Talk:Ulfilas
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Query, did Ulfilas really translate the Gothic Bible? The sources i have seen always hedge this, suggesting there is some kind of later tradition that he did, but no hard evidence. Certainly he was in the right place at the right time and was the right kind of guy, and i haven't heard anyone else suggested as the translator. Is there anyone out there who really knows this stuff, who wants to comment?
- Is there a reason to doubt Ulfilas translation? It's right in timing and location, and the lore says he did it. He did not however touch the codex argentus, which to my knowledge is the only surviving copy of his translations of the new testament - it wasn't made until later (Ravenna c. 550AD - one scientist claims to have identified the handwriter of codex argentus as one Viljarik (Viljariþ), who was active in Ravenna at that time). Ulfilas would certainly have a use for a translation as a missionary, but I find it doubtful he ever had any great supply of bibles and afaik he only translated the NT (no problem there though, as c.a. only contains the NT).
- Then again, I'm just a hobbyist with secondary sources :-) OlofE
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- According to Sozomen, church historian in the fifth century, Ulfilas translated the entire Bible into Gothic, except for the books of Kings, which were too warlike and so seen as a negative influence on the already warlike Goths. With such early testimony to Ulfilas's translation and with no evidence to the contrary, there isn't much reason to doubt that he did the translation. Codex Argenteus is another matter altogether. It dates from the 6th century (i.e., 200 years after Ulfilas). No, of course it wasn't actually penned by him. As all ancient manuscripts, it is one copy in a long line of copies. Between the time of Ulfilas and the writing of Codex Argenteus, there may well have been some changes made in the Gothic Bible, but in all likelihood Codex Argenteus preserves the Ulfilas translation fairly faithfully. --Danny Reese 06:36, 4 November 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Wulfila
Hi,
I found the photo very interesting.
Is there any possibility that this pic is not intended to represent Wulfila himself? The figure looks much more Near Eastern than Scandinavian to me. I suppose he could have been of mixed ancestry. But to me, what it suggests is that the Goths were quite cognizant of the fact that they were adopting a specifically Near Eastern (Israel-centric) religion for their outlook in ca. 340 AD, when they were only the 4th nation to do so (After Armenia, Ethiopia, and Rome)... Codex Sinaiticus 17:40, 22 August 2005 (UTC)
Also the alphabet that appears in the picture seems to be greek and NOT Goth. -ast-
- Nope. It's Gothic alright.--Eupator 15:40, 7 June 2006 (UTC)
I would like to put forward the possibility that Ulfilas may have been an As-Alan (more simply known as As or Ish) and that his name is properly Ulf il As. It may well have been a bit of a joke about a wolf in an ass's skin or being paid an as by the Romans. I believe this sub-group of the Alans ethnic group formed part of the barbarian conscripts whom the Romans usually termed Sarmatians and that they were widely dispersed across the empire as well as preserving a useful corpus of intelligence for later barbarian invasions.
http://www.hunmagyar.org/turan/tatar/alan.html
210.50.52.99 14:01, 19 September 2006 (UTC) Ian Ison
