FIG 28 —PAGE FROM THE "CODEX ARGENTEUS" NOW IN UPPSALA
This is a sixth-century edition of the New Testament translated by Bishop
Ulfilas into Gothic about A D 350 The characters used are mainly drawn
from the Greek alphabet supplemented by Roman and Runic letters Note
for instance the Greek symbol W which stands not for ps as in Greek writing
but for lp
The Code* Argenteus now in the University library at Uppsala has 187 of
the original 330 leaves of the four gospels intact Wolfenbuttel and Milan
libraries possess other fragments of the gospels, the Pauline epistles, and the
Old Testament books Ezra and Nehemiah, together with a part of a Gothic
calendar These are the basis of our earliest knowledge about the Teutonic
languages