Hennil
According to the legend, Hennil is the name of an idol who was worshiped and celebrated in Saxony by the Sorbian farmers. It was a stick with a hand with an iron ring attached to the tip.
In the records of the estate of Jean Paul (1763–1825) one can read: Hennil .... was a staff on top of which a hand with an iron ring: carried it in distress in the village screaming: vigila, Hennil, vigila. The saga collector Johann Georg Theodor Grasse also mentions Hennil as a house god of the Saxons. He writes: “In the heathen times the Saxon peasants had a peculiar household idol, whom they served and in whom they placed great trust, and also sacrificed it. They had a staff with a hand at the top, which held an iron ring, and this was carried around by a shepherd into all the houses of the place and at the entrance by the one who carried it, addressed thus: 'Wake up 'Hennil, wake up!' for that was his name. Then the peasants all sat down at table and let it be good. "
The numerous Hänschen sagas that circulate in many villages in the Borna district in the Leipziger Land district and in which food always plays a role are attributed to this idol by Max Liebig, the editor of the 1926 Heimatblätter from Bornaer Pflege . He suspects: “… that Hänschen is the mutilated name of the old Sorbian household idol Hennil, of whom a chronicle tells the following: The old Sorbian peasants had a staff at the tip of which was a hand that held an iron ring. This staff was carried from house to house by the shepherd of the village when there was a meeting. When entering the house for the first time, the porter spoke as a greeting: "Watch, Hennil, watch!" And then they feasted themselves deliciously and believed that they were protected by it. "
literature
- The Wendish deities . International Siegfried Wagner Society V., Bayreuth,
- Johann Georg Theodor Grasse: Treasure of sagas of the Kingdom of Saxony (that. 1855, 2nd edition 1874), new edition published by Joachim Jahns, 3 volumes. Dingsda-Verlag, Querfurt 1999, ISBN 3-928498-56-8 .
- Jean Paul estate, Berlin State Library. Prussian cultural property. Fasz. IIb, Volume 17
Individual evidence
- ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from September 30, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ The Saxon idol Hennil . In: The Treasure of Legends of the Kingdom of Saxony , Volume 1. P. 276–277 ( Wikisource )
- ↑ suedraumarchiv , accessed on February 23, 2014.
