Wulfila

Wulfila (also known as Ulfilas) was a Gothic bishop and leader of the church in a region, who lived in the fourth century. He is known for translating a substantial portion of the Bible into Gothic, a Germanic language now extinct. To write his translation, he is credited with creating a distinctive script known as the Gothic alphabet, which was based on the Greek script with the addition of characters from other sources.

His work is significant in two respects. First, his translation is the earliest substantial source for the Old Germanic languages; the surviving texts are essential evidence for the grammar and vocabulary of that language. Second, his work was instrumental in spreading Christianity among the Gothic peoples on the northern frontier of the Roman Empire.

Life and ecclesiastical office

Wulfila came from a mixed background: according to early accounts, his father was of Gothic descent, while his mother came from a family from Cappadocia, a region in Anatolia, who had been taken captive. This mixed heritage gave him command of Gothic, Greek, and Latin. He received education in Roman territories and was subsequently appointed bishop to conduct ecclesiastical work among the Goths.

After some time, religious persecution arising in Gothic lands led Wulfila and his followers to migrate south of the Danube River, into territory under Roman control. There he continued his work of education and translation.

Doctrine he followed

Wulfila followed Arianism, a Christian doctrine holding that the Son was not of the same substance as the Father. Later major churches condemned this as heresy, but in the fourth century it enjoyed wide support, particularly in parts of the Eastern Roman administration. Because Wulfila was among the earliest to introduce the faith to the Goths, many Germanic peoples maintained Arian Christianity for a long time afterward, which gave rise to political and religious conflict when Germanic peoples began to rule over former Roman territories.

Translation and script

The Gothic alphabet differs from the earlier runic script; it was likely designed specifically for writing the lengthy religious texts. The translation closely follows the structure of Greek sentences, which gave scholars the opportunity to compare the original text with the Gothic version. Several handwritten copies of his work survive from centuries after his lifetime; the most famous is the Codex Argenteus, written in silver and gold letters on purple parchment. The surviving texts are fragmentary, particularly the Old Testament, while the New Testament is better preserved.

Influence

From the perspective of linguistic science, Wulfila's work is foundational to the study of Old Germanic languages. The teaching of English, German, Swedish, and other Germanic languages relies on Gothic texts as evidence for reconstructing the ancestral Germanic language. From the perspective of religious history, his work exemplifies how Bible translation was used to bring Christianity to peoples without writing, a pattern repeated many times elsewhere in the world.