![Nordic Settlements](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/30/Nordic_Settlements.jpg)
The Geats ( ; ang, gēatas ; non, gautar ; sv, götar ), sometimes called ''
Goths
The Goths ( got, 𐌲𐌿𐍄𐌸𐌹𐌿𐌳𐌰, translit=''Gutþiuda''; la, Gothi, grc-gre, Γότθοι, Gótthoi) were a Germanic people who played a major role in the fall of the Western Roman Empire and the emergence of medieval Europe ...
'', were a large
North Germanic
The North Germanic languages make up one of the three branches of the Germanic languages—a sub-family of the Indo-European languages—along with the West Germanic languages and the extinct East Germanic languages. The language group is also r ...
tribe who inhabited ("land of the Geats") in modern southern Sweden from antiquity until the late
Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...
. They are one of the
progenitor
In genealogy, the progenitor (rarer: primogenitor; german: Stammvater or ''Ahnherr'') is the – sometimes legendary – founder of a family, line of descent, clan or tribe, noble house, or ethnic group..
Ebenda''Ahnherr:''"Stammvater eines G ...
groups of modern
Swedes
Swedes ( sv, svenskar) are a North Germanic ethnic group native to the Nordic region, primarily their nation state of Sweden, who share a common ancestry, culture, history and language. They mostly inhabit Sweden and the other Nordic countr ...
, along with
Swedes (the tribe) and
Gutes
The Gutes (old west norse ''Gotar'', old gutnish ''Gutar'') were a North Germanic tribe inhabiting the island of Gotland. The ethnonym is related to that of the ''Goths'' (''Gutans''), and both names were originally Proto-Germanic *''Gutaniz'' ...
. The name of the Geats also lives on in the
Swedish provinces of and , the Western and Eastern lands of the Geats, and in many other
toponym
Toponymy, toponymics, or toponomastics is the study of '' toponyms'' (proper names of places, also known as place names and geographic names), including their origins, meanings, usage and types. Toponym is the general term for a proper name of ...
s.
The Swedish dialects spoken in the areas that used to be inhabited by Geats form a distinct group, ''
Götamål''.
Etymology
The etymology of the name ''Geat'' (Old English ', from a
Proto-Germanic
Proto-Germanic (abbreviated PGmc; also called Common Germanic) is the reconstructed proto-language of the Germanic branch of the Indo-European languages.
Proto-Germanic eventually developed from pre-Proto-Germanic into three Germanic branc ...
*''Gautaz'', plural *''Gautōz'') is similar
to that of ''
Goths
The Goths ( got, 𐌲𐌿𐍄𐌸𐌹𐌿𐌳𐌰, translit=''Gutþiuda''; la, Gothi, grc-gre, Γότθοι, Gótthoi) were a Germanic people who played a major role in the fall of the Western Roman Empire and the emergence of medieval Europe ...
'' and ''
Gutes
The Gutes (old west norse ''Gotar'', old gutnish ''Gutar'') were a North Germanic tribe inhabiting the island of Gotland. The ethnonym is related to that of the ''Goths'' (''Gutans''), and both names were originally Proto-Germanic *''Gutaniz'' ...
'' (*''Gutô'', plural *''Gutaniz''). The names derive from
ablaut
In linguistics, the Indo-European ablaut (, from German ''Ablaut'' ) is a system of apophony (regular vowel variations) in the Proto-Indo-European language (PIE).
An example of ablaut in English is the strong verb ''sing, sang, sung'' and its ...
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
The Göta älv (; "River of (the) Geats") is a river that drains lake Vänern into the Kattegat, at the city of Gothenburg, on the western coast of Sweden. It was formed at the end of the last glaciation, as an outflow channel from the Baltic Ic ...
( non, 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
Trollhättan Falls is a waterfall in the Göta river (Göta älv) in Sweden.
The falls starts at Malgö Bridge in central Trollhättan, and has a total height of 32 metres, making up a large part of the 44 metre total fall of the river from V ...
or to the river itself.[
The short form of ''Gautigoths'' was the Old Norse ', which originally referred to just the inhabitants of Västergötland, or the western parts of today's ]Götaland
Götaland (; also '' Geatland'', '' Gothia'', ''Gothland'', ''Gothenland'' or ''Gautland'') is one of three lands of Sweden and comprises ten provinces. Geographically it is located in the south of Sweden, bounded to the north by Svealand, wit ...
, a meaning which is retained in some Icelandic sagas.[
]
History
Early history
The earliest known surviving mention of the Geats appears in Ptolemy
Claudius Ptolemy (; grc-gre, Πτολεμαῖος, ; la, Claudius Ptolemaeus; AD) was a mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist, who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were of importanc ...
(2nd century AD), who refers to them as ''Goutai''. In the 6th century, Jordanes
Jordanes (), also written as Jordanis or Jornandes, was a 6th-century Eastern Roman bureaucrat widely believed to be of Goths, Gothic descent who became a historian later in life. Late in life he wrote two works, one on Roman history (''Romana ...
writes of the ''Gautigoths'' and ''Ostrogoths'' (the Ostrogoths of Scandza
Scandza was described as a "great island" by Gothic-Byzantine historian Jordanes in his work ''Getica''. The island was located in the Arctic regions of the sea that surrounded the world. The location is usually identified with Scandinavia.
Jor ...
); and Procopius
Procopius of Caesarea ( grc-gre, Προκόπιος ὁ Καισαρεύς ''Prokópios ho Kaisareús''; la, Procopius Caesariensis; – after 565) was a prominent late antique Greek scholar from Caesarea Maritima. Accompanying the Roman gener ...
refers to ''Gautoi''. The Norse Sagas
is a series of science fantasy role-playing video games by Square Enix. The series originated on the Game Boy in 1989 as the creation of Akitoshi Kawazu at Square. It has since continued across multiple platforms, from the Super NES to the Play ...
know them as ''Gautar''; ''Beowulf
''Beowulf'' (; ang, Bēowulf ) is an Old English epic poem in the tradition of Germanic heroic legend consisting of 3,182 alliterative lines. It is one of the most important and most often translated works of Old English literature. The ...
'' and ''Widsith
"Widsith" ( ang, Wīdsīþ, "far-traveller", lit. "wide-journey"), also known as "The Traveller's Song", is an Old English poem of 143 lines. It survives only in the ''Exeter Book'', a manuscript of Old English poetry compiled in the late-10th c ...
'' as ''Gēatas''. ''Beowulf'' and the Norse saga
is a series of science fantasy role-playing video games by Square Enix. The series originated on the Game Boy in 1989 as the creation of Akitoshi Kawazu at Square. It has since continued across multiple platforms, from the Super NES to the Play ...
s name several Geatish kings
Geatish kings ( la, Rex Getarum/Gothorum; sv, Götakungar), ruling over the provinces of Götaland (Gautland/Geatland), appear in several sources for early Swedish history. Today, most of them are not considered historical.
This list follows t ...
, but only Hygelac
Hygelac ( ang, Hygelāc; non, Hugleikr; gem-x-proto, Hugilaikaz; la, Ch(l)ochilaicus or ''Hugilaicus''; died 521) was a king of the Geats according to the poem ''Beowulf''. It is Hygelac's presence in the poem which has allowed scholars to ...
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
Frisia is a cross-border cultural region in Northwestern Europe. Stretching along the Wadden Sea, it encompasses the north of the Netherlands and parts of northwestern Germany. The region is traditionally inhabited by the Frisians, a West Ger ...
, 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
The Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain is the process which changed the language and culture of most of what became England from Romano-British to Germanic peoples, Germanic. The Germanic-speakers in Britain, themselves of diverse origins, ev ...
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
Roman roads ( la, viae Romanae ; singular: ; meaning "Roman way") were physical infrastructure vital to the maintenance and development of the Roman state, and were built from about 300 BC through the expansion and consolidation of the Roman Re ...
and nearby Visigothic
The Visigoths (; la, Visigothi, Wisigothi, Vesi, Visi, Wesi, Wisi) were an early Germanic people who, along with the Ostrogoths, constituted the two major political entities of the Goths within the Roman Empire in late antiquity, or what is kno ...
and/or Jutish settlements. Defeated Jutes like Hengest and his brother Horsa fled to Kent, while Geats defeated by encroaching Swedes
Swedes ( sv, svenskar) are a North Germanic ethnic group native to the Nordic region, primarily their nation state of Sweden, who share a common ancestry, culture, history and language. They mostly inhabit Sweden and the other Nordic countr ...
moved to Yorkshire
Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...
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
The Wulfings, Wylfings or YlfingsWord initial ''w'' was lost before rounded vowels in Proto-Norse, e.g. ''wulf'' corresponds to ''ulf'', and ''Wulfing''/''Wylfing'' corresponds to ''Ylfing'', because the ''i'' in the second syllable causes an umla ...
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 Anglosaxon and Frankish sources does 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 does however indicate that they were still politically independent, sometimes opposing Norwegian kings. Their absence in older sources have instead been suggested to be due to them 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 having remaining differences between provinces, in laws as well as in weights and measurements. Some scholars have argued that the Geats were subjugated by the Swedes, and have suggested various dates for such an event, from the sixth to the 9th century. 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, that 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 king of the Geats in the 1270s.
Dynastic struggles
In the 11th century, the Swedish House of Munsö
The House of Munsö (), also called the House of Björn Ironside (Swedish: ), the House of Uppsala (Swedish: ) or simply the Old dynasty (Swedish: ), is the earliest reliably attested royal dynasty of Sweden, ruling during the Viking Age. None of ...
became extinct with the death of Emund the Old
Emund the Old or Edmund (Swedish: ''Emund den gamle'', Old Swedish: ''Æmunðær gamlæ'', ''Æmunðær gammal'', ''Æmunðær slemæ'') was King of Sweden from c. 1050 to c. 1060. His short reign was characterised by disputes with the Archbishop ...
. 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
Inge the Elder (Swedish: ''Inge Stenkilsson''; Old Norse: ''Ingi Steinkelsson''; died c. 1105–1110) was a king of Sweden. In English literature he has also been called ''Ingold''. While scant sources do not allow us to paint a full picture of hi ...
fled to Västergötland
Västergötland (), also known as West Gothland or the Latinized version Westrogothia in older literature, is one of the 25 traditional non-administrative provinces of Sweden (''landskap'' in Swedish), situated in the southwest of Sweden.
Väs ...
when deposed in favour of Blot-Sweyn
Blot-Sweyn (Swedish:''Blot-Sven'') was a Swedish king c. 1080, who replaced his Christian brother-in-law Inge as King of Sweden, when Inge had refused to administer the blóts (pagan sacrifices) at the Temple at Uppsala. There is no mention of Swey ...
, a king more favourable towards Norse paganism
Old Norse religion, also known as Norse paganism, is the most common name for a branch of Germanic religion which developed during the Proto-Norse period, when the North Germanic peoples separated into a distinct branch of the Germanic peop ...
, in the 1080s. Inge would retake the throne and rule until his death c. 1100.
In his ''Gesta Danorum
''Gesta Danorum'' ("Deeds of the Danes") is a patriotic work of Danish history, by the 12th-century author Saxo Grammaticus ("Saxo the Literate", literally "the Grammarian"). It is the most ambitious literary undertaking of medieval Denmark an ...
'' (book 13), the Danish 12th-century chronicler Saxo Grammaticus
Saxo Grammaticus (c. 1150 – c. 1220), also known as Saxo cognomine Longus, was a Danish historian, theologian and author. He is thought to have been a clerk or secretary to Absalon, Archbishop of Lund, the main advisor to Valdemar I of Denmark. ...
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 taking"and also deposing the king"'' and then he rode Eriksgata
Eriksgata (i.e. "Erik's Road") is the tour traditionally taken in the Middle Ages by a newly-elected Swedish king through the important provinces of the realm to have his election confirmed by the local thing (assembly), assemblies. The actual ele ...
n ''"mæþ gislum ofvan"'' – ''"with hostages from above he realm
He or HE may refer to:
Language
* He (pronoun), an English pronoun
* He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ
* He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets
* He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' in ...
'' through Södermanland
Södermanland ( or ), locally Sörmland, sometimes referred to under its Latin form ''Sudermannia'' or ''Sudermania'', is a historical province or ''landskap'' on the south eastern coast of Sweden. It borders Östergötland, Närke, Västmanla ...
, the Geatish provinces and then through Närke
Närke () is a Provinces of Sweden, Swedish traditional province, or ''landskap'', situated in Svealand in south central Sweden. It is bordered by Västmanland to the north, Södermanland to the east, Östergötland to the southeast, Västergö ...
and Västmanland
Västmanland ( or ), is a historical Swedish province, or ''landskap'', in middle Sweden. It borders Södermanland, Närke, Värmland, Dalarna and Uppland.
Västmanland means "(The) Land of the Western Men", where the "western men" (''västerm ...
to be judged to be the lawful king by the lawspeaker
A lawspeaker or lawman (Swedish language, Swedish: ''lagman'', Old Swedish: ''laghmaþer'' or ''laghman'', Danish language, Danish: ''lovsigemand'', Norwegian language, Norwegian: ''lagmann'', Icelandic language, Icelandic: , Faroese language, ...
s of their respective things. One of these Swedish kings was Ragnvald Knaphövde Ragnvald Knaphövde was a King of Sweden whose reign is estimated to have occurred in the mid-1120sRagnvald knaphövde'' at the site of the Swedish Museum of National Antiquities, retrieved January 20, 2007. or c. 1130.Ragnvald Knaphöfde' in ''Nord ...
, 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
Falköping is a locality and the seat of Falköping Municipality in Västra Götaland County, Sweden. It had 16,350 inhabitants in 2010.
History
The town of Falköping was first spoken of in the Icelandic ''Rimbegla'' (around 1100 A.D.), and ...
.
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
The Stones of Mora () is a historic location in Knivsta, Sweden. Several Medieval kings of Sweden were proclaimed at
the assembly of Mora near modern Uppsala. It was moved in the 15th century and was considered to have been lost. However, ther ...
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
The Council of Florence is the seventeenth ecumenical council recognized by the Catholic Church, held between 1431 and 1449. It was convoked as the Council of Basel by Pope Martin V shortly before his death in February 1431 and took place in ...
, 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
Gothicism or Gothism ( sv, Göticism ; la, Gothicismus) was a cultural movement in Sweden, centered on the belief in the glory of the Swedish Geats, who were identified with the Goths. The founders of the movement were Nicolaus Ragvaldi and the ...
'' or in Swedish ''Göticism'', i.e. ''Geaticism''.
After the 15th century and the Kalmar Union
The Kalmar Union (Danish language, Danish, Norwegian language, Norwegian, and sv, Kalmarunionen; fi, Kalmarin unioni; la, Unio Calmariensis) was a personal union in Scandinavia, agreed at Kalmar in Sweden, that from 1397 to 1523 joined under ...
, 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.[The article ''Svear'' in '']Nationalencyklopedin
''Nationalencyklopedin'' (; "The National Encyclopedia" in English), abbreviated NE, is a comprehensive contemporary Swedish-language encyclopedia, initiated by a favourable loan from the Government of Sweden of 17 million Swedish kronor in 19 ...
''. 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
Adam of Bremen ( la, Adamus Bremensis; german: Adam von Bremen) (before 1050 – 12 October 1081/1085) was a German medieval chronicler. He lived and worked in the second half of the eleventh century. Adam is most famous for his chronicle ''Gesta ...
'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
''Nordisk familjebok'' (, "Nordic Family Book") is a Swedish encyclopedia that was published in print from between 1876 and 1993, and that is now fully available in digital form via Project Runeberg at Linköping University. Despite their consi ...
'' 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 viking
Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden),
who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...
s gradually took over the role as the heroic ancestors.
Society
The Geats were traditionally divided into several petty kingdom
A petty kingdom is a monarchy, kingdom described as minor or "petty" (from the French 'petit' meaning small) by contrast to an empire or unified kingdom that either preceded or succeeded it (e.g. the Heptarchy#List of Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, numerou ...
s, or districts, which had their own thing
Thing or The Thing may refer to:
Philosophy
* An object
* Broadly, an entity
* Thing-in-itself (or ''noumenon''), the reality that underlies perceptions, a term coined by Immanuel Kant
* Thing theory, a branch of critical theory that focuses ...
s (popular assemblies) and laws. The largest one of these districts was Västergötland
Västergötland (), also known as West Gothland or the Latinized version Westrogothia in older literature, is one of the 25 traditional non-administrative provinces of Sweden (''landskap'' in Swedish), situated in the southwest of Sweden.
Väs ...
(West Geatland), and it was in Västergötland that the Thing of all Geats The Thing of all Geats (Swedish: ''Alla götars ting'') was the thing (general assembly) which was held from pre-historic times to the Middle Ages in Skara, Västergötland.[Skara
Skara is a Urban areas in Sweden, locality and the seat of Skara Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden with 18,580 inhabitants in 2013. Despite its small size, it is one of the oldest cities in Sweden, and has a long educational and ecc ...]
. Despite the name, the thing was only for the inhabitants of Västergötland and Dalsland
Dalsland () is a Swedish traditional province, or ''landskap'', situated in Götaland in southern Sweden. Lying to the west of Lake Vänern, it is bordered by Värmland to the north, Västergötland to the southeast, Bohuslän to the west, and ...
. The equivalent in Östergötland
Östergötland (; English exonym: East Gothland) is one of the traditional provinces of Sweden (''landskap'' in Swedish) in the south of Sweden. It borders Småland, Västergötland, Närke, Södermanland and the Baltic Sea. In older English li ...
was Lionga thing Lionga thing was the general assembly of the people of Östergötland in medieval Sweden. Lionga thing is mentioned in Östgötalagen and was held in Linköping in the Middle Ages. Its original location is unknown. The first known mention of Lionga ...
.
Unlike the Swedes, who used the division hundare, the Geats used ''hærrad'' (modern Swedish ''härad
A hundred is an administrative division that is geographically part of a larger region. It was formerly used in England, Wales, some parts of the United States, Denmark, Southern Schleswig, Sweden, Finland, Norway, the Bishopric of Ösel–Wiek, C ...
''), 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 Kongsgård (Swedish:''Kungsgård'') is a residence, estate, or farmland that has belonged or still belongs to the Scandinavian monarchs or royal families.
History
During the Viking Age and early Middle Ages, the nations of Scandinavia were organ ...
.
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
A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outsi ...
of Västergötland
Västergötland (), also known as West Gothland or the Latinized version Westrogothia in older literature, is one of the 25 traditional non-administrative provinces of Sweden (''landskap'' in Swedish), situated in the southwest of Sweden.
Väs ...
and Östergötland
Östergötland (; English exonym: East Gothland) is one of the traditional provinces of Sweden (''landskap'' in Swedish) in the south of Sweden. It borders Småland, Västergötland, Närke, Södermanland and the Baltic Sea. In older English li ...
to refer to themselves as ''västgötar'' (West Geats) and ''östgötar'' (East Geats), similar 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'', known in English as Gothenburg
Gothenburg (; abbreviated Gbg; sv, Göteborg ) is the second-largest city in Sweden, fifth-largest in the Nordic countries, and capital of the Västra Götaland County. It is situated by the Kattegat, on the west coast of Sweden, and has ...
, has formerly been considered to have been named after the river Göta älv
The Göta älv (; "River of (the) Geats") is a river that drains lake Vänern into the Kattegat, at the city of Gothenburg, on the western coast of Sweden. It was formed at the end of the last glaciation, as an outflow channel from the Baltic Ic ...
, 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
This is a list of Swedish kings, queens, regents and viceroys of the Kalmar Union.
History
The earliest record of what is generally considered to be a Swedish king appears in Tacitus' work ''Germania'', c. 100 AD (the king of the Suiones). Howe ...
was King of Sweden (earlier: of the Swedes), the Geats/Goths and the Wends
Wends ( ang, Winedas ; non, Vindar; german: Wenden , ; da, vendere; sv, vender; pl, Wendowie, cz, Wendové) is a historical name for Slavs living near Germanic settlement areas. It refers not to a homogeneous people, but to various peopl ...
(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 "King of the Gotlanders" (which, like "Geats", was translated into "Goths" in Latin) were also used by Danish royalty. The 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 Wikipedia articles King of the Goths and King of the Wends
King of the Wends ( la, Rex Vandalorum or ''Rex Sclavorum''; ; sv, Vendes Konung) was a pan-Scandinavian title denoting sovereignty, lordship or claims over the Wends, a people who historically populated Western Slavic lands of southern coasts ...
.
The titles, however, changed when the new king Carl XVI Gustaf
Carl XVI Gustaf (Carl Gustaf Folke Hubertus; born 30 April 1946) is King of Sweden. He ascended the throne on the death of his grandfather, Gustaf VI Adolf, on 15 September 1973.
He is the youngest child and only son of Prince Gustaf Adolf, Du ...
in 1973 decided that his royal title should simply be King of Sweden. The disappearance of the old title was a decision made entirely by the king.
Goths
''Geatas'' was originally Proto-Germanic
Proto-Germanic (abbreviated PGmc; also called Common Germanic) is the reconstructed proto-language of the Germanic branch of the Indo-European languages.
Proto-Germanic eventually developed from pre-Proto-Germanic into three Germanic branc ...
*''Gautoz'' and ''Goths'' and ''Gutar
The Gutes (old west norse ''Gotar'', old gutnish ''Gutar'') were a North Germanic tribe inhabiting the island of Gotland. The ethnonym is related to that of the ''Goths'' (''Gutans''), and both names were originally Proto-Germanic *''Gutaniz'' ...
'' (''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
The Goths ( got, 𐌲𐌿𐍄𐌸𐌹𐌿𐌳𐌰, translit=''Gutþiuda''; la, Gothi, grc-gre, Γότθοι, Gótthoi) were a Germanic people who played a major role in the fall of the Western Roman Empire and the emergence of medieval Europe ...
were Geats. Both Old Icelandic and Old English literary sources clearly separate the Geats (Isl. ''Gautar'', OEng ''Geatas'') from the Goths/Gutar
The Gutes (old west norse ''Gotar'', old gutnish ''Gutar'') were a North Germanic tribe inhabiting the island of Gotland. The ethnonym is related to that of the ''Goths'' (''Gutans''), and both names were originally Proto-Germanic *''Gutaniz'' ...
(Isl. ''Gotar'', OEng. ''Gotenas''); but the Gothic historian Jordanes
Jordanes (), also written as Jordanis or Jornandes, was a 6th-century Eastern Roman bureaucrat widely believed to be of Goths, Gothic descent who became a historian later in life. Late in life he wrote two works, one on Roman history (''Romana ...
wrote that the Goths
The Goths ( got, 𐌲𐌿𐍄𐌸𐌹𐌿𐌳𐌰, translit=''Gutþiuda''; la, Gothi, grc-gre, Γότθοι, Gótthoi) were a Germanic people who played a major role in the fall of the Western Roman Empire and the emergence of medieval Europe ...
came originally to Dacia
Dacia (, ; ) was the land inhabited by the Dacians, its core in Transylvania, stretching to the Danube in the south, the Black Sea in the east, and the Tisza in the west. The Carpathian Mountains were located in the middle of Dacia. It thus r ...
from the island of Scandza
Scandza was described as a "great island" by Gothic-Byzantine historian Jordanes in his work ''Getica''. The island was located in the Arctic regions of the sea that surrounded the world. The location is usually identified with Scandinavia.
Jor ...
. 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
Östergötland (; English exonym: East Gothland) is one of the traditional provinces of Sweden (''landskap'' in Swedish) in the south of Sweden. It borders Småland, Västergötland, Närke, Södermanland and the Baltic Sea. In older English li ...
'') and ''Vagoths'' (Gutar
The Gutes (old west norse ''Gotar'', old gutnish ''Gutar'') were a North Germanic tribe inhabiting the island of Gotland. The ethnonym is related to that of the ''Goths'' (''Gutans''), and both names were originally Proto-Germanic *''Gutaniz'' ...
?) ‒ 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
The Thervingi, Tervingi, or Teruingi (sometimes pluralised Tervings or Thervings) were a Gothic people of the plains north of the Lower Danube and west of the Dniester River in the 3rd and the 4th centuries.
They had close contacts with the Gr ...
and the Greuthungs
The Greuthungi (also spelled Greutungi) were a Gothic people who lived on the Pontic steppe between the Dniester and Don rivers in what is now Ukraine, in the 3rd and the 4th centuries. They had close contacts with the Tervingi, another Gothic ...
, so it may be correct to label Geats as Goths.
Scandinavian burial customs, such as the stone circles
A stone circle is a ring of standing stones. Most are found in Northwestern Europe – especially in Britain, Ireland, and Brittany – and typically date from the Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age, with most being built from 3000 BC. The b ...
(domarringar), which are most common in Götaland and Gotland
Gotland (, ; ''Gutland'' in Gutnish), also historically spelled Gottland or Gothland (), is Sweden's largest island. It is also a province, county, municipality, and diocese. The province includes the islands of Fårö and Gotska Sandön to the ...
, and stelae
A stele ( ),Anglicized plural steles ( ); Greek plural stelai ( ), from Greek , ''stēlē''. The Greek plural is written , ''stēlai'', but this is only rarely encountered in English. or occasionally stela (plural ''stelas'' or ''stelæ''), whe ...
(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
The Wielbark culture (german: Wielbark-Willenberg-Kultur; pl, Kultura wielbarska) or East Pomeranian-Mazovian is an Iron Age archaeological complex which flourished on the territory of today's Poland from the 1st century AD to the 5th century AD. ...
. Moreover, in Östergötland
Östergötland (; English exonym: East Gothland) is one of the traditional provinces of Sweden (''landskap'' in Swedish) in the south of Sweden. It borders Småland, Västergötland, Närke, Södermanland and the Baltic Sea. In older English li ...
, 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
The Getae ( ) or Gets ( ; grc, Γέται, singular ) were a Thracian-related tribe that once inhabited the regions to either side of the Lower Danube, in what is today northern Bulgaria and southern Romania. Both the singular form ''Get'' an ...
'' 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
Dowsing is a type of divination employed in attempts to locate ground water, buried metals or ores, gemstones, oil, claimed radiations (radiesthesia),As translated from one preface of the Kassel experiments, "roughly 10,000 active dowsers in Ge ...
. 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
Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and t ...
correspond to the ''ēa'' diphthong of Old English
Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...
.
Thus, ''Gēatas'' is the Old English
Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...
form of Old Norse
Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and t ...
''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
''Beowulf'' (; ang, Bēowulf ) is an Old English epic poem in the tradition of Germanic heroic legend consisting of 3,182 alliterative lines. It is one of the most important and most often translated works of Old English literature. The ...
'', 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
Danish may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark
People
* A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark
* Culture of Denmark
* Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...
court after a naval voyage, where he kills a beast, finds a parallel in Hrólf Kraki's saga. In this saga, Bödvar Bjarki
Bödvar Bjarki ( non, Bǫðvarr Bjarki ), meaning 'Warlike Little-Bear', is the hero appearing in tales of Hrólfr Kraki in the '' Hrólfs saga kraka'', in the Latin epitome to the lost '' Skjöldunga saga'', and as ''Biarco'' in Saxo Grammatic ...
leaves ''Gautland'' and arrives at the Danish
Danish may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark
People
* A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark
* Culture of Denmark
* Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...
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
Origin(s) or The Origin may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
Comics and manga
* ''Origin'' (comics), a Wolverine comic book mini-series published by Marvel Comics in 2002
* ''The Origin'' (Buffy comic), a 1999 ''Buffy the Vampire Sl ...
).
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
Jutland ( da, Jylland ; german: Jütland ; ang, Ēota land ), known anciently as the Cimbric or Cimbrian Peninsula ( la, Cimbricus Chersonesus; da, den Kimbriske Halvø, links=no or ; german: Kimbrische Halbinsel, links=no), is a peninsula of ...
, where Beowulf
''Beowulf'' (; ang, Bēowulf ) is an Old English epic poem in the tradition of Germanic heroic legend consisting of 3,182 alliterative lines. It is one of the most important and most often translated works of Old English literature. The ...
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
"Widsith" ( ang, Wīdsīþ, "far-traveller", lit. "wide-journey"), also known as "The Traveller's Song", is an Old English poem of 143 lines. It survives only in the ''Exeter Book'', a manuscript of Old English poetry compiled in the late-10th c ...
'' 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
Bede ( ; ang, Bǣda , ; 672/326 May 735), also known as Saint Bede, The Venerable Bede, and Bede the Venerable ( la, Beda Venerabilis), was an English monk at the monastery of St Peter and its companion monastery of St Paul in the Kingdom o ...
's ''Ecclesiastical History of the English People
The ''Ecclesiastical History of the English People'' ( la, Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum), written by Bede in about AD 731, is a history of the Christian Churches in England, and of England generally; its main focus is on the conflict be ...
'' attributed to Alfred the Great
Alfred the Great (alt. Ælfred 848/849 – 26 October 899) was King of the West Saxons from 871 to 886, and King of the Anglo-Saxons from 886 until his death in 899. He was the youngest son of King Æthelwulf and his first wife Osburh, who bot ...
where the Jutes (''iutarum'', ''iutis'') once are rendered as ''gēata'' (genitive) and twice as ''gēatum'' (dative) (see e.g. the ''OED
The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED'') is the first and foundational historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP). It traces the historical development of the English language, providing a co ...
'' 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
The ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' is a collection of annals in Old English, chronicling the history of the Anglo-Saxons. The original manuscript of the ''Chronicle'' was created late in the 9th century, probably in Wessex, during the reign of Alf ...
'', 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
Proto-Indo-European (PIE) is the reconstructed common ancestor of the Indo-European language family. Its proposed features have been derived by linguistic reconstruction from documented Indo-European languages. No direct record of Proto-Indo-E ...
root *''eud'' meaning "water".
Gutnish hypothesis
Since the 19th century, there has also been a suggestion that Beowulf's people were Gutes
The Gutes (old west norse ''Gotar'', old gutnish ''Gutar'') were a North Germanic tribe inhabiting the island of Gotland. The ethnonym is related to that of the ''Goths'' (''Gutans''), and both names were originally Proto-Germanic *''Gutaniz'' ...
(from the island of Gotland
Gotland (, ; ''Gutland'' in Gutnish), also historically spelled Gottland or Gothland (), is Sweden's largest island. It is also a province, county, municipality, and diocese. The province includes the islands of Fårö and Gotska Sandön to the ...
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
Västergötland (), also known as West Gothland or the Latinized version Westrogothia in older literature, is one of the 25 traditional non-administrative provinces of Sweden (''landskap'' in Swedish), situated in the southwest of Sweden.
Väs ...
or Mälaren
Mälaren ( , , or ), historically referred to as Lake Malar in English, is the third-largest freshwater lake in Sweden (after Vänern and Vättern). Its area is 1,140 km2 and its greatest depth is 64 m. Mälaren spans 120 kilometers from e ...
. The ''weather'' in ''weather-geats'', and ''sea-geats'' marks a people living at a windy, stormy coast by the sea. The Geats of Västergötland
Västergötland (), also known as West Gothland or the Latinized version Westrogothia in older literature, is one of the 25 traditional non-administrative provinces of Sweden (''landskap'' in Swedish), situated in the southwest of Sweden.
Väs ...
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
Birger Nerman (6 October 188822 August 1971) was a Swedish archaeologist, historian and philologist who specialized in the history and culture of Iron Age Sweden.
Nerman was educated at Uppsala University, where he began his career as a lectur ...
, Beowulf is buried. However, an expanse of water separates the island of Gotland
Gotland (, ; ''Gutland'' in Gutnish), also historically spelled Gottland or Gothland (), is Sweden's largest island. It is also a province, county, municipality, and diocese. The province includes the islands of Fårö and Gotska Sandön to the ...
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
The Gutes (old west norse ''Gotar'', old gutnish ''Gutar'') were a North Germanic tribe inhabiting the island of Gotland. The ethnonym is related to that of the ''Goths'' (''Gutans''), and both names were originally Proto-Germanic *''Gutaniz'' ...
'', is an ablaut-grade of the same name as that of the Geats in Beowulf. These facts made the archaeologist Gad Rausing
Gad Rausing (19 May 1922 – 28 January 2000) was a Swedish industrialist and archaeologist. Together with his brother Hans he inherited the Swedish packaging company Tetra Pak, founded by their father Ruben Rausing and by 2011 the largest ...
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
Blenda is the heroine of a Swedish legend () from Småland. Blenda led the rural women of Värend in an attack on a pillaging Danish army and annihilated the invaders.
Legend
According to the legend, the events took place in the time of Alle ...
* Geatish Society
The Geatish Society (''Götiska Förbundet'', also Gothic Union, Gothic League) was created by a number of Swedish poets and authors in 1811, as a social club for literary studies among academics in Sweden, with a view to raising the moral tone o ...
* Göta
Göta is a Swedish given name, which is the female equivalent of Göte. It may refer to:
*Göta Ljungberg (1893–1955), Swedish singer
*Göta Pettersson (1926–1993), Swedish gymnast
Other uses
*Göta, Sweden
*Göta älv, a river in Sweden
*G ...
* Götavirke
Götavirke (''Geatish Dyke'') are the remains of two parallel defensive walls going from north to south between the villages of Västra Husby () and Söderköping Municipality, Hylinge () in Söderköping Municipality, Östergötland, Sweden. The w ...
(Geatish Dyke)
* Varangian
The Varangians (; non, Væringjar; gkm, Βάραγγοι, ''Várangoi'';[Varangian]
" Online Etymo ...
* Viking
Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden),
who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...
References
{{Beowulf
Early Germanic peoples
North Germanic tribes
Götaland
Goths