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Ancient Germanic culture portal

Sweden in the 12th century before the incorporation of Finland during the 13th century.      Gutar      Swedes      Geats

The Gotlanders are the population of the island of Gotland. In Swedish, they are also called Gutar an ethnonym identical to Goths (Gutans), and both names were originally Proto-Germanic *Gutaniz. Their language is called Gutnish (Gutniska).

The oldest history of the Gutar is retold in the Gutasaga. The legend goes that they descended from a man named Þjelvar who was the first to discover Gotland. Þjelvar had a son named Hafþi who wedded a fair maiden by the name of Hvitastjerna. These two were the first to settle on Gotland. Hafþi and Hvitastjerna later begat three children by the name of Guti, Graipr and Gunfjaun. Coming to manhood and after the death of their parents, the brothers divided Gotland into three parts and took each one part, but Guti remained the highest chieften, and gave his name to the land and its people.

In Modern Swedish language, there are two words for a Gotlander: gotlänning and gute. All inhabitants of Gotland, regardless of their birth status are gotlänning (pl. gotlänningar), but one is called gute (pl. gutar) if he or she is a descendant of people born on the island.

The Gothic link

It is also related that because of overpopulation one third of the Gutar had to emigrate and settle in southern Europe. Some historians have argued^[who?] that this tale might be a reminiscensce of the migration of the Goths.

over a long time, the people descended from these three multiplied so much that the land couldn't support them all. Then they draw lots, and every third person was picked to leave, and they could keep everything they owned and take it with them, except for their land. ... they went up the river Dvina, up through Russia. They went so far that they came to the land of the Greeks. ... they settled there, and live there still, and still have something of our language.

The name of the Gotlanders in Old West Norse is Gotar which is same as that used for the Goths. Likewise the Old East Norse term for both Goths and Gotlanders seems to have been Gutar. Only the Goths and Gotlanders bear this name among all the Germanic tribes. The fact that the ethnonym is identical to Goth may be the reason why they are not mentioned as a special group until Jordanes' Getica, where they may be^{[citation needed]} those who are called Vagoths (see Scandza). However Ptolemy mentions the Goutai as living in the south of the island of Skandia, who could be identical to the Gutar, since the "ou"-sound in Ancient Greek corresponds to the Latin and Germanic "u".

Certain linguists point out that there are similarities between Gothic and Gutnish that are not found elsewhere in the Germanic languages. One example of this is the use of the word lamb for both young and adult sheeps, which is only seen in Gutnish and Gothic.

Trade- and defence agreement with the Swedes

The Stora Hammar stone.

Before the 7th century, the Gutar made a trade and defence agreement with Swedish kings, according to the Gutasaga. This seems to have been due to Swedish military aggressions. Although the Gutar were victorious in these battles, they eventually found it more beneficial (as a nation of traders) to try and negotiate a peace-treaty with the Swedes.

Many kings made war on Gotland while it was heathen, but the Gutar always maintained victory and their rights. Then the Gutar were sending many messengers to Sweden, but none of them succeeded in negotiating a peace, till Awair Strabain from Alva parish. He was the first to make peace with the king of the Swedes.[...] As he was a smooth-tongued man, wise indeed and artful, as the stories of him go, he established a fixed treaty with the Swedish king: 60 marks of silver a year - that is the tax for the Gutar - with 40 for the king, out of that sixty, and the jarls to get 20. This amount had already been decided by agreement of the whole land before he left.

So the Gutar made a trade and defence agreement with the king of the Swedes of their own free will, that they might go anywhere in all areas dominated by the Swedes freely and unfettered by tolls or any duties. So too the Swedes could come to Gotland with no ban on the import of corn, or any other restrictions. The king was to give aid and help whenever they needed it and asked. The king would send messengers to the Gotland national assembly, and the jarls likewise, to collect their tax. These messengers must proclaim freedom to the Gutar to travel in peace over the sea, to all places where the Swedish king held sway. And the same went for anyone travelling there to Gotland.

It gives Awair Strabain as the man who arranged the mutually beneficial agreement with the king of Sweden, and the event would have taken place before the end of the 9th century, when Wulfstan of Hedeby reported that the island was subject to the Swedes.

See also

• Geats
• Goths
• Gotland
• Gutasaga
• Gutnish
• Swedish people