Gottland

See Gothland and Gotland. Gothland (goth'land), Sw. Gotland, or Gott- Gottorp, or Holstein-Gottorp. See Oldenburg , land (gōt'länd), or Götaland(yė'tä-länd). His- House of . torically, the southern division of Sweden, com- prising the modern provinces (laen) Malmöhus, Kris tians tad, Blekinge, Kronoberg, Jönkö- ping, Kalmar, Östergötland, Hall and, Gothen- burg and Bohus, Elfsborg, and Skaraborg, and the islands Gotland and Öland. This and the land of the Swedes proper grew into the kingdom of Sweden during the middle part of the middle ages. Goth of red. See Godefroy . Goths (goths). [See first quotation below.] An ancient Teutonic race which was established in the regions of the lower Danube in the 3d century. A probable hypothesis identifies them with the Gotones or Gutones who dwelt near the Baltic; but there is no reason to believe in their relationship with the Getæ, and no proof of their Scand in avian origin. They made many inroads into different parts of the Roman Empire in the 3d and 4th centuries, and gradually accepted the Arian form of Christianity. The two great historical divisions were the Visigoths (West Goths, the Greutungi) and the Ostrogoths (East Goths, the Thervingi). A body of Visigoths settled in the province of Mœsia (the present Servia and Bulgaria), and were hence called Mæsogoths; and their apostle Wulfila (Ulfilas) translated the Scriptures Gothic. (See Gothic .) The Visigoths formed a monarchy about 418, which existed in southern France until 507, and in Spain until 711. An Ostrogothic kingdom existed in Italy and neighboring regions from 493 to 553. The so-called Tetraxitic Goths are mentioned in the Crimea as late as the 18th century. By extension the name was applied to various other tribes which invaded the Roman Empire. A fragment of a calendar contains the word Gut -thi uda , 'people of the Goths.' The word thiuda is the same as the Old-English théod , meaning people; and from the compound Gut-thiuda, and from other evidence, it may be inferred that the name which, following the Romans, we spell as Goths was properly Gutans in the singular Guta . Like all other names of nations, this word must originally have had a meaning, but it is very difficult to discover what that meaning was. It has often been a erted that the name of the Goths has something to do with the word God (in Gothic guth ). We might easily believe that an ancient people might have chosen to call themselves "the worshippers of the Gods"; but although this interesting suggestion was proposed by Jacob Grimm, one of the greatest scholars who ever lived, it is now quite certain that it was a mistake. It seems now to be generally thought that the meaning of Gutans is 'the (nobly) born.' Bradley , Story of the Goths, pp. 4, 5. The Goths are always described as tall and athletic men, with fair complexions, blue eyes, and yellow hair - such people, in fact, as may be seen more frequently in Sweden than any other modern land. A very good idea of their national costume and their general appearance may be gained from the sculptures on "The Storied Column," as it is called, erected at Constantinople by the Emperor Arcadius in honour of his father Theodosius, which represents a triumphal proce ion including many Gothic cap Bradley, Story of the Goths, p. 9. tives. Gotland (gōt'länd), or Gothland (goth'land), or Gottland (got'länd), or Gutaland (yö'täländ). An island of the Baltic, 60 miles east of Sweden, to which it belongs. The surface is generally level. The chief occupations are agriculture, cattle raising, lime-burning, and quarrying. The chief place is Visby. The island was a medieval commercial center. Its po e ion was long disputed by Denmark. In 1645 it was permanently united to Sweden. Length, 70 miles. Area, 1,175 square miles. Population (1893), estimated, 51,141. It is true that the southern province of Sweden is still called Gothland; but the Gautar (called Geatas by the Anglo-Saxons), from whom this province took its name, were not identical with the Goths, though doubtle nearly related to them. On the other hand, the island called Gothland, in the Baltic, was anciently called Gutaland, which seems to show that its early inhabitants were really in the strict sense Goths; and, according to the Norse sagas and the Anglo-Saxon poets, the peninsula of Jutland was anciently occupied by a branch of the Gothic people, who were known as Hréth-got an, or Reidhgotar.