Talk:Reidgotaland

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The information that "hreidr" means "bird's nest" is very enlightening. Presumably this is a noun rather than a verb, meaning "place where chicks are raised" (perhaps made of "reeds"). Most birds re-nest in the same spot, rather than moving around (as did the Ostrogoths and Visigoths), so perhaps a better translation of Reidgotaland would be "Goth birth-place" or "Goth home-land"? In the tales of King Heidrek, the reference is clearly to the Geats/Gautar (the Goths remaining behind in Scandinavia) rather than those roaming around the continent. The Geats were also called the WEDErs. Is this connected to the sWEDEs? Is "Geat" connected with "git" and/or "goat", given the folk-mythology (untrue in reality)that Swedes are a little "slow"? Jeff Stevenson.

In my opinion it is better to link the "mainland" goths to the Scandinavian "Gutar" or "Gotlanders", than the "Geats", given the etymology of the namnes. In west Norse the ethnonym "Gotar" is given both the "Goths" and the "Gotlanders". The east Norse equivalent is "Gutar", which for instance accure in the famous runic inscription of the Swedish "Rök-stone". The population on the island of Gotland still refer to themselves in their own mothers-tongue as "Gutar".(Joar)

In Heidrek's case it is quite obvious that Reidgotaland refers to the Ukraine, see Hervarar saga. I don't think that there's any connection between weder and swede, since weder was an Anglo-Saxon word and the Swedes were called Sweon in Anglo-Saxon.--Wiglaf 09:30, 18 August 2005 (UTC)

Is the claim that the Hrei∂goths were specifically the Ostrogoths based on a suggested etymological connection with "Greuthungi"? --Abou 17:36, 17 September 2006 (UTC)