View source for Geats

{{Short description|Northern Germanic people}}
{{about|the North Germanic tribe|the Thracian tribe|Getae}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2025}}
[[File:Nordic Settlements.jpg|right|thumb|220px|Geatish settlements during the 6th century, within the red lines. The green areas show the main areas of North Germanic settlement in [[Scandinavia]].]]
The '''Geats''' ({{IPAc-en|g|iː|t|s|,_|ˈ|g|eɪ|ə|t|s|,_|j|æ|t|s|}} {{respell|GHEETS|,_|GAY|əts|,_|YATS}};<ref>{{cite Merriam-Webster|Geat}}</ref><ref>{{cite American Heritage Dictionary|Geat}}</ref> {{langx|ang|gēatas}} {{IPA|ang|ˈjæɑtɑs|}}; {{langx|non|gautar}} {{IPA|non|ˈɡɑu̯tɑr|}}; {{langx|sv|götar}} {{IPA|sv|ˈjø̂ːtar|}}), sometimes called ''[[Geats#Goths|Goths]]'',<ref>E.g. [[Encarta|Microsoft Encarta]] (on Swedish history), [http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/OMACL/Volsunga/ translations from Old Norse] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051211180329/http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/OMACL/Volsunga/ |date=11 December 2005 }}, [https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/9701 Anglo-Saxon] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200804043940/http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/9701 |date=4 August 2020 }} or [http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/anskar.html Latin] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141108030836/http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/anskar.html |date=8 November 2014 }} and the [[Primary Chronicle]] and some modern scholarly works on Germanic tribes.</ref> were a large [[North Germanic peoples|North Germanic]] tribe who inhabited {{lang|sv|[[Götaland]]|italic=no}} ("land of the Geats") in modern southern Sweden from antiquity until the [[Late Middle Ages]]. They are one of the [[progenitor]] groups of modern [[Swedes]], along with the tribes of [[Swedes (tribe)|Swedes]] and [[Gutes]]. The name of the Geats also lives on in the [[Provinces of Sweden|Swedish provinces]] of {{lang|sv|[[Västergötland]]|italic=no}} and {{lang|sv|[[Östergötland]]|italic=no}}, the western and eastern lands of the Geats, and in many other [[toponym]]s.

The Swedish dialects spoken in the areas that used to be inhabited by Geats form a distinct group, ''[[Götamål]]''.

==Etymology==
{{further|Gaut|Name of the Goths}}
The etymology of the name ''Geat'' (Old English ''{{lang|ang|Geatas}}'', from a [[Proto-Germanic]] *''Gautaz'', plural *''Gautōz'') is similar<ref name="Hellquist">{{cite book|title= Svensk etymologisk ordbok|last= Hellquist|first= Elof|language= sv|chapter= göt|url= https://runeberg.org/svetym/0306.html|access-date= 1 March 2014|archive-date= 4 March 2014|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140304115338/http://runeberg.org/svetym/0306.html|url-status= live}}</ref> to that of ''[[Goths]]'' and ''[[Gutes]]'' (*''Gutô'', plural *''Gutaniz''). The names derive from [[Indo-European ablaut|ablaut]] grades of the Proto-Germanic word *''geutaną'', meaning "to pour".<ref name=rb>{{Cite web|url=https://runeberg.org/nfbj/0480.html|title=887–888 (Nordisk familjebok / Uggleupplagan. 10. Gossler – Harris)|date=22 September 1909|website=runeberg.org|access-date=6 March 2011|archive-date=3 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303175545/http://runeberg.org/nfbj/0480.html|url-status=live}}</ref> They have the literal meaning "they who pour their seed".<ref>''Svenskt ortnamnslexikon'', [[Språk- och folkminnesinstitutet]], Uppsala 2003, pages 103 och 92 (articles "Götaland" and "Gotland").</ref> (For more information see [[Goths#Etymology|Goths § Etymology]].) The names could also allude to watercourses in the land where they were living,<ref>An interpretation of both names of [[Götaland]] and [[Gotland]] according to the etymology sentences in their respective articles in [[Nationalencyklopedin]].</ref> but this is not generally accepted to be the case, partly because that would mean that the names' similarity would be coincidental.<ref name="Hellquist" />

A more specific theory about the word ''Gautigoths'' is that it means the Goths who live near the river ''Gaut'',<ref name=rb/> today's [[Göta älv]] ({{langx|non|Gautelfr}}).<ref>[http://www.ne.se/klar%C3%A4lven ''Nationalencyklopedin'', the article (in Swedish)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140502144832/http://www.ne.se/klar%C3%A4lven |date=2 May 2014 }} about [[Klarälven]], which says that Klarälven was called ''Gautelfr'' in records from the 13th century. See also [http://www.ne.se/g%C3%B6ta-%C3%A4lv ''Nationalencyklopedin'', the article "Göta älv" (in Swedish).] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110807092344/http://www.ne.se/g%C3%B6ta-%C3%A4lv |date=7 August 2011 }}</ref> It might also have been a conflation of the word ''Gauti'' with a [[Gloss (annotation)#In linguistics|gloss]] of ''Goths''.<ref>[http://g3.spraakdata.gu.se/saob/show.phtml?filenr=1/92/76.html Götar] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110926211936/http://g3.spraakdata.gu.se/saob/show.phtml?filenr=1/92/76.html |date=26 September 2011 }} in [[Svenska Akademiens Ordbok]].</ref> In the 17th century the name ''Göta älv'', 'River of the Geats', replaced the earlier names ''Götälven'' and ''Gautelfr''.<ref name=rb/> The etymology of the word ''Gaut'' (as mentioned above) derives from the Proto-Germanic word *''geutan'', and the extended meaning of "to pour" is "flow, stream, waterfall", which could refer to [[Trollhättan Falls]] or to the river itself.<ref name=rb/>

The short form of ''Gautigoths'' was the Old Norse ''{{lang|non|Gautar}}'', which originally referred to just the inhabitants of [[Västergötland]], or the western parts of today's [[Götaland]], a meaning which is retained in some Icelandic sagas.<ref name=rb/>

==History==
===Early history===
{{multiple image|align=right|width=165|direction=vertical|image1=Beowulf - Geata.jpg|alt1=Geata|image2=Beowulf - Sae Geata.jpg|alt2=Sae Geata|image3=Beowulf - Wedera.jpg|alt3=Wedera|footer=Mentions of Geats, Sea-Geats and Wederas in the manuscript of ''Beowulf''}}
The earliest known surviving mention of the Geats appears in [[Ptolemy]] (2nd century AD), who refers to them as ''Goutai''. In the 6th century, [[Jordanes]] writes of the ''Gautigoths'' and ''Ostrogoths'' (the Ostrogoths of [[Scandza]]); and [[Procopius]] refers to ''Gautoi''. The Norse [[Sagas]] know them as ''Gautar''; ''[[Beowulf]]'' and ''[[Widsith]]'' as ''Gēatas''.<ref>
Michael Alexander's 1995 (Penguin Classics) edition of ''Beowulf'' mentions a variant: ''Gēotas''</ref> ''Beowulf'' and the [[Norse saga]]s name several [[Geatish kings]], but only [[Hygelac]] finds confirmation in ''Liber Monstrorum'' where he is referred to as "Rex Getarum" and in a copy of ''Historiae Francorum'' where he is called "Rege Gotorum". These sources concern a raid into [[Frisia]], ca 516, which is also described in ''Beowulf''. C. 551, some decades after Hygelac's raid, Jordanes described the Geats as a nation which was "bold, and quick to engage in war".<ref name="larsson0443">{{Cite book|last=Larsson|first=Mats G. |year=2004|title=Götarnas riken |publisher=Atlantis |place=Stockholm|pages= 43 }}</ref>

The [[Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain]] included many North Germanic people who were losers in the brutal tribal warfare of Scandinavia. The place-name ''-gate'' marks the site of Geatish settlement, often alongside strategically important [[Roman roads]] and nearby [[Visigoths|Visigothic]] and/or [[Jutes|Jutish]] settlements.<ref>Margary, Ivan D. (1973). Roman Roads in Britain, 3rd ed. London: Baker.</ref> Defeated Jutes like Hengest and his brother Horsa fled to Kent, while Geats defeated by encroaching [[Swedes (tribe)|Swedes]] moved to [[Yorkshire]] where they founded [[Gillingshire]] by the [[River Tees|Tees]], originally the settlement of the ''Geatlings''.<ref name="shippey">{{Cite book|last=Shippey|first=Tom |year=2018|title=Laughing Shall I Die |publisher=Reaction Books Limited|place=London|isbn=978-1-78023-909-5|pages=56 }}</ref> It has also been suggested that East Anglia was settled by Geats at this time,<ref name="farell269">{{Cite book|last=Farrel|first=R.T.|year=1972|title=Beowulf, Swedes and Geats|publisher=Viking Society for Northern Research, University College, London|pages=269|url=http://vsnrweb-publications.org.uk/Beowulf%20Swedes%20andGeats.pdf|access-date=18 August 2021|archive-date=11 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210711013208/http://vsnrweb-publications.org.uk/Beowulf%20Swedes%20andGeats.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> or by [[Wulfings]] who also came from Götaland, bringing the traditions of ''Beowulf'' with them.<ref name="newton">{{Cite book|last=Newton|first=Sam|year=1993|title=The Origins of Beowulf, and the Pre-Viking Kingdom of East Anglia|publisher=D. S. Brewer, Cambridge}}</ref>

Any peace that eventually settled in southern Scandinavia was most likely due to exhaustion, and a Danish archaeologist has summarized that in the mid-6th century, and after, Scandinavia "went down to hell".<ref name="shippey"/> Scandinavian wares appear to have stopped arriving in England, c. 550, suggesting that contact was broken.<ref name="farell269"/>

===Political centralization in Scandinavia===
According to Procopius there were 13 "very numerous nations" on the Scandinavian peninsula in the 6th century, which is supported by recent archaeological analyses. Several scholars consider this to be a reasonable number of independent kingdoms at the time, with each consisting of one or more tribes, as reported by Jordanes.<ref name="iversen250">{{Cite book|last=Iversen|first=Frode |year=2020|chapter=Between Tribe and Kingdom – People, Land, and Law in Scandza AD 500–1350|title=Rulership in 1st to 14th century Scandinavia |publisher=De Gruyter|doi=10.1515/9783110421101-004|pages=250 |isbn=9783110421101 |s2cid=213596339 }}</ref> However, by 1350, these 13 kingdoms had been reduced in number to only two, Norway and Sweden.<ref name="iversen246">{{Cite book|last=Iversen|first=Frode |year=2020|chapter=Between Tribe and Kingdom – People, Land, and Law in Scandza AD 500–1350|title=Rulership in 1st to 14th century Scandinavia |publisher=De Gruyter|doi=10.1515/9783110421101-004|pages=245–304 |isbn=9783110421101 |s2cid=213596339 }}</ref> The Geats were one of the largest tribes.<ref name="iversen295">{{Cite book|last=Iversen|first=Frode |year=2020|chapter=Between Tribe and Kingdom – People, Land, and Law in Scandza AD 500–1350|title=Rulership in 1st to 14th century Scandinavia |publisher=De Gruyter|doi=10.1515/9783110421101-004|pages=295 |isbn=9783110421101 |s2cid=213596339 }}</ref>

Procopius and Jordanes both mention the Geats, but after them, foreign sources about Scandinavia are scarce until the 9th century, when Anglo-Saxon and Frankish sources do shed some light on the area. In these, the Geats are absent, which has led some scholars to conclude that they were no longer an independent nation and had been subsumed by the Swedes.<ref name="stål1"/> Norwegian and Icelandic scaldic sources from the 10th century however indicate that they were still politically independent, sometimes opposing Norwegian kings. It has been suggested that their absence from older sources is instead due to their being an inland people.<ref>{{cite book|last=Sawyer|first=Peter|title=När Sverige blev Sverige|year=1991|publisher=Viktoria Bokförlag, Alingsås|page=12}}</ref>

The nature and the processes of [[consolidation of Sweden|how Geats and Swedes came to form one kingdom]] have been much debated among Swedish scholars. The scarcity and sometimes debated veracity of sources has left much room open for interpretation. The oldest medieval Swedish sources present the Swedish kingdom as retaining differences between provinces, in laws as well as in weights and measures.<ref name="stål1"/> Some scholars have argued that the Geats were subjugated by the Swedes, and have suggested various dates for such an event, from the 6th to the 9th centuries.<ref name="stål1">{{Cite book|last=Ståhl |first=Harry |year=1976 |title=Ortnamn och ortnamnsforskning |publisher=Almquist & Wiksell |place=Uppsala |pages= 131 }}</ref> Others have wanted to see a more gradual merging, and that the Geats were slowly subsumed into the more powerful kingdom of Sweden, and in many respects they maintained their own cultural identity during the Middle Ages.<ref name="farell">{{Cite book|last=Farrel|first=R.T.|year=1972|title=Beowulf, Swedes and Geats|publisher=Viking Society for Northern Research, University College, London|pages=270|url=http://vsnrweb-publications.org.uk/Beowulf%20Swedes%20andGeats.pdf|access-date=18 August 2021|archive-date=11 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210711013208/http://vsnrweb-publications.org.uk/Beowulf%20Swedes%20andGeats.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> Still others have put emphasis on how it was individual rulers, not ethnic groups, who were driving the process towards a unified kingdom, and that the process was very complicated.<ref>{{cite book|last=Sawyer|first=Peter|title=När Sverige blev Sverige|year=1991|publisher=Viktoria Bokförlag, Alingsås|pages=9–10}}</ref>

Papal letters from the 1080s style the recipients as "king of the Swedes" or "king of the West Geats". In another papal letter from the 1160s, the title ''rex Sweorum et Gothorum'' is first attested.<ref>{{cite book|last=Sawyer|first=Peter|title=När Sverige blev Sverige|year=1991|publisher=Viktoria Bokförlag, Alingsås|pages=58–59}}</ref> The Swedish kings began the custom of styling themselves as also the kings of the Geats in the 1270s.<ref name="dick">{{Cite book|last=Harrison|first=Dick|year=2002|title=Sveriges historia: Medeltiden|publisher=Liber, Stockholm|pages=58, 70–74 }}</ref><ref name="Henriksson">{{Cite book|last=Henriksson|first=Alf|year=1963|title=Svensk historia I|publisher=Bonniers, Stockholm|pages=86–88}}</ref><ref name="weibull">{{Cite book|last=Weibull|first=Jörgen|year=1993|title=Swedish History in Outline|publisher=The Swedish Institute, Stockholm|pages=18}}</ref>

===Dynastic struggles===
In the 11th century, the Swedish [[House of Munsö]] became extinct with the death of [[Emund the Old]]. [[Stenkil]], a Geat, was elected king of the Swedes, and the Geats would be influential in the shaping of Sweden as a Christian kingdom. However, this election also ushered in a long period of civil unrest between Christians and pagans and between Geats and Swedes. The Geats tended to be more Christian, and the Swedes more pagan, which was why the Christian Swedish king [[Inge I of Sweden|Inge the Elder]] fled to Västergötland when deposed in favour of [[Blot-Sweyn]], a king more favourable towards [[Norse paganism]], in the 1080s. Inge would retake the throne and rule until his death c. 1100.{{cn|date=August 2025}}

[[File:Västgötalagen blad 21.jpg|thumb|200px|''Sveær egho konong at taka ok sva vrækæ'' and the following sentences in the [[Westrogothic law]]]]
In his ''[[Gesta Danorum]]'' (book 13), the Danish 12th-century chronicler [[Saxo Grammaticus]] noted that the Geats had no say in the election of the king, only the Swedes. When the West Geatish law or [[Westrogothic law]] was put to paper, it reminded the Geats that they had to accept the election of the Swedes: ''Sveær egho konong at taka ok sva vrækæ'' meaning ''"It is the Swedes who have the right of choosing ["taking"] and also deposing the king"'' and then he rode [[Eriksgata]]n ''"mæþ gislum ofvan"'' – ''"with hostages from above [the realm]"'' through [[Södermanland]], the Geatish provinces and then through [[Närke]] and [[Västmanland]] to be judged to be the lawful king by the [[lawspeaker]]s of their respective [[Thing (assembly)|things]]. One of these Swedish kings was [[Ragnvald Knaphövde]], who in 1125 was riding with his retinue in order to be accepted as king by the different provinces. According to material appended to the oldest manuscript of the [[Westrogothic law]], he decided not to demand hostages as he despised the Geats, and was slain near [[Falköping]].{{cn|date=August 2025}}

In a [[Medieval Scandinavian laws#Swedish provincial laws|new general law]] of Sweden that was issued by [[Magnus IV of Sweden|Magnus Eriksson]] in the 1350s, it was stated that twelve men from each province, chosen by their things, should be present at the [[Stone of Mora]] when a new king was elected.{{cn|date=August 2025}}

The distinction between Swedes and Geats lasted during the Middle Ages, but the Geats became increasingly important for Swedish national claims of greatness due to the Geats' old connection with the Goths. They argued that since the Goths and the Geats were the same nation, and the Geats were part of the kingdom of Sweden, this meant that the Swedes had defeated the Roman empire. The earliest attestation of this claim comes from the [[Council of Basel]], 1434, during which the Swedish delegation argued with the Spanish about who among them were the true Goths. The Spaniards argued that it was better to be descended from the heroic Visigoths than from stay-at-homers. This cultural movement, which was not restricted to Sweden went by the name ''[[Gothicismus]]'' or in Swedish ''Göticism'', i.e. ''Geaticism''.

After the 15th century and the [[Kalmar Union]], the Swedes and the Geats appear to have begun to perceive themselves as one nation, which is reflected in the evolution of ''svensk'' into a common ethnonym.<ref name=national>The article ''Svear'' in ''[[Nationalencyklopedin]]''.</ref><ref>The earliest attestation of this meaning is from the mid-15th century ''[[Swedish Chronicle]].''</ref> It was originally an adjective referring to those belonging to the Swedish tribe, who are called ''svear'' in Swedish. As early as the 9th century, ''svear'' had been vague, both referring to the Swedish tribe and being a collective term including the Geats,<ref name=national/> and this is the case in [[Adam of Bremen]]'s work where the Geats (''Goths'') appear both as a proper nation and as part of the ''Sueones''.<ref name=national/> The merging/assimilation of the two nations took a long time, however. In the early-20th century, ''[[Nordisk familjebok]]'' noted that ''svensk'' had almost replaced ''svear'' as a name for the Swedish people.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://runeberg.org/nfcg/0605.html|title=1129–1130 (Nordisk familjebok / Uggleupplagan. 27. Stockholm-Nynäs järnväg – Syrsor)|date=22 September 1918|website=runeberg.org|access-date=4 December 2006|archive-date=3 January 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070103091640/http://runeberg.org/nfcg/0605.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

At the same time, the Swedish ancestors were often referred to as Geats, especially when their heroism or connection to the Goths was to be stressed. This practice disappeared during the 19th century, when the [[viking]]s gradually took over the role as the heroic ancestors.

==Society==
The Geats were traditionally divided into several [[petty kingdom]]s, or districts, which had their own things (popular assemblies) and laws. The largest one of these districts was Västergötland (West Geatland), and it was in Västergötland that the [[Thing of all Geats]] was held every year, in the vicinity of [[Skara]]. Despite the name, the thing was only for the inhabitants of Västergötland and [[Dalsland]]. The equivalent in [[Östergötland]] was [[Lionga thing]].

Unlike the Swedes, who used the division [[Hundred (division)|hundare]], the Geats used ''hærrad'' (modern Swedish ''[[härad]]''), like the Norwegians and the Danes. Surprisingly, it would be the Geatish name that became the common term in the Swedish kingdom. This is possibly related to the fact that several of the medieval Swedish kings were of Geatish extraction and often resided primarily in Götaland. In Västergötland and Dalsland, there were also a higher-level division where one or more hærrad made up a ''bo'' linked to a [[kongsgård]].

== Modern legacy ==
Today, the merger of the two nations is complete, as there is no longer any tangible identification in Götaland with a Geatish identity, apart from the common tendency of residents of the [[provinces of Sweden|provinces]] of Västergötland and [[Östergötland]] to refer to themselves as ''västgötar'' (West Geats) and ''östgötar'' (East Geats), similarly to how residents of other provinces refer to themselves. The dialects spoken in those provinces and some surrounding areas are also collectively called [[götamål]]. Although the city ''Göteborg'' ([[Gothenburg]]) has formerly been considered to have been named after the river [[Göta älv]], it may instead have been named after the Geats ('fortress of the Geats') when it was founded in 1621.<ref name="wahlberg">{{Cite book|last=Wahlberg|first=Mats|year=2003|title=Svenskt ortnamndslexikon|publisher=Språk och folkminnesinstitutet |pages=103}}</ref>

Until 1973 the official title of the [[Monarchy of Sweden|Swedish king]] was "King of Sweden (earlier: of the Swedes), the Geats/Goths and the [[Wends]]" (with the formula ''Sveriges, Götes och Vendes konung'', in Latin ''N.N. Dei Gratia, Suecorum, Gothorum et Vandalorum Rex''). The title "[[King of the Wends]]" was copied from the Danish title, where ''[[Wends]]'' referred to Slavic peoples who inhabited large areas of modern east Germany and Pomerania before the ''[[Ostsiedlung]]'', the eastern expansion of Germanic peoples. The Danish kings also called themselves "[[King of the Goths|Kings of the Goths]]", but in their case ''Goths'' referred to [[Gotland]] instead of Götaland.

The titles, however, changed in 1973 when the new king [[Carl XVI Gustaf]] decided that his royal title should simply be "King of Sweden". The disappearance of the old title was his decision alone.

==Goths==
{{Main|Goths}}

[[File:Chernyakhov.svg|right|250px|thumb|
{{legend|#A6D96A|Traditional [[Götaland]]}}
{{legend|#D01C8B|The island of [[Gotland]]}}
{{legend|#D7191C|[[Wielbark culture]], in the early 3rd century}}
{{legend|#FDAE61|[[Chernyakhov culture]], in the early 4th century}}
{{legend|#C2A5CF|[[Roman Empire]] at its greatest extent, 117 AD}}]]
''Geatas'' was originally [[Proto-Germanic]] *''Gautoz'' and ''Goths'' and ''[[Gutar]]'' (''Gotlanders'') were *''Gutaniz''. *''Gautoz'' and *''Gutaniz'' are two ablaut grades of a Proto-Germanic word *''geutan'' with the meaning "to pour" (modern Swedish ''gjuta'', modern German ''gießen''). The word comes from an Indo-European root meaning ''to pour, offer sacrifice.''<ref>"god" in ''The Oxford English Dictionary Online.'' (2006).</ref> There were consequently two derivations from the same Proto-Germanic ethnonym.<ref>cf. [[Serbs]] and [[Sorbs]], [[Polans (western)|Polans]] and [[Polish people|Poles]], [[Slovenes]] and [[Slovaks]] in [[Slavic language]]s.</ref>

It is a long-standing controversy whether the Goths were Geats. Both Old Icelandic and Old English literary sources clearly separate the Geats (Isl. ''Gautar'', OEng ''Geatas'') from the Goths/[[Gutar]] (Isl. ''Gotar'', OEng. ''Gotenas''); but the Gothic historian [[Jordanes]] wrote that the Goths came originally to [[Dacia]] from the island of [[Scandza]]. Moreover, he described that on this island there were three tribes called the ''Gautigoths'' (cf. ''Geat/Gaut''), the ''Ostrogoths'' (cf. the Swedish province of ''[[Östergötland]]'') and ''Vagoths'' ([[Gutar]]?) ‒ this implies that the Geats were Goths rather than vice versa. The word ''Goth'' is also a term used by the Romans to describe related, culturally linked tribes like the [[Tervingi]] and the [[Greuthungs]], so it may be correct to label Geats as Goths.

Scandinavian burial customs, such as the [[Stone circle (Iron Age)|stone circles]] (domarringar), which are most common in Götaland and [[Gotland]], and [[menhir (Iron Age)|stelae]] (bautastenar) appeared in what is now northern Poland in the 1st century AD, suggesting an influx of Scandinavians during the formation of the Gothic [[Wielbark culture]].<!-- these pages are very cautious about migration --><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.muzarp.poznan.pl/archweb/gazociag/title5.htm |title=The Goths in Greater Poland |language=pl |publisher=Muzarp.poznan.pl |access-date=14 June 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010630011348/http://www.muzarp.poznan.pl/archweb/gazociag/title5.htm |archive-date=30 June 2001 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.arkeologi.uu.se/publications/opia/gothicabstract.htm |title=Gothic Connections {{!}} Abstract |access-date=21 August 2004 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040821091243/http://www.arkeologi.uu.se/publications/opia/gothicabstract.htm |archive-date=21 August 2004 }}</ref> Moreover, in [[Östergötland]], in Sweden, there is a sudden disappearance of villages during this period.<ref>Oxenstierna, Graf E.C. : Die Urheimat der Goten. Leipzig, Mannus-Buecherei 73, 1945 (later printed in 1948).</ref> Contemporary accounts beginning in the fourth century further associated these groups with the earlier ''[[Getae]]'' of Dacia, but this is now disputed.

==Fringe theories==
===Götaland theory===
The Götaland theory (Swedish "Västgötaskolan") is a disparate group of theories, which have attempted to prove that some events and even places that are traditionally placed around [[Mälaren]], especially ones that are associated with the formation of medieval Sweden, instead should be located to Västergötland. The methods ranged from relatively scholarly efforts to [[dowsing]].<ref name="larsson04169">{{Cite book|last=Larsson|first=Mats G. |year=2004|title=Götarnas riken |publisher=Atlantis |place=Stockholm|pages=33–34, 90}}</ref> This "school" was brought to prominence in the 1980s following a TV series by [[Dag Stålsjö]]. While some serious scholars have attempted to place more emphasis on the Geats in the early history of Sweden than was traditional, Västgötaskolan has never reached any acceptance.

=== Identity of the Gēatas===
The generally accepted identification of Old English ''Gēatas'' as the same ethnonym as Swedish ''götar'' and Old Norse ''gautar'' is based on the observation that the ''ö'' monophthong of modern Swedish and the ''au'' diphthong of [[Old Norse]] correspond to the ''ēa'' diphthong of [[Old English language|Old English]].

{| class="wikitable"
|+Correspondences
!style="text-align: left"| [[Old Norse]]
!style="text-align: left"| [[Swedish language|Swedish]]
!style="text-align: left"| [[Old English language|Old English]]
!style="text-align: left"| Modern English
|-
|brauð || bröd || brēad || bread
|-
|laukr || lök || lēac || onion, cf. leek
|-
|lauf || löv || lēaf || leaf
|-
|austr || öst || ēast || east
|-
|draumr || dröm || drēam || dream
|-
|dauðr || död || dēað || death
|-
|rauðr || röd || rēad || red 
|}

Thus, ''Gēatas'' is the [[Old English language|Old English]] form of [[Old Norse]] ''Gautar'' and modern Swedish ''Götar''. This correspondence seems to tip the balance for most scholars. It is also based on the fact that in ''[[Beowulf]]'', the ''Gēatas'' live east of the ''[[Daner|Dani]]'' (across the sea) and in close contact with the ''Sweon'', which fits the historical position of the Geats between the Danes and the Swedes. Moreover, the story of Beowulf, who leaves ''Geatland'' and arrives at the [[Daner|Danish]] court after a naval voyage, where he kills a beast, finds a parallel in [[Hrólf Kraki's saga]]. In this saga, [[Bödvar Bjarki]] leaves ''Gautland'' and arrives at the [[Daner|Danish]] court after a naval voyage and kills a beast that has been terrorizing the Danes for two years (see also [[Origins for Beowulf and Hrólf Kraki]]).

====Jutish hypothesis====
There is a hypothesis that the Jutes also were Geats, and which was proposed by Pontus Fahlbeck in 1884. According to this hypothesis the Geats would have not only resided in southern Sweden but also in [[Jutland]], where [[Beowulf]] would have lived.

The Geats and the Jutes are mentioned in ''Beowulf'' as different tribes, and whereas the Geats are called ''gēatas'', the Jutes are called ''ēotena'' (genitive) or ''ēotenum'' (dative).<ref name="Nerman1925">{{cite book |last1=Nerman |first1=Birger |author1-link=Birger Nerman |title=Det Svenska Rikets Uppkomst |date=1925 |publisher=Ivar Haeggström |location=Stockholm |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UiYrzQEACAAJ |access-date=24 December 2020 |archive-date=20 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230420104219/https://books.google.com/books?id=UiYrzQEACAAJ |url-status=live }}</ref>{{rp|108}} Moreover, the Old English poem ''[[Widsith]]'' also mentions both Geats and Jutes, and it calls the latter ''ȳtum''.<ref name="Nerman1925" />{{rp|108}} However, Fahlbeck proposed in 1884 that the Gēatas of ''Beowulf'' referred to Jutes and he proposed that the Jutes originally also were Geats like those of southern Sweden.<ref name="Nerman1925" />{{rp|109}} This theory was based on an Old English translation of [[Venerable Bede]]'s ''[[Ecclesiastical History of the English People]]'' attributed to [[Alfred the Great]] where the Jutes (''iutarum'', ''iutis'') once are rendered as ''gēata'' (genitive) and twice as ''gēatum'' (dative)<ref name="Nerman1925" />{{rp|108–109}} (see e.g. the ''[[Oxford English Dictionary|OED]]'' which identifies the Geats through ''Eotas'', ''Iótas'', ''Iútan'' and ''Geátas''). Fahlbeck did not, however, propose an etymology for how the two ethnonyms could be related.<ref name="Nerman1925" />{{rp|109}}

Fahlbeck's theory was refuted by Schück who in 1907 noted that another Old English source, the ''[[Anglo-Saxon Chronicle]]'', called the Jutes ''īutna'', ''īotum'' or ''īutum''.<ref name="Nerman1925" />{{rp|109}} Moreover, Schück pointed out that when Alfred the Great's translation mentions the Jutes for the second time (book IV, ch. 14(16)) it calls them ''ēota'' and in one manuscript ''ȳtena''.<ref name="Nerman1925" />{{rp|110}} Björkman proposed in 1908 that Alfred the Great's translation of Jutes as Geats was based on a confusion between the West Saxon form ''Geotas'' ("Jutes") and ''Gēatas'' ("Geats").<ref name="Nerman1925" />{{rp|110}}

As for the origins of the ethnonym ''Jute'', it may be a secondary formation of the toponym Jutland, where ''jut'' is derived from a [[Proto-Indo-European language|Proto-Indo-European]] root *''eud'' meaning "water".<ref>{{cite web| last = Hellquist| first = Elof| title = Jut-, Jute| work = Svensk etymologisk ordbok| publisher = [[Project Runeberg]]| year = 1922| url = https://runeberg.org/svetym/0372.html| access-date = 21 November 2007| language = sv| archive-date = 24 November 2007| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071124055533/http://runeberg.org/svetym/0372.html| url-status = live}}</ref>

====Gutnish hypothesis====
Since the 19th century, there has also been a suggestion that Beowulf's people were [[Gutes]] (from the island of [[Gotland]] in Sweden). According to the poem, the ''weather-geats'' or ''sea-geats'', as they are called are supposed to have lived east of the Danes/Dacians and be separated from the Swedes by wide waters. Some researchers have found it a little far-fetched that ''wide waters'' relates to [[Vänern]] in Västergötland or Mälaren. The ''weather'' in ''weather-geats'', and ''sea-geats'' marks a people living at a windy, stormy coast by the sea. The Geats of Västergötland were historically an inland people, making an epithet such as ''weather-'' or ''sea-'' a little strange. Moreover, when Beowulf dies he is buried in a mound at a place called ''Hrones-naesse'', meaning "the cape of whales". Whales have for obvious reasons never lived in Vänern, where, according to [[Birger Nerman]], Beowulf is buried. However, an expanse of water separates the island of [[Gotland]] from the Swedes. The island lies east of Denmark/Dacia and whales were once common in the Baltic Sea where Gotland is situated. The name of the Gutes in Swedish, ''[[Gutar]]'', is an ablaut-grade of the same name as that of the Geats in Beowulf. These facts made the archaeologist [[Gad Rausing]] come to the conclusion that the ''weather-Geats'' may have been Gutes. This was supported by another Swedish archaeologist [[Bo Gräslund]]. According to Rausing, Beowulf may be buried in a place called ''Rone'' on Gotland, a name corresponding to the ''Hrones'' in ''Hrones-naesse''. Not far from there lies a place called ''Arnkull'' corresponding to the ''Earnar-naesse'' in Beowulf, which according to the poem was situated closely to Hrones-naesse.

This theory does not exclude the ancient population of Västergötland and Östergötland from being Geats, but rather holds that the Anglo-Saxon name ''Geat'' could refer to West-geats (Västergötland), East-geats (Östergötland) as well as weather-geats (Gotland), in accordance with Jordanes account of the Scandinanian tribes Gautigoth, Ostrogoth and Vagoth.

==See also==
* [[Blenda]]
* [[Geatish Society]]
* [[Göta]]
* [[Götavirke]] (Geatish Dyke)
* [[Varangian]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Germanic peoples}}
{{Beowulf}}

[[Category:Geats| ]]
[[Category:Early Germanic peoples]]
[[Category:North Germanic peoples]]
[[Category:Götaland]]
[[Category:Goths]]