WHO WERE THE GOTHS? Katika Hekalu la mungu mke ARTEMIS

Who Were the Ancient Goths?

      A depiction of Alaric I,
king of the Visigoths, in Athens, by German painter Ludwig Thiersch.

     The Goths were a people who flourished in Europe throughout ancient times and into the Middle Ages.

    Referred to at times as “barbarians,” they are famous for sacking the city of Rome in A.D. 410.

       Ironically, however, they are often credited with helping preserve Roman culture.
      After the sacking of Rome, a group of Goths moved to Gaul (in modern-day France) and Iberia and formed the Visigothic Kingdom.

        This kingdom would eventually incorporate Catholic Christianity, Roman artistic traditions and other aspects of Roman culture.
The last Gothic kingdom fell to the Moors in A.D. 711.

       Today,
the meaning of the word "Goth" has evolved beyond any direct relationship to the ancient Goths.

In the late Middle Ages, a style of architecture arose, characterized by large, imposing cathedrals and castles.

       The term "Gothic" was applied to the style as a critique, the word even at that time being a synonym for "barbaric."

          During the 18th and 19th centuries,

a genre of dark, romantic literature called "Gothic fiction" flourished.
      Characterized by novels such as
Bram Stoker's "Dracula,"
Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein" and the works of Edgar Allen Poe,
the genre got its name from the Gothic locations in which the stories took place — for example, Dracula's dark, foreboding castle.

          In modern times,
"Goth" has been used for a subculture with its own style of music, aesthetic and fashion.
The dark, often gloomy Goth imagery was influenced by Gothic fiction, particularly horror movies.
        From an island in the north?
Where exactly the ancient Goths came from is a mystery. In the sixth century A.D., the writer Jordanes (who was likely Gothic himself) wrote a history of the Goths.
             He claimed that the Goths came from a cold island called “Scandza,”
     possibly modern-day Scandinavia. When they would have lived there is unknown.

          “Now from the island of Scandza, as from a hive of races or a womb of nations, the Goths are said to have come forth long ago under their king, Berig by name,”

        After a series of migrations south, they found themselves living close to the borders of the Roman Empire.
    Our knowledge about the Goths before they interacted extensively with the Romans is limited.

         They had a written language of sorts that made use of runic inscriptions; however, few of these inscriptions have been found and those that survive are quite short.

        Their religion may have made use of shamans, people who could have acted as intermediaries between themselves and the gods.

BIBLE STUDY By

     Ev. Elimeleck Ndashikiwe.