South Germanic deities

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List of South Germanic deities and mythical heroes: Balder , Donar , Fol , Folla , Fositae , Fricco , Frîja , Gaus , Hathagât , Hirmin , Iring , Saxnôte , Sinthgunt , Sunna , Wieland , Wodan / Wuotan , Wurth , Zîu . * Ôstara , * Frô are not attested to, but are often mentioned in the literature . In addition, there are other pseudo deities such as Cisa , Krodo or Stuffo , who are rejected by research.

In general ethnography - from south to north - the southern Germans include Lombards , Alemanni , Bavarians , Thuringians , Franks , Saxons and Frisians .

Germanic deities in the early medieval tradition

Balder

In the second Merseburg magic spell mentioned , where it possibly got into it as a gloss . Paltar has been handed down as a personal name .

Discussion : After a re-evaluation of the Merseburg magic spells, Wolfgang Beck comes to the conclusion that Phol Wodan and Balder are different characters. See also fol .

Donar

Thunder god. His name appears on the Nordendorfer rune clasp as Wîgi-Þonar ( ᚹᛁᚷᛁᚦᛟᚾᚨᚱ ; "Kampf-Donner" or "Weihe-Donner"), in the Old Saxon abjuration formula as Thunaer and in a letter in verse form to Charlemagne from Paulus Deacon : Thonar . Two old high German, difficult to interpret spells against epilepsy (Parisian blessing 1; St. Emmeraner blessing = Contra caducum morbum ) are interesting . The blessings begin with the words: Donerdutigo dietewigo or Donerdutiger dietmahtiger . This is probably an ancient pagan call from the god of thunder: "Donar confidante, the people's fighter (or pond)!" The personal names Albthonar , Donarpendet , Donarad and as. Thunerulf have been handed down. It is known to Donareiche ( Quercus robur Iovis ) in Geismar , which was precipitated by Boniface. A chapel for St. Peter was built from the wood.

Discussion : The Germanic gods were partially incorporated into Christian saints. Some versions of the old German horse blessing show that Wodan in St. Michael and Fol in St. Stefan . have risen, while Donar lives on in St. Peter , who is still responsible for the weather today. But other saints may also have entered locally.

Fol

Only in the second Merseburg magic spell handed down as Phol . This god goes into the forest with Wôdan to correct the injured foot of Balder's foal. Several goddesses conjure up the horse. Finally, Wôdan , who "could do it" , goes to work.

Discussion : Fol and Folla correspond in all probability to the Nordic pair of gods Freyr and Freyja , gods of fertility. The name Folla also means "abundance". An equation of Fol with the Nordic Balder is not mandatory because of the magic spell.

Folla

Only in the second Merseburg magic spell handed down as Uolla , sister of Friia . This goddess is also mentioned in the Edda as Fulla and is there servant of the goddess Frigg , the Nordic equivalent of Frîja .

Fricco

In a capitular of the year 802 of Charlemagne , the penalties for fornication are set, whereby these practices are described as "as they were first practiced by Fricco". Since Adam von Bremen now names the fertility god Fricco , worshiped there, in his description of the temple in Uppsala and this is represented with a huge priapos , Fricco may have been the name of the Saxon fertility god.

Discussion : The founding date of the Freckenhorst Monastery indicates that there was once a shrine of Fricco and possibly his sister: The swineherd Freckyo drove the pigs of his master Evverwordus ("Eberward") into the forest and saw a mysterious light where the latter then built a monastery and named it after his servant. In Scandinavian mythology, the god Freyr rides a boar.

Frîja

In the legend of the origin of the Lombards , is Frea , the wife of Odin , by the brothers Ibor and Agio on the advice of her mother Gambara to victory in the fight against the Vandals worshiped. Frea outsmarts her husband so that he gives victory to the Lombards. In the second Merseburg magic spell, Friia and her sister Volla try to heal the fallen foal. The so-called magical goddess on five bracteates ( Welschingen , Southwest Germany , Oberwerschen , Großfahner ) should represent the mother of the gods Frîja according to the evidence of the bracteate hoard of Gudme on Funen (Denmark) .

Afterlife : A legendary figure Fru Freke lives on in northern Germany . The name is not a form of aisl. Frigg , but diminutive of Frija as there WODAN as Wedke lives.

Saxnôt

Only mentioned in the old Saxon abjuration formula. Its function is unknown and research opinions differ. Among the Anglo-Saxons , a son of Wóden is named Saxnéat . The name means "fellow sword".

Sinhtgunt

In Merseburg's magic spell, the sister of Sunna .

Discussion : The interpretations of the goddess diverge. Whether, as the sister of the sun goddess, she inevitably has to be a moon goddess is questionable, especially since in Germanic the moon is always thought of as male, see Máni .

Sunnah

Sun goddess. Only mentioned in the second Merseburg magic spell together with her sister Sinhtgunt .

Wieland

The blacksmith . Mythical hero. In the heroic poem Walthari Manufortis , written in Latin, the protagonist's sword is called fabrica Vuielandia .

Discussion : A runic inscription from Pforzen reads: Aigil andi Aïlrûn, elahun gasôkun. (Aigil and Ailrûn condemned the elk.) Since in the Nordic heroic saga Egill , Völundr's brother is married to the Valkyrie Ölrún , a connection between the runic inscription and the Wieland legend is assumed. But the interpretation is controversial.

Wodan / Wuotan

Main god. He is the best attested god, yet his essence remains unclear and can really only be understood by comparison with the Nordic Odin . In the Lombard legend, Wodan / Gwodan is asked for victory by the vandals , but gives him to the Longobards by outwitting his wife Frea . This legend has been handed down in several versions, for example in the Origo gentis Langobardorum , in Gottfried von Viterbo , the Dane Saxo Grammaticus and in the Lombard scholar Paulus Diaconus . The latter also wrote a poem about a Danish king, in which he the gods wading and Thonar calls. The name form corresponds most closely to the Alemannic form Woatan , which has been passed down as a personal name (next to Wôtan and Wuotan ).

The Vita Columbani reports a beer sacrifice that the residents on Lake Constance in Bregenz the Woden offer. Mentioned is the God on the rune clasp of Nordendorf : ( ᚹᛟᛞᚨᚾ ) here along with Wigi-Thonar . Whether the logathore ( ᛚᛟᚷᚨᚦᛟᚱᛖ ) mentioned in the same inscription denotes a god or is to be translated as "liar" remains controversial. Similarly, in an Alemannic gloss, Wôtan is translated as "tyrannus, herus malus" . In the second Merseburg spell , he appears as a capable magician who heals an injured horse. When the Saxons were converted, they had to renounce the gods " Thunaer , Uuoden and Saxnote and all those fiends who are their comrades" according to the Saxon baptismal vows. The authenticity of Kärlich's rune clasp is controversial and bears the inscription "Wodani hailag" ( ᚹᛟᛞᚨᚾᛁ ᛡᚨᛁᛚᚨᚷ ) ("Holy to Wôdan"). In contrast, the rune stone from Arguel (sv Besançon ) is definitely a forgery. The god is obviously also depicted on the bracteates from Daxlanden and Aschersheim .

Nachleben : The legends of the Angry Army or the Wild Hunt are known . It is documented for the first time in the high medieval night blessing from Munich , where Wutanes and all sine one are spoken of.

Zîo

The name is only passed down as the name of the ᛠ rune, a variation of the old ᛏ rune. It is included in the name of Tuesday, ahd. Ciestag and today still Alemannic Ziischtig . As a personal name we know a Ziolf ("Zîo-Wolf").

Discussion : Whether the peoples name Cyuuari Suuapa goes back to the god remains questionable, more likely it is a prescription from * Raetiwari d. i. "Inhabitants of Raetia ".

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Wolfgang Beck: The Merseburg magic spells. Wiesbaden 2003.
  2. ^ Karl Neff: The poems of Paulus Diaconus. Munich 1908.
  3. ↑ Verena Holzmann: I woo you worm and wyrmin…. Vienna 2001, ISBN 3-906758-65-6 .
  4. ↑ Åke v. Ström: Germanic religion. Mainz 1975
  5. ↑ Wolfgang Beck: The Merseburg magic spells. Wiesbaden 2003.
  6. ↑ Capitulare Missorum Generale : §33; Cod. Paris. 4613 fol. 91.
  7. ^ Wilhelm Kohl: A Germanic cult site as the predecessor of a Saxon women's monastery. In: Irene Crusius : Contributions to the history and structure of the medieval Germania Sacra. Goettingen 1989.
  8. ↑ Karl Hauck: The necklace find from Gudme in Funen…. In: The Franks and the Alamanni up to the Battle of Zülpich (supplementary volume to RGA 19). Berlin 1998.
  9. ↑ Erika Timm : Frau Holle, Frau Percht and related figures. Hirzel, Stuttgart 2003, ISBN 3-7776-1230-8 .
  10. ^ Alfred Bammesberger, Gaby Waxenberger: Pforzen and Bergakker. Göttingen 1999.
  11. ^ Karl Neff: The poems of Paulus Diaconus. Munich 1908

literature

  • Jacob Grimm: German Mythology . Marix Verlag, Wiesbaden 2007, ISBN 978-3-86539-143-8 .
  • Wolfgang Golther: Handbook of Germanic mythology . Marix, Wiesbaden 2004.
  • Jan de Vries: Old Germanic history of religion (=  outline of Germanic philology . Volume 1 , no. 12/1 ). 3rd unchanged edition. de Gruyter, Berlin 1970, ISBN 3-11-086548-3 , doi : 10.1515 / 9783110865486 ( books.google.de - Introduction. Prehistoric periods; Religious foundations of life; Belief in the soul and spirits; Power and strength; The sacred and the Cult forms ).
  • Jan de Vries: Old Germanic history of religion (=  outline of Germanic philology . Volume 2 , no. 12/2 ). 3rd unchanged edition. de Gruyter, Berlin 1970, ISBN 3-11-002807-7 , doi : 10.1515 / 9783110855197 ( books.google.de - The gods. Ideas about the cosmos of the fall of paganism ).
  • Åke V. Ström, Haralds Biezais : Germanic and Baltic religion . Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 1975, ISBN 3-17-001157-X .
  • Karl Hauck, Klaus Düwel, Morten Axboe, U. Clavadetscher, L. v. Padberg: The gold bracteates of the migration period (=  Münster medieval writings . No. 24 ). Fink, Munich 1985, OCLC 489963743 ( digitized [accessed on May 27, 2019] iconographic catalog; 3 volumes in 7 parts, 1985–1989).
  • Rudolf Simek : Lexicon of Germanic Mythology (= Kröner's pocket edition . Volume 368). 3rd, completely revised edition. Kröner, Stuttgart 2006, ISBN 3-520-36803-X .
  • Rudolf Simek: Religion and Mythology of the Teutons . WBG, Darmstadt 2003, ISBN 3-534-16910-7 .
  • Rudolf Simek: Gods and Cults of the Teutons . Beck, Munich 2004, ISBN 3-406-50835-9 .
  • Wolfgang Beck: The Merseburg magic spells . Wiesbaden 2003, ISBN 3-89500-300-X .