Goths:
Goths is referring to the Germanic tribes that in year 291 lived i what today is Ukraine. They were divided in different tribes but did later on united as two nations: Visigoths and Ostrogoths
Visigoths:
- The only evidence of the origins of the Goths comes from Jordanes, himself a Goth, and from Wulfila, the Arian Gothic bishop. Jordanes claims that the Goths and Gepids originated in Scandinavia. However, there is very little physical evidence of their origins. The only evidence we have is their stone circles found in Poland and are exactly the same as found in the Gotland Island and other parts of Sweden. We do know that the Goths settled in what is now northern Poland along the Vistula River (Wielbark culture). Somewhere around 100 BC to 100 AD the Goths settled in what is now Ukraine and Moldova. Around 200 AD the Goths separated into two groups: the Therving (forest) and Greuthung (farmer) Goths. They eventually adopted Arian Christianity from Wulfila. Wulfila is very important in that he provides evidence that the Goths were Germanic and it is the oldest Germanic language. After this during the 5th century AD the Visigoths eventually settled in southern France and Spain. The Ostrogoths settled in Italy but were evicted by Emperor Justinian and settled in Austria.
Huns:
It is thought they originated in Western Mongolia. However by the time they made it to Europe, they were likely a federation of Turkic, Indo-European, and possibly even Proto-Mongolic, and Ugric tribes. There is no consensus in the literature around with tribes were dominant and what language was dominates with most Federations there was mixing as well, and it was largely male warriors, and they took “wives” from local populations they conquered, especially settled agricultural populations they raided. This was common practice for over 1,000 years on the Eurasian Steppe. For example the most famous Hun, Attila was described as what we would be considered “East Asian looking” but he had a name that is believed to be Gothic. We have genetic and anthropological evidence that Western and Eastern Eurasian peoples were present in the Hun.
Vandals:
The Vandals were just like the Goths a Germanic tribe. Coin depicting the Vandal king Huneric (477‐484). They originally inhabited what is now southern Poland but would eventually migrate to Pannonia (modern western Hungary). During the collapse of the Western Roman empire they conquered huge parts of north Africa.
Suevi:
The Suebi or Suevi were a West Germanic tribe that used the breaking up of the West Roman Empire to move to Portugal and Galicia. They probably were not purely West Germanic as other tribes possibly joined on their journey from Germany.. But in Lusitania/Portugal they remained an elite. The Suebi were beaten by the East Germanic Visigotes of Spain and annexed. The two nations mixed.The name “Suebi” looks suspiciously like the Swabians of South West Germany, nowadays speaking a dialect of High German. The monarch of Wuertemberg was nicknamed the Swabian King. Like the Visigoths the Suebi disappeared as such but many of their descendants probably still live in Portugal and Galicia
To clear things: Germans, Dutch and English are West Germanic, the Scandinavians are North Germanics while the East Germanics like Visigoths, Ostrogoths, Vandals, Gepids, etc. have become extinct. The Suebi and probably also the Lombards were West Germanic..
