Once Again About Balts, Gudai, Goths and Their Origins
This paper aims to shed light on the tenacious tendency of would-be philologists and self-taught historians to embellish the history of the Lithuanian nation and its civilization by providing interpretations of ancient texts without real evidence. In particular, the authors review some methodologica...
Published in: | Respectus Philologicus |
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Language: | English |
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Vilniaus universiteto leidykla / Vilnius University Press
2012
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ftvilniusunivojs:oai:ojs.www4063.vu.lt:article/15402 2023-07-30T04:06:28+02:00 Once Again About Balts, Gudai, Goths and Their Origins Dar apie baltus, gudus ir gotus Butkus, Alvydas Lanza, Stefano M. 2012-04-25 application/pdf https://www.journals.vu.lt/respectus-philologicus/article/view/15402 https://doi.org/10.15388/Respectus.2012.26.15402 eng eng Vilniaus universiteto leidykla / Vilnius University Press https://www.journals.vu.lt/respectus-philologicus/article/view/15402/14372 https://www.journals.vu.lt/respectus-philologicus/article/view/15402 doi:10.15388/Respectus.2012.26.15402 Copyright (c) 2012 Authors http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 Respectus Philologicus; Vol 21 No 26 (2012): Respectus Philologicus; 24-34 Respectus Philologicus; T. 21 Nr. 26 (2012): Respectus Philologicus; 24-34 2335-2388 1392-8295 Goths Scandinavia Statkutė de Rosales Jordanes Praetorius pseudotheories gotai gudai Skandinavija Jordanas Pretorijus pseudoteorijos info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion Peer-reviewed Article 2012 ftvilniusunivojs https://doi.org/10.15388/Respectus.2012.26.15402 2023-07-09T01:35:03Z This paper aims to shed light on the tenacious tendency of would-be philologists and self-taught historians to embellish the history of the Lithuanian nation and its civilization by providing interpretations of ancient texts without real evidence. In particular, the authors review some methodological aspects of historical research in the work of the Lithuanian émigré J. Statkutė de Rosales, Europos šaknys ir mes, lietuviai (The Roots of Europe and We, the Lithuanians). This article points out that her claim that the Goths were the mighty ancestors of today’s Lithuanians derives from a macroscopic misinterpretation and alteration of the only existing text about the origin of the Goths, which is the late Latin Getica, written by Jordanes. Statkutė, who recently received a doctorate honoris causa, identifies the Goths with the ancient Lithuanians by comparing the word Gothi with the Lithuanian ethnonym gudai, and asserts that world historians have intentionally been duped for years by a few deceitful scholars into believing that the Goths originated in Scandinavia. Statkutė holds that the island of Scandza depicted by Jordanes should not be identified with Scandinavia at all, but with the Baltic coast from Eastern Poland to Lithuania.The authors of this paper examine the actual text of Jordanes both philologically and with cross-references to other authors, finding that Statkutė’s conclusions are extremely erroneous. Not only has the Latin text been incorrectly translated by Statkutė in more than one passage, but she has also kept silent – most probably on purpose – about some crucial information, thereby lending support to her theories. The identification of Scandza, the fatherland of the Goths according to Jordanes, with the Baltic coast has to be ruled out mainly by the fact that the Latin historian clearly describes the phenomena of the polar night and midnight sun as being typical of Northern Scandza. Statkutė’s approach to sources written in Latin also appears compromised, not only by leaving out relevant ... Article in Journal/Newspaper polar night midnight sun Vilnius University Press Scholarly Journals Rosales ENVELOPE(-59.867,-59.867,-62.600,-62.600) Respectus Philologicus 21 26 24 34 |
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Open Polar |
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Vilnius University Press Scholarly Journals |
op_collection_id |
ftvilniusunivojs |
language |
English |
topic |
Goths Scandinavia Statkutė de Rosales Jordanes Praetorius pseudotheories gotai gudai Skandinavija Jordanas Pretorijus pseudoteorijos |
spellingShingle |
Goths Scandinavia Statkutė de Rosales Jordanes Praetorius pseudotheories gotai gudai Skandinavija Jordanas Pretorijus pseudoteorijos Butkus, Alvydas Lanza, Stefano M. Once Again About Balts, Gudai, Goths and Their Origins |
topic_facet |
Goths Scandinavia Statkutė de Rosales Jordanes Praetorius pseudotheories gotai gudai Skandinavija Jordanas Pretorijus pseudoteorijos |
description |
This paper aims to shed light on the tenacious tendency of would-be philologists and self-taught historians to embellish the history of the Lithuanian nation and its civilization by providing interpretations of ancient texts without real evidence. In particular, the authors review some methodological aspects of historical research in the work of the Lithuanian émigré J. Statkutė de Rosales, Europos šaknys ir mes, lietuviai (The Roots of Europe and We, the Lithuanians). This article points out that her claim that the Goths were the mighty ancestors of today’s Lithuanians derives from a macroscopic misinterpretation and alteration of the only existing text about the origin of the Goths, which is the late Latin Getica, written by Jordanes. Statkutė, who recently received a doctorate honoris causa, identifies the Goths with the ancient Lithuanians by comparing the word Gothi with the Lithuanian ethnonym gudai, and asserts that world historians have intentionally been duped for years by a few deceitful scholars into believing that the Goths originated in Scandinavia. Statkutė holds that the island of Scandza depicted by Jordanes should not be identified with Scandinavia at all, but with the Baltic coast from Eastern Poland to Lithuania.The authors of this paper examine the actual text of Jordanes both philologically and with cross-references to other authors, finding that Statkutė’s conclusions are extremely erroneous. Not only has the Latin text been incorrectly translated by Statkutė in more than one passage, but she has also kept silent – most probably on purpose – about some crucial information, thereby lending support to her theories. The identification of Scandza, the fatherland of the Goths according to Jordanes, with the Baltic coast has to be ruled out mainly by the fact that the Latin historian clearly describes the phenomena of the polar night and midnight sun as being typical of Northern Scandza. Statkutė’s approach to sources written in Latin also appears compromised, not only by leaving out relevant ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Butkus, Alvydas Lanza, Stefano M. |
author_facet |
Butkus, Alvydas Lanza, Stefano M. |
author_sort |
Butkus, Alvydas |
title |
Once Again About Balts, Gudai, Goths and Their Origins |
title_short |
Once Again About Balts, Gudai, Goths and Their Origins |
title_full |
Once Again About Balts, Gudai, Goths and Their Origins |
title_fullStr |
Once Again About Balts, Gudai, Goths and Their Origins |
title_full_unstemmed |
Once Again About Balts, Gudai, Goths and Their Origins |
title_sort |
once again about balts, gudai, goths and their origins |
publisher |
Vilniaus universiteto leidykla / Vilnius University Press |
publishDate |
2012 |
url |
https://www.journals.vu.lt/respectus-philologicus/article/view/15402 https://doi.org/10.15388/Respectus.2012.26.15402 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-59.867,-59.867,-62.600,-62.600) |
geographic |
Rosales |
geographic_facet |
Rosales |
genre |
polar night midnight sun |
genre_facet |
polar night midnight sun |
op_source |
Respectus Philologicus; Vol 21 No 26 (2012): Respectus Philologicus; 24-34 Respectus Philologicus; T. 21 Nr. 26 (2012): Respectus Philologicus; 24-34 2335-2388 1392-8295 |
op_relation |
https://www.journals.vu.lt/respectus-philologicus/article/view/15402/14372 https://www.journals.vu.lt/respectus-philologicus/article/view/15402 doi:10.15388/Respectus.2012.26.15402 |
op_rights |
Copyright (c) 2012 Authors http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.15388/Respectus.2012.26.15402 |
container_title |
Respectus Philologicus |
container_volume |
21 |
container_issue |
26 |
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24 |
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34 |
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1772819078209077248 |