Götaland

Götaland is a historical land of Sweden. Geographically it is located in the south of Sweden, bounded to the north by Svealand, with the deep woods of Tiveden, Tylöskog and Kolmården marking the border.

Other names include Gothia, Gothland ^*, Gotland (American Heritage Dictionary), Gautland and Geatland.

Götaland once consisted of petty kingdoms, with its inhabitants called Gautar in Old Norse. It is generally agreed that these were the same as the Geatas, the people of the hero Beowulf in England's national epic by the same name. The region is also the traditional origin of the Goths.

Provinces

Götaland is made up of the following ten provinces:

Of these, Skåne, Blekinge and Halland were Danish lands (known as the Scanian lands) until the Treaty of Roskilde ceded them to Sweden in 1658. Furthermore, Bohuslän belonged to Norway.

Geography

Deep forests are found in the Småland province, there is plenty of farmland in Skåne, and a little bit of both in Västergötland and Östergötland. Coasts are usually relatively flat and consist of archipelagoes as well as sandy beaches.

History

Västergötland and Östergötland, once rival kingdoms themselves, constitute Götaland proper. The Geatish kings, however, belong to the domain of Norse mythology.

It was only late in the Middle Ages that Götaland was beginning to be perceived as a part of Sweden. In Old Norse and in Old English sources, Gautland/Geatland is still treated as a separate country from Sweden. In Sögubrot af Nokkrumfor instance, Kolmården between Svealand and Östergötland is described as the border between Sweden and Ostrogothia (...Kolmerkr, er skilr Svíþjóð ok Eystra-Gautland...), and in Hervarar saga[http://www.snerpa.is/net/forn/hervar.htm, king Ingold I rides to Sweden through Östergötland: Ingi konungr fór með hirð sína ok sveit nokkura ok hafði lítinn her. Hann reið austr um Smáland ok í eystra Gautland ok svá í Svíþjóð. The lord Bo Jonsson Grip was probably the one who was best acquainted with the geography of the Swedish kingdom since he owned more than half of it. In 1384, he stated in his testament that the kingdom consisted of Swerige (Sweden, i.e. Svealand), Österland (i.e. Finland) and Göthaland (i.e. Götaland).

The small countries to the south of Finnveden, Kind, Möre, Njudung, Tjust, Tveta, Värend, Ydre where merged into the province of Småland (literally: ^* "small countries"). Off the coast of Småland was the island of Öland, which became its own province.

Dal to the north west became the province of Dalsland.

Småland, Öland and Dalsland were seen as lands belonging to Götaland already in the (Scandinavian) medieval times (12th–15th century).

The island of Gotland shifted allegiance between Swedes and Danes several times. Although the island may be perceived to have closer links to Svealand or to Denmark (/Scania), it's in a Swedish mindset actually counted to Götaland.

In the early 19th century the province of Värmland did for a time belong to the Court of Appeal for Svealand. Even though Värmland historically was a part of Götaland, it has since then been counted to Svealand.

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Provinces

Geography

History

See also