EXCERPTS with Coloring and Links added.
“Classical ethnography applied the name Suevi to many Germanic tribes.1 In a similar fashion the appellation “Gothic” constantly gained in importance until the sixth century. As soon as late antique ethnographers noticed common elements of language, way of life, or geographical origin,2 they spoke of “Gothic peoples.3 … The name Goths, which replaced that of Scythians, embraced the most diverse Germanic and even non-Germanic peoples: the Goths in Italy, the Vandals, the Goths in Spain, the Gepids, Rugians, Sciri, and Burgundians, indeed, even the Alans.5 The common faith and law, the lex Gothica,6 and the common language were the most important reasons for lumping these peoples together. On linguistic grounds, for the purposes of classification, modern scholarship invented the artificial term East Germanic peoples, which is today commonly used.7″ rr02iæh
(p.19 “The Gothic Name”, Wolfram’s History of the Goths, c1979/1988 University of California Press, Berkeley, USA)
From ancient times the Teutons have been known as a group of people who speak the Germanic group of languages. Some prefer the term “Teutonic” over “Germanic” to avoid the confusion between the words “Germanic” and “German.” But in reality the terms “Teutonic” and “German” mean the same thing. The term “Gothic” has even been applied to the whole of the Germanic realm, although this too originally referred to only one branch of the Germanic family. Today any of these three terms, Germanic, Teutonic, or Gothic, may refer to the overall tradition of this original group. ….
(p.l in Edred Thorsson’s Northern Magic: Rune Mysteries and Shamanism by Llewellyn Publications c1992/1998, ISBN 978-1-56718-709-0)
see also
WHO IS AANER XOT? (Who is a Goth?)
John Trudell – Tribes of Europe
