Gothic Origins

First, we must take care to distinguish between the Gauts and the Goths, but to reveal their connection as well. Put simply, the Gauts are the north Germanic inhabitants of Gautland and other parts of Scandinavia, while the Goths are the east Germanic tribe which migrated south and east, eventually becoming Ostrogoths and Visigoths.

Grimm states: "the Goths...called themselves Gutans (OHG Kuzan, ON Gotar), and...must be distinguished from ON Gautar (AS Geatas, OHG Koza; Goth. Gautos?)." And further: "it is from Gauts that the Gautos (Kuza, Gautoi) professed to be descended, these being other than the Gubans [Goths] (Tac. Gothones, Gotoi), but related to them nevertheless,for the Gothic genealogy starts with the same Gauts at the head of it." Even the Old English and Old Norse sources distinguish between these two peoples: in Old English, the Gauts are called Geats, while the Goths are distinguished with a different word, "Gotan."

As the Goths migrated, their name, and the name of the inhabitants of southern Scandinavia began to diverge. The name Goth, Got, Goton are the Roman (and English) forms of the original Proto-Germanic word *Gutanaz, (Gothic 'Guta,' or 'Gutan,' OE Gota, ON Goti). They refer to the Goths as a distinct east Germanic tribe migrating to Scythia and the Balkans. Ultimately *Gautaz and *Gutanaz were different versions of the same name and people, though it is likely that the only Gautish element of the Goths was

in fact a small group of nobility which preserved the cult and a slight variation of the name, of Gaut. The understanding of the difference between Gaut and Goth was preserved intact for centuries, and remains clear in the later Norse sources. In "The Battle of the Goths and Huns," the Gauts are knows as the inhabitants of Gautland, while the Goths are named distinctly and located on the Dneiper river, where the old, east Germanic Goth-lands once were. In the saga, the Gauts and the Goths, while separate peoples, are connected by one personality in the tale: Gizurr the Old. Gizurr is referred to first as "the King of the Gauts," but in the story, he leads the Gothic army under the Gothic King Angantyr.

His role is clearly mystical, and his personality is clearly divine, and recognizable as none other than Gaut himself, who disappears from the story entirely once he has fulfilled his purpose of inciting the armies to strife, action and victory. Thus it is Gaut himself, founder and patron god of both the Gauts and the Goths, who shows the unity between the two which both peoples long remembered. The Goths were led by noble Gauts who migrated south and east gathering a large tribe primarily consisting of people of Gautic descent and other germanic people. The Gauts were a religious confederation, and the Goths, as a branch of that confederation through their leadership, eventually became a tribe distinct from the Gautic confederation, but still led by descendants of the original members of the confederation.