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HISTORY 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'''. The Geats were formerly politically independent of the Swedes , whose old name was '' Svear '' (''Sweon'' or ''Sweonas'' in OE). However, starting in the 500s , the Geats slowly lost their independence and became tributaries of the Swedish kings. 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 '' Nordisk Familjebok ''). Hervarar Saga is believed by enthusiasts 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. This piece of evidence clearly demonstrates that the Goths and Geats were different peoples. ''Beowulf'' and the Norse Saga s 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''). ON GEATS AND GOTHS Main article: Goths and the dark pink area is the island of Gotland . The red area is the extent of the Wielbark Culture in the early 3rd Century , and the orange area is the Chernyakhov Culture , in the early 4th Century . The dark blue area is the Roman Empire ]]
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'' ( Gotlander s?). Some enthusiasts interpreted the findings of , in Sweden, there is a sudden disappearance of villages during this period. The languages of Goths and Geats were strikingly different, however. ON GAUTAR AND GEATAS 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: 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 in spite of the fact that, 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.
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. There is no knowledge about differences in language between Geats and Goths. There is no remaining literature. Out of the very few runic words found in alleged territories of the Geats and Goths, no conclusions can be made. SEE ALSO
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