224 Swain
basis for disassociating written from spoken Gothic, and the fact that the vast
majority of the extant Gothic literary tradition was produced in Ostrogothic
Italy means that the Goths actively cultivated a specific feature of their cul-
ture that was distinct from that of their Roman partners.116 In fact they were
the first ‘post-Roman barbarians’ to do so. As an indicator of separateness, the
Gothic language would have contributed to a sense of Gothic alterity and thus
identity. It was given written form by the Roman missionary Ulfila sometime
between 340 and his death in 381/2.117 The alphabet was based mostly on Greek
letters, though a few characters probably came from Latin and runic models.118
Ulfila’s efforts were motivated by the evangelization of the Goths and he pro-
duced for them a translation of the entire Bible, excepting the Book of Kings.119
All that remains of this translation, though, are fragments of Nehemiah and
portions of the New Testament. These have been preserved in several major
manuscripts, most of which were probably produced in northern Italy dur-
ing the Ostrogothic period.120 The most notable is the Codex Argenteus, a lav-
ish production of the Gospels written on purple-dyed parchment with silver
script and gold lettering in the initial portions. Also of importance are the
fragments of a text that came to be known as Skeireins.121 It is a commentary
on the Gospel of John, and intriguingly contains cadence and pause marks
indicating that it was read aloud to congregants. For some, this indicates the
intersection and similarity of written and spoken Gothic. Countering this, it
has been argued that the Skeireins is derived from a 4th-century Greek text
by Theodore of Herecleia,122 and indicates, as does the Ulfilan Bible, the arti-
ficiality of the Gothic language in its derivation from a linguistically Greek
and religiously Roman context.123 Others, though, suggest that the Gothic
Bible relies on Greek only in syntax and specialized vocabulary, and that the
116 Green’s comments in Brown, “Role of Arianism”, pp. 429–30.
117 Philostorgius, Historia Ecclesiastica (cited hereafter as HE) 2.5.
118 Green, “Linguistic and Literary Traces”, p. 392; Murdoch, “Gothic”, pp. 156–7.
119 Philostorgius, HE 2.5 tells us that it was feared that the book’s violent content would
inflame the warlike passions of the Goths.
120 The dating and provenance of these fragments is not certain, though; Green, “Linguistic
and Literary Traces”, p. 394.
121 The title was appended to the text in the 19th century. It is the Gothic word meaning
explanation or interpretation.
122 That the Skeireins may be related to the text by Theodore is also attested by Green
“Linguistic and Literary Traces”, p. 394.
123 Amory, People and Identity, pp. 248–9.