The Goths

The Goths seem to have been perhaps the most ancient of Germanic Peoples, even though they seem to have faded out of the history books whereas other Germanic Tribes are still remembered. Like the Saxons we find various ancient tribes with names that appear to be the same or so similar as to suggest a close kinship. What suggests something very powerful about the Goths is their name, which suggests 'God' (Gott) or 'Good', meaning 'The Folk of God' or 'The Good Folk'. The Goths are also named after Gaut which is a name of Woden; this is often seen to have roots in 'to pour' (as in an offering) but seems to have meant something different originally. The following are ancient peoples whose name may be related to the Goths -

The Getae.

The Massagetae - 'Great Getae'. Thyssagetae - 'Little Getae'.

The Geats.

The Jutes.

The Gotar.

The Gautar.

The Jats/Jits - The Masagetae were also called 'Great Jats' or 'Great Jits'. The Jats were closely allied to the Sacae (Saxons). The Encyclopaedia Britannica says that the Jats were identified with the Getae of Herodotus. The Collins Encyclopaedia says that the Jats descended from the Saka or Scythians, and moved into India between the Second Century BCE and 5th Century CE. 

I am going to look here at the Jats who moved into India; could these have been of the same peoples as the Jutes, and thus the Goths? Colonel Sleeman, an Indian Political Officer, wrote to Dalip Singh, a Jat and last king of the Sikh Kingdom - "I see you are going to live in Kent. You will be among your own people there, for you are a Jat and the men of Kent are Jutes from Jutland." He also wrote - "The Jat Sikhs mighty & curled of beard, kin perhaps to the men of Kent, the Jutes of Jutland." 

It is also strange how the name of a section of the Jats were called Asiaghgotra (Asiagh-Gotra) where 'asiagh' means 'sword', thus, like the Saxons these people being 'People of the Sword'. We should also recall the name 'Gauthama' which is that of the original Buddha, who was 'Sage of the Sakyas', a name too close to 'Saxons' to be a coincidence. We have seen how the Jats were closely allied to the Sacae. 

History shows us on so many occasions how Germanic Tribes of very close kinship tend to move together in a certain area at a certain time, and this is repeated in other areas at very different times. We can perhaps trace the roots of these various Germanic Tribes back to the time of At-al-land; after this land partially sank in a great cataclysm these peoples would have moved into various different areas of the world, especially if the lands of the North were enveloped in ice-sheets. These were the Folk-Wanderings mentioned by various historians; it is certain that many of these peoples who remained in a purer state moved back into Northern Europe in later times. 

We need to consider that the word-sounds we use today may not be quite as they were in ancient times, and so names which appear to be totally different may have been much nearer to each other then. The term 'Jute' we say with a 'hard j' as in 'jut'; but we also today say 'Jesus' with the same sound, and yet this was also spelled 'Iesus' with a different sound. Again, there is a Gotaland in Sweden which is sounded Yotaland which again shows sound-differences between different tribes and nations. 

Of course, the word Joten or Jotun could also be seen in this light, and maybe we should include this in the argument here. We must recall that there were 'Light Joten' and 'Dark Joten' and there was a great difference between these two groups of 'Giants'. We have shown before how some scholars have mixed up the 'Jutes' with the 'Eoten' in Beowulf. 

In the last article about Hengest we saw how he was associated with a famous sword, the Sword of AEtla, and we should thus recognise the significance of this in regard to the Goths -

Hengest of the Jutes (or Saxons) - Sword.

The Saxons - Sons of the Sword.

The Jats - 'Sword-Goths'. (Reflected today in the fact that the Sikhs wear a ceremonial sword.)

If we are to believe the usual rendering of the runic letters 'Iggws of the Goths' then the Goths were Ingwaiones - 'Friends of Ing'. Ing is often seen as a 'Sword-God' and Ingui-Frey certainly had a famous sword which he gave away in his wooing of Gerda. 

Our word 'god' seems to stem from a Proto-Germanic *guthan and PIE *ghut meaning 'that which is invoked'; also a Root *gheu meaning 'to call' or 'to invoke'. There are also links to various word-roots meaning 'to pour' as in an offering. The Langobards called Woden Godan or Guodan, although the 'g' may originally have been silent. 

Added June 19th after a piece sent to me by CE Reed -

There is also another people linked to the Goths whose name is usually Gutians; the name seems to stem from a root meaning 'warrior'. The list below of tribes with similar names is an updated version -

Gut/Got

Jats

Jutes

Gaetones/Gaettones

Gutians

Guti/Kuti

Khatti/Khat-ti/Khad-ti/Chatti/Catti/Kud-ti/Hatti/Hittites

"The blonde race of the Guti' we are told, also linked to the Amorites (Mor/Mur). The Gutians overthrew the Semitic Akkadians in Sumeria and were responsible for the regeneration of Sumeria. Gudea (2142 - 2122 BCE) ruled Ur on behalf of the Gutian Kings. The language of the Gutians seems to have been akin to Tocharian. It is interesting to note that the Tocharians also seem to have called themselves the Tugri which is close to the original name of the Germans - Tungri. The Tugri lived near to the borders of China. 

Of interest to us is the name of the last Gutian King (or thought to be Gutian by the name he has) which was Tirigan. This is, in fact, linked to the Tir Rune as Waddell pointed out. The word 'Tir' in Old Persian means 'arrow' and this is exactly how the Tir-Rune is shaped, a spear or arrow.