Veleda

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Veleda was a Germanic seer from the Brukterer tribe at the time of Vespasian . It is of historical importance through its participation in the Batavian revolt of Julius Civilis , in which it prophesied victory for the rebellious Teutons.

Historical events

According to Tacitus (Hist., IV, 61, 65), Veleda was a Germanic seer from the Brukterer tribe. The virgin, tall according to Tacitus, lived withdrawn from the profane environment in a tower not far from the Lippe . In this function, the seer communicated only through relatives who transmitted the inquiries and answers.

Munius Lupercus, the legate of the XV. Legion, was captured in the Batavian uprising in 69/70 after the conquest of the Vetera camp near Xanten . He was sent to the seer by the conquerors under Julius Civilis, but he was killed on the way for unknown reasons. The Brukterer and the residents of Cologne, who saw themselves threatened by the Teutons, negotiated with each other, with Veleda and Iulius Civilis being called on as arbitrators. Quintus Petilius Cerialis contacted the two arbitrators to end the war. Veleda had predicted the revolt of the Batavians under Civilis and the victory of the Batavians, which after Tacitus had given her a great increase in prestige. Possibly Tacitus saw the seer in Rome personally. After the Batavian revolt was suppressed, Veleda was captured or granted asylum by the Romans in 77.

From a mocking pigram on Veleda, which was discovered in 1926 near Ardea , not far from Rome, and which is written in the form of an oracle, it was believed that the town was temporarily the place of residence of the Veleda.

Tradition and name etymology

The name is Tacitus among the Latin and Greek writers (hist. 4,61,2; hist. 4,65,3.4; hist. 5,22,3; hist. 5,24,1; Germ. 8,2) in the spellings veleda , velaeda , Statius (Silv. 1,4,90) as veleda and Cassius Dio (67,5,3) as οὐλήδαν (Hss. also βελήδαν ), as well as inscribed (Ardeatine inscription, 2nd century AD) . Chr .: Βεληδαν… μακρῆς περὶ παρθέν […] ἣν οἳ Ῥηνοπόται σέβουσιν ‚Veleda ... about the long virgin (...) who the Rhine water drinkers adore ') as Βεληδαν testified. The quantity of the middle vowel - e - is uncertain . While this appears metrically short in Statius, the spelling - ae - in Tacitus and - η - in Cassius Dio and inscribed to a long - e - seem to point. Since the adaptation of vowel quantities into the Roman metric scheme is common for foreign names , while the vowel length is documented in three different sources, the name will be used as Velēda . The name is put to Gallic * veled-, Irish filid (see also Druid ).

reception

Veleda, seer of the Germanic tribes Illustration from 1882

In the romantic magic game in five acts written by August von Kotzebue , Die Kluge Frau im Walde, or Der dumme Ritter (1801), “Welleda” has the title role.

In 1818 she became the heroine of the novel Welleda and Ganna by Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué, which is now probably part of the fantasy genre .

In the GDR , the well-known children's book The Guardians of Veleda by Rolf Kahl was published in the 1960s .

The anthroposophic pharmaceutical company Weleda is named after the Germanic seer Veleda .

A plaque commemorates her in the Walhalla near Regensburg .

The asteroid (126) Velleda was named after her.

The Dutch metal band Heidevolk dedicated the instrumental piece Veleda to her on their 2012 album Batavi .

literature

Web links

Commons : Veleda  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Remarks

  1. ^ Rudolf Simek: Females as Cult Functionaries or Ritual Specialists in the Germanic Iron Age? In: Between Text and Practice. Mythology, Religion and Research , special issue of the Retrospective Methods Network Newsletter 10 (2015) 71–78, here: p. 73.
  2. ^ Rudolf Simek: Lexicon of Germanic Mythology (= Kröner's pocket edition. Volume 368). 3rd, completely revised edition. Kröner, Stuttgart 2006, ISBN 3-520-36803-X , p. 464.


personal data
SURNAME Veleda
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Weleda; Velaeda
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Germanic seer
DATE OF BIRTH 1st century BC BC or 1st century
DATE OF DEATH 1st century or 2nd century