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Frankish Mythology
The pagan religion of the Germanic tribal confederation of the Franks has been traced from its roots in polytheistic Germanic paganism through to the incorporation of Greco- Roman components in the Early Middle Ages. This religion flourished among the Franks until the conversion of the Merovingian king Clovis I to Nicene Christianity (c. 500), though there were many Frankish Christians before that. After Clovis I, Frankish paganism was gradually replaced by the process of Christianisation, but there were still pagans in the late 7th century. Pre-Christian traditions The majority of pagan Frankish beliefs may share similarities with that of other Germanic peoples. If so, then it may be possible to reconstruct the basic elements of Frankish traditional religion.Fabbro, p. 5. The migration era religion of the Franks likely shared many of its characteristics with the other varieties of Germanic paganism, such as placing altars in forest glens, on hilltops, or beside lakes and rive ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Freyja
In Norse mythology, Freyja (Old Norse "(the) Lady") is a goddess associated with love, beauty, fertility, sex, war, gold, and seiðr (magic for seeing and influencing the future). Freyja is the owner of the necklace Brísingamen, rides a chariot pulled by two cats, is accompanied by the boar Hildisvíni, and possesses a cloak of falcon feathers. By her husband Óðr, she is the mother of two daughters, Hnoss and Gersemi. Along with her twin brother Freyr, her father Njörðr, and her mother ( Njörðr's sister, unnamed in sources), she is a member of the Vanir. Stemming from Old Norse ''Freyja'', modern forms of the name include Freya, Freyia, and Freja. Freyja rules over her heavenly field, Fólkvangr, where she receives half of those who die in battle. The other half go to the god Odin's hall, Valhalla. Within Fólkvangr lies her hall, Sessrúmnir. Freyja assists other deities by allowing them to use her feathered cloak, is invoked in matters of fertility and love, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Classical Antiquity
Classical antiquity, also known as the classical era, classical period, classical age, or simply antiquity, is the period of cultural History of Europe, European history between the 8th century BC and the 5th century AD comprising the interwoven civilizations of ancient Greece and ancient Rome, Rome known together as the Greco-Roman world, centered on the Mediterranean Basin. It is the period during which ancient Greece and Rome flourished and had major influence throughout much of Europe, North Africa, and West Asia. Classical antiquity was succeeded by the period now known as late antiquity. Conventionally, it is often considered to begin with the earliest recorded Homeric Greek, Epic Greek poetry of Homer (8th–7th centuries BC) and end with the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 AD. Such a wide span of history and territory covers many disparate cultures and periods. ''Classical antiquity'' may also refer to an idealized vision among later people of what was, in Ed ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Origin Myth
An origin myth is a type of myth that explains the beginnings of a natural or social aspect of the world. Creation myths are a type of origin myth narrating the formation of the universe. However, numerous cultures have stories that take place after the initial origin. These stories aim to explain the origins of natural phenomena or human institutions within an already existing world. In Greco-Roman scholarship, the terms founding myth or etiological myth (from 'cause') are occasionally used to describe a myth that clarifies an origin, particularly how an object or custom came into existence. In modern political discourse the terms "founding myth", "foundational myth", etc. are often used as critical references to official or widely accepted narratives about the origins or early history of a nation, a society, a culture, etc. Nature of origin myths Origin myths are narratives that explain how a particular reality came into existence.Eliade 1963, p. 21 They often serve to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aeneas
In Greco-Roman mythology, Aeneas ( , ; from ) was a Troy, Trojan hero, the son of the Trojan prince Anchises and the Greek goddess Aphrodite (equivalent to the Roman Venus (mythology), Venus). His father was a first cousin of King Priam of Troy (both being grandsons of Ilus (son of Tros), Ilus, founder of Troy), making Aeneas a second cousin to Priam's List of children of Priam, children (such as Hector and Paris (mythology), Paris). He is a minor character in Greek mythology and is mentioned in Homer's ''Iliad''. Aeneas receives full treatment in Roman mythology, most extensively in Virgil's ''Aeneid'', where he is cast as an ancestor of Romulus and Remus. He became the first true hero of Rome. Snorri Sturluson identifies him with the Norse god Víðarr of the Æsir.The Prose Edda of Snorri Sturlson Translated by Arthur Gilchrist Brodeur [1916] Prologue II at Internet Sacred Texts Archive. Accessed 11/14/17 Etymology Aeneas is the Romanization of Greek, Romanization of the h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Childeric I
Childeric I (died 481 AD) was a Frankish leader in the northern part of imperial Roman Gaul and a member of the Merovingian dynasty, described as a king (Latin ''rex''), both on his Roman-style seal ring, which was buried with him, and in fragmentary later records of his life. He was father of Clovis I, who acquired effective control over all or most Frankish kingdoms, and a significant part of Roman Gaul. Biography Most of early Merovingian history is based on the account of the 6th-century Gregory of Tours. The date of Childeric's accession is not given in the text, but it was after emperor Avitus' death in December 456II. 11. The only certain date is the Battle of Vouillé in 507; most of Gregory's other statements are contradictory. Childeric's father is recorded by several sources to have been Merovech, after whom the dynasty is named. Gregory (II.9) says that Merovech was reputed by some to be a descendant of Chlodio, an earlier Frankish king who had conquered Gaulish ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Merovech
Merovech (; ; 411 – 458) was the ancestor of the Merovingian dynasty. He was reportedly a king of the Salian Franks, but records of his existence are mixed with legend and myth. The most important written source, Gregory of Tours, recorded that Merovech was said to be descended from Chlodio, a roughly contemporary Frankish warlord who pushed from the Silva Carbonaria in modern central Belgium as far south as the Somme, north of Paris in modern-day France. His supposed descendants, the kings Childeric I and Clovis I, are the first well-attested Merovingians. He may have been one of several barbarian warlords and kings that joined forces with the Roman general Aetius against the Huns under Attila at the Battle of the Catalaunian Plains in Gaul in 451. Name The name ''Merovech'' is related to ''Marwig'', (compare modern Dutch "news, rumour", "famous" as well as "fight" with -''vech''). Historical accounts There is little information about him in the later histories of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Freyr
Freyr (Old Norse: 'Lord'), sometimes anglicized as Frey, is a widely attested Æsir, god in Norse mythology, associated with kingship, fertility, peace, prosperity, fair weather, and good harvest. Freyr, sometimes referred to as Yngvi-Freyr, was especially associated with Sweden and seen as an ancestor of the Yngling, Swedish royal house. According to Adam of Bremen, Freyr was associated with peace and pleasure, and was represented with a phallus, phallic statue in the Temple at Uppsala. According to Snorri Sturluson, Freyr was "the most renowned of the æsir", and was venerated for good harvest and peace. In the mythological stories in the Icelandic books the ''Poetic Edda'' and the ''Prose Edda'', Freyr is presented as one of the Vanir, the son of the god Njörðr and Sister-wife of Njörðr, his sister-wife, as well as the twin brother of the goddess Freyja. The gods gave him Álfheimr, the realm of the Álfar, Elves, as a teething present. He rides the shining Norse dwarves, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yngvi
Old Norse Yngvi , Old High German Ing/Ingwi and Old English Ing are names that relate to a Lists of deities, theonym which appears to have been the older List of names of Freyr, name for the god Freyr. Proto-Germanic language, Proto-Germanic Ingwaz was the legendary ancestor of the Ingaevones, or more accurately ''Ingvaeones'', and is also the reconstructed name of the Elder Futhark runes, rune ᛜ and Anglo-Saxon runes, Anglo-Saxon rune ᛝ, representing ''ŋ''. Etymology Old Norse ''Yngvi'' as well as Old High German ''Inguin'' and Old English ''Ingƿine'' are all derived from the Proto-Germanic language, Proto-Germanic *Ingwaz. Sound changes in late-Proto-Germanic transformed *Ingwaz into *Ingwi(z) in the nominative case and *''Ingwin'' in the accusative case. His epithet *Fraujaz appears in Old Norse compounds ''Ingvifreyr'' and ''Ingunarfreyr''. In Beowulf we see Hrothgar called (OE) ''fréa inguina'', which means 'Lord of the Inguins', i.e. lord of the Ingvaeones, the 'fri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nerthus
In Germanic paganism, Nerthus is a goddess associated with a ceremonial wagon procession. Nerthus is attested by first century A.D. Roman historian Tacitus in his ethnographic work ''Germania''. In ''Germania'', Tacitus records that a group of Germanic peoples were particularly distinguished by their veneration of the goddess. Tacitus describes the wagon procession in some detail: Nerthus's cart is found on an unspecified island in the "ocean", where it is kept in a sacred grove and draped in white cloth. Only a priest may touch it. When the priest detects Nerthus's presence by the cart, the cart is drawn by heifers. Nerthus's cart is met with celebration and peacetime everywhere it goes, and during her procession no one goes to war and all iron objects are locked away. In time, after the goddess has had her fill of human company, the priest returns the cart to her "temple" and slaves ritually wash the goddess, her cart, and the cloth in a "secluded lake". According to Tacitus, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
