The Geats (
Swedish: Götar) living in
Sweden in the first centuries a.d. play an important part in Swedish
history, but are also a source of great
confusion. A
nationalistic movement during the 16th and 17th centuries tried to prove that the Geats were identical with the
Goths and you can still see the Swedish words related to Geats translated with the
English "Goth", e.g. the city Göteborg is known as
Gothenburg in English.
The area where the Geats lived is still called "Geatland" (Swedish: Götaland) and the oldest known "Swedish" kings ruled from here. When the Swedish kingdom took shape in the 12th century the old kingdoms of the Swedes and the Geats merged and the Swedish king's full title was "King of Swedes and Geats". Even though it is widely accepted that the unification of the kingdoms was enforced by the Swedish kings residing in the area close to where Stockholm lies today, the first king to rule both kingdoms, Olof, was a Geat.