6. Geats. They dwelt in the south of Sweden between the Danes and
the Swedes. Bugge sought to identify them with the Jutes, and held
that Gautland was Juteland. He based this theory on certain phrases:
e.g. Chapter XXXIII., where the Swedes (the sons of Ohthere) are said
to have visited the Geats 'across the sea,' and again in Chapter
XXXV. the Swedes and the Geats are said to have fought 'over wide
water'; but, as Arnold points out, these phrases can be interpreted
in such a way as not to be incompatible with the theory that they
dwelt on the same side of the Cattegat, i.e. on the northern side,
and in the extreme south of Sweden.
The question as to whether they are identical with the Goths of Roman
history is still an open one. Arnold says, 'There is a great weight
of evidence tending to identify the Geats with the Goths,' and he
quotes evidence from Gibbon (chapter X.). Pytheas of Marseilles,
in the fourth century, says that, passing through the Baltic Sea,
he met with tribes of Goths, Teutons, and Ests.
Tacitus, in chapter XLIII. of Germania, speaks of the Goths as
dwelling near the Swedes. Jornandes traces the Goths to Scanzia,
an island in the Northern Sea. It is probable, then, that the Goths
had a northern and indeed a Scandinavian origin. If so, Beowulf the
Geat was probably a Goth.
7. Healfdenes. The tribe to which Hnaef belonged.
8. Heathoremes. The people on whose shores Beowulf was cast up after
his swimming-match with Breca.
9. Ingwine. Friends of Ing--another name for the Danes.
10. Scyldingas. Another name for the Danes, as descended from Scyld.
11. Scylfingas. Name for the Swedes.
12. Waegmundings. The tribe to which both Beowulf and Wiglaf belonged.
13. Wylfings. Probably a Gothic tribe.
XII
Page 135
The text here is much mutilated, and can only be restored by ingenious
conjecture. Grein and Bugge and others have reconstructed it. On
the whole Bugge's text, which I have followed, seems to me the most
reasonable. It is unfortunate that the text should be so imperfect just
at this critical point in the linking up of the two great divisions
of the story. In the ancient days some remote predecessors of the
Geats seem to have heaped up in the neighbourhood a pile of wonderful
vessels jewel-bedecked, and treasures of all kinds, of inconceivable
value. Then the last of the race carries the treasure to a barrow or
cavern in the cliffs near the site, in after-generations, of Beowulf's
palace, and delivers a pathetic farewell address (pp. 136 et seq.). The
dragon finds the cavern and the treasure and appropriates it for three
hundred years. Then one of Beowulf's retainers finds the treasure and
takes a golden goblet while the dragon is sleeping, and offers it to
his lord as a peace-offering. This brought about Beowulf's feud with
the dragon in which he met his death.
BOOKS CONSULTED
Beowulf, edited with textual footnotes, &c., by A. J. Wyatt,
M.A. (Cantab. and London). Pitt Press, Cambridge, 1898.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account