Vinoviloth are one of the tribes in ''

Scandza Scandza was described as a "great island" by Gothic-Byzantine historian Jordanes in his work ''Getica''. The island was located in the Arctic regions of the sea that surrounded the world. The location is usually identified with Scandinavia. Jor ...

'' (Scandinavia) mentioned by

Jordanes Jordanes (; Greek language, Greek: Ιορδάνης), also written as Jordanis or Jornandes, was a 6th-century Eastern Roman bureaucrat, claimed to be of Goths, Gothic descent, who became a historian later in life. He wrote two works, one on R ...

in '' De origine actibusque Getarum'' in the 6th century CE.''De origine actibusque Getarum''
See als

by C. C. Mierow. It has been suggested that they would have been the same as the

Winnili The Lombards () or Longobards () were a Germanic people who conquered most of the Italian Peninsula between 568 and 774. The medieval Lombard historian Paul the Deacon wrote in the ''History of the Lombards'' (written between 787 and 796) th ...

. Sometimes

Vingulmark Vingulmark (Old Norse ''Vingulmǫrk'') is the old name for the area in Norway which today makes up the counties of Østfold, western parts of Akershus (excluding Romerike), and eastern parts of Buskerud ( Hurum and Røyken municipalities), and i ...

is also mentioned. Jordanes writes:

And there are beyond these the Ostrogoths, Raumarici, Aeragnaricii, and the most gentle Finns, milder than all the inhabitants of Scandza. Like them are the Vinovilith also.

Besides ''De origine'', the Vinoviloth are not mentioned anywhere else. Alfred Anscombe proposes that the Vinoviloth were

Goths The Goths were a Germanic people who played a major role in the fall of the Western Roman Empire and the emergence of medieval Europe. They were first reported by Graeco-Roman authors in the 3rd century AD, living north of the Danube in what is ...

settled in Britain at

Vinovia Vinovia or Vinovium was a Roman fort and settlement situated just over to the north of the town of Bishop Auckland on the banks of the River Wear in County Durham, England. The fort was the site of a hamlet until the late Middle Ages, but t ...

. These would be the Goths mentioned by

Asser Asser (; ; died 909) was a Welsh people, Welsh monk from St David's, Kingdom of Dyfed, Dyfed, who became Bishop of Sherborne (ancient), Bishop of Sherborne in the 890s. About 885 he was asked by Alfred the Great to leave St David's and join ...

as ancestors of

Alfred the Great Alfred the Great ( ; – 26 October 899) was King of the West Saxons from 871 to 886, and King of the Anglo-Saxons from 886 until his death in 899. He was the youngest son of King Æthelwulf and his first wife Osburh, who both died when Alfr ...

. The second element of their name would be related to

Old English Old English ( or , or ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. It developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...

''loða'', cloak, which Anscombe sees as the second element in the name

Lancelot Lancelot du Lac (French for Lancelot of the Lake), alternatively written as Launcelot and other variants, is a popular character in the Matter of Britain, Arthurian legend's chivalric romance tradition. He is typically depicted as King Arthu ...

. These names, in his view, have a parallel development because Lancelot can be associated with

Binchester Binchester is a small village in County Durham, England. In 2001 it had a population of 271. It is situated between Bishop Auckland, which is to the south, and a short distance to the west of Spennymoor. It has a community centre, swing park and ...

(Vinovia).Alfred Anscombe (1913), "Sir Lancelot du Lake and Vinovia", ''The Celtic Review'' 9(33): 77–80. "It is with the etymon of Vinovia that I would identify the stem of the prototheme in ''Vinov-i-loth'' ... ndlocate the 'Goths and Jutes' at Binchester inovia"

References

{{Germanic peoples Early Germanic peoples Lombards North Germanic peoples

See also

References