> --- In cybalist@..., babeck@... wrote:
>It appears in a fragment of a Gothic calendar dating
> from the Gothic occupation of Italy. The entry refers to the 23rd
> October:
> "þize ana Gutþiudai managaize martwre jah Friþareikeis"
> (Day) of the many martyrs among the Gothic people and of (Saint)
> Frederick.>>
>
> Would you have a cite for this? To the best of my knowledge, the
> earliest Saint Frederick (Fridrich) was a Friesian who died in the
9th
> Century. So, on first impression, this would not be ancient German.
>
> Steve
Steve,
I have been unable to find a dating for the calendar fragment, but it
seems likely to be 6th century, because that was the date of the
Gothic Kingdom in Italy. It is unlikely to be much later since the
language is identical to 4th century Wulfilan Gothic. As for
Frederick, it was my guess that he was a saint, but he may have been
just a martyr. In any case he would have been an Arian, so his name
would not have been perpetuated by Catholicism.
There is no doubt that the language in this fragment is ancient
German, if you consider Wulfilan Gothic an example of ancient German.
When you say that this "would not be ancient German", what are you
suggesting?
That is is a forgery? I have never heard this suggestion before from
any of the experts.
That it was written much later? Why would later Germans bother to
write a calendar in 4th century Gothic, a language associated with
the Arian heresy? Don't forget the last German tribes gave up
Arianism in the 7th century.
Cheers,
Brian Beck