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{{short description|4th-century king of the Goths}}
{{for|the bishop|Ermanrich of Passau}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2019}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2019}}
{{Infobox royalty
{{Infobox royalty
| name = Ermanaric
| name = Ermanaric
| succession = King of the [[Goths]]
| succession = King of the [[Goths]]
| reign = circa 296-376
| reign = c. 296–376
| successor = [[Vithimiris]]
| successor = [[Vithimiris]]
| royal house =[[Amali dynasty]]
| royal house =[[Amali dynasty]]
| birth_date = circa 291
| birth_date = c. 291
| death_date = 376
| death_date = 376 (Aged about 85)
}}
}}
[[Image:Chernyakhov.PNG|right|250px|thumb|The orange area signifies the [[Chernyakhov Culture]], identified with Ermanaric's kingdom, in the early fourth century.]]
⚫
'''Ermanaric''' ({{lang-got|*Aírmanareiks}}; {{lang-la|Ermanaricus}} or ''Hermanaricus''; {{lang-ang|Eormanrīc}} {{IPA-ang|ˈeormɑnriːtʃ|}}; {{lang-on|Jörmunrekr}} {{IPA-non|ˈjɔrmunrekr|}}; died 376) was a [[Greuthungi]]an [[Goths|Gothic]] [[Germanic kingship|King]] who before the [[Huns|Hunnic]] invasion evidently ruled a sizable portion of [[Oium]], the part of [[Scythia]] inhabited by the Goths at the time. He is mentioned in two Roman sources; the contemporary writings of [[Ammianus Marcellinus]] and in ''[[Getica]]'' by the 6th-century historian [[Jordanes]].
[[File:Imperio Romano.jpg|right|250px|thumb|Ermanaric's kingdom at the end of the fourth century (a map from 1899).]]
⚫
'''Ermanaric'''{{efn|{{lang-got|*Aírmanareiks}}; {{lang-la|Ermanaricus}} or ''Hermanaricus''; {{lang-ang|Eormanrīc}} {{IPA-ang|ˈeorˠmɑnriːtʃ|}}; {{lang-on|Jǫrmunrekkr}} {{IPA-non|ˈjɔrmunrekr|}}, {{lang-gmh|Ermenrîch}}}} (died 376) was a [[Greuthungi]]an [[Goths|Gothic]] [[Germanic kingship|king]] who before the [[Huns|Hunnic]] invasion evidently ruled a sizable portion of [[Oium]], the part of [[Scythia]] inhabited by the Goths at the time. He is mentioned in two Roman sources: the contemporary writings of [[Ammianus Marcellinus]], and in ''[[Getica]]'' by the sixth-century historian [[Jordanes]]. He also appears in a fictionalized form in later [[Germanic heroic legend]]s.


Modern historians disagree on the size of Ermanaric's realm. [[Herwig Wolfram]] postulates that he at one point ruled a realm stretching from the [[Baltic Sea]] to the [[Black Sea]] as far eastwards as the [[Ural Mountains]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Wolfram |first=Herwig |authorlink=Herwig Wolfram |year=1997 |title=The Roman Empire and Its Germanic Peoples |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tOnQDfRU-poC |location= |publisher=[[University of California Press]] |page=27 |isbn=0-520-08511-6 |accessdate=2 November 2013 }}</ref> [[Peter Heather]] is skeptical of the claim that Ermanaric ruled all Goths except the [[Tervingi]], and furthermore points to the fact that such an enormous empire would have been larger than any known Gothic political unit, that it would have left bigger traces in the sources and that the sources on which the claim is based are not nearly reliable enough to be taken at face value.<ref>{{cite book |last=Heather |first=Peter |authorlink=Peter Heather |year=1991 |title=Goths and Romans 332-489 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |pages=86–89 |isbn=0-19-820234-2 }}</ref>
Modern historians disagree on the size of Ermanaric's realm. [[Herwig Wolfram]] postulates that he at one point ruled a realm stretching from the [[Baltic Sea]] to the [[Black Sea]] as far eastwards as the [[Ural Mountains]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Wolfram |first=Herwig |author-link=Herwig Wolfram |year=1997 |title=The Roman Empire and Its Germanic Peoples |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tOnQDfRU-poC |publisher=[[University of California Press]] |page=27 |isbn=0-520-08511-6 |access-date=2 November 2013 }}</ref> [[Peter Heather]] is skeptical of the claim that Ermanaric ruled all Goths except the [[Tervingi]], and furthermore points to the fact that such an enormous empire would have been larger than any known Gothic political unit, that it would have left bigger traces in the sources and that the sources on which the claim is based are not nearly reliable enough to be taken at face value.<ref>{{cite book |last=Heather |first=Peter |author-link=Peter Heather |year=1991 |title=Goths and Romans 332-489 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |pages=86–89 |isbn=0-19-820234-2 }}</ref>


==Etymology==
==Etymology==
The first element of the name ''Ermanaric'' appears to be based on the [[Proto-Germanic]] root ''*ermena-'', meaning universal.{{sfn|Gillespie|1973|p=39}} The second element is from the element ''*-rik'', [[Gothic language|Gothic]] ''reiks'', meaning ruler; this is found frequently in Gothic royal names.{{sfn|Gillespie|1973|p=30}}
The first element of the name ''Ermanaric'' appears to be based on the [[Proto-Germanic]] root ''*[[wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/ermunaz|ermena-]]'', meaning 'universal'.{{sfn|Gillespie|1973|p=39}} The second element is from the element ''*-[[wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/rīks|rīks]]'', [[Gothic language|Gothic]] ''[[wikt:𐍂𐌴𐌹𐌺𐍃|reiks]]'', meaning 'ruler'; this is found frequently in Gothic royal names.{{sfn|Gillespie|1973|p=30}}


⚫
==In Roman sources==
==Historical Ermanaric==
⚫
According to Ammianus, Ermanaric was "a most warlike king" who eventually committed [[suicide]], faced with the aggression of the [[Alans|Alani]] and of the [[Hun]]s, who invaded his territories in the 370s. Ammianus says he "ruled over extensively wide and fertile regions".<ref name="Kulikowski">{{citation|author=Michael Kulikowski |title=Rome's Gothic Wars |year=2007 |pages=111, 112 |isbn= 9780521846332}}</ref><ref name="Ammianus">{{citation |author=Ammianus Marcellinus |author-link=Ammianus Marcellinus | url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Ammian/31*.html#3 |title=Res Gestae XXXI 3 |editor=Thayer}}</ref> Ammianus also says that after Ermanaric's death, a certain [[Vithimiris]] was elected as the new king.
⚫
===In Roman sources===
⚫
According to Ammianus, Ermanaric was "''a most warlike king''" who eventually committed suicide, faced with the aggression of the [[Alani]] and of the [[Hun]]s, who invaded his territories in the 370s. Ammianus says he "ruled over extensively wide and fertile regions".<ref name="Kulikowski">{{citation|author=Michael Kulikowski |title=Rome's Gothic Wars |year=2007 |pages=111, 112 |isbn= 9780521846332}}</ref><ref name="Ammianus">{{citation |author=Ammianus Marcellinus |author-link=Ammianus Marcellinus | url=http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Ammian/31*.html#3 |title=Res Gestae XXXI 3 |editor=Thayer}}</ref> Ammianus also says that after Ermanaric's death, a certain [[Vithimiris]] was elected as the new king.


According to [[Jordanes]]' ''[[Getica]]'', Ermanaric ruled the realm of [[Oium]]. He describes him as a "Gothic Alexander" who "ruled all the nations of [[Scythia]] and [[Germania]] as they were his own". Jordanes also states that the king put to death a young woman named Sunilda ([[Svanhildr]]) with the use of horses, because of her infidelity. Thereupon her two brothers, Sarus and [[Ammius]], severely wounded Ermanaric leaving him unfit to defend his kingdom from Hunnic incursions. Variations of this legend had a profound effect on medieval Germanic literature, including that of [[England]] and [[Scandinavia]] (see [[Jonakr's sons]]). Jordanes claims that he successfully ruled the [[Goths]] until his death at the age of 110.
According to [[Jordanes]]' ''[[Getica]]'', Ermanaric ruled the realm of [[Oium]]. Jordanes describes him as a "Gothic [[Alexander the Great|Alexander]]" who "ruled all the nations of [[Scythia]] and [[Germania]] as they were his own". Jordanes also states that the king put to death a young woman named Sunilda ([[Svanhildr]]) with the use of horses, as punishment for her husband's treason. Thereupon her two brothers, Sarus and [[Ammius]], severely wounded Ermanaric, leaving him unfit to defend his kingdom from Hunnic incursions. Variations of this legend had a profound effect on medieval Germanic literature, including that of England and [[Scandinavia]] (see [[Jonakr's sons]]). Jordanes claims that he successfully ruled the [[Goths]] until his death aged 110.


[[Edward Gibbon|Gibbon]] gives the version of Ammianus and Jordanes as historical, reporting that Ermanaric successively conquered, during a reign of about 30 years from 337 to 367 A.D., the [[Thervingi|west-goths]], the [[Heruli]], the [[Venedi]] and the [[Aestii]], establishing a kingdom which ranged from the [[Baltic Sea|Baltic]] to the [[Black Sea]];<ref>Edward Gibbon, ''The Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire'', (The Modern Library, 1932), chap. XXV., pp. 890, 891</ref> and died at the age of 110 of a wound inflicted by the brothers of a woman whom he had cruelly executed for her husband's revolt, being succeeded by his brother [[Vithimiris]].<ref>Gibbon, Ibid. chap. XXVI., pp. 920, 921</ref>
[[Edward Gibbon]] gives the version of Ammianus and Jordanes as historical, reporting that Ermanaric successively conquered, during a reign of about 30 years from AD 337 to 367, the [[Thervingi|west-goths]], the [[Heruli]], the [[Vistula Venedi|Venedi]] and the [[Aestii]], establishing a kingdom which ranged from the [[Baltic Sea|Baltic]] to the [[Black Sea]];<ref>Edward Gibbon, ''The Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire'', (The Modern Library, 1932), chap. XXV., pp. 890, 891</ref> and died aged 110 of a wound inflicted by the brothers of a woman whom he had cruelly executed for her husband's revolt, being succeeded by his brother [[Vithimiris]].<ref>Gibbon, Ibid. chap. XXVI., pp. 920, 921</ref>


===In Germanic sources===
==In Germanic sources and legends==
Ermanaric appears in a variety of different [[Germanic heroic legend]]s.
⚫
Iormunrek (Jörmunrekkr) is the Norse form of the name.<ref name="Tolkien2009" /> Ermanaric appears in [[Anglo-Saxon]] and [[Norse mythology|Scandinavian]] legend. In the former, the poem [[Beowulf]] focused on the image of "Eormenric's wiles and hatred".<ref>[[Seamus Heaney]] trans., ''Beowulf'' (London 2000) p. 40</ref> According to [[J. R. R. Tolkien|Tolkien]], he is described in the 10th century poem [[Deor]] as a powerful but perilous king: "We have heard of the wolfish mind of Eormanric: far and wide he ruled the people of the realm of the Goths: he was a cruel king".<ref name="Tolkien2009">[[Deor]], quoted in J R R Tolkien, ''The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrun'' (London 2009) p. 322-323.</ref>


⚫
Iormunrek (Jörmunrekkr) is the Norse form of the name.<ref name="Tolkien2009" /> Ermanaric appears in [[Anglo-Saxon]] and [[Norse mythology|Scandinavian]] legend. In the former, the poem [[Beowulf]] focused on the image of "Eormenric's wiles and hatred".<ref>[[Seamus Heaney]] trans., ''Beowulf'' (London 2000) p. 40</ref> He is described in the tenth century poem [[Deor]] as a powerful but treacherous king: "We have heard of the wolfish mind of Eormanric: far and wide he ruled the people of the realm of the Goths: he was a cruel king".<ref name="Tolkien2009">[[Deor]], quoted in J R R Tolkien, ''The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrun'' (London 2009) p. 322-323.</ref>
Ermanaric also appears in the Norse sources, such as ''[[Thidreks Saga]]'', in which he is ill-advised by his counsellors to put his own wife to death for supposed adultery with his son, for which revenge is taken by his brothers-in-law.<ref name="Tanner1929">J. R. Tanner ed., ''The Cambridge Medieval History Vol VI'' (Cambridge 1929) p. 839</ref><ref name="Shippey1992">[[Tom Shippey]], ''The Road to Middle-Earth'' (London 1992) p. 16</ref>


⚫
The death of [[Svanhildr]] (Svanhildr Sigurðardóttir) and Ermanaric's (Jörmunrek) subsequent death at the hands of [[Jonakr's sons]] occupies an important place in the world of Germanic legend. The tale is retold in many northern European stories, including the Icelandic [[Poetic Edda]] ([[Hamðismál]] and [[Guðrúnarhvöt]]), [[Prose Edda]] and the [[Volsunga Saga]]; the Norwegian [[Ragnarsdrápa]]; the Danish [[Gesta Danorum]]; and the German [[Nibelungenlied]]<ref>
==Mythic Ermanaric==
{{main|Svanhildr}}

⚫
The death of Swanhild (Svanhildr Sigurðardóttir) and Ermanaric's (Jörmunrek) subsequent death at the hands of [[Jonakr's sons]] occupies an important place in the world of Germanic legend. The tale is retold in many northern European stories, including the Icelandic [[Poetic Edda]] ([[Hamðismál]] and [[Guðrúnarhvöt]]), [[Prose Edda]] and the [[Volsunga Saga]]; the Norwegian [[Ragnarsdrápa]]; the Danish [[Gesta Danorum]]; and the German [[Nibelungenlied]]<ref>
{{Citation
{{Citation
| last1 = Lettsom
| last1 = Lettsom
Line 44: Line 44:
| year = 1901
| year = 1901
| url = https://archive.org/stream/nibelungenlied00lettuoft/nibelungenlied00lettuoft_djvu.txt
| url = https://archive.org/stream/nibelungenlied00lettuoft/nibelungenlied00lettuoft_djvu.txt
| accessdate = 7 May 2011}}</ref>
| access-date = 7 May 2011}}</ref>
and [[Annals of Quedlinburg]].
and [[Annals of Quedlinburg]].


In the Norse ''Thidreks Saga'', Ermanaric is ill-advised by his treacherous counsellor Bicke, Bikka, Sifka, or Seveke (who wants revenge for the rape of his wife by Ermanaric),<ref>Gillespie 1973, 117</ref> with the result that the king puts his own wife to death for supposed adultery with his son;<ref name="Tanner1929" /> he is thereafter crippled by his brothers-in-law in revenge.<ref name="Shippey1992" />
In the Norse ''[[Thidreks Saga]]'', translated from [[Low German]] sources, Ermanaric is ill-advised by his treacherous counsellor Bicke, Bikka, Sifka, or Seveke (who wants revenge for the rape of his wife by Ermanaric),<ref>Gillespie 1973, 117</ref> with the result that the king puts his own wife to death for supposed adultery with his son;<ref name="Tanner1929">J. R. Tanner ed., ''The Cambridge Medieval History Vol VI'' (Cambridge 1929) p. 839</ref> he is thereafter crippled by his brothers-in-law in revenge.<ref name="Shippey1992">[[Tom Shippey]], ''The Road to Middle-Earth'' (London 1992) p. 16</ref>


In the [[Middle High German]] poems ''[[Dietrichs Flucht]]'', the ''[[Rabenschlacht]]'', and ''[[Alpharts Tod]]'' about [[Dietrich von Bern|Dietrich of Bern]], Ermanaric is Dietrich's uncle who has driven his nephew into exile.<ref>Heinzle 1999, pp. 4-7</ref> The early modern [[Low German]] poem ''[[Ermenrichs Tod]]'' recounts a garbled version of Ermanaric's death reminiscent of the scene told in Jordanes and Scandinavian legend.<ref>Millet 2008, p. 475</ref>
In the [[Middle High German]] poems ''[[Dietrichs Flucht]]'', the ''[[Rabenschlacht]]'', and ''[[Alpharts Tod]]'' about [[Dietrich von Bern|Dietrich of Bern]], Ermanaric is Dietrich's uncle who has driven his nephew into exile.<ref>Heinzle 1999, pp. 4-7</ref> The early modern [[Low German]] poem ''[[Ermenrichs Tod]]'' recounts a garbled version of Ermanaric's death reminiscent of the scene told in Jordanes and Scandinavian legend.<ref>Millet 2008, p. 475</ref>
Line 57: Line 57:
* in [[Ammianus]]' ''Res gestae'', he is ''Ermenrichus'' (his name occurs only once).
* in [[Ammianus]]' ''Res gestae'', he is ''Ermenrichus'' (his name occurs only once).


In medieval Germanic epics, the name appears as:
In medieval Germanic heroic legend, the name appears as:
* [[Old English language|Old English]] ''Eormenric'' in ''[[Beowulf]]''; the alternative spelling ''Eormanric'' occurs in the poems ''[[Deor]]'' and ''[[Widsith]]'',
* [[Old English language|Old English]] ''Eormenric'' in ''[[Beowulf]]''; the alternative spelling ''Eormanric'' occurs in the poems ''[[Deor]]'' and ''[[Widsith]]'',
* [[Old Norse]] ''Jọrmunrekr'' or ''Ermenrekur''; [[Old Swedish]] ''Ermenrik'' or ''Ermentrik'' in the Swedish ''[[Thidrekssaga|Didrik Saga]]'',
* [[Old Norse]] ''Jǫrmunrekkr''
** (or, borrowed from Low German) ''Ermenrekur'', [[Old Swedish]] ''Ermenrik'' or ''Ermentrik'' in the Swedish ''[[Thidrekssaga|Didrik Saga]]'',
* [[Middle High German]] ''Ermenrîch''.
* [[Middle High German]] ''Ermenrîch''.


Since the name ''Heiðrekr'' may have been confused with Ermanaric{{Citation needed|date=August 2009}} through folk etymology he is possibly identical to ''Heiðrekr Ulfhamr'' of the [[Hervarar saga]].
Since the name ''Heiðrekr'' may have been confused with Ermanaric{{Citation needed|date=August 2009}} through folk etymology, Ermanaric is possibly identifiable with ''Heiðrekr Ulfhamr'' of the [[Hervarar saga]].


==See also==
==See also==
{{Portal|Ancient Germanic culture}}
* [[Berig]]
* [[Berig]]
* [[Filimer]]
* [[Filimer]]
* [[List of longest-reigning monarchs]]


==Notes==
==Notes==
{{Reflist|20em}}
{{notelist}}


==References==
==References==
{{Reflist|20em}}
⚫
*{{cite book|last1=Gillespie|first1=George T.|title=Catalogue of Persons Named in German Heroic Literature, 700-1600: Including Named Animals and Objects and Ethnic Names|date=1973|publisher=Oxford University|location=Oxford|isbn=9780198157182|ref=harv}}

⚫
*{{cite book|last1=Heinzle|first1=Joachim|title=Einführung in die mittelhochdeutsche Dietrichepik|date=1999|publisher=De Gruyter|location=Berlin, New York|isbn=3-11-015094-8|pages=58–82| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4Sz4f9YS53EC| ref=harv}}
==Works cited==
⚫
*{{cite book|last1=Millet|first1=Victor|title=Germanische Heldendichtung im Mittelalter|date=2008|publisher=de Gruyter|location=Berlin, New York|isbn=978-3-11-020102-4|pages=332–370|ref=harv}}
{{refbegin|2}}
⚫
*{{cite book|last1=Gillespie|first1=George T.|title=Catalogue of Persons Named in German Heroic Literature, 700-1600: Including Named Animals and Objects and Ethnic Names|date=1973|publisher=Oxford University|location=Oxford|isbn=9780198157182}}
⚫
*{{cite book|last1=Heinzle|first1=Joachim|title=Einführung in die mittelhochdeutsche Dietrichepik|date=1999|publisher=De Gruyter|location=Berlin, New York|isbn=3-11-015094-8|pages=58–82| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4Sz4f9YS53EC}}
⚫
*{{cite book|last1=Millet|first1=Victor|title=Germanische Heldendichtung im Mittelalter|date=2008|publisher=de Gruyter|location=Berlin, New York|isbn=978-3-11-020102-4|pages=332–370}}
{{refend}}


{{The Dietrich von Bern Cycle}}
{{The Dietrich von Bern Cycle}}
{{Authority control}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ermanaric}}


[[Category:260s births]]
[[Category:260s births]]
[[Category:376 deaths]]
[[Category:376 deaths]]
[[Category:Year of birth uncertain]]
[[Category:Gothic kings]]
[[Category:Gothic kings]]

[[Category:Amali dynasty]]
[[Category:Amali dynasty]]
[[Category:Gothic warriors]]
[[Category:Gothic warriors]]
[[Category:English heroic legends]]
[[Category:English heroic legends]]
[[Category:Royal suicides in the classical world]]
[[Category:Ancient suicides]]
[[Category:4th-century Gothic people]]
[[Category:4th-century Gothic people]]
[[Category:4th-century monarchs in Europe]]
[[Category:4th-century monarchs in Europe]]
[[Category:Male suicides]]
[[Category:Longevity claims]]
[[Category:Longevity claims]]

Revision as of 10:23, 14 March 2024

For the bishop, see Ermanrich of Passau.

Ermanaric
King of the Goths
Reignc. 296–376
SuccessorVithimiris
Bornc. 291
Died376 (Aged about 85)
HouseAmali dynasty
The orange area signifies the Chernyakhov Culture, identified with Ermanaric's kingdom, in the early fourth century.
Ermanaric's kingdom at the end of the fourth century (a map from 1899).

Ermanaric[a] (died 376) was a Greuthungian Gothic king who before the Hunnic invasion evidently ruled a sizable portion of Oium, the part of Scythia inhabited by the Goths at the time. He is mentioned in two Roman sources: the contemporary writings of Ammianus Marcellinus, and in Getica by the sixth-century historian Jordanes. He also appears in a fictionalized form in later Germanic heroic legends.

Modern historians disagree on the size of Ermanaric's realm. Herwig Wolfram postulates that he at one point ruled a realm stretching from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea as far eastwards as the Ural Mountains.[1] Peter Heather is skeptical of the claim that Ermanaric ruled all Goths except the Tervingi, and furthermore points to the fact that such an enormous empire would have been larger than any known Gothic political unit, that it would have left bigger traces in the sources and that the sources on which the claim is based are not nearly reliable enough to be taken at face value.[2]

Etymology

The first element of the name Ermanaric appears to be based on the Proto-Germanic root *ermena-, meaning 'universal'.[3] The second element is from the element *-rīks, Gothic reiks, meaning 'ruler'; this is found frequently in Gothic royal names.[4]

In Roman sources

According to Ammianus, Ermanaric was "a most warlike king" who eventually committed suicide, faced with the aggression of the Alani and of the Huns, who invaded his territories in the 370s. Ammianus says he "ruled over extensively wide and fertile regions".[5][6] Ammianus also says that after Ermanaric's death, a certain Vithimiris was elected as the new king.

According to Jordanes' Getica, Ermanaric ruled the realm of Oium. Jordanes describes him as a "Gothic Alexander" who "ruled all the nations of Scythia and Germania as they were his own". Jordanes also states that the king put to death a young woman named Sunilda (Svanhildr) with the use of horses, as punishment for her husband's treason. Thereupon her two brothers, Sarus and Ammius, severely wounded Ermanaric, leaving him unfit to defend his kingdom from Hunnic incursions. Variations of this legend had a profound effect on medieval Germanic literature, including that of England and Scandinavia (see Jonakr's sons). Jordanes claims that he successfully ruled the Goths until his death aged 110.

Edward Gibbon gives the version of Ammianus and Jordanes as historical, reporting that Ermanaric successively conquered, during a reign of about 30 years from AD 337 to 367, the west-goths, the Heruli, the Venedi and the Aestii, establishing a kingdom which ranged from the Baltic to the Black Sea;[7] and died aged 110 of a wound inflicted by the brothers of a woman whom he had cruelly executed for her husband's revolt, being succeeded by his brother Vithimiris.[8]

In Germanic sources and legends

Ermanaric appears in a variety of different Germanic heroic legends.

Iormunrek (Jörmunrekkr) is the Norse form of the name.[9] Ermanaric appears in Anglo-Saxon and Scandinavian legend. In the former, the poem Beowulf focused on the image of "Eormenric's wiles and hatred".[10] He is described in the tenth century poem Deor as a powerful but treacherous king: "We have heard of the wolfish mind of Eormanric: far and wide he ruled the people of the realm of the Goths: he was a cruel king".[9]

The death of Svanhildr (Svanhildr Sigurðardóttir) and Ermanaric's (Jörmunrek) subsequent death at the hands of Jonakr's sons occupies an important place in the world of Germanic legend. The tale is retold in many northern European stories, including the Icelandic Poetic Edda (Hamðismál and Guðrúnarhvöt), Prose Edda and the Volsunga Saga; the Norwegian Ragnarsdrápa; the Danish Gesta Danorum; and the German Nibelungenlied[11] and Annals of Quedlinburg.

In the Norse Thidreks Saga, translated from Low German sources, Ermanaric is ill-advised by his treacherous counsellor Bicke, Bikka, Sifka, or Seveke (who wants revenge for the rape of his wife by Ermanaric),[12] with the result that the king puts his own wife to death for supposed adultery with his son;[13] he is thereafter crippled by his brothers-in-law in revenge.[14]

In the Middle High German poems Dietrichs Flucht, the Rabenschlacht, and Alpharts Tod about Dietrich of Bern, Ermanaric is Dietrich's uncle who has driven his nephew into exile.[15] The early modern Low German poem Ermenrichs Tod recounts a garbled version of Ermanaric's death reminiscent of the scene told in Jordanes and Scandinavian legend.[16]

Name

Ermanaric's Gothic name is reconstructed as *Airmanareiks. It is recorded in the various Latinized forms:

  • in Jordanes' Getica, he is called Ermanaricus or Hermanaricus, but some of the manuscripts even have Armanaricus, Hermericus, Hermanericus etc.
  • in Ammianus' Res gestae, he is Ermenrichus (his name occurs only once).

In medieval Germanic heroic legend, the name appears as:

Since the name Heiðrekr may have been confused with Ermanaric[citation needed] through folk etymology, Ermanaric is possibly identifiable with Heiðrekr Ulfhamr of the Hervarar saga.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Gothic: *Aírmanareiks; Template:Lang-la or Hermanaricus; Template:Lang-ang [ˈeorˠmɑnriːtʃ]; Old Norse: Jǫrmunrekkr [ˈjɔrmunrekr], Middle High German: Ermenrîch

References

  1. ^ Wolfram, Herwig (1997). The Roman Empire and Its Germanic Peoples. University of California Press. p. 27. ISBN 0-520-08511-6. Retrieved 2 November 2013.
  2. ^ Heather, Peter (1991). Goths and Romans 332-489. Oxford University Press. pp. 86–89. ISBN 0-19-820234-2.
  3. ^ Gillespie 1973, p. 39.
  4. ^ Gillespie 1973, p. 30.
  5. ^ Michael Kulikowski (2007), Rome's Gothic Wars, pp. 111, 112, ISBN 9780521846332
  6. ^ Ammianus Marcellinus, Thayer (ed.), Res Gestae XXXI 3
  7. ^ Edward Gibbon, The Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire, (The Modern Library, 1932), chap. XXV., pp. 890, 891
  8. ^ Gibbon, Ibid. chap. XXVI., pp. 920, 921
  9. ^ a b Deor, quoted in J R R Tolkien, The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrun (London 2009) p. 322-323.
  10. ^ Seamus Heaney trans., Beowulf (London 2000) p. 40
  11. ^ Lettsom, William Nanson; Carpenter, William H. (1901), The Nibelungenlied, Colonial Press, retrieved 7 May 2011
  12. ^ Gillespie 1973, 117
  13. ^ J. R. Tanner ed., The Cambridge Medieval History Vol VI (Cambridge 1929) p. 839
  14. ^ Tom Shippey, The Road to Middle-Earth (London 1992) p. 16
  15. ^ Heinzle 1999, pp. 4-7
  16. ^ Millet 2008, p. 475

Works cited

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