ABSTRACT
In this article Wolfram deals more explicitly than he did in his book on the Goths with legends and myths as they appear in texts. Although he mentions the Origo gentis Langobardorum (The Origin of the Lombard People) he focuses primarily on the Getica (On the Goths) of Jordanes. Wolfram reiterates here some of his thinking on the subject of ethnogenesis while spelling out his views on the existence, importance, and function of the genre Origo gentis (Origin of a People). Wolfram also discusses some of the work of Walter Goffart, who has been his most persistent critic. Goffart speaks in his own voice in the next selection in this book. In the present article Wolfram argues that texts containing origin legends play a role in both forming and articulating the traditions of a people whereas Goffart sees such texts as literary creations that worked in their own time and place. The reader will want to pull Wolfram’s two studies together so as to understand what has come to be called “Vienna School” ethnogenesis. What is ethnogenesis? Why does it matter? How persuasive are Wolfram’s arguments?
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