Geat
Geatas (
Gautar in
Old Norse,
Götar in
Swedish) is the
Old English spelling of the name of the
Geats, a
North Germanic tribe historically associated with
Götaland ("land of the Geats") in modern
Sweden. They were also referred to as the
East Danes. The name of the Geats lives on in the
Swedish counties of
Västergötland and
Östergötland, the Western and Eastern lands of the Geats, as well as in many
toponyms. The city
Göteborg, known in English as
Gothenburg, was named after the Geats (
Geatsburg or
fortress of the Geats), when it was founded in
1621.
The earliest mention of the Geats may appear in
Ptolemy (
2nd century A.D.), where they are referred to as
Goutai. In the
6th century, they were referred to as
Gautigoths and
Ostrogoths (the Ostrogoths of
Scandza) by
Jordanes and as
Gautoi by
Procopius. In the Norse
Sagas they are referred to as
Gautar, and in
Beowulf and
Widsith as
Geatas.
Before the
consolidation of Sweden, the Geats were politically independent of the
Swedes, whose old name was
Svear (
Sweon or
Sweonas in OE). When written sources emerge (approximately at the end of the 10th century), the Geatish lands are perceived as associated with the (still very shaky) Swedish kingdom. Traditional accounts of this process have hypothesized a forceful incorporation by the Swedes. However, there is no textual or archaeological evidence for this supposed invasion, and it should be considered semi-mythical at best. It should also be noted that the Geatish lands, especially
Westrogothia, exhibit considerable Danish influence in the 10th century.
The semi-mythical Swedish invasion of Geatish lands was 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
Nordisk familjebok).
Hervarar saga is believed to contain such traditions handed down from the
4th century. It relates that when the
Hunnish Horde invaded the land of the Goths and the Gothic king
Angantyr desperately tried to marshal the defenses, it was the
Geatish king Gizur who answered his call.
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 Viking raid into
Frisia, ca
516, 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.
In the
Heimskringla,
Snorri Sturluson writes about several battles between
Norwegians and Geats. He wrote that in the
9th century, there were battles between the Geats and the Norwegian king
Harald Fairhair, a battle the Geats had to fight without assistance of the Swedish king
Erik Emundsson. He also wrote about
Haakon I of Norway's expedition into Götaland and
Harold I of Denmark's battle against
Jarl Ottar of
Östergötland, and about
Olaf the Holy's battles with the Geats during his war with
Olof Skötkonung.
In the
11th century, the Swedish
House of Munsö was extinct with
Emund the Old.
Stenkil, a Geat, was elected king of Sweden, 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 were not treated as equals with the Swedes. In the
Westrogothic law, bishop
Brynolf Algotsson (
1279-
1290) of
Skara reminded the Geats that they had to accept the election of the Swedes at the
Stone of Mora, 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.
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 Geats of
Westrogothia. As he despised the Geats, he decided not to demand hostages from their prominent
clans. He was slain near
Falköping.
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
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, as
Geat and
Goth were considered synonymous back then.
To this day, the Swedish kings still formally call themselves
svears och götars konung (
king of Swedes and Geats, or
Rex Sweorum et Gothorum).
Main article: Goths
Geatas was originally
Proto-Germanic Gautoz and
Goths and
Gutar 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". They were consequently two derivations from the same proto-Germanic ethnonym, cf.
Serbs and
Sorbs,
Polans and
Poles,
Slovenes and
Slovaks in
Slavic languages.
It is a long-standing controversy whether the
Goths were Geats.
Jordanes claimed that the
Goths came from the island of
Scandza. He also claimed that on this island there were three tribes called the
Gautigoths (cf.
Geat/Gaut), the
Ostrogoths (cf. the Swedish province of
Östergötland) and
Vagoths (
Gotlanders?).
Scandinavian burial customs, such as the
stone circles (domarringar), which are most common in Götaland and Gotland, and
stelae (bautastenar) appeared in northern Poland in the
1st century AD, suggesting an influx of Scandinavians during the formation of the Gothic
Wielbark culture [
1][
2]. Moreover, in
Ostrogothia, in Sweden, there is a sudden disappearance of villages during this period.
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
Old Norse correspond to the EA diphthong of
Old English.
Correspondences:
| Swedish | Old Norse | Old English |
bröd
löv
öst
dröm
död
röd
nöt
köp
öga
hög
söm
töm
ödbrauð
lauf
austr
draumr
dauðr
rauðr
naut
kaup
auga
haugr
saumr
taum
auð | bread
leaf
east
dream
dead
read (red)
neat (head of cattle)
ceap (purchase)
eage (eye)
heah (high)
seam
team
ead (wealth) |
|
etc.
Thus,
Geatas 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
Geatas live east of the
Dene (across the sea) and in close contact with the
Sweon, which fits the historical position of the
Gautar between the
Daner and the
Svear.
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).
Since the 19th century, several other nations have been suggested to correspond to the Geats, such as the
Danes (Curt Weibull), the
Jutes (Pontus Fahlbeck 1884), the Goths and the
Gotlanders, (See e.g. the
OED which identifies the Geats through
Eotas,
Iótas,
Iútan and
Geátas) with the
Jutes referred to in the
Venerable Bede's
Ecclesiastical History of the English People. '
These hypotheses have been suggested even though, in both Beowulf and
Widsith, the Geats are clearly distinguished from both Jutes
Eótenas (or
Ytum) and
Danes. Thus any identification between the Geatas and these two nations is refuted by the two source texts themselves.
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.
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
Sweden, where the debate about Sweden's history prior to the 11th century is affected.
*
Consolidation of Sweden*
Götavirke (Geatish Dyke)
*
Viking,
Varangian*
Hygelac*
Geatish Society*
Trial by combat*
Trial by ordeal*
Göta*
Goths*
Gotlanders
*
Geatish kings*
Jats
