Alphabet For the Vinlandic Language
- Thread starter TsarSaucybottom
- Start date
Hope you've been having more traffic because I linked this on mine
just some things:
1. yay Lime, although it can'be transported large distances because carbon from the air would slowly turn it back into a type of limestone so Lime has to either be made near the site it's being used in or there is going to have to be some sort of airtight packaging.
2. Iroquois? Dang you sure are inspired by my Vinland TL
3. Whats the situation in Europe outside of Scandinavia/NSE?
just some things:
1. yay Lime, although it can'be transported large distances because carbon from the air would slowly turn it back into a type of limestone so Lime has to either be made near the site it's being used in or there is going to have to be some sort of airtight packaging.
2. Iroquois? Dang you sure are inspired by my Vinland TL
3. Whats the situation in Europe outside of Scandinavia/NSE?
Hope you've been having more traffic because I linked this on mine
just some things:
1. yay Lime, although it can'be transported large distances because carbon from the air would slowly turn it back into a type of limestone so Lime has to either be made near the site it's being used in or there is going to have to be some sort of airtight packaging.
2. Iroquois? Dang you sure are inspired by my Vinland TL
3. Whats the situation in Europe outside of Scandinavia/NSE?
Some parts of it are like OTL, though the Goths are causing trouble in both Northern Germany and will cause a bit more trouble in Ukraine soon with the arrival of the Mongols.
A lot of parts are a bit more multicultural as well, considering some of the natives that are travelling over to Europe and moving with traders--though they still only really make up a minority of the population.
Also, I appreciate you linking mine in your own timeline; it was really sweet of you, and I'm really grateful for it!
Also also, thanks for the info on lime. I'm a bit unfamiliar on the matter, so I apologize for any mistakes I made.
Apologies for delays on anything; I had some serious depression problems for a few days, and then the Internet I was using in Colorado wasn't working all that well for me.
I'll try to have an update by Monday or Tuesday.
I'll try to have an update by Monday or Tuesday.
Sorry, some stuff came up and it caused a bit of writer's block.
I'm working on it right now, though.
1237 – 1265
The Gothic Troubles
This era saw the starting of what many people call “The Gothic Troubles.” Its name refers to both the trouble the Goths caused and the trouble that was caused to the Goths in repercussion. The Goths allied themselves with the Mongols, and aided conquering the Kievan Rus’, Poland, and Hungary, with the promise that they would be allowed their own cut of territory. Their aid was rewarded when they were granted Crimea, which would for centuries would be called “Gothistan” by the Golden Horde as well as the Goths. The influence of the Mongols on the Goths is often seen in them adopting equestrian lifestyles in some communities, as well as building up a large cavalry force. In addition, the influence of Turkic languages and Mongolian would drip into the Gothic language, creating what is called “Eastern Gothic.”
The Goths saw their new settlement as a way to plan for vengeance. The Goths after being driven out by Justinian had held a resentment for the Byzantines centuries afterwards, and their aid to the Mongols had given them a new stepping stone for retribution. After cementing themselves in the Crimean Peninsula, the Goths would spend their years building up ships and eventually conducting small raids on both the Latin Empire and the Empire of Niceae, and then later the Byzantine Empire again after Michael VIII Palaiologos retook Constantinople from the Empire of Romania in 1260. The raids were often driven away, but they were enough to harass the Byzantines and weaken them further.
However, one of the consequences that followed was how the European world viewed the Goths.
1237 – 1246
The rule of Aage the Incompetent
Many consider Aage the Incompetent as, by his title implies, one of the worst emperors to rule the North Sea Empire. His rule was first doomed by worsening conditions with the Swedes. To try and bolster his image, he attempted to reclaim land lost to the Danes centuries ago when the Swedes came pouring down south. However, all invasions attempts were failures, and the once friendly relations held with the Swedes began to sour. Ironically, it cost Aage all of the Danish-held territory in modern Sweden. Many consider this the starting place of later Danish-Swedish conflicts and competition.
Aage’s legacy worsened from here. In the wake of the Mongol invasion of Europe, Aage had grown to become paranoid of his Gothic subjects. He feared that like what the Goths did in the East, they would do the same in the North Sea Empire and drive it to ruins. What would follow is brutal persecution against the Goths, generally having whole towns slaughtered and raised to the ground. Such fervor granted him a small buff of support from his subjects when he was able to implant the fear in them as well, painting the Goths up as heretical Christians who wished to crush the empire.
However, much of the conquest damaged some of the food production of the Empire, and later led to two rebellions from the Goths. Aage had to send in the Jomsborg Order to subjugate them, though quashing the second rebellion proved to be more difficult. It resulted in failure for the king as well as the Jomsborg Order, whose status and strength diminished from the rebellion. In the end, however, Aage managed pacify the Goths and did what many previous Canutian kings did with rebellious Goths: send them across the seas.
Aage’s rule is seen as one of intense paranoia towards the Goths, who in the North Sea Empire generally suffered worse than the Jewish communities—ironically, a group of people that Aage showed great benevolence and tolerance towards. He was also somebody whose reputation would be constantly marred by his inability to handle situations when they reared their head, and it would result in his assassination and succession by his brother Jannik.
The Gothic Troubles in Vinland
Much of Aage’s paranoia traveled to Vinland, though it took some time to saturate. The arrival of the rebellious Goths and the reason for their coming passing from village to village quickly and turned into irrational reactionary violence towards the Goths. Some villages claimed the Goths would try to subjugate the Vinlanders and create another state like that in Eastern Europe, and some even took the fear to the extreme and considered them agents of the Mongols.
Nonetheless, it led to great violence towards the Goths, and would result in many of them fleeing Vinlandic territory altogether. This is often called The Second Flight of the Goths, as many of them travelled either south or northwest, in search of any land they could find or any tribe that would take them. Some of them were cut down while they fled, though some of the luckier ones would make it to the territory of the Ojibwe, near the Great Lakes. Some consider it a sort of benevolence on the side of the Ojibwe, but others believe that their warriors could be used to help defend against the Haudenosaunee who were becoming ever more hostile towards them. Many Goths that fled took up a rather unorthodox practice and marked their bodies, specifically their hands and arms, with Gothic writings. The most popular one written on their skin is the Hail Mary. Many Goths did not know where they were going, and some did not have paper to write on, so it was to them a way to carry their religion with them wherever they fled.
The Gothic Troubles
This era saw the starting of what many people call “The Gothic Troubles.” Its name refers to both the trouble the Goths caused and the trouble that was caused to the Goths in repercussion. The Goths allied themselves with the Mongols, and aided conquering the Kievan Rus’, Poland, and Hungary, with the promise that they would be allowed their own cut of territory. Their aid was rewarded when they were granted Crimea, which would for centuries would be called “Gothistan” by the Golden Horde as well as the Goths. The influence of the Mongols on the Goths is often seen in them adopting equestrian lifestyles in some communities, as well as building up a large cavalry force. In addition, the influence of Turkic languages and Mongolian would drip into the Gothic language, creating what is called “Eastern Gothic.”
The Goths saw their new settlement as a way to plan for vengeance. The Goths after being driven out by Justinian had held a resentment for the Byzantines centuries afterwards, and their aid to the Mongols had given them a new stepping stone for retribution. After cementing themselves in the Crimean Peninsula, the Goths would spend their years building up ships and eventually conducting small raids on both the Latin Empire and the Empire of Niceae, and then later the Byzantine Empire again after Michael VIII Palaiologos retook Constantinople from the Empire of Romania in 1260. The raids were often driven away, but they were enough to harass the Byzantines and weaken them further.
However, one of the consequences that followed was how the European world viewed the Goths.
1237 – 1246
The rule of Aage the Incompetent
Many consider Aage the Incompetent as, by his title implies, one of the worst emperors to rule the North Sea Empire. His rule was first doomed by worsening conditions with the Swedes. To try and bolster his image, he attempted to reclaim land lost to the Danes centuries ago when the Swedes came pouring down south. However, all invasions attempts were failures, and the once friendly relations held with the Swedes began to sour. Ironically, it cost Aage all of the Danish-held territory in modern Sweden. Many consider this the starting place of later Danish-Swedish conflicts and competition.
Aage’s legacy worsened from here. In the wake of the Mongol invasion of Europe, Aage had grown to become paranoid of his Gothic subjects. He feared that like what the Goths did in the East, they would do the same in the North Sea Empire and drive it to ruins. What would follow is brutal persecution against the Goths, generally having whole towns slaughtered and raised to the ground. Such fervor granted him a small buff of support from his subjects when he was able to implant the fear in them as well, painting the Goths up as heretical Christians who wished to crush the empire.
However, much of the conquest damaged some of the food production of the Empire, and later led to two rebellions from the Goths. Aage had to send in the Jomsborg Order to subjugate them, though quashing the second rebellion proved to be more difficult. It resulted in failure for the king as well as the Jomsborg Order, whose status and strength diminished from the rebellion. In the end, however, Aage managed pacify the Goths and did what many previous Canutian kings did with rebellious Goths: send them across the seas.
Aage’s rule is seen as one of intense paranoia towards the Goths, who in the North Sea Empire generally suffered worse than the Jewish communities—ironically, a group of people that Aage showed great benevolence and tolerance towards. He was also somebody whose reputation would be constantly marred by his inability to handle situations when they reared their head, and it would result in his assassination and succession by his brother Jannik.
The Gothic Troubles in Vinland
Much of Aage’s paranoia traveled to Vinland, though it took some time to saturate. The arrival of the rebellious Goths and the reason for their coming passing from village to village quickly and turned into irrational reactionary violence towards the Goths. Some villages claimed the Goths would try to subjugate the Vinlanders and create another state like that in Eastern Europe, and some even took the fear to the extreme and considered them agents of the Mongols.
Nonetheless, it led to great violence towards the Goths, and would result in many of them fleeing Vinlandic territory altogether. This is often called The Second Flight of the Goths, as many of them travelled either south or northwest, in search of any land they could find or any tribe that would take them. Some of them were cut down while they fled, though some of the luckier ones would make it to the territory of the Ojibwe, near the Great Lakes. Some consider it a sort of benevolence on the side of the Ojibwe, but others believe that their warriors could be used to help defend against the Haudenosaunee who were becoming ever more hostile towards them. Many Goths that fled took up a rather unorthodox practice and marked their bodies, specifically their hands and arms, with Gothic writings. The most popular one written on their skin is the Hail Mary. Many Goths did not know where they were going, and some did not have paper to write on, so it was to them a way to carry their religion with them wherever they fled.
Sorry about such a late and rather short update. My writer's block has been rather awful with so many things going on. I hope this update is OK for you all. I thought I would talk about the Goths a bit, especially since the land they create in Crimea will be a bit important later on.
Tell that to the Mongols. のuのnoooo
you're supposed to keep the kievian Rus alive
So does this mean that Ojibwe and Cree will end up being written in the Gothic alphabet?
Hadn't even thought about that, actually. That's a pretty good idea!
Just a short little cultural update that began around this time frame:
“By the tall trees of the mainland…By the frigid waters of the north…And by the islands where my kin had first been brought…let it be known that their beauty is the gift of God. Through our initial toils as slaves to the Norsemen and our most reverent fervor towards Our Lord in the face of said servitude, we have been gifted a new home. Our Lord, most gracious is He, has granted us a land whose trees produce a sap most sweet and beneficial, whose lakes grant us new fishing places and more seas to travel and discover more of His new home for us. Blessed be God and the land he has granted us.”
--An example of sensism, written by Abbot Fothad
Sensism
A writing tradition that began in Vinland in the 13th century was sensism. Sensism is a type of religious writing that describes the beauty of the world and praises God for his creation of it. It began with Irish monks but would eventually move up to abbots. Much of the original sensist works were written in the Irish language, though later they would transfer onto being written in Vinlandic. Regardless, it is still considered a Vinlandic-Irish tradition, and many titles are written in Irish, and the “literary capital” of Vinland, Clochgorm, has the motto “A Vinlandic tradition from the Irish tongue” to describe sensism.
Sensism is seen as an early form of expressionism in Vinland, with many of the original authors using it to express their emotions and to describe their Vinlandic home. They were, however, still considered religious texts, and this helped to keep the heat off of them from the church. Because of its expressive nature, the villages took pride in their writers, as they felt they could express their emotions and devotion to God well – even to the point of being better than their neighboring villages. This led to friendly competitions between villages about who could write the better sensist works, and who could show their praises to God better through them. To avoid bloodshed, rules were codified between the different villages, and these were considered some of the earlier Vinlandic systems of law. In addition, the verbal spats and the bickering they caused, along with future events in Vinlandic history, created a stereotype of the Vinlanders: They argued constantly – and over little things like poetry and what letters they should use for their language.
Sensism is also responsible for a shift in some views in the Celtic Christian church – one that focused more around naturalism and spiritual connections between man, the Earth, and God. These stirred some controversies with the Roman sect, and only furthered the split between the two church groups.
“By the tall trees of the mainland…By the frigid waters of the north…And by the islands where my kin had first been brought…let it be known that their beauty is the gift of God. Through our initial toils as slaves to the Norsemen and our most reverent fervor towards Our Lord in the face of said servitude, we have been gifted a new home. Our Lord, most gracious is He, has granted us a land whose trees produce a sap most sweet and beneficial, whose lakes grant us new fishing places and more seas to travel and discover more of His new home for us. Blessed be God and the land he has granted us.”
--An example of sensism, written by Abbot Fothad
Sensism
A writing tradition that began in Vinland in the 13th century was sensism. Sensism is a type of religious writing that describes the beauty of the world and praises God for his creation of it. It began with Irish monks but would eventually move up to abbots. Much of the original sensist works were written in the Irish language, though later they would transfer onto being written in Vinlandic. Regardless, it is still considered a Vinlandic-Irish tradition, and many titles are written in Irish, and the “literary capital” of Vinland, Clochgorm, has the motto “A Vinlandic tradition from the Irish tongue” to describe sensism.
Sensism is seen as an early form of expressionism in Vinland, with many of the original authors using it to express their emotions and to describe their Vinlandic home. They were, however, still considered religious texts, and this helped to keep the heat off of them from the church. Because of its expressive nature, the villages took pride in their writers, as they felt they could express their emotions and devotion to God well – even to the point of being better than their neighboring villages. This led to friendly competitions between villages about who could write the better sensist works, and who could show their praises to God better through them. To avoid bloodshed, rules were codified between the different villages, and these were considered some of the earlier Vinlandic systems of law. In addition, the verbal spats and the bickering they caused, along with future events in Vinlandic history, created a stereotype of the Vinlanders: They argued constantly – and over little things like poetry and what letters they should use for their language.
Sensism is also responsible for a shift in some views in the Celtic Christian church – one that focused more around naturalism and spiritual connections between man, the Earth, and God. These stirred some controversies with the Roman sect, and only furthered the split between the two church groups.
hmm, a split between the Roman church authority and the Celtic centered church.
The early 'celtic church' fervently respected the Roman church and were essentially connected, however it would be an interesting part in any TL that would see say the British isles, Brittany, and Scandinavia become members of the Celtic church while rejecting the Roman Church.
Germany would probably be going under a conflict over the influence over the two churches. Although with this 'reverence for nature' thing you have going I could see Pagans converting more easily.
The early 'celtic church' fervently respected the Roman church and were essentially connected, however it would be an interesting part in any TL that would see say the British isles, Brittany, and Scandinavia become members of the Celtic church while rejecting the Roman Church.
Germany would probably be going under a conflict over the influence over the two churches. Although with this 'reverence for nature' thing you have going I could see Pagans converting more easily.
1246 – 1286
Jannik the Black’s Rule
In contrast to his brother Aage, Jannik’s rule was marked with much more success, both militarily and socially. Much of his success was caused by avoiding the mistakes that his brother made.
Jannik was a much more effective military leader than his brother, and he was able to put down the revolts within the empire much more quickly and effectively than Aage had. His first rebellion was dealing with the Jomsborg Order, who were dissatisfied with Aage’s rule and feared either another reprisal from the Goths or another ineffective king; and so, they went in with arms. Jannik crushed their forces and reestablished order within a year. He also aided the lesser king in England in dealing with rebels who tried to oust him from power, seeing him as nothing more than a puppet to the Danes. The rebellion was dealt with just as quickly as it was with the Jomsborg Order, though this time Jannik was much more brutal towards the English in torturing and executing dissidents.
The conflict with Sweden, however, was one that Jannik had avoided. While Sweden’s growth was seen as threatening, Jannik avoided any fruitless endeavors to try to reclaim lost territory in southern Sweden and instead focused on improving the realm elsewhere. While he didn’t gain land in Scandinavia, he did gain land elsewhere.
Much of Pomerania and Pomerelia had been depopulated by Aage’s pogroms against the Goths and by warfare with the Wends. Jannik had set up military garrisons there to help protect Danish trading ports in the area from attack, though it proved difficult to maintain with the low population of Danes to control it as well as the heavy taxation—often falling on the English as punishment for their rebellions—and Jannik had seen that it needed to be repopulated. Taking a risk, he allowed Germans into the region to help rebuild the population. This would lead to religious tensions that would have later consequences, though for now, Jannik had a heavier population. One downside is that it soured relations with the Polish, who even though the Canutian dynasty was still married into the family, the German presence made relations tense in the easternmost part of Pomerlia.
While he had been successful in quashing the first English rebellion, Jannik feared that the burdens he had been laying on the English would come back to haunt him; and so, he began a series of appeasement the English. The first, based around even at the time horrendous torture and unfair imprisonment, was the king signing a charter that limited what he could do to his subjects, and while he made it an official law within the North Sea Empire, the fact Jannik was willing to accept an English law based around (initially) English problems was seen as the first step towards improving relations with the English. He also helped to expand the size of the Isles’ territory, by helping ties with England and Scotland which eventually led to marrying the English princess to the Scottish prince. The whole of Ireland also wished to join the Empire, seeing that it being a religious center could bolster its influence—along with the fear of being invaded. An attempt to marry the Welsh into the English pseudo-kingdom proved a failure, however, when the English king’s son was killed by the Welsh on his way to Wales. This resulted in a full-scale invasion of Wales that would lead to it being conquered three years later. Thus, the entirety of the British Isles had been swallowed up into the Canutian Empire.
Also under his rule, the Baltic countries had been Christianized. Jannik helped bring Irish monks safely to the Baltic countries, and thanks to sensism carried over from Vinland, the Christianization of the lands became much easier and filled with less bloodshed as Irish monks were able to relate to the people better, and abbeys dotted the Baltic countries.
Work in Vinland
His policies didn’t just stop in Europe; in Vinland in the 1260s, he worked on projects to help improve the speed of ships to make transportation of goods much quicker between the continents. To help pay for the projects, he relied mostly on the help of lords ruling over Vinland as well as the Iroquois, who were becoming masters of trade and were often called “syrup lords” for one of their main trade goods. There was also profit gained from “The Second Vikings” who began to raid and pillage along the coasts further down south from Vinland. It had taken nearly 10 years to perfect it, but it would help reduce the travel time of ships to and from Vinland and would be one of the starting places for long-distance travelling boats.
Another project he had taken on was one of the first forms of an organized military in Vinland, in order to help maintain order and to respond to rebellions more quickly, should they arise. He had warriors hardened and drilled in the coldest regions of Vinland, thinking that it would make them an elite force should Vinland ever need it. Many would die from the training, but they would become some of the toughest warriors in Vinlandic history, often called “ice warriors” due to the conditions they were trained in. Many of these sites would be used later to train forces like the Vinlandic Green Coats or the Jeger Marines.
The rest of Jannik’s reign was considered uneventful, and in 1286 he would die to be succeeded by his son. As a person, Jannik was, excluding his initial treatment of his Anglo-Saxon subjects, seen as respectful as well as respectable, while also being conserved and modest. He hardly indulged in grand feasts, and generally preferred to drink either cheap wines or water. Along with his usual title “the Black”—named after his long, curly black hair—he also carried the title “the Great” for his success where his brother failed.
Jannik the Black’s Rule
In contrast to his brother Aage, Jannik’s rule was marked with much more success, both militarily and socially. Much of his success was caused by avoiding the mistakes that his brother made.
Jannik was a much more effective military leader than his brother, and he was able to put down the revolts within the empire much more quickly and effectively than Aage had. His first rebellion was dealing with the Jomsborg Order, who were dissatisfied with Aage’s rule and feared either another reprisal from the Goths or another ineffective king; and so, they went in with arms. Jannik crushed their forces and reestablished order within a year. He also aided the lesser king in England in dealing with rebels who tried to oust him from power, seeing him as nothing more than a puppet to the Danes. The rebellion was dealt with just as quickly as it was with the Jomsborg Order, though this time Jannik was much more brutal towards the English in torturing and executing dissidents.
The conflict with Sweden, however, was one that Jannik had avoided. While Sweden’s growth was seen as threatening, Jannik avoided any fruitless endeavors to try to reclaim lost territory in southern Sweden and instead focused on improving the realm elsewhere. While he didn’t gain land in Scandinavia, he did gain land elsewhere.
Much of Pomerania and Pomerelia had been depopulated by Aage’s pogroms against the Goths and by warfare with the Wends. Jannik had set up military garrisons there to help protect Danish trading ports in the area from attack, though it proved difficult to maintain with the low population of Danes to control it as well as the heavy taxation—often falling on the English as punishment for their rebellions—and Jannik had seen that it needed to be repopulated. Taking a risk, he allowed Germans into the region to help rebuild the population. This would lead to religious tensions that would have later consequences, though for now, Jannik had a heavier population. One downside is that it soured relations with the Polish, who even though the Canutian dynasty was still married into the family, the German presence made relations tense in the easternmost part of Pomerlia.
While he had been successful in quashing the first English rebellion, Jannik feared that the burdens he had been laying on the English would come back to haunt him; and so, he began a series of appeasement the English. The first, based around even at the time horrendous torture and unfair imprisonment, was the king signing a charter that limited what he could do to his subjects, and while he made it an official law within the North Sea Empire, the fact Jannik was willing to accept an English law based around (initially) English problems was seen as the first step towards improving relations with the English. He also helped to expand the size of the Isles’ territory, by helping ties with England and Scotland which eventually led to marrying the English princess to the Scottish prince. The whole of Ireland also wished to join the Empire, seeing that it being a religious center could bolster its influence—along with the fear of being invaded. An attempt to marry the Welsh into the English pseudo-kingdom proved a failure, however, when the English king’s son was killed by the Welsh on his way to Wales. This resulted in a full-scale invasion of Wales that would lead to it being conquered three years later. Thus, the entirety of the British Isles had been swallowed up into the Canutian Empire.
Also under his rule, the Baltic countries had been Christianized. Jannik helped bring Irish monks safely to the Baltic countries, and thanks to sensism carried over from Vinland, the Christianization of the lands became much easier and filled with less bloodshed as Irish monks were able to relate to the people better, and abbeys dotted the Baltic countries.
Work in Vinland
His policies didn’t just stop in Europe; in Vinland in the 1260s, he worked on projects to help improve the speed of ships to make transportation of goods much quicker between the continents. To help pay for the projects, he relied mostly on the help of lords ruling over Vinland as well as the Iroquois, who were becoming masters of trade and were often called “syrup lords” for one of their main trade goods. There was also profit gained from “The Second Vikings” who began to raid and pillage along the coasts further down south from Vinland. It had taken nearly 10 years to perfect it, but it would help reduce the travel time of ships to and from Vinland and would be one of the starting places for long-distance travelling boats.
Another project he had taken on was one of the first forms of an organized military in Vinland, in order to help maintain order and to respond to rebellions more quickly, should they arise. He had warriors hardened and drilled in the coldest regions of Vinland, thinking that it would make them an elite force should Vinland ever need it. Many would die from the training, but they would become some of the toughest warriors in Vinlandic history, often called “ice warriors” due to the conditions they were trained in. Many of these sites would be used later to train forces like the Vinlandic Green Coats or the Jeger Marines.
The rest of Jannik’s reign was considered uneventful, and in 1286 he would die to be succeeded by his son. As a person, Jannik was, excluding his initial treatment of his Anglo-Saxon subjects, seen as respectful as well as respectable, while also being conserved and modest. He hardly indulged in grand feasts, and generally preferred to drink either cheap wines or water. Along with his usual title “the Black”—named after his long, curly black hair—he also carried the title “the Great” for his success where his brother failed.
Are the Goths still Arian? That might lead to some conflict with the Vinlanders later on.
They readopted Arianism, yes; it wasn't mentioned before, but part of the Gothic Troubles was ostracization against the Goths for them retaking a "heretical" form of Christianity.
Why would they do that? Their relatives diverged from them and went southwest to invade Western Roman Empire some six hundred years ago, and there would be very little contact since.
I've been skimming Wikipedia on the subjects of Goths and Arianism. Arianism as such is an idea that has apparently re-emerged spontaneously over the centuries; it seems to me at a glance that many modern sects that can be classified as broadly agreeing with Arianus probably came to these doctrines by independent reasoning of their own, and in specifics they tend to disagree with specific judgements of the classical Arians.
Meanwhile, Swedish "Gothicismus," or as English would put it, "Gothicism," is a modern romantic-patriotic construction.
It seems to me the evidence does support the supposition that modern Swedish territories that retain a "goth" root in their names do indeed have to do with being an ancient homeland of the ancestors of the historic Goths who did convert to Arianism, and therefore that modern Swedes do include in their ancestors a relationship with these Goths. Whether it is reasonable, as you have assumed, that a distinct Gothic people existed in the tenth and later centuries who are substantially the ancestral stock of the historic Goths, and themselves continuously identified as Goths, depends on details I don't know but I guess it is not unreasonable.
What is very dubious indeed is the suggestion that once the migratory branch of the expanding Goths who moved south across the Baltic lost a continuous connection with their ancestral home in Scandinavia, that any significant connection between them and their wandering cousins remained. Of course it is not impossible that even as the distance widened, with the great Goths of late Classical history appearing on the Roman horizons very far south and east, in Ukraine and nearby places in Romania, Moldova and Belarus, that knowing their old kinship individuals traveled back and forth and communicated news.
But if so, I don't see any sign, not OTL anyway, that this news significantly affected anything the northern stay-at-homes did. So, with mass conversion of southeast European Goths to Arianism due to the missionary work of Wulfias in the middle of the 4th century, there is no sign that anytime in the subsequent three or so centuries that Gothic/Vandal/Burgundian Arianism had any resonance or echo whatsoever in Scandinavia. By the end of the 7th century, the last of these Gothic Arians had been converted to either Roman Catholicism (in France and Hispania) or Eastern Orthodoxy (in Anatolia) and any remaining holdouts in North Africa would have been absorbed by the general conversion of that region to Islam a century later. So long before the Scandinavians generally began their stirring and expansion we call the "Viking Era," the whole tradition of Germanic Arianism had been extinguished.
For a plausible connection, we'd have to see some sign of Arian Christianity being established in the Gothic parts of Sweden/Denmark long before 700 CE, which is also long before the OTL Roman Catholic missionaries began making any inroads in the far north either. Since Orthodoxy in Russia is a phenomenon of conversion long after the Viking influence created Rus, also some centuries after the final last gasp of Gothic Arianism known to history, it would follow that Arian Christianity in ancient ancestral Goth-land would be by far the earliest intervention of Christianity in any form in Scandinavia. Obviously, given the difficulties Catholic missionaries faced, we'd expect some serious conflict and controversy in the northlands. Or if for some reason or other the Arian approach and doctrines went down smoothly among Gothic northerners, it would probably have the same chances of success among the non-Gothic Scandinavians too. Then the Viking Era, if not butterflied away, would not have been a matter of pagans raiding, pillaging and conquering, but rather (from a Catholic point of view just as bad or worse) Christian heretics doing so instead.
It would be completely unreasonable to have just the Goths convert to it, and participate in the Viking era alongside their pagan neighbors.
Clearly OTL any possible connection that might have led to north Gothic conversion failed to do so; it seems plausible enough that a few individuals may have converted but clearly this trend died out if it started at all. It might not take too huge a butterfly to make it happen anyway, but if it did the consequences would create major upheavals in history that could not possibly be overlooked. Either we wind up with Arian Scandinavia as a whole, or a civil war in which Gothic Arianism is again overwhelmed and suppressed.
For the Goths and Goths alone to convert to a revived Arianism during the general conversion of Scandinavia to Catholicism seems insanely unreasonable to me. Who preaches it, with all the historic Arian realms gone under and left behind?
It would make some sense if they had simply adopted early and kept Arianism all along, but that puts them in pagan Scandinavia as Christians who don't even have the support of the Catholic Frankish empire to the south and this is a POD going back to somewhere between the mid-4th and late 7th centuries. And would totally transform the Viking Era into something unrecognizable.
I've been skimming Wikipedia on the subjects of Goths and Arianism. Arianism as such is an idea that has apparently re-emerged spontaneously over the centuries; it seems to me at a glance that many modern sects that can be classified as broadly agreeing with Arianus probably came to these doctrines by independent reasoning of their own, and in specifics they tend to disagree with specific judgements of the classical Arians.
Meanwhile, Swedish "Gothicismus," or as English would put it, "Gothicism," is a modern romantic-patriotic construction.
It seems to me the evidence does support the supposition that modern Swedish territories that retain a "goth" root in their names do indeed have to do with being an ancient homeland of the ancestors of the historic Goths who did convert to Arianism, and therefore that modern Swedes do include in their ancestors a relationship with these Goths. Whether it is reasonable, as you have assumed, that a distinct Gothic people existed in the tenth and later centuries who are substantially the ancestral stock of the historic Goths, and themselves continuously identified as Goths, depends on details I don't know but I guess it is not unreasonable.
What is very dubious indeed is the suggestion that once the migratory branch of the expanding Goths who moved south across the Baltic lost a continuous connection with their ancestral home in Scandinavia, that any significant connection between them and their wandering cousins remained. Of course it is not impossible that even as the distance widened, with the great Goths of late Classical history appearing on the Roman horizons very far south and east, in Ukraine and nearby places in Romania, Moldova and Belarus, that knowing their old kinship individuals traveled back and forth and communicated news.
But if so, I don't see any sign, not OTL anyway, that this news significantly affected anything the northern stay-at-homes did. So, with mass conversion of southeast European Goths to Arianism due to the missionary work of Wulfias in the middle of the 4th century, there is no sign that anytime in the subsequent three or so centuries that Gothic/Vandal/Burgundian Arianism had any resonance or echo whatsoever in Scandinavia. By the end of the 7th century, the last of these Gothic Arians had been converted to either Roman Catholicism (in France and Hispania) or Eastern Orthodoxy (in Anatolia) and any remaining holdouts in North Africa would have been absorbed by the general conversion of that region to Islam a century later. So long before the Scandinavians generally began their stirring and expansion we call the "Viking Era," the whole tradition of Germanic Arianism had been extinguished.
For a plausible connection, we'd have to see some sign of Arian Christianity being established in the Gothic parts of Sweden/Denmark long before 700 CE, which is also long before the OTL Roman Catholic missionaries began making any inroads in the far north either. Since Orthodoxy in Russia is a phenomenon of conversion long after the Viking influence created Rus, also some centuries after the final last gasp of Gothic Arianism known to history, it would follow that Arian Christianity in ancient ancestral Goth-land would be by far the earliest intervention of Christianity in any form in Scandinavia. Obviously, given the difficulties Catholic missionaries faced, we'd expect some serious conflict and controversy in the northlands. Or if for some reason or other the Arian approach and doctrines went down smoothly among Gothic northerners, it would probably have the same chances of success among the non-Gothic Scandinavians too. Then the Viking Era, if not butterflied away, would not have been a matter of pagans raiding, pillaging and conquering, but rather (from a Catholic point of view just as bad or worse) Christian heretics doing so instead.
It would be completely unreasonable to have just the Goths convert to it, and participate in the Viking era alongside their pagan neighbors.
Clearly OTL any possible connection that might have led to north Gothic conversion failed to do so; it seems plausible enough that a few individuals may have converted but clearly this trend died out if it started at all. It might not take too huge a butterfly to make it happen anyway, but if it did the consequences would create major upheavals in history that could not possibly be overlooked. Either we wind up with Arian Scandinavia as a whole, or a civil war in which Gothic Arianism is again overwhelmed and suppressed.
For the Goths and Goths alone to convert to a revived Arianism during the general conversion of Scandinavia to Catholicism seems insanely unreasonable to me. Who preaches it, with all the historic Arian realms gone under and left behind?
It would make some sense if they had simply adopted early and kept Arianism all along, but that puts them in pagan Scandinavia as Christians who don't even have the support of the Catholic Frankish empire to the south and this is a POD going back to somewhere between the mid-4th and late 7th centuries. And would totally transform the Viking Era into something unrecognizable.
I apologize for not ever replying to you prior, Shevek, but I'd like to say I appreciate your criticisms on my timeline; it helps me try to think a little bit better on how things go.
I may have to rethink Arianism a bit for this timeline, actually, and will try to work on it again at a later date.
Also, I'm terribly sorry for the lack of updates. Job searching and preparing for school has been really kicking my butt as of late, and I've felt too drained to work on anything productive. Thank you to everybody who's been sticking with it so far, and I'll try to have an update up as soon as I can.