Gautr

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Gautr , Gauti and Gautatýr are epithets of the main god Odin in Norse mythology . The name has an unclear connection with the folk names of the Scandinavian Götlanders , Old Icelandic Gautar , but also with the mainland Goths , Old Icelandic Gotar . The special thing about this Odin's name is that it has also been handed down as the progenitor of various Germanic royal houses and can thus originate from the ancient Germanic period.

Gaut in the sources

The Icelandic saga Bósa saga ok Herrauðs describes the progenitor of the godland royal family, Gautr , as the son of Odin.

In the form of the name Gapt he appears at Jordanes as the progenitor of the Ostrogothic Amal and thus the famous kings Ermanaric and Theodoric the Great alias Dietrich von Bern - not only through the heroic legends . The name form Gapt is explained as a prescription for Gaut .

The Latinized name of the Lombards is Gausus . He is referred to there as the progenitor of King Audoin and his son Alboin .

The Anglo-Saxon tradition, however, knows Geat as the ancestor of the royal families. These are all derived from Woden , but Woden is himself a descendant of Geats, who in turn is considered a descendant of Sceaf in some genealogies . The Celtic historian Nennius remarks about this name that the pagans worshiped Geat as god and that kingship came from him. The Christian King Alfred, on the other hand, describes this god as a "comedy-like deity"; a clear indication that Geat was enjoying great popularity. The lament of the singer Deor , who sings of Geat's unhappy love for Mæðhilde, points in this direction .

The Saxon legend, however, knows a hero Hathagat "Kampf-Gaut". Widukind von Corvey describes him in his Res gestae Saxonicae as "already an older warrior, still strong despite his advanced age, who was called the father of fathers as a reward for outstanding virtues ". When the Saxons threatened to flee, Hathagat seized the Saxon standard and said that as an old man he could fight but not flee. So encouraged, the Saxons won the battle against the Thuringians. Here the figure of the fighting ancestor god still shimmers through clearly.

See also

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Bósa saga ok Herrauðs, Chapter I.