The Guthones
PREFACE
"Wherever the birds were perching,
Some feathers were strewn"..
---From a Lithuanian folk-song.
The same saying could be applied to all the migrating nations.
The Gothic nation, also, wherever it roamed, left some traces behind. From the
old Gothic coins, from the extant Gothic names, from documents, etc., the scholars
are able to judge about the origin of the Gothic nation.
There are two opinions in regard to which group of nations the
Goths belonged. Some think that the Goths belonged to the Teutonic group (German,
Scandinavian etc.); others think that the Gothic people were of the Aestian
(Lithuanian—Latvian and Old Prussian) origin.
The ethnology of the Goths was always fascinating to me. For many
years I had been investigating this subject, and finally I was convinced that
the Goths were the nearest kinsmen of the Lithuanians---Latvians and Old Prussians.
A part of these studies I am publishing in this book.
Dr. R. G. Latham, the noted English scholar, ethnologist, and
philologist, probably was the first man to prove, that the hypothesis concerning
the Teutonic origin of the Goths is erroneous. He repeatedly stated that the
Goths were of Lithuanic origin. Dr. Latham's authority is highly regarded amongst
the scholars, and he is quoted in different encyclopaedias. I have read all
of his works, appreciated them, and found plenty of valuable information in
his writings.
In this volume readers will find a fair collection of facts concerning
the past history of Goths and Lithuanians. Also they will find some of my original
arguments, which I employ in proving that the vanished Gothic people and the
still existing Lithuanian nation are of the same blood and the same origin.
Alexander M. Rackus, M. D.
Chicago, Ill., USA
October, 1928.