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Nerthus
In Germanic paganism, Nerthus is a goddess associated with a ceremonial wagon procession. Nerthus is attested by first century AD 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, the s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Germanic Paganism
Germanic paganism or Germanic religion refers to the traditional, culturally significant religion of the Germanic peoples. With a chronological range of at least one thousand years in an area covering Scandinavia, the British Isles, modern Germany, and at times other parts of Europe, the beliefs and practices of Germanic paganism varied. Scholars typically assume some degree of continuity between Roman-era beliefs and those found in Norse paganism, as well as between Germanic religion and reconstructed Indo-European religion and post-conversion folklore, though the precise degree and details of this continuity are subjects of debate. Germanic religion was influenced by neighboring cultures, including that of the Celts, the Romans, and, later, by Christian religion. Very few sources exist that were written by pagan adherents themselves; instead, most were written by outsiders and can thus can present problems for reconstructing authentic Germanic beliefs and practices. Some bas ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Njörðr
In Norse mythology, Njörðr (Old Norse: ) is a god among the Vanir. Njörðr, father of the deities Freyr and Freyja by his unnamed sister, was in an ill-fated marriage with the goddess Skaði, lives in Nóatún and is associated with the sea, seafaring, wind, fishing, wealth, and crop fertility. Njörðr is attested in the ''Poetic Edda'', compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources, the ''Prose Edda'', written in the 13th century by Snorri Sturluson, in euhemerized form as a beloved mythological early king of Sweden in ''Heimskringla'', also written by Snorri Sturluson in the 13th century, as one of three gods invoked in the 14th century ''Hauksbók'' ring oath, and in numerous Scandinavian place names. Veneration of Njörðr survived into the 18th or 19th century Norwegian folk practice, where the god is recorded as Njor and thanked for a bountiful catch of fish. Njörðr has been the subject of an amount of scholarly discourse and theory, often conne ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sacred Trees And Groves In Germanic Paganism And Mythology
Trees hold a particular role in Germanic paganism and Germanic mythology, both as individuals ( sacred trees) and in groups (sacred groves). The central role of trees in Germanic religion is noted in the earliest written reports about the Germanic peoples, with the Roman historian Tacitus stating that Germanic cult practices took place exclusively in groves rather than Heathen hofs, temples. Scholars consider that reverence for and rites performed at individual trees are derived from the mythological role of the world tree, Yggdrasil; Onomastics, onomastic and some historical evidence also connects individual Germanic gods, deities to both groves and individual trees. After Christianisation of the Germanic peoples, Christianisation, trees continue to play a significant role in the folk beliefs of the Germanic peoples. Terminology The pagan Germanic peoples referred to holy places by a variety of terms and many of these terms variously referred to stones, groves, and temple structur ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sister-wife Of Njörðr
In Norse mythology, the sister-wife of Njörðr is the unnamed wife and sister of the god Njörðr, with whom he is described as having had the (likewise incestuous) twin children Freyr and Freyja. This shadowy goddess is attested in the '' Poetic Edda'' poem '' Lokasenna'', recorded in the 13th century by an unknown source, and the ''Heimskringla'' book ''Ynglinga saga'', a euhemerized account of the Norse gods composed by Snorri Sturluson also in the 13th century but based on earlier traditional material. The figure receives no further mention in Old Norse texts. The situation is further complicated in that narratives describing the birth of Freyr and Freyja contradictorily cite the birth of the siblings occurring either after or before Njörðr left Vanaheimr to live among the Æsir. In addition, Freyr is referred to as the "son" of Njörðr and the goddess Skaði in the ''Poetic Edda'' poem ''Skírnismál''. In his first-century work ''Germania'', Tacitus describes rituals ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dejbjerg Wagon
The Dejbjerg wagon (Danish ''Dejbjergvognen'') is a composite of two ceremonial wagons found in a peat bog in Dejbjerg near Ringkøbing in western Jutland, Denmark. These votive deposits were dismantled and ritually placed in the bog around 100 BCE. As of 2022, the wagon is on display at the National Museum of Denmark. Cultural context The two wagons belong to a larger phenomenon of intentional placement of objects in bogs, generally interpreted as sacrifices to gods. The Dejbjerg Wagon was discovered during a period of intense peat bog extraction that occurred in the 19th and 20th centuries, largely by non-archaeologists. These excavations yielded many items dating from the entirety of the prehistic period but especially from the Iron Age. Many of these objects include everyday items like ceramic vessels and wooden objects, but also more prestigious items, like war booty, the Dejbjerg Wagon, and the Gundestrup Cauldron. In addition to ritually placed objects, bog deposits include ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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