geat, was elected king of the Swedes, and the Geats would be influential in the shaping of Sweden as a Christian kingdom. However, this election also ushered in a long period of civil unrest between Christians and pagans and between Geats and Swedes. The Geats tended to be more Christian, and the Swedes more pagan, which was why the Christian Swedish king Inge the Elder fled to Västergötland when deposed in favour of Blot-Sweyn, a king more favourable towards Norse paganism, in the 1080s. Inge would retake the throne and rule until his death c. 1100.
In his Gesta Danorum (book 13), the Danish 12th-century chronicler Saxo Grammaticus noted that the Geats had no say in the election of the king, only the Swedes. When the West Geatish law or Westrogothic law was put to paper, it reminded the Geats that they had to accept the election of the Swedes: Sveær egho konong at taka ok sva vrækæ meaning "It is the Swedes who have the right of choosing and also deposing the king" and then he rode Eriksgatan "mæþ gislum ofvan" – "with hostages from above " through Södermanland, the Geatish provinces and then through Närke and Västmanland to be judged to be the lawful king by the lawspeakers of their respective things. One of these Swedish kings was Ragnvald Knaphövde, who in 1125 was riding with his retinue in order to be accepted as king by the different provinces. According to material appended to the oldest manuscript of the Westrogothic law, he decided not to demand hostages as he despised the Geats, and was slain near Falköping.
In a new general law of Sweden that was issued by Magnus Eriksson in the 1350s, it was stated that twelve men from each province, chosen by their things, should be present at the Stone of Mora when a new king was elected.
The distinction between Swedes and Geats lasted during the Middle Ages, but the Geats became increasingly important for Swedish national claims of greatness due to the Geats' old connection with the Goths. They argued that since the Goths and the Geats were the same nation, and the Geats were part of the kingdom of Sweden, this meant that the Swedes had defeated the Roman empire. The earliest attestation of this claim comes from the Council of Basel, 1434, during which the Swedish delegation argued with the Spanish about who among them were the true Goths. The Spaniards argued that it was better to be descended from the heroic Visigoths than from stay-at-homers. This cultural movement, which was not restricted to Sweden went by the name Gothicismus or in Swedish Göticism, i.e. Geaticism.
After the 15th century and the Kalmar Union, the Swedes and the Geats appear to have begun to perceive themselves as one nation, which is reflected in the evolution of svensk into a common ethnonym. It was originally an adjective referring to those belonging to the Swedish tribe, who are called svear in Swedish. As early as the 9th century, svear had been vague, both referring to the Swedish tribe and being a collective term including the Geats, and this is the case in Adam of Bremen's work where the Geats (Goths) appear both as a proper nation and as part of the Sueones. The merging/assimilation of the two nations took a long time, however. In the early-20th century, Nordisk familjebok noted that svensk had almost replaced svear as a name for the Swedish people.
At the same time, the Swedish ancestors were often referred to as Geats, especially when their heroism or connection to the Goths was to be stressed. This practice disappeared during the 19th century, when the vikings gradually took over the role as the heroic ancestors.
Society
The Geats were traditionally divided into several petty kingdoms, or districts, which had their own things (popular assemblies) and laws. The largest one of these districts was Västergötland (West Geatland), and it was in Västergötland that the Thing of all Geats was held every year, in the vicinity of Skara. Despite the name, the thing was only for the inhabitants of Västergötland and Dalsland. The equivalent in Östergötland was Lionga thing.
Unlike the Swedes, who used the division hundare, the Geats used hærrad (modern Swedish härad), like the Norwegians and the Danes. Surprisingly, it would be the Geatish name that became the common term in the Swedish kingdom. This is possibly related to the fact that several of the medieval Swedish kings were of Geatish extraction and often resided primarily in Götaland. In Västergötland and Dalsland, there were also a higher-level division where one or more hærrad made up a bo linked to a kongsgård.
Modern legacy
Today, the merger of the two nations is complete, as there is no longer any tangible identification in Götaland with a Geatish identity, apart from the common tendency of residents of the provinces of Västergötland and Östergötland to refer to themselves as västgötar (West Geats) and östgötar (East Geats), similarly to how residents of other provinces refer to themselves. The dialects spoken in those provinces and some surrounding areas are also collectively called götamål. Although the city Göteborg (Gothenburg) has formerly been considered to have been named after the river Göta älv, it may instead have been named after the Geats ('fortress of the Geats') when it was founded in 1621.
Until 1973 the official title of the Swedish king was "King of Sweden" (earlier: of the Swedes), the Geats/Goths and the Wends (with the formula Sveriges, Götes och Vendes konung, in Latin N.N. Dei Gratia, Suecorum, Gothorum et Vandalorum Rex). The title "King of the Wends" was copied from the Danish title, while the Danish kings called themselves "Kings of the Gotlanders" (which, like "Geats", was translated into "Goths" in Latin). "Wends" is a term normally used to describe the Slavic peoples who inhabited large areas of modern east Germany and Pomerania. See further in the Misplaced Pages articles King of the Goths and King of the Wends.
The titles, however, changed in 1973 when the new king Carl XVI Gustaf decided that his royal title should simply be "King of Sweden". The disappearance of the old title was his decision alone.
Goths
Main article: GothsGeatas was originally Proto-Germanic *Gautoz and Goths and Gutar (Gotlanders) were *Gutaniz. *Gautoz and *Gutaniz are two ablaut grades of a Proto-Germanic word *geutan with the meaning "to pour" (modern Swedish gjuta, modern German giessen). The word comes from an Indo-European root meaning to pour, offer sacrifice. There were consequently two derivations from the same Proto-Germanic ethnonym.
It is a long-standing controversy whether the Goths were Geats. Both Old Icelandic and Old English literary sources clearly separate the Geats (Isl. Gautar, OEng Geatas) from the Goths/Gutar (Isl. Gotar, OEng. Gotenas); but the Gothic historian Jordanes wrote that the Goths came originally to Dacia from the island of Scandza. Moreover, he described that on this island there were three tribes called the Gautigoths (cf. Geat/Gaut), the Ostrogoths (cf. the Swedish province of Östergötland) and Vagoths (Gutar?) ‒ this implies that the Geats were Goths rather than vice versa. The word Goth is also a term used by the Romans to describe related, culturally linked tribes like the Tervingi and the Greuthungs, so it may be correct to label Geats as Goths.
Scandinavian burial customs, such as the stone circles (domarringar), which are most common in Götaland and Gotland, and stelae (bautastenar) appeared in what is now northern Poland in the 1st century AD, suggesting an influx of Scandinavians during the formation of the Gothic Wielbark culture. Moreover, in Östergötland, in Sweden, there is a sudden disappearance of villages during this period. Contemporary accounts beginning in the fourth century further associated these groups with the earlier Getae of Dacia, but this is now disputed.
Fringe theories
Götaland theory
The Götaland theory (Swedish "Västgötaskolan") is a disparate group of theories, which have attempted to prove that some events and even places that are traditionally placed around Mälaren, especially ones that are associated with the formation of medieval Sweden, instead should be located to Västergötland. The methods ranged from relatively scholarly efforts to dowsing. This "school" was brought to prominence in the 1980s following a TV series by Dag Stålsjö. While some serious scholars have attempted to place more emphasis on the Geats in the early history of Sweden than was traditional, Västgötaskolan has never reached any acceptance.
Identity of the Gēatas
The generally accepted identification of Old English Gēatas as the same ethnonym as Swedish götar and Old Norse gautar is based on the observation that the ö monophthong of modern Swedish and the au diphthong of Old Norse correspond to the ēa diphthong of Old English.
Old Norse | Swedish | Old English | Modern English |
---|---|---|---|
brauð | bröd | brēad | bread |
laukr | lök | lēac | onion, cf. leek |
lauf | löv | lēaf | leaf |
austr | öst | ēast | east |
draumr | dröm | drēam | dream |
dauðr | död | dēað | death |
rauðr | röd | rēad | red |
Thus, Gēatas is the Old English form of Old Norse Gautar and modern Swedish Götar. This correspondence seems to tip the balance for most scholars. It is also based on the fact that in Beowulf, the Gēatas live east of the Dani (across the sea) and in close contact with the Sweon, which fits the historical position of the Geats between the Danes and the Swedes. Moreover, the story of Beowulf, who leaves Geatland and arrives at the Danish court after a naval voyage, where he kills a beast, finds a parallel in Hrólf Kraki's saga. In this saga, Bödvar Bjarki leaves Gautland and arrives at the Danish court after a naval voyage and kills a beast that has been terrorizing the Danes for two years (see also Origins for Beowulf and Hrólf Kraki).
Jutish hypothesis
There is a hypothesis that the Jutes also were Geats, and which was proposed by Pontus Fahlbeck in 1884. According to this hypothesis the Geats would have not only resided in southern Sweden but also in Jutland, where Beowulf would have lived.
The Geats and the Jutes are mentioned in Beowulf as different tribes, and whereas the Geats are called gēatas, the Jutes are called ēotena (genitive) or ēotenum (dative). Moreover, the Old English poem Widsith also mentions both Geats and Jutes, and it calls the latter ȳtum. However, Fahlbeck proposed in 1884 that the Gēatas of Beowulf referred to Jutes and he proposed that the Jutes originally also were Geats like those of southern Sweden. This theory was based on an Old English translation of Venerable Bede's Ecclesiastical History of the English People attributed to Alfred the Great where the Jutes (iutarum, iutis) once are rendered as gēata (genitive) and twice as gēatum (dative) (see e.g. the OED which identifies the Geats through Eotas, Iótas, Iútan and Geátas). Fahlbeck did not, however, propose an etymology for how the two ethnonyms could be related.
Fahlbeck's theory was refuted by Schück who in 1907 noted that another Old English source, the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, called the Jutes īutna, īotum or īutum. Moreover, Schück pointed out that when Alfred the Great's translation mentions the Jutes for the second time (book IV, ch. 14(16)) it calls them ēota and in one manuscript ȳtena. Björkman proposed in 1908 that Alfred the Great's translation of Jutes as Geats was based on a confusion between the West Saxon form Geotas ("Jutes") and Gēatas ("Geats").
As for the origins of the ethnonym Jute, it may be a secondary formation of the toponym Jutland, where jut is derived from a Proto-Indo-European root *eud meaning "water".
Gutnish hypothesis
Since the 19th century, there has also been a suggestion that Beowulf's people were Gutes (from the island of Gotland in Sweden). According to the poem, the weather-geats or sea-geats, as they are called are supposed to have lived east of the Danes/Dacians and be separated from the Swedes by wide waters. Some researchers have found it a little far-fetched that wide waters relates to Vänern in Västergötland or Mälaren. The weather in weather-geats, and sea-geats marks a people living at a windy, stormy coast by the sea. The Geats of Västergötland were historically an inland people, making an epithet such as weather- or sea- a little strange. Moreover, when Beowulf dies he is buried in a mound at a place called Hrones-naesse, meaning "the cape of whales". Whales have for obvious reasons never lived in Vänern, where, according to Birger Nerman, Beowulf is buried. However, an expanse of water separates the island of Gotland from the Swedes. The island lies east of Denmark/Dacia and whales were once common in the Baltic Sea where Gotland is situated. The name of the Gutes in Swedish, Gutar, is an ablaut-grade of the same name as that of the Geats in Beowulf. These facts made the archaeologist Gad Rausing come to the conclusion that the weather-Geats may have been Gutes. This was supported by another Swedish archaeologist Bo Gräslund. According to Rausing, Beowulf may be buried in a place called Rone on Gotland, a name corresponding to the Hrones in Hrones-naesse. Not far from there lies a place called Arnkull corresponding to the Earnar-naesse in Beowulf, which according to the poem was situated closely to Hrones-naesse.
This theory does not exclude the ancient population of Västergötland and Östergötland from being Geats, but rather holds that the Anglo-Saxon name Geat could refer to West-geats (Västergötland), East-geats (Östergötland) as well as weather-geats (Gotland), in accordance with Jordanes account of the Scandinanian tribes Gautigoth, Ostrogoth and Vagoth.
See also
- Blenda
- Geatish Society
- Göta
- Götavirke (Geatish Dyke)
- Varangian
References
- "Geat". Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary. Merriam-Webster.
- "Geat". The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (5th ed.). HarperCollins.
- E.g. Microsoft Encarta (on Swedish history), translations from Old Norse Archived 11 December 2005 at the Wayback Machine, Anglo-Saxon Archived 4 August 2020 at the Wayback Machine or Latin Archived 8 November 2014 at the Wayback Machine and the Primary Chronicle and some modern scholarly works on Germanic tribes.
- ^ Hellquist, Elof. "göt". Svensk etymologisk ordbok (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 4 March 2014. Retrieved 1 March 2014.
- ^ "887–888 (Nordisk familjebok / Uggleupplagan. 10. Gossler – Harris)". runeberg.org. 22 September 1909. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 6 March 2011.
- Svenskt ortnamnslexikon, Språk- och folkminnesinstitutet, Uppsala 2003, pages 103 och 92 (articles "Götaland" and "Gotland").
- An interpretation of both names of Götaland and Gotland according to the etymology sentences in their respective articles in Nationalencyklopedin.
- Nationalencyklopedin, the article (in Swedish) Archived 2 May 2014 at the Wayback Machine about Klarälven, which says that Klarälven was called Gautelfr in records from the 13th century. See also Nationalencyklopedin, the article "Göta älv" (in Swedish). Archived 7 August 2011 at the Wayback Machine
- Götar Archived 26 September 2011 at the Wayback Machine in Svenska Akademiens Ordbok.
- Michael Alexander's 1995 (Penguin Classics) edition of Beowulf mentions a variant: Gēotas
- Larsson, Mats G. (2004). Götarnas riken. Stockholm: Atlantis. p. 43.
- Margary, Ivan D. (1973). Roman Roads in Britain, 3rd ed. London: Baker.
- ^ Shippey, Tom (2018). Laughing Shall I Die. London: Reaction Books Limited. p. 56. ISBN 978-1-78023-909-5.
- ^ Farrel, R.T. (1972). Beowulf, Swedes and Geats (PDF). Viking Society for Northern Research, University College, London. p. 269. Archived (PDF) from the original on 11 July 2021. Retrieved 18 August 2021.
- Newton, Sam (1993). The Origins of Beowulf, and the Pre-Viking Kingdom of East Anglia. D. S. Brewer, Cambridge.
- Iversen, Frode (2020). "Between Tribe and Kingdom – People, Land, and Law in Scandza AD 500–1350". Rulership in 1st to 14th century Scandinavia. De Gruyter. p. 250. doi:10.1515/9783110421101-004. ISBN 9783110421101. S2CID 213596339.
- Iversen, Frode (2020). "Between Tribe and Kingdom – People, Land, and Law in Scandza AD 500–1350". Rulership in 1st to 14th century Scandinavia. De Gruyter. pp. 245–304. doi:10.1515/9783110421101-004. ISBN 9783110421101. S2CID 213596339.
- Iversen, Frode (2020). "Between Tribe and Kingdom – People, Land, and Law in Scandza AD 500–1350". Rulership in 1st to 14th century Scandinavia. De Gruyter. p. 295. doi:10.1515/9783110421101-004. ISBN 9783110421101. S2CID 213596339.
- ^ Ståhl, Harry (1976). Ortnamn och ortnamnsforskning. Uppsala: Almquist & Wiksell. p. 131.
- Sawyer, Peter (1991). När Sverige blev Sverige. Viktoria Bokförlag, Alingsås. p. 12.
- Farrel, R.T. (1972). Beowulf, Swedes and Geats (PDF). Viking Society for Northern Research, University College, London. p. 270. Archived (PDF) from the original on 11 July 2021. Retrieved 18 August 2021.
- Sawyer, Peter (1991). När Sverige blev Sverige. Viktoria Bokförlag, Alingsås. pp. 9–10.
- Sawyer, Peter (1991). När Sverige blev Sverige. Viktoria Bokförlag, Alingsås. pp. 58–59.
- Harrison, Dick (2002). Sveriges historia: Medeltiden. Liber, Stockholm. pp. 58, 70–74.
- Henriksson, Alf (1963). Svensk historia I. Bonniers, Stockholm. pp. 86–88.
- Weibull, Jörgen (1993). Swedish History in Outline. The Swedish Institute, Stockholm. p. 18.
- ^ The article Svear in Nationalencyklopedin.
- The earliest attestation of this meaning is from the mid-15th century Swedish Chronicle.
- "1129–1130 (Nordisk familjebok / Uggleupplagan. 27. Stockholm-Nynäs järnväg – Syrsor)". runeberg.org. 22 September 1918. Archived from the original on 3 January 2007. Retrieved 4 December 2006.
- Wahlberg, Mats (2003). Svenskt ortnamndslexikon. Språk och folkminnesinstitutet. p. 103.
- "god" in The Oxford English Dictionary Online. (2006).
- cf. Serbs and Sorbs, Polans and Poles, Slovenes and Slovaks in Slavic languages.
- "The Goths in Greater Poland" (in Polish). Muzarp.poznan.pl. Archived from the original on 30 June 2001. Retrieved 14 June 2010.
- "Gothic Connections | Abstract". Archived from the original on 21 August 2004. Retrieved 21 August 2004.
- Oxenstierna, Graf E.C. : Die Urheimat der Goten. Leipzig, Mannus-Buecherei 73, 1945 (later printed in 1948).
- Larsson, Mats G. (2004). Götarnas riken. Stockholm: Atlantis. pp. 33–34, 90.
- ^ Nerman, Birger (1925). Det Svenska Rikets Uppkomst. Stockholm: Ivar Haeggström. Archived from the original on 20 April 2023. Retrieved 24 December 2020.
- Hellquist, Elof (1922). "Jut-, Jute". Svensk etymologisk ordbok (in Swedish). Project Runeberg. Archived from the original on 24 November 2007. Retrieved 21 November 2007.
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