TheVagoth (LatinisedVagothae) were aGermanic tribe mentioned byJordanes as living inScandza. They have been identified with theGeats ofVikbolandet and with theGutes ofGotland, both in Sweden. They have been variously connected with the two places named by Jordanes, thevastissimus lacus (most vast lake) and theVagi fluvens (river Vagi). Karl Zeuss thought Vagoth to be a misspelling ofVagos and connected them to theVagar who later appeared in theDovrefjell of Norway.Karl Müllenhoff, too, thought the term a corruption. He proposed *Augothi or *Avigothi (Norse *Eygutar) and placed them inÖland.[1]
According to Lithuanian linguistKazimieras Būga,[2] the Vagoths have given name toGermans andGermany inLithuanian andLatvian languages(vokietis, vācietis andVokietija, Vācija), and toGotland inFinnish andEstonian(Vuojonmaa, Ojamaa "maa" = land). The Latvian linguist Konstantīns Karulis, known for his Dictionary of Latvian Etymology (1992), sees another etymology, similar to in Slavic languages. The name for Germanics may mean approximately "neighbors who speak an incomprehensible language", and be derived fromwekʷ, a proto-Indo-European root meaning to speak or to sound, which makes Būga's explanation less attractive.
