Subject:
How the Gothic Codex Argenteus Ended Up in Sweden
Date:
Sun, 21 Dec 1997 15:49:39 -0800
From:
Bertil Haggman
Organization:
CRG
To:
oldnorsenet@hum.gu.se
CC:
gothic-l@gmx.net
HOW DID THE GOTHIC CODEX ARGENTEUS
END UP IN THE COLLECTIONS OF
UPPSALA UNIVERSITY LIBRARY IN SWEDEN
(a short background history in Swedish)
Svenskarnas plundring av Prag 1648
Kanske har naagon ibland undrat oever hur
Silverbibeln,denna Sveriges bibliofila sevaerdhet
nummer ett, hamnat i Sverige. Den aer ett
krigsbyte fraan Tjeckiens huvudstad Prag. Den
invaderades av en mindre grupp svenskar under
hetsporren Hans Christopher von Koenigsmarck.
Det vaaghalsiga foeretaget avloepte lyckligt,
mycket tack vare oeverloeparen Ernst Odowalsky,
med vars hjaelp svenskarna lyckades oeverraska
fienden totalt.
Bytet blev enormt stort. Foerutom guld och silver i
massor, maalningar av de flesta stora europeiska
maestarna, skulpturer, porslin, aedelstenar,
uppstoppade djur mm, lade man beslag paa ett stort
antal boecker, baade tryckta och handskrivna.
Allt detta skedde med Drottning Kristinas goda minne.
Denna, det kalla Nordens egna Minerva, anstraengde
sig verkligen foer att den nya militaera
stormakten aeven skulle kunna glaensa med en
huvudstad full av konstskatter och kunskap. Att
lyfta det naagot efterblivna Sveriges bokliga
bildning kraevde drastiska aatgaerder. Man
bestaemde helt sonika att laegga beslag paa
alla stoerre bibliotek man kom oever. Paa saa
saett kom boecker fraan Polen, Danmark, Maehren
och Boehmen att hamna i svenska universitetsbibliotek,
daer de exempelvis i Lund aen i dag utgoer stommen
i bestaandet av aeldre tryck.
Med i alla dessa tunnor och kistor med
stoeldgods fanns Silverbibeln (CodexArgenteus).
Helt saekert vaeckte den inget stoerre intresse
hos de som packade ner volymerna. Den var varken
vackert inbunden, eller saerskilt stor i formatet
och texten var naestan bortnoett av tidens tand.
Dessutom var den skriven paa den exotiska gotiskan
-det foersta germanska skriftspraaket!
Skandinavien - goternas urhem?
Dess oede foerefoell nu saekrat. Aenda
sedan 1500-talet hade man i laerda svenska
kretsar soekt bevis foer att folkvandringstidens
maektiga goter, i sjaelva verket hade sitt ursprung
i det forna Sverige.
Codex Argenteus
Det nya oeststgotiska rikets storhetstid infoell
under kung Teoderik den storesregeringstid (493-526).
Det var under denna kungs regeringstid, som naagon,
foermodligen i Ravenna, laet kopiera den
gotiska bibeln. Redan under 300-talet hade
goternas apostel Wulfila, oeversatt bibeln till
gotiska. Goterna i baade vaest och oest,
omvaendes tidigt till kristendomen ( Liksom de
flesta andra germanska stammar var de ariankristna,
en variant som katolska kyrkan laenge ogillade).
Man har haevdat att Silverbibeln i sjaelva verket
utfoerdes aat Teoderik den store sjaelv. Det
faktum att goterna laet oeversaetta bibeln
redan paa 300-talet, vittnar om en viss laerdom.
Vid sidan av alla plundringstaag och krig,
aegnade sig en del goter uppenbarligen aat
studier. Detta understryks aeven
av det faktum att sjaelvaste Hieronomys, en
annan namnkunnig bibeloeversaettare ungefarr
samtida med Wulfila, vid aatminstone ett
tillfaelle fick bidra med sin erfarenhet till
tvaa fraagvisa bibeloeversaettande goter!
(Hieronomys svar finns bevarat)
Efter diverse mestadels helt okaenda turer
hamnade boken i Kejsar Rudolf II skattkammare i
Prag, vars innehaall eroevrades av svenska
trupper och blev ett svenskt krigsbyte. Man
kan tycka att boken nu hamnat daer den baest
hoerde hemma och att den skulle uppskattas
daerefter. Gustav Adolfs dotter Kristina hyste
emellertid ingen stoerre kaerlek till denna
dyrgrip. Hon laemnade saaledes boken
kvar naer hon aar 1654 valde att abdikera.
Hon tog med sig ett mycket stort antal boecker
och handskrifter, vilka hon ansaag saerskilt
vaerdefulla. Bland dessa fanns alltsaa inte
Codex Argenteus! Vad haende daa med boken?
Kristinas bibliotekarie Isaac Vossius lade
beslag paa den som kompensation foer uteblivna
loener! Med Silverbibleln och andra boecker for
han saa hem till Holland. Efter naagra aar
koepte emellertid greve Magnus Gabriel De
la Gardie tillbaka boken till
Sverige. Den donerades slutligen till
Carolina Rediviva i Uppsala, ifoerd ny
silverskrud i barockstil
vaerdig sitt innehaall. Haer kom den
sedemera studeras flitigt av bland annat
Rudbeck och hans efterfoeljande,
saa som exempelvis Erik Julius Birner.
A Selected Bibliography
Burenhult G. (1991) Arkeologi i Sverige, del 3.
Gannholm T. (1990) Gutarnas Historia
Strelow H.N. (1633/1978) Cronica Guthilandorum
Hermodsson L. (1993) Goterna Ett krigarfolk och dess Bibel
Kleberg T. (1981) Codex Argenteus Silverbibeln i Uppsala
Lindroth S. (1989) Svensk Laerdomshistoria, del 1 och 2.
Lindqvist S. (1945) Vaar Svenska Guldaader
Seasons Greetings
Bertil Haggman
Subject:
1995 Attack on the Codex Argenteus
Date:
Sun, 21 Dec 1997 19:36:52 -0800
From:
Bertil Haggman
Organization:
CRG
To:
visigoth@injersey.com
CC:
gothic-l@gmx.net
References:
1 , 2
In 1995 two men in the hall of the
Uppsala University Library crushed
the glass of the exhibition case
protecting parts of the bible with
a sledge-hammer. They tore out a
few pages and while running out they
sprayed teargas on personnel that approached
them. The exhibition case did not
contain the whole bible.
The stolen pages were recovered a few months
later from a locker at the Stockholm Central
Railway Station if I remember correctly.
Hopefully only a copy of the bible is shown
after this incident. Don't know anything
about the culprits though. I seem to remember
they were foreigners.
Subject:
Ingleram and Alaric
Date:
Sun, 21 Dec 1997 19:48:04 -0800
From:
Bertil Haggman
Organization:
CRG
To:
oldnorsenet@hum.gu.se
CC:
gothic-l@gmx.net
Does anyone have a quick answer
to the question of the meaning of the
two first names Ingleram and Alaric ?
Don't have a handbook on personal
names handy.
Seasons Greetings
Bertil Haggman
ubject:
Re: Ingleram and Alaric
Date:
Mon, 22 Dec 1997 06:40:07 +0100
From:
keth@telepost.no
To:
oldnorsenet@hum.gu.se
CC:
gothic-l@gmx.net
>Does anyone have a quick answer
>to the question of the meaning of the
>two first names Ingleram and Alaric ?
>Don't have a handbook on personal
>names handy.
-ram means raven (ahd raban),
Ing- is the god (Yngvi in Scandinavia).
However, when it says Ingelram with an l,
the explanation might be different.
Could Ingel- refer to the Angli, the
Danes who later became Englishmen?
Alarik could be the same as ahd
ala = completely and rihhi = rich
(395-410, conquered Rome)
Keth
Subject:
Re: Ingleram and Alaric
Date:
Mon, 22 Dec 1997 07:09:15 +0100
From:
keth@telepost.no
To:
mcarver@csulb.edu
References:
1
Hi Matt!
Would you be able to do something about the entry of Poul's
e-mail address into the gothic-list subscribers list?
Apparently his e-mail adress has been entered there as
<"Loke."@po.ia.dk> (see below), whereas it _should_ be:
Loke.@po.is.dk
(note dot after Loke)
The way it is now, I keep getting the same error message,
and you probably got it too. I have already notified
Poul (aka Loke) about this problem, but I think he did
not understand it, since he probably isn't getting any mail
from the list.
Best regards
Keth
Subject:
Re: Ingleram and Alaric
Date:
Mon, 22 Dec 1997 15:59:43 -0800
From:
Bertil Haggman
Organization:
CRG
To:
mcarver@csulb.edu
CC:
gothic-l@gmx.net
References:
1 , 2
M. Carver wrote:
>
> I'll see what I can do:
>
> Alaric first. I think this is either "All-powerful" or "Ruler of
> all". You have the root/prefix "ala-" and the word "reiks" meaning
> either (adj.)"having power or soverignty" or (noun) "king, ruler".
>
> I don't know that 'Ingleram' is a specifically Gothic name, esp. in
> that spelling. But I found this information on the name that seems to
> connect it with englisc (OE).
Thanks a lot for the above. Just what
I needed. Think like Keth that Ingleram
might well have something to do with
the Angli.
Seasons Gothic Greetings
Bertils Heggmans
Subject:
Re: Ingleram and Alaric
Date:
Tue, 23 Dec 1997 08:15:25 -0800
From:
Piotr Gasiorowski
To:
keth@telepost.no
CC:
gothic-l@gmx.net
Followup-To:
oldnorsenet@hum.gu.se
References:
1
keth@telepost.no wrote:
> >Does anyone have a quick answer
> >to the question of the meaning of the
> >two first names Ingleram and Alaric ?
> >Don't have a handbook on personal
> >names handy.
>
> -ram means raven (ahd raban),
> Ing- is the god (Yngvi in Scandinavia).
>
> However, when it says Ingelram with an l,
> the explanation might be different.
> Could Ingel- refer to the Angli, the
> Danes who later became Englishmen?
>
> Alarik could be the same as ahd
> ala = completely and rihhi = rich
> (395-410, conquered Rome)
>
> Keth
I agree Alarik is most likely Ala-rik = All-powerful. If anybody wants
to connect Ingleram with the Angles, however, a plausible interpretation
of -ram should be sugested. Given the early date of attestation, can it
really be a simplification of *hrabn- > *hramn- > *hram(m)? The OHG
parallel is a bit anachronistic, so I have my doubts. On the other hand,
I cannot think of an alternative.
Merry Christmas to all.
Piotr
Subject:
Re: onomastics
Date:
Sun, 28 Dec 1997 12:45:22 -0700
From:
"M. Carver"
Organization:
California State University, Long Beach
To:
gothic-l@gmx.net
References:
1
Christian Petersen wrote:
>
> Dear Colleagues all around the world,
>
> chapter 27 part D of the BIBLIOGRAPHIA GOTICA deals with Gothic proper
> names.
> One of the most involved scholars is Norbert WAGNER.
>
> I am desperately looking for a disk-version of SKEIREINS.
> Does anyone know of suchalike?
>
> Prosperous New Year from Northern Germany
>
> Chris
I don't know of any manuscript-photo versions, but there is a regular
text version (with hyperlink references) at:
http://www.lang.uiuc.edu/LLL/etexts/skeireins-got.html
Happy new year, Gothic-L members across the world!
-- Matt
Subject:
onomastics
Date:
Sun, 28 Dec 1997 21:32:14 +0100
From:
Christian Petersen
To:
gothic-l@gmx.net
Dear Colleagues all around the world,
chapter 27 part D of the BIBLIOGRAPHIA GOTICA deals with Gothic proper
names.
One of the most involved scholars is Norbert WAGNER.
I am desperately looking for a disk-version of SKEIREINS.
Does anyone know of suchalike?
Prosperous New Year from Northern Germany
Chris
Subject:
Mail Problem
Date:
Tue, 30 Dec 1997 11:02:16 -0700
From:
"M. Carver"
Organization:
California State University, Long Beach
To:
gothic-l@gmx.net
CC:
keth@telepost.no
References:
1 , 2
Hej. God efterjul
I found this in my mailbox and you will be glad to know that I have (I
believe) resolved this issue finally. For a while I could not contact
Eric, who had access to the subscription file. But now it should be
fine. If Poul, or anyone else, wants to review the mail archive, I hope
to have it posted on the list website within the week.
-- Matt
Subject:
IRC Channel
Date:
Tue, 30 Dec 1997 11:55:28 -0700
From:
"M. Carver"
Organization:
California State University, Long Beach
To:
gothic-l@gmx.net
Greetings all.
The subject of having an IRC channel has been broached before by a
couple of the list members. I just wanted to see if anyone was *really*
interested in having a permanent real-time chat channel that we could
use to talk about gothic or in gothic *alongside* the gothic-l. The
gothic list would not be sacrificed in any wise, but perhaps the list
members' experience would be enriched through the ability to have
real-time conversations over the internet.
Eric Craven and I both advocate this as another excellent means for
exchanging information or just chatting. We would like to know whether
anyone else would be interested in this, and whether anyone would help
bring the *permanent* channel into existence. In order for a chat
channel to become permanent, it would need the votes of ten people.
Please let us know if this is something you would like to do.
Meanwhile, we are in the process of finding out how to get the channel
name.
For the time being, if you enter the name #gothic-l into your mirc,
pirch, ircle, or whatever irc-application you use, you will likely be
the only one there. Unless, of course, you happen to catch me and Eric
there on at the same time (rare).
Matt