According to their own legend, reported by the mid-6th-century Gothic historian Jordanes, the Goths originated in southern Scandinavia<span> and crossed in three ships under their king Berig to the southern shore of the Baltic Sea, where they settled after defeating the Vandals and other Germanic peoples in that area.</span>
It comes from the Germanic tribes that were present in Northern Europe and parts of Scandinavia a thousand years B.C. The Goths played a major role in the fall of the Roman Empire, though they were eventually Christianized and fought to defend it against the Huns. The Visigoths joined the Roman Empire and the Ostrogoths joined Attila the Hun.