Editing Gutes

{{Short description|Population of the island of Gotland}}
{{Redirect|Gutar|the instrument|Guitar}}
{{Redirect|Gotar|the North Germanic tribe called Götar in Swedish|Geats}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2024}}
[[File:Scandinavia-12th century.svg|right|thumb|250px|Sweden in the 12th century before the incorporation of [[Finland]] during the 13th century.
{{Legend|#fbe764|[[Swedes (tribe)|Swedes]]}}
{{Legend|#4e4d9e|[[Geats]]}}
{{Legend|#92b78b|Gutes}}]]

The '''Gutes''' ([[Old West Norse]]: ''Gotar'', [[Old Gutnish]]: ''Gutar'') were a [[North Germanic peoples|North Germanic]] tribe inhabiting the island of [[Gotland]]. The ethnonym is related to that of the ''[[Goths]]'' (''Gutans''), and both names were originally [[Proto-Germanic language|Proto-Germanic]] *''Gutaniz''. Their language is called [[Gutnish]] (''gutniska'').<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://runeberg.org/gotlands/ |title=Snöbohm, Alfred Theodor ''Gotlands land och folk'' (1871) |date=16 October 1871 |access-date=30 May 2010 |archive-date=4 November 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161104224813/http://runeberg.org/gotlands/ |url-status=live }}</ref> They are one of the progenitor groups of modern [[Swedes]], along with historical [[Swedes (tribe)|Swedes]] and [[Geats]].

==Name==
{{See|Name of the Goths}}
The name of the Gutes in [[Old Norse|Old West Norse]] is ''Gotar (adj. gotneskr)'',<ref>{{Cite book |url=http://archive.org/details/concisedictionar001857 |title=A concise dictionary of old Icelandic |last=Zoëga |first=Geir T. |author-link1=Geir T. Zoëga |date=1910 |publisher=Oxford : Clarendon Press |others=New York Public Library}}</ref> which is the same as that used for the Goths. Old Norse sources such as the sagas do not distinguish between the Goths and the Gutes.<ref>þáttr af Ragnars sonum, fornladarsaga<br/>Sögubrot af nokkurum fornkonungum í Dana- ok Svíaveldi, fornaldarsaga<br/>Oláfs saga helga, konungasaga<br/>Edda, Snorri Sturlusson, Skaldskáparmál<br/>Edda Sæmundar, Grimnismál</ref>{{secondary source needed|date=August 2024}} In accordance, the [[Old Norse|Old East Norse]] term for both Goths and Gutes seems to have been ''Gutar'' (<small>adj.</small> ''gutniskr'').<ref>Vikingarnas Språk, Rune Palm p 30</ref> Only the Goths and Gutes bear this name among all the Germanic tribes, even if ''[[Geat]]'' is closely related.

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 those who are called ''[[Vagoth]]'' (see [[Scandza]]). However, [[Ptolemy]] mentions the '''Goutai''' as living in the south of the island of [[Scandza]]; these could be identical to the Gutes, since the "ou"-spelling in Ancient Greek corresponds to the Latin and Germanic "u".

==History==
The oldest history of the Gutes is retold in the ''[[Gutasaga]]''. According to legend they descended from a man named [[Thjálfi and Röskva|Þjelvar]] who was the first to discover Gotland. Þjelvar had a son named [[Hafþi]] who wedded a fair maiden named [[Hvitastjerna]]. These two were the first to settle on Gotland. Hafþi and Hvitastjerna later had three children, [[Gaut|Guti]], [[Graipr]] and [[Gunfjaun]]. After the death of their parents, the brothers divided Gotland into three parts and each took one, but Guti remained the highest chieftain and gave his name to the land and its people.<ref>Guta Lagh med Gutasagan, Tore Gannholm, p 98-99</ref>

[[File:Chernyakhov.svg|right|250px|thumb|
{{legend|#A6D96A|Traditional [[Götaland]]}}
{{legend|#D01C8B|The island of [[Gotland]]}}
{{legend|#D7191C|[[Wielbark culture]], in the early 3rd century}}
{{legend|#FDAE61|[[Chernyakhov culture]], in the early 4th century}}
{{legend|#C2A5CF|[[Roman Empire]] at its greatest extent, 117 AD}}]]

It is related that because of overpopulation one third of the ''Gutes'' had to emigrate and settle in southern Europe:

:''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.''<ref>Guta Lagh med Gutasagan, Tore Gannholm, s 98–99</ref>

Some scholars, as for instance Wessén, Wenskus, Hoffman etc., have argued that this tale might be a reminiscence of the migration of the Goths.{{citation needed|date=July 2018}}

Certain linguists, as for instance [[Elias Wessén]], point out that there are similarities between [[Gothic language|Gothic]] and [[Gutnish]] that are not found elsewhere in the [[Germanic languages]]. One example is the use of the word ''lamb'' for both young and adult sheep, which is only seen in Gutnish and Gothic.<ref>Fornvännen 1969, Elias Wessén</ref>

[[File:Bildstein-Bunge 1.jpg|right|thumb|200px|The [[Stora Hammars stones|Stora Hammars I stone]]]]
Before the 7th century, the Gutes made a trade and defence agreement with [[Semi-legendary kings of Sweden|Swedish kings]], according to the [[Gutasaga]]. This seems to have been due to Swedish military aggression. Although the Gutes were victorious in these battles, they eventually found it more beneficial (as a nation of traders) to try to negotiate a peace treaty with the Swedes.
{{blockquote|Many kings made war on Gotland while it was heathen, but the Gutes always maintained victory and their rights. Then the Gutes 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 Gutes – 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.<ref name="Gutasagan, Tore Gannholm p 100-101">Guta lagh med Gutasagan, Tore Gannholm, p 100-101</ref>}}
{{blockquote|So the Gutes 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 Gutes 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.<ref name="Gutasagan, Tore Gannholm p 100-101">Guta lagh med Gutasagan, Tore Gannholm, p 100-101</ref>}}
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 ninth century, when [[Wulfstan of Hedeby]] reported that the island was subject to the Swedes.

Because of Gotland's central position in the [[Baltic Sea]], from early on the Gutes became a nation of traders and merchants. The amount of silver treasure that has been found in Gotlandic soil during the [[Viking Age]] surpasses that of all the other Swedish provinces counted together, which tells of a traders' nation of indisputable rank among the North Germanic tribes.<ref name="Gannholm">{{cite book|last=Gannholm|first=Tore|author-link=Tore Gannholm|title=Gotland: Östersjöns pärla, centrum för handel och kultur i Östersjöområdet under 2000 år|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=A39YAAAACAAJ|year=1994|publisher=Ganneburs|isbn=978-91-972306-5-0}} p 9</ref> The Gutes were the leading tradesmen in the Baltic sea until the rise of the [[Hanseatic League]].<ref name="Gannholm"/>

The Gutes were both yeomen farmers and traveling merchants at the same time: so-called ''farmenn''. This was an exceptionally dangerous occupation during the Middle Ages, since the Baltic Sea was full of pirates. The Gutnish ''farmenn'' always had to be ready for battle. The division and organisation of the early Gutnish society shows a nation constantly ready for war. The "ram" seems to have been an early symbol for the Gutes, and is still seen on the Gotlandic coat of arms.

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:Axe of iron from Swedish Iron Age, found at Gotland, Sweden.jpg| Axe of iron from Swedish Iron Age, found at Gotland
File:Järnåldern, Lerkärl, Nordisk familjebok.jpg|Clay pot from Swedish Iron Age, found on Gotland
File:Trojeborg, Nordisk familjebok.png|Trojeborg, a stone labyrinth from [[Visby]] on Gotland
</gallery>

==Sources==
The history of Gotland can be read in the book ''[[Gutasaga]]''. The ''Gutasaga'' is a saga treating the history of Gotland prior to Christianity. It was recorded in the 13th century and survives in only a single manuscript, the ''Codex Holm B. 64'', dating to ca. 1350. It is kept in the [[National Library of Sweden]] in [[Stockholm]] together with the ''[[Gutalagen]]'', the legal code of Gotland. It was written in the [[Old Gutnish]] dialect of [[Old Norse]].

==See also==
{{div col|colwidth=22em}}
*[[Old Gutnish]]
*[[Gothic alphabet]]
*[[Swedes (tribe)]]
*[[Danes (tribe)]]
*[[Proto-Norse language]]
*[[Viking]]
*[[Norsemen]]
*[[Scandinavian prehistory]]
*[[Scandinavia]]
*[[Swedish language]]
*[[Sweden proper]]
*[[Sweden]]
*[[Swedes]]
*[[Danes]]
*[[Danish language]]
*[[Denmark]]
*[[Norwegians]]
*[[Norwegian language]]
*[[Norway]]
*[[Germanic peoples]]
{{div col end}}

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

== External links ==
* [http://www.northvegr.org/histories%20and%20chronicles/gutasaga/index.html Gutasaga] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110308165307/http://www.northvegr.org/histories%20and%20chronicles/gutasaga/index.html |date=8 March 2011 }}
* [http://home.swipnet.se/gutniska/new_page_18.htm Gotlanders]
* [http://anthrocivitas.net/forum/showthread.php?t=5263 The Gotlanders – The people of Gotland Island]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20100814012949/http://www.gotlandsresor.se/gotland/year History of Gotland and the Gotlanders]

==Other sources==
*Ferguson, Robert ''The Vikings: a history'' (New York City: Penguin Group. 2009)
*[[Birger Nerman|Nerman, Birger]] ''Det svenska rikets uppkomst'' (Stockholm: 1925)

{{Germanic peoples}}

[[Category:Early Germanic peoples]]
[[Category:Goths]]
[[Category:Gotland]]
[[Category:North Germanic peoples]]