In
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 Bri ...
, Baduhenna is a goddess. Baduhenna is solely attested in
Tacitus's ''
Annals'' where Tacitus records that a
sacred grove in ancient
Frisia was dedicated to her, and that near this grove 900 Roman soldiers were killed in 28
CE. Scholars have analyzed the name of the goddess and linked the figure to the Germanic
Matres and Matronae.
Etymology
The first element of the goddess's name, ''Badu-'', may be cognate to
Proto-Germanic
Proto-Germanic (abbreviated PGmc; also called Common Germanic) is the linguistic reconstruction, reconstructed proto-language of the Germanic languages, Germanic branch of the Indo-European languages.
Proto-Germanic eventually developed from ...
' meaning "battle." The second portion of the name ' appears as ' in the names of
matrons, Germanic goddesses widely attested from the 1st to 5th century CE on votive stones and votive altars.
Rudolf Simek states that the goddess's name etymology implies that the goddess is associated with war, and Simek points out that sacred groves are commonly associated with the
Germanic peoples
The Germanic peoples were tribal groups who lived in Northern Europe in Classical antiquity and the Early Middle Ages. In modern scholarship, they typically include not only the Roman-era ''Germani'' who lived in both ''Germania'' and parts of ...
.
[Simek (2007:26).]
Attestation
Baduhenna is solely attested in book 4, chapter 73 of Tacitus's ''Annals''. In chapters 73 and 74 of ''Annals'', Tacitus describes the defeat of the Roman army in ancient Frisia:
See also
*
"Isis" of the Suebi, a Germanic goddess mentioned by Tacitus in his ''
Germania
Germania ( ; ), also more specifically called Magna Germania (English: ''Great Germania''), Germania Libera (English: ''Free Germania''), or Germanic Barbaricum to distinguish it from the Roman provinces of Germania Inferior and Germania Superio ...
''
*
Nerthus, a Germanic goddess mentioned by Tacitus in his ''Germania''
*
Regnator omnium deus, a Germanic god mentioned by Tacitus in his ''Germania''
*
Rheda maybe an Anglo-Saxon goddess of war and/or spring mentioned by Bede.
*
Tamfana, a Germanic goddess mentioned by Tacitus in his ''Annals''
*
"Hold Pade" as suggested as the location of the ''Baduhennae lucus'' in
Lewis & Short[Lewis & Short, ''A Latin Dictionary'']
Notes
References
* Church, Alfred John. Brodribb, William Jackson (Trans.) (1876). ''Annals of Tacitus''. MacMillan and Co.
* Frost, Percival (1872). ''The Annals of Tacitus''. Whittaker & Co.
* Simek, Rudolf (2007) translated by Angela Hall. ''Dictionary of Northern Mythology''.
Boydell & Brewer, D.S. Brewer.
{{Germanic peoples
Germanic goddesses
Trees in Germanic paganism
Germanic deities