Editing Gepids (section)

==Name==
{{See also|Name of the Goths}}
The most common Latin spellings of the Gepid name in plural used a "p", but varied concerning the vowels: Gepidae, Gipidae, Gipedae, Gipides. Similarly, Procopius writing in Greek uses a stem γηπαιδ- which should be transliterated as Giped-.{{according to whom|date=July 2024}} Despite this, the Gepids have been equated with the people mentioned in the [[Old English]] ''[[Widsith]]'' and ''[[Beowulf]]'', as ''{{lang|ang|Gifðas}}'' or {{lang|ang|Gefþas}}. These names are considered etymologically equivalent Old English forms of Gepidae that could not have arisen through borrowing from attested Latin forms.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Neidorf |first=Leonard |author-link=Leonard Neidorf |title=The Gepids in Beowulf |journal=ANQ |pages=1–4 |year=2019 |volume=34 |doi=10.1080/0895769X.2019.1584028|s2cid=166373368 }}</ref>

Although [[Walter Goffart]] has objected that "no serious arguments substantiating the identification seem to me to have been set out", linguists interpret the "p" in Latin and Greek as an insulting Gothic nickname for the Gepids.<ref>{{harvnb|Goffart|2009|p=333}}</ref> In addition to the Old English words, placename evidence in Italy, and a single medieval Latin [[genitive plural]] form "Gebodorum"<ref>Continuatio Prosperi Havniensis/[[Auctarium Prosperi Havniense]] p.337, in: ''[[Monumenta Germaniae Historica]]'' (MGH), Auctores antiquissimi vol. 9., Chronicorum Minorum saec. IV, V, VI, VII vol. 1. [https://www.dmgh.de/mgh_auct_ant_9/index.htm#page/337/mode/1up p.337]</ref> are taken to indicate that the "p" was really a fricative sound similar to a "b". Many linguists therefore reconstruct the original Germanic form as *''Gíbidoz'', based on the Germanic verb "to give", as still found in English (German ''geben'', Dutch ''geven''), apparently indicating that they named themselves gifted or rewarded or generous.{{sfn|Neumann|1998}}

The modern idea that the recorded name of the Gepids was an insult comes from [[Jordanes]] in the sixth century, who reported in his Gothic origins story the ''[[Getica]]'', that the name of the Gepids came from ''gepanta'', an insult in Gothic meaning "sluggish, stolid" (''pigra''), because the Gepids had lagged behind their Gothic kin when they migrated more than a thousand years earlier.<ref name = Yeat>{{cite web | author = Jordanes | title = Goths | publisher = Harbour net | language = la, en | others = Yeat, Theedrich ''tr.'' | url = http://www.harbornet.com/folks/theedrich/Goths/Goths1.htm | access-date = 2008-03-03 | quote = For undoubtedly they too trace their origin from the stock of the Goths, but because, as I have said, ''gepanta'' means something slow and stolid, the name ''Giped'' arose as a spontaneous taunt. I do not believe the name itself is very far from wrong, for they are slow of thought and too sluggish for quick movement of their bodies.}}</ref>

In contrast, [[Isidore of Seville]] in his etymologies, interpreted the second part of the Gepid name as "feet" (Latin ''pedes'') and explained that the Gepids were known for going into battle on foot (''pedestri''), rather than mounted. The much later (12th century) Byzantine ''[[Etymologicum Magnum]]'' interprets the name using the Greek word for children, making the Gepids ''Gētípaides'' (Γητίπαιδες) meaning "children of the Goths (equated to [[Getae]])". All three of these texts follow a tradition of seeing the Gepids as "offshoots or close relatives of the Goths".<ref>See {{harvtxt|Pohl|1998|p=131}} (in German) and {{harvtxt|Goffart|2009|pp=199–200}} (in English).</ref>

''[[Tabula Peutingeriana]],'' a 4th century map shows the "Piti" people living next of [[Porolissum]]. Whether or not this is a distortion of Gepid is disputed by historians.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Sevin |first=Heinrich |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7QUsAQAAIAAJ |title=Die Gebiden |date=1955 |publisher=Sevin |pages=29–30 |language=de}}</ref>