Oium
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Oium (from Aujom, meaning "in the waterlands" in Gothic) was according to Jordanes, a name for Scythia, where the Goths settled after leaving Gothiscandza. Archaeologically, it corresponds to the Gothic Chernyakhov culture, and geographically to Ukraine.
Jordanes gave an account of Goth history in Oium, of which parts can be corroborated by archaeology and of which other parts were the result of blending the Goths with classic history and Greek mythology, putting the Goths in the place of Scythians, Dacians and Thracians. This was probably inspired by a need to give the Goths a more glorious past to compensate for their barbaric and unremarkable Scandinavian origins.
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[edit] Jordanes
[edit] Settlement
Jordanes relates that their king Filimer lead the Goths searching for suitable lands and when they found Oium they were delighted with the richness of the land. When half the army had passed a bridge, the bridge collapsed and so no one could pass the area anymore. The Goths claimed the land for themselves and defeated the previous inhabitants, the Spali (which probably was the ruling Sarmatian clan and the source of the East Slavic word for "giant"). They then claimed the plains near the Azov Sea.
The Goths then made a second migration to Moesia, Dacia and Thrace, but then they returned to Oium in a third migration and settled again north of the Black Sea.
They settled down and were divided under ruling dynasties. The Visigoths were ruled by the Balþi and the Ostrogoths by the Amali.
This account fits well the patterns of the Wielbark culture and the Chernyakhov culture, which show a Germanic migration from the Vistula Basin to Ukraine.
[edit] Merger with Scythian, Dacian and Thracian history from classic sources
Perhaps in order to make up for their not very prestigious origins in the distant and barbaric Scandza, Jordanes (or Cassiodorus) made use of classic sources putting the Goths in the place of Scythians, Dacians and Thracians.
Jordanes wrote that the Goths fought Sesostris, the king of Egypt (1291 BC-1212 BC) under their king Tanausis. After a battle at the river of Phasis, in Georgia, they pursued the Egyptians all the way back to Egypt.
After Tanausis death, the Goths were once away pillaging, and a neighbouring tribe tried to kidnap the Goth women. However, the women defended themselves and defeated the attackers under the leaders Lampeto and Lampesia. The two leaders cast lots, and Lampesia pursued the enemy into Asia where she conquered many tribes and apparently formed the Amazons.
The Goth king Antyrus was approached by Darius, the king of Persia (521 to 485 BC), who wanted to marry his daughter. Antyrus refused the marriage and was attacked by Darius, and after Darius by his son Xerxes. None of the attacks was successful.
Philip II allied with the Goths by marrying Medopa who was the daughter of king Gudila (a Thracian king). However, Philip needed gold and wanted to pillage the town of Odessos, a town belonging to the Goths. The Goths sent out their Godis who were dressed in white and played harps, chanting to their gods to help them. This stunned the Macedonians so much that they returned.
Much later, a king named Sitalces (a Thracian king 431 - 424 BC) wanted revenge, gathered 150 000 men and attacked the Athenians. He fought Perdiccas II, whom Alexander I had left as a ruler, and the Goths laid Greece waste.
When Burebista was king (a Dacian king 70 BC-44 BC), he received a priestly reformer named Decaeneus, and this Decaeuneus advised the Goths to pillage Germania. He also gave the Goths laws, named bi-lageineis (lag = law), taught them logic, philosophy and astrology. Then he selected a priestly elite who was taught theology and named them the Pilleati (those who wore felt hats). The remainder of the Goths were called the Capillati (bare-headed).
Julius Caesar tried to subdue the Goths without success, and the Goths also remained free during the reign of Tiberius.
When Decaeneus was dead, Comosicus took his place, and after Comosicus, Scoryllus ruled the Goths in Dacia.
A long time passed and the Romans were ruled by Emperor Domitian (A.D. 81-96). As the Goths (historically, the Dacians) feared his avarice, they broke the truce with the Romans and pillaged the banks of the Danube and killed the soldiers and the generals. At this time Diurpaneus (king Duras-Diurpaneus of Dacia 69–86 or Decebalus who ruled 87-106) was king of the Goths and Oppius Sabinus was the governor of Moesia (having succeeded Fontejus Agrippa (69–70). In 85, the Goths (Dacians) beheaded Oppius Sabinus and plundered many Roman cities and fortifications. Domitian arrived with the legions to Illyria and sent Fuscus with a selected force. Fuscus used boats to build a pontoon bridge and crossed the Danube upstreams from the Goths. The Gothic army defeated the Romans, killed Fuscus and pillaged the Roman camp (86 AD).
[edit] The Goths' proper history
After this use of Dacian, Thracian and Scythian history, Jordanes returns to Gothic tradition by reciting the line of descent of the Gothic royal family from Gapt (Gaut or Odin).
This digression is followed by a statement that the Goths entered Moesia and Thrace in the late 2nd century where they stayed for some time. Based on Quintus Aurelius Symmachus, he writes that Emperor Maximinus Thrax (235 AD - 238 AD) was the son of a Goth who arrived at this time and an Alan woman.
[edit] Norse mythology
In the Hervarar saga, the Scandinavian Heidrek usurps the Gothic throne in Reidgotaland. In this saga, the Goths capital is called Arheimar and is located on the Danpar (Dniepr). Heidrek appears to establish a first contact with the Huns by kidnapping the Hun Princess Sifka, raping her and sending her back to the Huns pregnant with Hlod.
When Heidrek dies in the Carpathians, his son Angantyr succeeds him. However, his second son Hlod, who had grown up with the Huns, claims his inheritance and attacks with a Hunnish horde comprising 350 000 mounted warriors.
The Goths are aided by the old Geatish king Gizur, and the war ends in an epic battle on the plains of the Danube, when Angantyr slays his brother Hlod.
