The Goths had developed, even before the fall of the Roman Empire in 476 A.D., a literary culture of some sophistication: a lengthy commentary and analysis of the New Testament had been published in the Gothic language. Despite this intellectual activity, and modern scientific study of it, tiresome cliches are still found in modern textbooks:
The Germanic invaders who stormed Rome could not read or write. (World History: Patterns of Interaction McDougal-Littell, 2007)It was, in fact, because the Romans themselves viewed the Germanic tribes as capable of complex administrative tasks that Romulus Augustus handed over his power to Odoacer. Written copies of real estate transactions (Odoacer selling land in Sicily) survive from this time, showing that these Germanic tribes were hardly primitive cavemen. But the stereotype persists:
The Germanic tribes, though, had a rich oral tradition of songs and legends. But they had no written language.There is really no excuse for a statement like this in a history textbook: the Germanic tribes had advanced writing systems, including both the runic alphabet and the Gothic alphabet, and incorporating Latin letters. Extensive Gothic texts go back to around 380 A.D., and perhaps earlier; runic inscriptions document Germanic writing as early as 150 A.D.
