dwelled on the island of Gotland. The adjective gutniskr ~ gotniskr ("Gothic, Gutnish"), which descends from an earlier *gutan-iskaʀ, and the noun gutnar ~ gotnar ("men"), whose ancestral form is *gutaniz, also give evidence of the an-stem. Scholars have noted that Old Norse sources do not distinguish between Gutes and Goths. The ethnonym Geats (or Gauts; Old Norse gautar) stems from Proto-Germanic *Gautōz (singular *Gautaz), which shares the same etymology and possibly the same meaning as *Gutōz ~ *Gutaniz. The root gaut- can also be found in the names of the Göta älv river in Sweden, in Götaland (the Swedish homeland of the Geats/Gauts), and in the name of *Gaut (PGmc *Gautaz), the mythical ancestor of the Goths attested by Jordanes as Gapt. The root gut- is also possibly attested in Guthalus, a river in Germania mentioned by Pliny the Elder and which could refer to a 'Gothic river'. The roots gut- and gaut- are generally thought to be related to the Proto-Germanic verb *geutanan, meaning "to pour" (cf. Goth. giutan), which is in turn derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *ǵʰewd- ("to pour"). It is not clear, however, whether the name *Gutaz stems from *Gautaz or the other way around, or else directly from the verb *geutanan. In any case, as Wolfram explains, the existence of various peoples sharing this name does not necessarily imply large-scale migrations of one unified people: "not entire peoples, but small successful clans, the bearers of prestigious traditions, emigrated and became the founders of new gentes". Meaning Though the etymology of the Gothic name connects to words for pouring, its actual meaning remains uncertain. Various interpretations have been suggested: the pouring could refer to a river or a flooded homeland, the name could mean "people" in the sense of being "seed-spreaders" or "progenitors", or else refer to the name of an ancestor. Wolfram interprets the Gothic name as meaning "men", and suggests that it might have meant "out-pourers" in the sense of "seed, the progenitors, the men". Some, including Peter Heather, have also suggested that Goths meant "the people". In Old Norse, Goti can mean "Goth" or "man", and gotnar signifies "men". Another theory is to interpret Goths as the "seed-spreaders", hence the "stallions", "horses", or some other impregnating animal which may have been a deity. The term goti is used in Old Icelandic for "horse". The root gut- is also found in an Old