Reidgotaland
From Biocrawler, the free encyclopedia.
Reidgotaland, Hreidgotaland or Hreiđgotaland was a land in Scandinavian mythology. Hreiđ meant "ride, journey" (see Raidô), but the identification of the territory varies between the sources. This is the list of meanings given by Nordisk familjebok:
- The Island of Gotland.
- Götaland.
- The land of the Goths, i.e. Gothiscandza and their later territories. In Hervarar saga, it was the same as Oium and bordered the land of the Huns from which it was separated by Mirkwood.
- The territories of the Goths in southern Europe, according to Anglo-Saxon sources.
- Denmark and Sweden (according to Snorri's Edda it was the earthly kingdom of Odin).
- Denmark.
- Jutland.
The second edition of Nordisk familjebok explains that Hreidgoths was originally applied to the Ostrogoths in south-eastern Europe. I appears as Hraidkutum on the Rök Stone in Ostrogothia. In Hervarar saga, the name Reidhgotaland is applied to the territories of the Ostrogoths in south-eastern Europe. In Snorri's Edda, it is either applied to Jutland or to the Danish islands which are called Eygotaland.
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