who has stated the opinions of various writers. The most probable derivation appears to be that of Müllenhoff, who connects it with the Gothic ga-wiss—junction—and Gewissas are thus explained as confederates.
In the traditionary accounts of the occupation of Kent and Sussex, we read of invaders coming in three ships in each case. In the account relating to Wessex we read that they came in five, and this may have some reference to tribal expeditions of confederates. That the settlers who occupied Hampshire consisted of people of more than one race admits of no doubt. As will be shown, there is evidence within the limits of ancient Wessex of settlements by Goths or Jutes, Saxons, Frisians, and Wends. There is evidence also of later considerable settlements of Northmen. The interpretation of the name Gewissas as confederates is certainly confirmed by what can be discovered concerning the West Saxon people. Indeed, confederacies played such an important part in the settlement of England generally that it can be no matter for surprise to find sufficient evidence, even apart from the historical, to show that Wessex was colonized by people of various races. There were small confederacies as well as large ones among the ancient tribes of Germany, and it is possible that such names as Gewiesen, Gewissenruhe, and Gewissowice, which still exist in North-East Germany,[1] may have had their origin in clan confederacies of people of different tribes or kindreds.
As regards the Gothic connection of the word, it is of interest to note the occurrence of gewiss, used in the sense of ‘assured’ or ‘certain,’ in an inscription on one of the capitals of a column which still remains at Ravenna, and which commemorates the rule of Theodoric, the great Gothic King at that place. He, the greatest of the Goth rulers, was King over people of the same descent as the Northern Goths or Jutes, many of whom, without doubt, made for themselves English homes in Hampshire and the
- ↑ Rudolph, H., ‘Orts Lexikon von Deutschland.’
