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Continental Germanic Mythology
Continental Germanic mythology formed an element within Germanic paganism as practiced in parts of Central Europe occupied by Germanic peoples up to and including the 6th to 8th centuries (the period of Germanic Christianization). Traces of some of the myths lived on in legends and in the Middle High German epics of the Middle Ages. Echoes of the stories, with the sacred elements largely removed, may appear throughout European folklore and in European fairy tales. Tribes The mythologies of the following tribes are included in this category: *Lombards (source: Paulus Diaconus) *Alamanni (see: Nordendorf fibula, Pforzen buckle) *Franks and Thuringii (see: Frankish mythology, Donar's Oak) *Saxons (see: Irminsul) *Frisii (source: Life of Saint Willibrord) * Baiuvarii Paganism Compared to North Germanic and, to a lesser extent, Anglo-Saxon mythology, examples of Continental Germanic paganism are extremely fragmentary. Besides a handful of brief Elder Futhark inscriptions ... [...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 dating, chronological range of at least one thousand years in an area covering Scandinavia, the British Isles, modern Germany, the Netherlands, and at times other parts of Europe, the beliefs and practices of Germanic paganism varied. Scholars typically assume some degree of continuity between the beliefs and practices of the Roman era 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 Roman people, Romans, and, later, by Christianity. Very few sources exist that were written by pagan adherents themselves; instead, most were written by outsiders and can thus present problems for ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thuringii
The Thuringii, or Thuringians were a Germanic people who lived in the kingdom of the Thuringians that appeared during the late Migration Period south of the Harz Mountains of central Germania, a region still known today as Thuringia. The Thuringian kingdom came into conflict with the Merovingian Franks, and it later came under their influence and Frankish control as a stem duchy. The name is still used for one of modern Germany's federal states ('' Bundesländer''). First appearances The Thuringians do not appear in classical Roman texts under that name, but some have suggested that they were the remnants of the Suebic Hermanduri, the last part of whose name (''-duri'') could represent the same sound as (''-thuri'') and the Germanic suffix ''-ing'', suggests a meaning of "descendants of (the ermanuri)". This people were living near the Marcomanni. Tacitus, in his ''Germania'', describes their homeland as being where the Elbe starts, but also having colonies at the Danube, and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Merseburg Incantations
The Merseburg charms, Merseburg spells, or Merseburg incantations () are two medieval magic spells, charms or incantations, written in Old High German. They are the only known examples of Germanic pagan belief preserved in the language. They were discovered in 1841 by Georg Waitz, who found them in a theological manuscript from Fulda, written in the 9th century, although there remains some speculation about the date of the charms themselves. The manuscript (Cod. 136 f. 85a) is stored in the library of the cathedral chapter of Merseburg, hence the name. The Merseburg charms have been the subject of notable study since their discovery. History The Merseburg charms are the only known surviving relics of pre-Christian, pagan poetry in Old High German literature. The charms were recorded in the 10th century by a cleric, possibly in the abbey of Fulda, on a blank page of a liturgical book, which later passed to the library at Merseburg. The charms have thus been transmitted in Carol ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Old High German
Old High German (OHG; ) is the earliest stage of the German language, conventionally identified as the period from around 500/750 to 1050. Rather than representing a single supra-regional form of German, Old High German encompasses the numerous West Germanic languages, West Germanic dialects that had undergone the set of sound change, consonantal changes called the High German consonant shift, Second Sound Shift. At the start of this period, dialect areas reflected the territories of largely independent tribal kingdoms, but by 788 the conquests of Charlemagne had brought all OHG dialect areas into a single polity. The period also saw the development of a stable linguistic border between German and Gallo-Romance languages, Gallo-Romance, later French language, French. Old High German largely preserved the synthetic language, synthetic inflectional system inherited from its ancestral Germanic forms. The eventual disruption of these patterns, which led to the more analytic language ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Elder Futhark
The Elder Futhark (or Fuþark, ), also known as the Older Futhark, Old Futhark, or Germanic Futhark, is the oldest form of the runic alphabets. It was a writing system used by Germanic peoples for Northwest Germanic dialects in the Migration Period. Inscriptions are found on artifacts including jewelry, amulets, plateware, tools, and weapons, as well as runestones, from the 2nd to the 8th centuries. In Scandinavia, beginning in the late 8th century, the script was simplified to the Younger Futhark, while the Anglo-Saxons and Frisians instead extended it, giving rise to the Anglo-Saxon runes, Anglo-Saxon futhorc. Both the Anglo-Saxon futhorc and the Younger Futhark remained in use during the Early Middle Ages, Early and the High Middle Ages respectively, but knowledge of how to read the Elder Futhark was forgotten until 1865, when it was deciphered by Norwegian scholar Sophus Bugge. Description The Elder Futhark is named after the initial phoneme of the first six rune names: /f/ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paganism
Paganism (, later 'civilian') is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions other than Christianity, Judaism, and Samaritanism. In the time of the Roman Empire, individuals fell into the pagan class either because they were increasingly rural and provincial relative to the Christian population, or because they were not '' milites Christi'' (soldiers of Christ).J. J. O'Donnell (1977)''Paganus'': Evolution and Use, ''Classical Folia'', 31: 163–69. Alternative terms used in Christian texts were '' hellene'', '' gentile'', and '' heathen''. Ritual sacrifice was an integral part of ancient Greco-Roman religion and was regarded as an indication of whether a person was pagan or Christian. Paganism has broadly connoted the "religion of the peasantry". During and after the Middle Ages, the term ''paganism'' was applied to any non-Christian religion, and the term presumed a belief in fal ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anglo-Saxon Mythology
Anglo-Saxon paganism, sometimes termed Anglo-Saxon heathenism, Anglo-Saxon pre-Christian religion, Anglo-Saxon traditional religion, or Anglo-Saxon polytheism refers to the religious beliefs and practices followed by the Anglo-Saxons between the 5th and 8th centuries AD, during the initial period of Early Medieval England. A variant of Germanic paganism found across much of north-western Europe, it encompassed a heterogeneous variety of beliefs and cultic practices, with much regional variation. Developing from the earlier Iron Age religion of continental northern Europe, it was introduced to Britain following the Anglo-Saxon migration in the mid 5th century, and remained the dominant belief system in England until the Christianisation of its kingdoms between the 7th and 8th centuries, with some aspects gradually blending into folklore. The pejorative terms ''paganism'' and ''heathenism'' were first applied to this religion by Christianised Anglo-Saxons, and it does not appe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Norse Mythology
Norse, Nordic, or Scandinavian mythology, is the body of myths belonging to the North Germanic peoples, stemming from Old Norse religion and continuing after the Christianization of Scandinavia as the Nordic folklore of the modern period. The North Germanic languages, northernmost extension of Germanic mythology and stemming from Proto-Germanic folklore, Norse mythology consists of tales of various deities, beings, and heroes derived from numerous sources from both before and after the pagan period, including medieval manuscripts, archaeological representations, and folk tradition. The source texts mention numerous gods such as the thunder-god Thor, the Huginn and Muninn, raven-flanked god Odin, the goddess Freyja, and List of Germanic deities, numerous other deities. Most of the surviving mythology centers on the plights of the gods and their interaction with several other beings, such as humanity and the jötnar, beings who may be friends, lovers, foes, or family members of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Baiuvarii
The Baiuvarii or Bavarii, sometimes simply called Bavarians (; ) were a Germanic people who lived in and near present-day southern Bavaria, which is named after them. They began to appear in records by the 6th century AD, and their culture, language and political institutions are the predecessors of those of the medieval Duchy of Bavaria and Margraviate of Austria. Among the Baiuvarii the Bavarian language developed, which is West Germanic language related to Standard German, still spoken not only by modern-day Bavarians, but also by Austrians and South Tyroleans. Name The name of the Baiuvarii is also spelled ''Baiuvari''. It probably means "men from Bohemia". The placename Bohemia is believed to be connected to that of the Boii, a Celts, Celtic people who partly left the region before the Roman era and then were dominated by Germanic peoples. The Baiuvarii gave their name to the region of Bavaria. Language The language of the Baiuvarii is classified as Germanic languages, Ger ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Saint Willibrord
Willibrord (; 658 – 7 November AD 739) was an Anglo-Saxon monk, bishop, and missionary. He became the first Bishop of Utrecht in what is now the Netherlands, dying at Echternach in Luxembourg, and is known as the "Apostle to the Frisians". Early life His father, named Wilgils or Hilgis, was styled by Alcuin as a Saxon of Northumbria. Newly converted to Christianity, Wilgils entrusted his son as an oblate to Ripon Abbey, and withdrew from the world, constructing a small oratory, near the mouth of the Humber, dedicated to Saint Andrew. The king and nobles of the district endowed him with estates until he was at last able to build a church, over which Alcuin afterwards ruled. Willibrord grew up under the influence of Wilfrid, Bishop of York. Later he joined the Benedictines. He spent the years between the ages of 20 and 32 in the Abbey of Rath Melsigi, in County Carlow in southern Ireland, which was a centre of European learning in the 7th century. Frisia During this time h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Frisii
The Frisii were an ancient tribe, who were neighbours of the Roman empire in the low-lying coastal region between the Rhine and the Ems (river), Ems rivers, in what what is now the northern Netherlands. They are not mentioned in Roman records after the third century, and archaeological records show that there was population decline, and frequent flooding caused by sea level rise. It is probable that many Frisii were among the early "Saxons" who settled in Britain. They are nevertheless also likely to be ancestors of the Frisians of today, whose material culture can be traced back to new settlements in the early Middle Ages. Before the entry of the Romans into the area, settlers started to colonize the area in newly formed marshlands in the 6th or 5th centuries BC. As sea levels rose and flooding risks increased, the inhabitants learned to build their houses on village mounds or Artificial dwelling hill, terps. The way of life and material culture of the Frisii hardly distinguishe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Irminsul
An Irminsul (Old Saxon 'great pillar') was a sacred, Column, pillar-like object attested as playing an important role in the Germanic paganism of the Saxons. Medieval sources describe how an Irminsul was destroyed by Charlemagne during the Saxon Wars. A church was erected on its place in 783 and blessed by Pope Leo III. Sacred trees and groves in Germanic paganism and mythology, Sacred trees and sacred groves were widely venerated by the Germanic peoples (including Donar's Oak), and the oldest chronicle describing an Irminsul refers to it as a tree trunk erected in the open air.d'Alviella (1891:112). Etymology The Old Saxon word compound means 'great pillar'. The first element, ('great') is cognate with terms with some significance elsewhere in Germanic mythology. Among the North Germanic peoples, the Old Norse form of is , which just like is one of the List of names of Odin, names of Odin. Yggdrasil (Old Norse 'Yggr's horse') is a Norse cosmology, cosmic tree from which Odin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
