Nerthus

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Nerthus is a deity of Germanic mythology who is occasionally identified with the Eddic Njord .

Representation in Tacitus

According to chapter 40 of the Germania of the Roman poet Tacitus , the deity Nerthus was worshiped by the Germanic tribes of the Avionen , Anglier , Variner , Eudosen , Suardonen , northern Suebi and Nuitonen . Tacitus describes Nerthus as Terra Mater ( Latin : Mother Earth ).

On an island in the ocean (probably referring to the Baltic Sea ), in a sacred grove , according to Tacitus, there was a covered chariot that could only be touched by a priest. Nerthus is said to have driven through the country in this cow-pulled cart. During this journey there was a holy peace among the tribes, reminding of the peace at the suions , which was also handed down by Tacitus . After the journey, the wagon with the cloths covering it was washed in a lake by slaves who were then drowned there.

The original text at Tacitus:

XL

“Contra Langobardos paucitas nobilitat: plurimis ac valentissimis nationibus cincti non per obsequium, sed proeliis ac periclitando tuti sunt. Reudigni deinde et Aviones et Anglii et Varini et Eudoses et Suardones et Nuithones fluminibus aut silvis muniuntur.

Nec quicquam notabile in singulis, nisi quod in commune Nerthum, id est Terram matrem, colunt eamque intervenire rebus hominum, invehi populis arbitrantur. Est in insula Oceani castum nemus, dicatumque in eo vehiculum, veste contectum; attingere uni sacerdoti concessum. Is adesse penetrali deam intellegit vectamque bubus feminis multa cum veneratione prosequitur. Laeti tunc dies, festa loca, quaecumque adventu hospitioque dignatur. Non bella ineunt, non arma sumunt; clausum omne ferrum; pax et quies tunc tantum nota, tunc tantum amata, donec idem sacerdos satiatam conversatione mortalium deam templo reddat.

Mox vehiculum et vestes et, si credere velis, numen ipsum secreto lacu abluitur. Servi acolyte, quos statim idem lacus haurit. Arcanus hinc terror sanctaque ignorantia, quid sit illud, quod tantum perituri vident. "

40

“The Lombards, on the other hand, ennoble their small number: surrounded by quite a number of strong nations, they are not protected by submission, but by slaughter and by the existence of dangers. The Reudigner on this, and the Avionen, the Anglier and Variner, the Eudosen, Suardonen and Nuitonen are protected by rivers and forests.

Nothing is remarkable about all the individuals, except that they unitedly worship the Nerthus, that is, mother earth, the belief that this intervenes in human life and in the midst of the peoples. On an island in the ocean there is a holy, pure grove and in it a consecrated chariot covered with a robe, only the priest is allowed to touch. He knows exactly when the goddess is present in the sanctuary, and accompanies her, pulled by female cattle, with deep devotion. The days are then full of joy, all the places festive, which the goddess honors of her visit and entrance; they start no wars, they take up no arms; every iron is locked; Peace and tranquility are then only known, are then only loved, until the goddess, satisfied with dealing with mortals, returns the same priest to the sanctuary.

The chariot and the robes and, if one wants to believe, the divine being himself, are then bathed in a secret pool. Slaves are the servants, who are immediately devoured by the same lake. Hence a mysterious shudder and pious ignorance as to what that being is that only those doomed see. "

The position of the sanctuary mentioned by Tacitus has not yet been clarified. The island of Alsen , the island of Rügen or even the Norwegian west coast are named as possible locations .

Connection to Njörd

Since Jacob Grimm, the name of the apparently more or less sexless deity has often been thought to be identical to that of the North Germanic god Njörd (Nerður), which is why Nerthus is an early form of Njörd. The worship of Njörd as a ship god also fits the holy lake in the depiction of Tacitus.

Other representations see Nerthus and Njörd as siblings and a pair of gods, of which Tacitus only mentioned the female part, while the Snorra Edda later emphasized the male partner and changed the female to Skadi .

Recently, however, the connection between Nerthus and Njörd has been heavily questioned. Instead, the goddess Nerthus is seen more in the context of domestic affairs as she drives around the country. Such a bypass was found on an urn from Darżlubie near Gdynia in Poland. Frau Holle and Frau Perchta are the closest parallels and the actual late forms of Nerthus.

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Original text: Publius Cornelius Tacitus : De origine et situ Germanorum liber . Chapter XL. German translation: Anton Baumstark : The Germania of Tacitus . Freiburg im Breisgau 1876, Chapter 40, pp. 36/37.
  2. ↑ ALJ Michelsen: Of pre-Christian places of worship in our home. An antiquarian report. Schleswig 1878. Jens Raben: Kan Als være "Nerthus-Øen"? En lille Betragtning i Henhold til Tacitus' "Germania" chap. 40. In: Fra Als og Sundeved, 10th issue (1936), pp. 93-105. Michelsen and Raben argue both archaeologically (with Stone Age finds and barnacles on Als) and by name (e.g. the toponym Hellesø = "Holy Lake", today a wetland in northern Als, could be traced back to the Nerthus pond named by Tacitus).
  3. ^ Ludwig Bechstein: German book of legends . Meersburg 1930.
  4. ↑ Folke Ström: Nordiske hedendom. Göteborg 1961. S. 33 ff., Where he refers to PV Glob : Jernaldersmanden fra Grauballe . Appointed Kuml 1956.
  5. ↑ Rudolf Simek: Religion and Mythology of the Teutons . Darmstadt 2003, p. 148; Lotte Motz: The Godess Nerthus. A new approach. In: Amsterdam Contributions to Older German Studies . 1992. Vol. 36, pp. 1-19.

literature