Semnonenhain
The Semnonenhain is the place of worship of the Semnones , which is described in Tacitus ' Germania around 100 AD. It is a special form of a sacred grove , which is also known as a bondage grove or bondage forest . According to Tacitus, a human sacrifice took place in the grove. Sacrifice is said to have been a connecting element of the Suebi tribes . A bondage grove ( Fjöturlund ) is also mentioned in the song Edda in the second song by Helgi dem Hundingstöter . There is obviously an analogy between the two groves that the old Germanist Otto Höfler tried to prove. According to Höfler, the victim was not a lowly, but a chosen one who voluntarily took on his fate.
swell
Tacitus describes the bondage grove as follows:
“Stato tempore in silvam auguriis patrum et prisca formidine sacram omnes eiusdemque sanguinis populi legationibus coeunt caesoque publice homine celebrant barbari ritus horrenda primordia. Est et alia luco reverentia: nemo nisi vinculo ligatus ingreditur, ut minor et potestatem numinis prae se ferens. si forte prolapsus est, attolli et insurgere haud licitum: per humum evolvuntur. eoque omnis superstitio respicit, tamquam inde initia gentis, ibi regnator omnium deus, cetera subiecta atque parentia. "
“At a certain time all the tribes of the same blood, represented by emissaries, meet in a grove that is sanctified by the omens seen by the fathers and by ancient awe. There they initiate the horrific celebration of their raw custom with public human sacrifice. The grove is also worshiped in other ways: no one enters it unless he is tied up to show his submission and the power of the deity. If someone falls down, he must not allow himself to be picked up or stand up himself; on the ground he rolls out. Overall, the cult is based on the belief that the tribe is derived from there, that the ruling God lives there, to whom everything is subject and obedient. "
In the song Helgakviða Hundingsbana II it says:
"Var Helgi eigi gamall. Dagr, Högna sonr, blótaði Óðin til föðurhefnda. Óðinn léði Dag geirs síns. Dagr fann Helga, mág sinn, þar sem heitir at Fioturlundi. Hann lagði í gognom Helga með geirnom. Þar fell Helgi. "
“ Helgi didn't get old. Dag, Högni's son, sacrificed Odin for his father's vengeance. Odin lent his spear to Dag. Dag met Helgi, his brother-in-law at the place called Fjöturlund (Fesselhain). He pierced Helgi with the spear. There he fell. "
Localization
A specific location has not yet been found. There are a number of theories. In summary, the following criteria are used to locate the grove:
- It must be in the settlement area of the Semnones, i.e. between the Oder and Elbe . The closest possible settlement should be proven.
- The grove should be in an exposed location, for example on a trade route, on a mountain or by a significant stone.
The Brandenburg historian Johannes Schultze located the grove in Zootzen , a district of Friesack , where an old story has been passed down that is reminiscent of the Fesselhain. Rathenow city archivist Rudolf Guthjahr (1904–1988) settled the Semnonenhain between Nauen and Velten in the Krämer Forest . There were also suggestions to look for the grove in Blumenthal near Prötzel or in the Rauener Mountains . In addition to the hilly landscape, the large margrave stones and the adjacent Scharmützelsee speak for the Rauener Mountains .
Wolfgang Ribbe rejects these places because they lie outside the Semnonian settlement area and instead advocates the densely populated Havelland. However, recent research indicates that there has been a more dense settlement in eastern “Brandenburg” than previously assumed. Thus, with Susudata (Fürstenwalde) and Colancorum (Küstrin), two trading cities in eastern Brandenburg could be identified.
literature
- Alfred Ebenbauer : Faith in origin, god of rulership and human sacrifice - observations on the Semnon cult. In: Antiquitates Indogermanicae: Studies on Indo-European antiquity and on the linguistic and cultural history of the Indo-European peoples. Commemorative publication for Hermann Güntert on the 25th anniversary of his death on April 23, 1973. University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck 1974, ISBN 3-85124-520-2 , pp. 233–249, digitized .
- Otto Höfler : The victim in the Semnonenhain and the Edda. In: Hermann Schneider (Hrsg.): Edda, Skalden, Saga. Festschrift for Felix Genzmer's 70th birthday . Heidelberg 1952, DNB 451042751 , pp. 1-67.
- Rudolf Much : The Germania of Tacitus. 3. Edition. Wolfgang Lange (Ed.) With the collaboration of Herbert Jankuhn . Publishing house C. Winter, Heidelberg 1967.
- Wolfgang Ribbe : History of Berlin. Volume 1. Berlin 1986, ISBN 3-7678-0681-9 , pp. 35-38.
- Jan de Vries : Old Germanic history of religion. 3. Edition. Berlin 1970.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Heinrich Beck: Human sacrifice in literary tradition. Pp. 240-258.
- ^ Rudolf Simek : Lexicon of Germanic Mythology (= Kröner's pocket edition . Volume 368). 3rd, completely revised edition. Kröner, Stuttgart 2006, ISBN 3-520-36803-X .
- ↑ Otto Höfler: The Sacrifice in the Semnonenhain and the Edda. In: Hermann Schneider (Hrsg.): Edda, Skalden, Saga. Festschrift for Felix Genzmer's 70th birthday. Heidelberg 1952, pp. 1-67.
- ^ Translation by Arnulf Krause: Die Götter- und Heldenlieder der Älteren Edda. Reclam Verlag, Stuttgart 2004, ISBN 3-15-050047-8 , p. 289.
- ↑ Johannes Schultze: The Mark Brandenburg. Volume 1: Origin and development under the Ascanian margraves (until 1319). Duncker & Humblot Publishing House, Berlin 1961, p. 18.
- ↑ http://www.die-mark-online.de/nachrichten/lokales/landkreis-havelland/rathenow/kaiser-augustus-havelland-978479.html ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatic marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ Georg FG Goltz: Diplomatic Chronicle Fürstenwalde. Fürstenwalde 1837, pp. 9-10.
- ^ Andreas Kleineberg, Christian Marx, Eberhard Knobloch, Dieter Lelgemann : Germania and the island of Thule. The decryption of Ptolemy's "Atlas of the Oikumene". Scientific Book Society, 2010.
