Krodo
According to Conrad Bothes Sassenchronik from 1492, Krodo was a Germanic god of the Saxons who was similar to the Roman Saturnus and whose statue was thrown down in 780 on the Harzburg by Charlemagne when defeating the Eastern Saxons .
The Sassenchronik shows and describes Krodo as a man who stands on a pillar on a large fish and in his right hand holds a vessel with flowers and in his left a raised wheel. Bothe interprets the individual details morally on the unity and strength of the Saxon people. If he drew his Krodo from older sources - he begins his description with the words "Ick vinde in der schrifft ..." - Krodo's attributes could represent the four classic elements :
- Fire : The wheel could be the sun.
- Earth : The basket with flowers shows the fertility of the earth and the four seasons.
- Air : The billowing skirt symbolizes the breath of life in the world.
- Water : The fish swims in the water.
Since the Sassenchronik remains the only source, a pre-Christian Krodo cult is now fundamentally doubted, similar to other alleged Germanic deities of questionable origin such as Ostara , Biel , Stuffo or Lollus .
The so-called Krodo Altar in Goslar , which probably dates from 1040, was only popularly associated with Krodo in the early modern period and named after him. In folk tales , the story of the "idol Crodo" was apparently transferred as a motif to the area of the villages Götzenthal and Grotenleide ( Crotenlaide ) near Meerane in Saxony .
The Bad Harzburg spa is now advertising with the figure of Krodo as a mascot.
literature
- Vollmer, Wilhelm: Dictionary of Mythology . Stuttgart 1874, p. 302.
- JAE Köhler : The legend book of the Erzgebirge , 1886
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Albert Schiffner : Handbook of geography, statistics and topography of the Kingdom of Saxony 1839 IS 2
- ↑ harzburger-wanderseite.de
- ^ Johann Georg Theodor Grasse: The treasure trove of the Kingdom of Saxony. Volume 2, Dresden 21874, pp. 26-27