Germanic Folklore (1): Epitome of German Mythology. Part 1.

1.

Epitome of German Mythology. Part 1. 

There isn't much known of the mythology of the ancient German tribes. This is an article in which the author tries to make connections with the surviving traditions, superstions and usages with that mythology.  His research is based on what other researchers found and on what the clergy wrote about the heathen customs of the ancient Germanic tribes. 

(Please note: I have moved the footnotes from the bottom of the pages directly into the text. The author refers to his own book vol.I, II and III on 19 occasions in the footnotes. I have colored these footnotes red like this (See 1.) and made links to the collection of footnotes in a seperate blog.) 

What follows are descriptions and tales from an old source:

to the Germans no Edda has been transmitted, nor has any writer of former times sought to collect the remains of German heathenism. On the contrary, the early writers of Germany having, in the Roman school, been alienated from all reminiscences of their paternal country, have striven, not to preserve, but to extirpate every trace of their ancient faith. Much, therefore, of the old German mythology being thus irretrievably lost, I turn to the sources which remain, and which consist partly in written documents, partly in the never-stationary stream of living traditions and customs. The first, although they may reach far back, yet appear fragmentary and lacerated, while the existing popular tradition hangs on threads which finally connect it with Antiquity. (Grimm, D. M. Vorrede)

The principal sources of German mythology are,

Popular narratives.

Superstitions and ancient customs, in which traces of heathen myths, religious ideas and forms of worship are to be found.

Popular narratives branch into three classes:

I. Heroic Traditions (Heldensagen) ;

II. Popular Traditions (Volkssagen);

III. Popular Tales (Marchen).

That they all in common though traceable only in Christian times have preserved much of heathenism, is confirmed by the circumstance, that in them many beings make their appearance who incontestably belong to heathenism, viz. those subordinate beings the dwarfs, water-sprites, etc., who are wanting in no religion which, like the German, has developed conceptions of personal divinities.

1. Siegfried slays the Dragon

The principal sources of German Heroic Tradition are a series of poems, which have been transmitted from the eighth, tenth, but chiefly from the twelfth down to the fifteenth century. These poems are founded, as has been satisfactorily proved, on popular songs, collected, arranged and formed into one whole, for the most part by professed singers. The heroes, who constitute the chief personages in the narrative, were probably once gods or heroes, whose deep-rooted myths have been transmitted through Christian times in an altered and obscured form. With the great German heroic tradition the story of Siegfried and the Nibelunge, this assumption is the more surely founded, as the story, even in heathen times, was spread abroad in Northern song.

2. Rubezahl, the Giant

If in the Heroic Traditions the mythic matter, particularly that which forms the pith of the narrative, is frequently concealed, in the Popular Traditions (Volkssagen) it is often more obvious. By the last-mentioned title we designate those narratives which, in great number and remarkable mutual accordance, are spread over all Germany, and which tell of rocks, mountains, lakes and other prominent objects. The collecting of those still preserved among the common people has, since the publication of the Deutsche Sagen by the Brothers Grimm, made considerable progress. Of such narratives many, it is true, belong not to our province, some being mere obscured historic reminiscences, others owing their origin to etymologic interpretations, or even to sculpture and carvings, which the people have endeavoured to explain in their own fashion; while others have demonstrably sprung up in Christian times, or are the fruits of literature. Nevertheless, a considerable number remain, which descend from ancient times, and German mythology has still to hope for much emolument from the Popular Traditions, since those with which we are already acquainted offer a plentiful harvest of mythic matter, without which our knowledge of German heathenism would be considerably more defective than it is.

3.Hänsl and Gretl

The Popular Tale (Volksmarchen), which usually knows neither names of persons or places, nor times, contains, as far as our object is concerned, chiefly myths that have been rent from their original connection and exhibited in an altered fanciful form. Through lively imagination, through the mingling together of originally unconnected narratives, through adaptation to the various times in which they have been reproduced and to the several tastes of listening youth, through transmission from one people to another, the mythic elements of the Popular Tales are so disguised and distorted, that their chief substance is, as far as mythology is concerned, to us almost unintelligible. But Popular Traditions and Popular Tales are, after all, for the most part, but dependent sources, which can derive any considerable value only by connection with more trustworthy narratives.

A yet more dependent source is the Superstitions still to be found in the country among the great mass of the people, a considerable portion of which has, in my opinion, no connection with German mythology; although in recent times there is manifestly a disposition to regard every collection of popular superstitions, notions and usages as a contribution to it . Among the superstitions are to be reckoned the charms or spells and forms of adjuration, which are to be uttered frequently, with particular ceremonies and usages, for the healing of a disease or the averting of a danger, and which are partly still preserved among the common people, and partly to be found in manuscripts.

(Many such conjurations and spells are given by Grimm, D. M. pp. CXXVI-CLIX. 1st edit., and in Mone’s Anzeiger, also in Altdeutsche Blatter, Bd. ii. etc.). They are for the most part in rime and rhythmical, and usually conclude with an invocation of God, Christ and the saints. Their beginning is frequently epic, the middle contains the potent words for the object of the spell. That many of these forms descend from heathen times is evident from the circumstance that downright heathen beings are invoked in them (Erce and Fasolt. See D. M. pp. cxxx-cxxxn. 1st edit. Muller, p. 21.)

.

Another source is open to us in German Manners and Customs. As every people is wont to adhere tenaciously to its old customs, even when their object is no longer known, so has many a custom been preserved, or only recently fallen into desuetude, the origin of which dates from the time of heathenism, although its connection therewith may either be forgotten or so mixed up with Christian ideas as to be hardly recognisable. This observation is particularly applicable to the popular diversions and processions, which take place at certain seasons in various parts of the country. These, though frequently falling on Christian festivals, yet stand in no necessary connection with them; for which reason many may, no doubt, be regarded as remnants of pagan usages and festivals. And that such is actually the case appears evident from the circumstance, that some of these festivals, e. g. the kindling of fires, were at the time of the conversion forbidden as heathenish, and are also to be found in the heathenism of other nations. But we know not with what divinities these customs were connected, nor in whose honour these festivals were instituted. Of some only may the original object and probable signification be divined; but for the most part they can be considered only in their detached and incoherent state. It may also be added, that Slavish and Keltic customs may have got mingled with the German (Muller, p. 22. Upon this subject Grimm (D. M. Vorrede, p. xxxn.) remarks : “ Jewish and Christian doctrine began to insinuate itself into the heathen belief, heathen fancies and superstitions to press into, and, as it were, rake refuge in every place not occupied by the new faith. Christian matter sometimes appears disguised in a heathen form, and heathen matter in a Christian.” See a striking instance of this in the old Thuringian pagan spell at p. 23. “As the goddess Ostara (Eastre) became changed into an idea of time, so was Hellia (Hel) into an idea of place. The belief of Antiquity in elves and giants became changed into that of angels and devils, but the old traditions remained. Woden, Thor, Ty, were invested with the nature of pernicious, diabolical beings, and the tradition of their solemn yearly processions was changed into that of a wild, frantic troop, from which the people shrank with dread, as they had formerly rushed forth to share in it.”

“A circumstance yet more striking is, that to the Virgin Mary are transferred a number of pleasing traditions of Hold and Frouwa, the Norns and Valkyriur. How delightful are these stories of Mary, and what could any other poesy have to compare with them ! With the kindly heathen characteristics are associated for us a feeling of the higher sanctity which surrounds this woman. Flowers and plants are named after Mary, images of Mary are borne in procession and placed in the forest-trees, in exact conformity with the heathen worship; Mary is the divine mother, the spinner, and appears as a helpful virgin to all who invoke her. But Mary stands not alone. In the Greek and the Latin churches a numerous host of saints sprang up around her, occupying the place of the gods of the second and third classes, the heroes and wise women of heathenism, and filling the heart, because they mediate between it and a higher, severer Godhead. Among the saints also, both male and female, there were manyclasses, and the several cases in which they are helpful are distributed among them like offices and occupations For the hero who slew the dragon, Michael or George was substituted, and the heathen Siegberg was transferred over to Michael; as in France out of Mons Martis a Mons martyrum (Montmartre) was formed. It is worthy of remark that the Osseten out of dies Martis (Mardi) make a George s day, and out of dies Veneris (Vendredi) a Mary s day. Instead of Odin and Freyia, at minnedrinking, St. John and St. Gertrud were substituted.”)

4. Norse Gods

While the Scandinavian religion may, even as it has been transmitted to us, be regarded as a connected whole, the isolated fragments of German mythology can be considered only as the damaged ruins of a structure, for the restoration of which the plan is wholly wanting. But this plan we in great measure possess in the Northern Mythology, seeing that many of these German ruins are in perfect accordance with it. Hence we may confidently conclude that the German religion, had it been handed down to us in equal integrity with the Northern, would, on the whole, have exhibited the same system, and may, therefore, have recourse to the latter, as the only means left us of assigning a place to each of its isolated fragments. Although the similitude of language and manners speaks forcibly in favour of a close resemblance between the German and Northern mythologies, yet the assumption of a perfect identity of both religions is, on that account, by no means admissible ; seeing that the only original authorities for German heathenism, the Merseburg poems , in the little information supplied by them, show some remarkable deviations from the religious system of the North (Muller, p. 86. In the Westphalian dialect Wednesday is called Godenstag, Gaunstag, Gunstag ; in Nether Rhenish, Gudenstag ; in Middleage Netherlandish or Dutch, Woensdach-, in New Netherl., Woensdag; in Flemish, Goensdag; in Old Frisic, Wernsdei; in New Fris., Wdnsdey; in Nor. Fris., Winsdei, in Anglo-Sax., Wodenes- and Wodnesdag ; in Old Nor., Odinsdagr.)

The question here naturally presents itself, by what course of events did the Odinic worship become spread over the larger portion of Germany and the Netherlands? By Paulus Diaconus (De Gestis Langobard. i. 8) we are informed that Wodan was worshipped as a god by all the Germanic nations. And Jonas of Bobbio (Vita S. Columbani, in Act. Bened. sec. 2. p. 26) makes mention of a vessel filled with beer, as an offering to Wodan, among the Suevi (Alamanni) on the Lake of Constance. Hence it is reasonable to conclude that his worship prevailed especially among those tribes which, according to their own traditions and other historic notices, wandered from north to south.  Whether Wodan was regarded as a chief divinity by all the German tribes is uncertain, no traces of his worship existing among the Bavarians; and the name of the fourth day of the week after him being found chiefly in the north of Germany, but in no High German dialect. The following is Snorri s account of Odin’s course from the Tanais to his final settlement in Sweden :

“The country to the east of the Tanais (Tanaqvisl) in Asia was called Asaheim ; but the chief city (borg) in the country was called Asgard. In this city there was a chief named Odin (Wodan), and there was a great place of sacrifice (offersted), etc. At that time the Roman generals were marching over the world and reducing all nations to subjection; but Odin being foreknowing and possessed of magical skill, knew that his posterity should occupy the northern half of the world. He then set his brothers Ve and Vili over Asgard, but himself, with all the diar (The diar were the twelve chief priests)and a vast multitude of people, wandered forth, first westwards to Gardariki (The Great and Little Russia of after-times.) , and afterwards southwards to Saxland (Strictly the Saxons land ; but by the Northern writers the name is applied to the whole of Germany, from the Alps in the south to the Rhine in the west). He had many sons; and after having reduced under his subjection an extensive kingdom in Saxland, he placed his sons to defend the country. He afterwards proceeded northwards to the sea, and took up his abode in an island which is called Odins-ey in Fyen (A singular inaccuracy, Odense (Oftins ey or rather Oftins ve) being the chief town of Fyen). But when Odin learned that there were good tracts of land to the east in Gym’s kingdom  (See 1), he proceeded thither, and Gylfi concluded a treaty with him . Odin made his place of residence by the Malar lake, at the place now called Sigtuna. There he erected a vast temple.

The worship of Thunaer or Donar, the Northern Thor, among the Germans appears certain only from the Low German formula of renunciation (c forsacho allum dioboles uuercum and uuordum thunaer ende uuoden ende saxnote ende allem them unholdum the hira genotas sint. - renounce all the works and words of the devil, Thunaer and Woden and Saxnot and all those fiends that are their associates. Massmann, Abschwbrungsformeln No. 1.) and the name of the fifth day of the week (Ohg. Donares tac, Toniris tac ; Mhg. Donrestac ; Mill. Donresdach ; Nnl. Donderdag ; 0. Fris. Thunresdei, Tornsdei ; N. Fris. Tongersdei ; Nor. Fris. Tursdei; A. Sax. Thunres dag; 0. Nor. Thorsdagr.)

5.Tyr and Fenrir

The god Zio, who is identical with the Northern Ty (Tyr), is nowhere directly named; but as he has given his name to the third day of the week, his right to a place in the list is established (Ohg. Cies dac, earlier perhaps Ziuwes tac, later Swab. Ziestac. (For other forms see D. M. p. 113.) The modern German Dienstag is a corruption of Diestag. (Mnl. Disendach ; Nnl. Dingsdach ; 0. Fris. Tysdei N. Fris. Tyesdey ; Nor. Fris. Tirsdei ; A. Sax. Tiwes dag; O. Nor. Tysdagr.). His name seems to be preserved in some local appellations in the south of Germany.

Baldur appears in the Merseburg poem under the name of Phol (See 2).

The Frisic god Fosite is, according to all probability, the Scandinavian Forseti (See 3). Of him it is related that a temple was erected to him in Heligoland, which formerly bore the name of Fositesland. On the island there was a spring, from which no one might draw water except in silence. No one might touch any of the animals sacred to the god, that fed on the island, nor anything else found there. St. Wilibrord baptized three Frisians in the spring, and slaughtered three of the animals, for himself and his companions, but had nearly paid with his life for the profanation of the sanctuary, a crime which, according to the belief of the heathen, must be followed by madness or speedy death (Alcuini Vita S. Wilibrordi cited by Grimm, D. M. p. 210.) At a later period, as we are informed by Adam of Bremen, the island was regarded as sacred by Pirates (De Situ Danise, p. 132. Miiller, p. 88).

Besides the above-named five gods, mention also occurs of three goddesses, viz. Frigg, the wife of Wodan, who is spoken of by Paulus Diaconus (i. 8) under the name of Frea (See D. M. p. 276) In the Merseburg poem, where she is called Frua or Friia, she appears as a sister of Volla, the Northern Fulla. The sixth day of the week is named either after her or after the Northern goddess Freyia (The names of the sixth day of the week waver : Ohg. Fria dag, Frijetag ; Mhg. Fritac, Vriegtag ; Mill. Vridach ; 0. Fris. Frigendei, Fredei ; N. Fris. Fred-, A. Sax. Frige dag; 0. Nor. Friadagr, Freyjudagr; S\v. Dan. Fredag.), but who in Germany was probably called Frouwa ; and the goddess HLUDANA, whom Thorlacius identifies with Hlodyn .

Of the god Saxnot nothing occurs beyond the mention of his name in the renunciation, which we have just seen. In the genealogy of the kings of Essex a Seaxneat appears as a son of Woden.

6. Tuisco

As the common ancestor of the German nation, Tacitus, on the authority of ancient poems, places the hero or god Tuisco, who sprang from the earth; whose son Mannus had three sons, after whom are named the three tribes, viz. the Ingsevones, nearest to the ocean ; the Herminones, in the middle parts; and the Istsevones.

After all it is, perhaps, from the several prohibitions, contained in the decrees of councils or declared by the laws, that we derive the greater part of our knowledge of German heathenism. Of these sources one of the most important is the Indiculus Superstitionum Et Paganiarum, at the end of a Capitulary of Carloman (A.D. 743), contained in the Vatican MS. No. 577, which is a catalogue of the heathen practices that were forbidden at the council of Lestines (Liptinse), in the diocese of Cambrai.

Although the Indiculus has been frequently printed, we venture to give it a place here, on account of its importance for German Mythology.

Indiculus Superstitionum Et Paganiarum.

The sacrilegio ad sepulchra mortuorum. - "About sacrilege at the graves of the dead"

The sacrilegio super defunctos id est dadsisas. - "About sacrilege over the dead, the death-meal"

The spurcalibus in February. - "About banquets in February"

The casulis id est fanis. - "About small buildings, that is, shrines"

The sacrilegious per aecclesias. - "About sacrilegiousness to churches"

The sacris siluarum quae nimidas vocant. - "About tree sanctuaries, which they call nimida's"

The hiis quae faciunt super petras. - "About the things they do over certain stones"

The Sacris Mercury, sheet of Iovis. - "About sacrifices to Mercury or Jupiter"

The sacrificio quod fit alicui sanctorum. - "About the sacrificial service for one or another saint"

The filacteriis et ligaturis. - "About amulets and bindsels"

The fontibus sacrificiorum. - "About sacrificing to sources"

The incantation bus. - "About incantations" (Galdr)

The auguriis sheet avium sheet equorum sheet bovum stercora sheet sternutationes. - "About the predictions from

manure of birds, horses or cattle and sneezing" (Spá)

The divinis sheet sortilogis. - "About future predictions and throwing fate"

The igne fricato the ligno id est nodfyr. - "About a fire made of grated wood, what is called nodfyr"

The cerebro animalium. - "About the animal brain"

The observatione pagana in foco, sheet in inchoatione rei alicuius. - "Pagan perception in the pan, or in the

beginning of everything"

The incertis locis que colunt pro sacris. "About places in uncertain place, which they worship as a sanctuary" (nemetons)

The petendo quod boni vocant sanctae Mariae. "About the call of the good-natured, who is seen as Holy Mary"

The feriis quae faciunt Jovi sheet Mercurio. "About parties that they hold for Jupiter or Mercury"

The lunae defectione, quod dicunt Vinceluna. - "About the lunar eclipse they call Vinceluna"

The tempestatibus et cornibus et cocleis. - "Over storms, the horns of bulls, and snails"

The sulcis circa villas. - "About grooves around farms"

The pagano cursu quem yrias nominant, scissis pannis sheet calciamentis. - "About the pagan race they call Yria, with clothes and shoes"

The eo, quod sibi sanctos fingunt quoslibet mortuos. - "About what they themselves describe as a holy death"

The simulacro de consparsa farina. - "About the image of scattered grains" (grain dummies)

The simulacris the pannis factis. - "About images made of cloths"

The simulacro quod per campos porter. - "About the image they carry over the fields"

The ligneis pedibus sheet manibus pagano ritual. - "Over wooden feet and hands to the pagan rite"

The eo, quod credunt, quia femine lunam comendet, quod possint corda hominum tollere juxta paganos. - "About

that, why the women trust the moon, which can elevate the hearts of people to the Gentiles" (Seiðr)

7. Indiculus

In the manuscript this catalogue is preceded by the formula of renunciation already given.: c forsacho allum dioboles uuercum and uuordum thunaer ende uuoden ende saxnote ende allem them unholdum the hira genotas sint.- “renounce all the works and words of the devil, Thunaer and Woden and Saxnot and all those fiends that are their associates.”

From the popular traditions and tales of Germany a sufficiently clear idea of the nature of the giants and dwarfs of Teutonic fiction may be obtained. As in the Northern belief the giants inhabit the mountains, so does German tradition assign them dwellings in mountains and caverns. Isolated mounts, sand-hills or islands have been formed by the heaps of earth which giant-miaidens have let fall out of their aprons when constructing a dam or a causeway scattered fragments of rock are from structures under taken by them in ancient times; and of the huge masses of stone lying about the country, for the presence of which the common people cannot otherwise account, it is said that they were cast by giants, or that they had shaken them out of their shoes like grains of sand. Impressions of their fingers or other members are frequently to be seen on such stones. Other traditions tell of giants that have been turned into stone, and certain rocks have received the appellation of giants clubs (A rock near Bonn is called Fasolt s Keule club). Moors and sloughs have been caused by the blood that sprang from a giant s wound, as from Ymir’s.

In Germany, too, traces exist of the turbulent elements being considered as giants. A formula is preserved in which Fasolt is conjured to avert a storm; in another, Mermeut, who rules over the storm, is invoked.  Fasolt is the giant who figures so often in German middle-age poetry; he was the brother of Ecke, who was himself a divinity of floods and waves.  Of Mermeut nothing further is known. In the German popular tales the devil is frequently made to step into the place of the giants. Like them he has his abode in rocks , hurls huge stones, in which the impression of his fingers or other members is often to be seen, causes moors and swamps to come forth, or has his habitation in them , and raises the whirlwind (Stopke, or Stepke, is in Lower Saxony an appellation of the devil and of the whirlwind, from which proceed the fogs that pass over the land. The devil sits in the whirlwind and rushes howling and raging through the air. Mark. Sagen, p. 377. The whirlwind is also ascribed to witches. If a knife be cast into it, the witch will be wounded and become visible. Schreibers Taschenbuch, 1839, p. 323. Comp. Grimm, Abergl. 522, 554 ; Mones Anzeiger, 8, 278. (See 4) The spirits that raise storms and hail may be appeased by shaking out a flour-sack and saying : “Siehe da, Wind, koch ein Mus fur dein Kind “ (See there, Wind, boil a pap for thy child !) ; or by throwing a tablecloth out of the window. Grimm, Abergl. 282. Like the Wild Huntsman, the devil on Ash Wednesday hunts the wood-wives. Ib. 469, 914. (See 5)

According to a universal tradition, compacts are frequently made with the devil, by which he is bound to complete a building, as a church, a house, a barn, a causeway, a bridge or the like within a certain short period; but by some artifice, through which the soul of the person, for whom he is doing the work, is saved, the completion of the undertaking is prevented. The cock, for instance, is made to crow; because, like the giants and dwarfs, who shun the light of the sun, the devil also loses his power at the break of day. In being thus deceived and outwitted, he bears a striking resemblance to the giants, who, though possessing prodigious strength, yet know not how to profit by it, and therefore in their conflicts with gods and heroes always prove the inferior.

While in the giant-traditions and tales of Germany a great degree of uniformity appears, the belief in dwarfs displays considerable vivacity and variety ; though no other branch of German popular story exhibits such a mixture with the ideas of the neighbouring Kelts and Slaves. This intermingling of German and foreign elements appears particularly striking on comparing the German and Keltic elf-stories, between which will be found a strong similitude, which is hardly to be explained by the assumption of an original resemblance independent of all intercommunication. Tradition assigns to the dwarfs of Germany, as the Eddas to those of the North, the interior of the earth, particularly rocky caverns, for a dwelling. There they live together as a regular people, dig for ore, employ themselves in smith s work, and collect treasures. Their activity is of a peaceful, quiet character, whence they are distinguished as the still folk (the good people, the guid neighbours] ; and because it is practised in secret, they are said to have a tarncap, or tarnmantle (From Old Saxon dernian, A. S. dyrnan, to conceal. With the dwarfs the sun rises at midnight. Grimm, D. M. p. 435.), or mistmantle, by which they can make themselves invisible. For the same reason they are particularly active at night.

The dwarfs in general are, as we have seen, the personification of the hidden creative powers, on whose efficacy the regular changes in nature depend. This idea naturally suggests itself both from the names borne by the dwarfs in the Eddas, and from the myths connected with them. These names denote for the most part either activity in general, or individual natural phenomena, as the phases of the moon, wind, etc. The activity of the dwarfs, which popular tradition symbolically signifies by smith’s work, must be understood as elemental or cosmical. It applies particularly to the thriving of the fruits of the earth. We consequently frequently find the dwarfs busied in helping men in their agricultural labours, in getting in the harvest, making hay and the like, which is merely a debasement of the idea that, through their efficacy, they promote the growth and maturity of the fruits of the earth. Tradition seems to err in representing the dwarfs as thievish on such occasions, as stealing the produce from the fields, or collecting the thrashed-out corn for themselves; unless such stories are meant to signify that evil befalls men, if they offend those beneficent beings, and thereby cause them to suspend their efficacy, or exert it to their prejudice. The same elemental powers which operate on the fruits of the earth also exercise an influence on the well-being of living creatures. Well-known and wide-spread is the tradition that the dwarfs have the power, by their touch, their breathing, and even by their look, to cause sickness or death to man and beast.

8. Dwarf

That which they cause when they are offended they must also be able to remedy. Apollo, who sends the pestilence, is at the same time the healing god. Hence to the dwarfs likewise is ascribed a knowledge of the salutary virtues of stones and plants. In the popular tales we find them saving from sickness and death ; and while they can inflict injury on the cattle, they often also take them under their care. The care of deserted and unprotected children is also ascribed to them, and in heroic tradition they appear as instructors ( Of this description was Regin, the instructor of Sigurd.). At the same time it cannot be denied that tradition much more frequently tells a widely different tale, representing them as kidnapping the children of human mothers and substituting their own changelings, dickkopfs or kielkropfs. These beings are deformed, never thrive, and, in spite of their voracity, are always lean, and are, moreover, mischievous. But that this tradition is a misrepresentation, or at least a part only, of the original one, is evident from the circumstance, that when the changeling is taken back the mother finds her own child again safe and sound, sweetly smiling, and as it were waking out of a deep sleep. It had, consequently, found itself very comfortable while under the care of the dwarfs, as they themselves also declare, that the children they steal find better treatment with them than with their own parents. By stripping this belief of its mythic garb, we should probably find the sense to be, that the dwarfs take charge of the recovery and health of sick and weakly children. Hence it may also be regarded as a perversion of the ancient belief, when it is related that women are frequently summoned to render assistance to dwarf-wives in labour ; although the existence of such traditions may be considered as a testimony of the intimate and friendly relation in which they stand to mankind. But if we reverse the story and assume that dwarf-wives are present at the birth of a human child, we gain an appendage to the Eddaic faith that the Norns, who appeared at the birth of children, were of the race of dwarfs. In the traditions it is, moreover, expressly declared that the dwarfs take care of the continuation and prosperity of families. Presents made by them have the effect of causing a race to increase, while the loss of such is followed by the decline of the family ; for this indicates a lack of respect towards these beneficent beings, which induces them to withdraw their protection. The anger of the dwarfs, in any way roused, is avenged by the extinction of the offender’s race.

We have here made an attempt, out of the numerous traditions of dwarfs, to set forth, in a prominent point of view, those characteristics which exhibit their nobler nature, in the supposition that Christianity may also have vilified these beings as it has the higher divinities. At the same time it is not improbable that the nature of the dwarfs, even in heathen times, may have had in it something of the mischievous and provoking, which they often display in the traditions. Among the wicked tricks of the dwarfs one in particular deserves notice that they lay snares for young females and detain them in their habitations, herein resembling the giants, who, according to the Edda's, strive to get possession of the goddesses. If services are to be rendered by them, a pledge must be exacted from them, or they must be compelled by force; but if once overcome, they prove faithful servants and stand by the heroes in their conflicts with the giants, whose natural enemies they seem to be, though they are sometimes in alliance with them.

Popular tradition designates the dwarfs as heathens, inasmuch as it allows them to have power only over unbaptized children. It gives us further to understand that this belief is of ancient date, when it informs us that the dwarfs no longer possess their old habitations. They have emigrated, driven away by the sound of church bells, which to them, as heathenish beings, was hateful, or because people were malicious and annoyed them, that is, no longer entertained the same respect for them as in the time of heathenism. But that this faith was harmless, and could without prejudice exist simultaneously with Christianity, appears from the tradition which ascribes to the dwarfs Christian sentiments and the hope of salvation (Dwarfs go to church. Grimm, D. S. No. 23, 32. Kobolds are Christians, sing spiritual songs, and hope to be saved, Ib, i, pp. 112, 113, Miiller, p. 342.)

9. Norns

The Northern conception of the Norns is rendered more complete by numerous passages in the Anglo-Saxon and Old-Saxon writers. In Anglo-Saxon poetry Wyrd manifestly occupies the place of Urd , the eldest Norn, as the goddess of fate, who attends human beings when at the point of death; and from the Codex Exoniensis we learn that the influence of the Norns in the guiding of fate is metaphorically expressed as the weaving of a web, as the juoipai and parcse are described as spinners.

( Me haet Wyrd gewaef. -            That Wyrd wove for me. (Cod.Exon.p.355, 1.)

Wyrd oft nered. -                       Wyrd oft preserves

unfaegne eorl, -                          an undoom’d man,

bonne his elleu dean, -                when his valour avails. (Beowulf, 1139.)

Him waes Wyrd -                     To him was Wyrd

ungemete neah. -                        Exceedingly near. (Ib. 4836.)

Thiu uurd is at handum. -          The Wurd is at hand. (Heliand, p. 146, 2.)

Thiu uurth nahida thuo, -           The Wurth then drew near,

mari maht godes. -                      the great might of God. (Ib. 163, 16.)

(In an Old High German gloss also we find wurt, fatum. (Graff, i. p. 992.) The English and Scotch have preserved the word the longest, as in the weird sisters of Macbeth and Gawen Douglas s Virgil ; the weird elves in Warner’s Albion’s England ; the weird lady of the woods in Percy’s Reliques. (See Grimm, D. M. pp. 376-378 for other instances.)

Thus, too, does the poet of the Heliand personify Wurth, whom, as a goddess of death, he in like manner makes an attendant on man in his last hour.

We find not only in Germany traditions of Wise Women, who, mistresses of fate, are present at the birth of a child ; but of the Keltic fairies it is also related that they hover about mortals as guardian spirits, appearing either three or seven or thirteen together nurse and tend new-born children, foretell their destiny, and bestow gifts on them, but among which one of them usually mingles something evil. Hence they are invited to stand sponsors, the place of honour is assigned them at table, which is prepared with the greatest care for their sake. Like the Norns, too, they spin.

Let us now endeavour to ascertain whether among the Germans there exist traces of a belief in the Valkyriur. In Anglo-Saxon the word wselcyrige (wselcyrie) appears as an equivalent to necis arbiter, Bellona, Alecto, Erinnys, Tisiphone; the pi. vselcyrian toparcce, venefica-, and Anglo- Saxon poets use personally the nouns Hild and Gud, words answering to the names of two Northern Valkyriur, Hildr and Gunnr (comp. hildr, pugna; gunnr, proelium, bellum). In the first Merseburg poem damsels, or idisi, are introduced, of

10.Valkyrie

whom: ”some fastened fetters, some stopt an army, some sought after bonds”; and therefore perform functions having reference to war; consequently are to be regarded as Valkyriur.  We have still a superstition to notice, which in some respects seems to offer a resemblance to the belief in the Valkyriur, although in the main it contains a strange mixture of senseless, insignificant stories. We allude to the belief in witches and their nightly meetings. The belief in magic, in evil magicians and sorceresses, who by means of certain arts are enabled to injure their fellow-creatures, to raise storms, destroy the seed in the earth, cause sickness to man and beast is of remote antiquity. (We subjoin the principal denominations of magicians and soothsayers, as affording an insight into their several modes of operation. The more general names are : divini, magi, harioli, vaticinatores, etc. More special ippellations are : sortilegi (sortiarii,), diviners by lot; inicmtatores, enchanters ; somniorum conjectores, interpreters of dreams, cauculatores and coclearii, diviners by offering-cups (comp. Du Fresne subvoce, and Indie. Superst. c. 22); haruspices, consulters of entrails (Capitul. vn. 370, Legg. Liutprandi vi. 30; comp. Indie, c. 16, and the divining from human sacrifices. Procop. de B. G. 2. 25); auspices (Ammian. Marcel. 14. 9) ; obligatores, tiers of strings or ligatures (for the cure of diseases) ; tempestarii, or immissores tempestatum, raisers of storms.)

It is found in the East and among the Greeks and Romans; it was known also to the Germans and Slaves in the time of their paganism, without their having borrowed it from the Romans. In it there is nothing to be sought for beyond what appears on the surface, viz. that low degree of religious feeling, at which belief supposes effects from unknown causes to proceed from super natural agency, as from persons by means of spells, from herbs, and even from an evil glance a degree which can subsist simultaneously with the progressing religion, and, therefore, after the introduction of Christianity, could long prevail, and in part prevails down to the present day. Even in the time of heathenism it was, no doubt, a belief that these sorceresses on certain days and in certain places met to talk over their arts and the application of them, to boil magical herbs, and for other evil purposes. For as the sorcerer, in consequence of his occult knowledge and of his superiority over the great mass of human beings, became, as it were, isolated from them, and often harboured hostile feelings towards them, he was consequently compelled to associate with those who were possessed of similar power. It must, however, be evident that the points of contact are too few to justify our seeing the ground of German belief in witch-meetings in the old heathen sacrificial festivals and assemblies. And why should we be at the pains of seeking an historic basis for a belief that rests principally on an impure, confused deisidaimonia, which finds the supernatural where it does not exist? That mountains are particularly specified as the places of assembly, arises probably from the circumstance that they had been the offering-places of our forefathers; and it was natural to assign the gatherings of the witches to known and distinguished localities

11. Witches

(The most celebrated witch-mountain is the well-known Bracken (Blocksberg} in the Harz ; others, of which mention occurs, are the ffuiberg near Halberstadt; in Thuringia the Horselberg near Eisenach, or the Inselberg near Schmalkalde; in Hesse the Bechelsberg or Bechtelsberg near Ottrau; in Westphalia the Koterberg near Corvei, or the Weckingsstein near Minden; in Swabia, in the Black Forest, at Kandel in the Brisgau, or the Heuberg near Balingen; in Franconia the Kreidenberg near Wiirzburg, and the Staffelstein near Bamberg; in Alsace the Bischenberg and Bilchelberg. The Swedish trysting-place is the Blakulla (according to Ihre, a rock in the sea between Smaland and Gland, literally the Black Mountain), and the Nasajjall m Norrland. The Norwegian witches also ride to the Blaakolle, to the Dovrefjeld, to the Lyderhorn near Bergen, to Kiarru, to Vardo and Domen in Finmark, to Troms (i. e. Trommenfjeld), a mountain in the isle of Tromso, high up in Finmark. The Neapolitan streghe (striges) assemble under a nut-tree near Benevento. Italian witchmountains are: the Barco di Ferrara, the Paterno di Bologna, Spinato della Mirandola, Tossale di Bergamo and La Croce del Pasticcio, of the locality of which I am ignorant. In France the Puy de Dome, near Clermont in Auvergne, is distinguished. (Grimm, D. M. p. 1004.) In Lancashire the witches assembled at Malkin Tower by the side of “ the mighty Pendle”, of whom the same tradition is current relative to the transforming of a man into a horse by means of a bridle, as we find in (see 6); also that of striking off a hand (see 7, and 8). See Roby's Popular Traditions of England, vol. ii. pp. 211-253, edit. 1841.). Equally natural was it that the witches should proceed to the place of assembly through the air, in an extraordinary manner as on he-goats, broomsticks (On their way to the Blocksberg, Mephistopheles says to Faust : “Verlangst du nicht nach einem Besenstiele? Ich wiinschte mir den allerderbsten Bock. Dost thou not long for a broomstick? I could wish for a good stout he-goat.“), oven-forks and other utensils.

After having thus briefly noticed the gods, the giants, the dwarfs, etc., there remains for consideration a series of subordinate beings, who are confined to particular localities, having their habitation in the water, the forests and woods, the fields and in houses, and who in many ways come in contact with man.

A general expression for a female demon seems to have been minne, the original signification of which was, no doubt, woman. The word is used to designate female water-sprites and woodwives. Holde is a general denomination for spirits, both male and female, but occurs oftenest in composition, as brunnenholden, wasserholden (spirits of the springs and waters). There are no bergholden or waldholden (mountain-holds, forest-holds), but dwarfs are called by the diminutive holdechen. The original meaning of the word is bonus genius, whence evil spirits are designated unholds.

.

The name of Bilwiz (also written Pilwiz, Pilewis, Buiweeks) is attended with some obscurity. The feminine form Bulwechsin also occurs. It denotes a good, gentle being, and may either, with Grimm, be rendered by tequum sciens, aquus, bonus , or with Leo by the Keltic bilbheith, bilbhith (from bil, good, gentle, and bheith or bhith, a being) . Either of these derivations would show that the name was originally an appellative ; but the traditions connected with it are so obscure and varying, that they hardly distinguish any particular kind of sprite. The Bilwiz shoots like the elf, and has shaggy or matted hair (Bilwitzen (bilmitzen) signifies to tangle or mat the hair. Muller, p. 367). In the latter ages, popular belief, losing the old nobler idea of this supernatural being, as in the case of Holla and Berchta, retained the remembrance only of the hostile side of its character. It appears, consequently, as a tormenting, terrifying, hair- and beardtangling, grain-cutting sprite, chiefly in a female form, as a wicked sorceress or witch. The tradition belongs more particularly to the east of Germany, Bavaria, Franconia, Voigtland and Silesia. In Voigtland the belief in the bilsen- or bilver-schnitters, or reapers, is current. These are wicked men, who injure their neighbours in a most unrighteous way: they go at midnight stark naked, with a sickle tied on their foot, and repeating magical formula, through the midst of a field of corn just ripe. From that part of the field which they have cut through with their sickle all the corn will fly into their own barn. Or they go by night over the fields with little sickles tied to their great toes, and cut the straws, believing that by so doing they will gain for themselves half the produce of the field where they have cut.

The Schrat or Schratz remains to be mentioned. From Old High German glosses, which translate scratun by pilosi, and waltschrate by satyrus, it appears to have been a spirit of the woods. In the popular traditions mention occurs of a being named Jüdel, which disturbs children and domestic animals. When children laugh in their sleep, open their eyes and turn, it is said the Jüdel is playing with them. If it gets entrance into a lying-in woman’s room, it does injury to the new-born child. To prevent this, a straw from the woman’s bed must be placed at every door, then no Jüdel nor spirit can enter. If the Jüdel will not otherwise leave the children in quiet, something must be given it to play with. Let a new pipkin be bought, without any abatement of the price demanded; put into it some water from the child's bath, and set it on the stove. In a few days the Jüdel will have splashed out all the water. People also hang egg-shells, the yolks of which have been blown into the child s pap and the mother s pottage, on the cradle by linen threads, that the Jüdel may play with them instead of with the child. If the cows low in the night, the Jüdel is playing with them.

But what are the Winseln ? We are informed that the dead must be turned with the head towards

the east, else they will be terrified by the Winseln, who wander hither from the west. 

12.  Nixen

Of the several kinds of spirits, which we classify according to the locality and the elements in which they have their abode, the principal are the demons of the water or the Nixen (The male water-sprite is called nix;, the female nixe. Comp. Ohg. nichus, crocodilus ; A. S. nicor, pi. niceras ; Sw. neck ; Dan. riok. Hnikarr and HnikutJr are names of Odin). Their form is represented as resembling a human being, only somewhat smaller. According to some traditions, the Nix has slit ears, and is also to be known by his feet, which he does not willingly let be seen. Other traditions give the Nix a human body terminating in a fishtail, or a complete fishsform. They are clothed like human beings, but the water-wives may be known by the wet hem of their apron, or the wet border of their robe. Naked Nixen, or hung round with moss and sedge, are also mentioned. Like the dwarfs, the water-sprites have a great love of dancing. Hence they are seen dancing on the waves, or coming on land and joining in the dance of human beings. They are also fond of music and singing. From the depths of a lake sweetly fascinating tones sometimes ascend, oftentimes the Nixen may be heard singing. Extraordinary wisdom is also ascribed to them, which enables them to foretell the future (That water-sprites have the gift of prophecy has been the belief of many nations. We need only remind the reader of Nereus and Proteus). The water-wives are said to spin. By the rising, sinking, or drying up of the water of certain springs and ponds caused, no doubt, by the Nix the inhabitants of the neighbourhood judge whether the seasons will be fruitful or the contrary. Honours paid to the water-spirits in a time of drought are followed by rain, as any violation of their sacred domain brings forth storm and tempest (If stones are thrown into the Mummelsee, the serenest sky becomes troubled and a storm arises. Grimm, D. S. No. 59. The belief is probably Keltish. Similar traditions are current of other lakes, as of theLake of Pilatus, of Camarina in Sicily, etc.). They also operate beneficially on the increase of cattle. They possess flocks and herds, which sometimes come on land and mingle with those of men and render them prolific.

Tradition also informs us that these beings exercise an influence over the lives and health of human beings. Hence the Nixen come to the aid of women in labour; while the common story, as in the case of the dwarfs, asserts the complete reverse. The presence of Nixen at weddings brings prosperity to the bride; and new-born children are said to come out of ponds and springs; although it is at the same time related that the Nixen steal children, for which they substitute changelings. There are also traditions of renovating springs (Jungbrunnen), which have the virtue of restoring the old to youth. (Thus the rugged Else, Wolfdietrich s beloved, bathed in such a spring and came forth the beautiful Sigeminne. Muller, p. 373.) The water-sprites are said to be both covetous and bloodthirsty. This character is, however, more applicable to the males than to the females, who are of a gentler nature, and even form connections with human beings, but which usually prove unfortunate. Male water-sprites carry off young girls and detain them in their habitations, and assail women with violence. 

The watersprite suffers no one from wantonness forcibly to enter his dwelling, to examine it, or to diminish its extent. Piles driven in for an aqueduct he will pull up and scatter; those wrho wish to measure the depth of a lake he will threaten; he frequently will not endure fishermen, and bold swimmers often pay for their temerity with their lives. If a service is rendered to the watersprite, he will pay for it no more than he owes ; though he sometimes pays munificently; and for the wares that

he buys, he will bargain and haggle, or pay with old perforated coin. He treats even his relations with cruelty. Water-maidens, who have staid too late at a dance, or other water-sprites, who have intruded on his domain, he will kill without mercy : a stream of blood that founts up from the water announces the deed. Many traditions relate that the water-sprite draws persons down with his net, and murders them; that the spirit of a river requires his yearly offering, etc. To the worship of water-sprites the before-cited passage from Gregory of Tours bears ample witness. 

The prohibitions, too, of councils against the performance of any heathen rites at springs, and particularly against burning lights at them, have, no doubt, reference to the water-sprites. In later Christian times some traces have been preserved of offerings made to the demons of the water. Even to the present time it is a Hessian custom to go on the second day of Easter to a cave on the Meisner (A chain of hills in Electoral Hesse), and draw water from the spring that flows from it, when flowers are deposited as an offering (The Bavarian custom also of throwing a man wrapped in leaves or rushes into the water on Whit Monday may have originated in a sacrifice to appease the water-sprite). Near Louvain are three springs, to which the people ascribe healing virtues. In the North it was a usage to cast the remnants of food into waterfalls. Rural sprites cannot have been so prominent in the German religion as water-sprites, as they otherwise would have acted a more conspicuous part in the traditions. 

The Osnabruck popular belief tells of a Tremsemutter, who goes among the corn and is feared by the children. In Brunswick she is called the Kornweib (Cornwife). When the children seek for cornflowers, they do not venture too far in the field, and tell one another about the Cornwife who steals little children. In the Altmark and Mark of Brandenburg she is called the Roggenmohme (From roggen, rye, and muhme, aunt, cousin), and screaming children are silenced by saying :”Be still, else the Roggenmohine with her long, black teats will come and drag thee away!“ 

Or, according to other relations, “with her black iron teats”. By others she is called Rockenmor, because like Holda and Berchta she plays all sorts of tricks with those idle girls who have not spun all off from their spinning-wheels (Rocken) by Twelfth day. Children that she has laid on her black bosom easily die. In the Mark they threaten children with the Erbsenmuhme (From Erbsen, peas), that they may not feast on the peas in the field. In the Netherlands the Long Woman is known, who goes through the corn-fields and plucks the projecting ears. In the heathen times this rural or field sprite was, no doubt, a friendly being, to whose influence the growth and thriving of the corn were ascribed (Adalbert Kuhn, who in the collecting of German popular traditions is indefatigable, makes us acquainted with another female being, who bears a considerable resemblance to Holda, Berchta and others of that class, and is called the Murraue. See more of her in, see 9). 

Spirits inhabiting the forests are mentioned in the older authorities, and at the present day people know them under the appellations of Waldleute (Forest-folk), Holzleute (Wood-folk), Moosleute (Moss-folk), Wilde Leute (Wild folk) (The appellation of Schrat is also applicable to the Forestsprites. The Goth, skohsl (Sainovtov) is by Grimm (D. M. p. 455) compared with the 0. Nor. Skogr (forest), who thence concludes that it was originally a forest-sprite. Jornandes speaks of sylvestres homines, quos faunos ficarios vocant.)

The traditions clearly distinguish the Forest-folk from the Dwarfs, by ascribing to them a larger stature, but have little more to relate concerning them than that they stand in a friendly relation to man, frequently borrow bread and household utensils, for which they make requital but are now so disgusted with the faithless world that they have retired from it. Such narratives are in close analogy with the dwarf-traditions, and it is, moreover, related of the females, that they are addicted to the ensnaring and stealing of children (The wood-wives (Holzweibel) come to the wood-cutters and ask for something to eat, and will also take it out of the pots ; though they remunerate for what they have taken or borrowed in some other way, frequently with good advice. Sometimes they will help in the labours of the kitchen or the wash; but always express great dread of the Wild Huntsman, who persecutes them. Grimm, D. M. p. 452.). On the Saale they tell of a Buschgrossmutter (Bush-grandmother) and her Moosfräulein (Moss-damsels).

13. Bushgrandmother

The Buschgrossmutter seems almost a divine being of heathenism, holding sway over the Forest-folk; as offerings were made to her. The Forest-wives readily make their appearance when the people are baking bread, and beg to have a loaf baked for them also, as large as half a millstone, which is to be left at an appointed spot. They afterwards either compensate for the bread, or bring a loaf of their own batch, for the ploughmen, which they leave in the furrow or lay on the plough, and are exceedingly angry if any one slights it. Sometimes the Forest-wife will come with a broken wheelbarrow, and beg to have the wheel repaired. She will then, like Berchta, pay with the chips that fall, which turn to gold; or to knitters she gives a clew of thread that is never wound off. As often as any one twists the stem of a sapling, so that the bark is loosed, a Forestwife must die. A peasant woman, who had given the breast to a screaming forest-child, the mother rewarded with the bark on which the child lay. The woman broke off a piece and threw it in her load of wood: at home she found it was gold. Like the dwarfs, the Forest-wives are dissatisfied with the present state of things. In addition to the causes already mentioned, they have some particular reasons. The times, they say, are no longer good since folks count the dumplings in the pot and the loaves in the oven, or since they piped the bread, and put cumin into it. (To pipe the bread (das Brot pipen) is to impress the points of the fingers into the loaf, as is usual in most places. Perhaps the Forest-wives could not carry off piped bread. From a like cause they were, no doubt, averse to the counting. Whether the seasoning with cumin displeased them merely as being an innovation, or for some hidden cause, we know not, but the rime says:

Kummelbrot unser Tod!                         Cumin-bread our death!

Kummelbrot macht Angst und Noth !    Cumin-bread makes pain and affliction !

Hence their precepts: Peel no tree, relate no dream, pipe no bread, or bake no cumin in bread, so will God help thee in thy need. A Forest-wife, who had just tasted a new-baked loaf, ran off to the forest screaming aloud: They’ve baken for me cumin-bread, that on this house brings great distress! And the prosperity of the peasant was soon on the wane, so that at length he was reduced to abject poverty

Little Forest-men, who have long worked in a mill, have been scared away by the miller''s men leaving clothes and shoes for them. It would seem that by accepting clothes these beings were fearful of breaking the relation subsisting between them and men. 

We shall see presently that the domestic sprites act on quite a different principle. We have still a class of subordinate beings to consider, viz. the domestic sprites or Goblins (Kobolde). Numerous as are the traditions concerning these beings, there seems great reason to conclude that the belief in them, in its present form, did not exist in the time of heathenism; but that other ideas must have given occasion to its development. The ancient mythologic system has in fact no place for domestic sprites and goblins. Nevertheless, we believe that by tracing up through popular tradition, we shall discern forms, which at a later period were comprised under the name of Kobolds (Muller, p. 381. According to the Swedish popular belief, the domestic sprite had his usual abode in a tree near the house.  Muller, p. 382. Grimm, D. M. p. 479.)

The domestic sprites bear a manifest resemblance to the dwarfs. Their figure and clothing are represented as perfectly similar; they evince the same love of occupation, the same kind, though sometimes evil, nature. We have already seen that the dwarfs interest themselves in the prosperity of a family, and in this respect the Kobolds may be partially considered as dwarfs, who, for the sake of taking care of the family, fix their abode in the house. In the Netherlands the dwarfs are called Kaboutermannekens, that is, Kobolds . The domestic sprite is satisfied with a small remuneration, as a hat, a red cloak, and party-coloured coat with tingling bells. Hat and cloak he has in common with the dwarfs. It may probably have been a belief that the deceased members of a family tarried after death in the house as guardian and succouring spirits, and as such, a veneration might have been paid them like that of the Romans to their lares. It has been already shown that in the heathen times the departed were highly honoured and revered, and we shall presently exemplify the belief that the dead cleave to the earthly, and feel solicitous for those they have left behind. Hence the domestic sprite may be compared to a lar familiaris, that participates in the fate of its family. It is, moreover, expressly declared in the traditions that domestic sprites are the souls of the dead, and the White Lady who, through her active aid, occupies the place of a female domestic sprite, is regarded as the ancestress of the family, in whose dwelling she appears. (Kobolds are the souls of persons that have been murdered in the house. Grimm, D. S. No. 71. A knife sticks in their back.  See 10.). 

When domestic sprites sometimes appear in the form of snakes, it is in connection with the belief genii or spirits who preserve the life and health of certain individuals. This subject, from the lack of adequate sources, cannot be satisfactorily followed up ; though so much is certain, that as, according to the Roman idea, the genius has the form of a snake, so, according to the German belief, this creature was in general the symbol of the soul and of spirits. Hence it is that in the popular traditions much is related of snakes which resembles the traditions of domestic sprites. Under this head we bring the tradition, that in every house there are two snakes, a male and a female, whose life depends on that of the master or mistress of the family. They do not make their appearance until these die, and then die with them. Other traditions tell of snakes that live together with a child, whom they watch in the cradle, eat and drink with it. If the snake is killed, the child declines and dies shortly after. In general, snakes bring luck to the house in which they take up their abode, and milk is placed for them as for the domestic sprites.

We will now give a slight outline of the externals of divine worship among the heathen Germans. The principal places of worship were, consistently with the general character of the Germans, in the free, open nature. The expression of Tacitus was still applicable; Groves consecrated to the gods are therefore repeatedly mentioned, and heathen practices in them forbidden. In Lower Saxony, even in the eleventh century, they had to be rooted up, by Bishop Unwan of Bremen, in order totally to extirpate the idolatrous worship. But still more frequently, as places of heathen worship, trees and springs are mentioned, either so that it is forbidden to perform any idolatrous rites at them, or that they are directly stigmatized as objects of heathen veneration. At the same time we are not justified in assuming that a sort of fetish adoration of trees and springs existed among them, and that their religious rites were unconnected with the idea of divine or semidivine beings, to whom they offered adoration ; for the entire character of the testimonies cited in the note sufficiently proves that through them the externals only of the pagan worship have been transmitted to us, the motives of which the transmitters either did not or would not know. As sacred spots, at which offerings to the gods were made, those places were particularly used where there were trees and springs. The trees were sacred to the gods, adoraverit. The prohibitions in the decrees of the councils and the laws usually join trees with springs, or trees, springs, rocks and crossways together. Whether all the passages which refer to Gaul are applicable to German heathenism is not always certain, as trees and springs were held sacred also by the Kelts, whose festivals were solemnized near or under them; an instance of which is the oak sacred to Jupiter, which Boniface caused to be felled. These trees, as we shall presently see, were, at the sacrificial feasts, used for the purpose of hanging on them either the animals sacrificed or their hides, whence the Langobardish Blood-Tree derives its name. Similar was the case with regard to the springs at which offerings were made; they were also sacred to the god whose worship was there celebrated, as is confirmed by the circumstance, that certain springs in Germany were named after gods and were situated near their sanctuaries. How far these were needful in sacrificial ceremonies, and in what manner they were used, we know not. But the worship of trees and springs may in reality have consisted in a veneration offered to the spirits who, according to the popular faith, had their dwelling in them; tradition having preserved many tales of beings that inhabited the woods and waters, and many traces of such veneration being still extant, of which we shall speak here after. It seems, however, probable that the worship of such spirits, who stood in a subordinate relation to the gods, was not so prominent and glaring that it was deemed necessary to issue such repeated prohibitions against it. This double explanation applies equally to the third locality at which heathen rites were celebrated stones and rocks ( can certainly have been only a grove. The fourth chapter of the Indiculus,; De casulis, i.e. fanis,; may refer to small buildings, in which probably sacrificial utensils or sacred symbols were kept). 

In stones, according to the popular belief, the dwarfs had their abode ; but principally rugged stone altars are thereby understood, such as still exist in many parts of Germany. We are unable to say with certainty whether the beforementioned offering-places served at the same time as burying-grounds of the dead, a supposition rendered probable by the number of urns containing ashes, which are often found on spots supposed to have been formerly consecrated to heathen worship. But the graves of the dead, at all events, seem designated as offering-places. That such offerings at graves were sometimes made to the souls of the departed, who after death were venerated as higher and beneficent beings, may be assumed from the numerous prohibitions, by the Christian church, against offering to saints, and regarding the dead indiscriminately as holy; although not all the sacrificia mortuorum and the heathen observances, which at a later period took place at burials , may have had reference to the dead, but may also have had the gods for object. Hence we may safely conclude that all the heathen rites, which were performed at springs, stones and other places, had a threefold reference: their object being either the gods, the subordinate elementary spirits, or the dead; but in no wise were life less objects of nature held in veneration by our forefathers for their own sakes alone.

Northen Mythology, comprising the principal traditions and superstitions of Scandinavia, North Germany, and The Netherlands. Compiled from original and other sources, in three volumes. Vol I of III, By Benjamin Thorpe, 

Continued in part 2.


Pic. Source:

1. http://deutschland-im-mittelalter.de/Kuenste/Literatur/Nibelungen/Lindwurm-Kampf
2. http://www.artoftheprint.com/artistpages/zdrasila_adolf_rubezahl.htm
3. A. Rackham
4. https://pixers.us/wall-murals/germanic-nordic-gods-freya-wotan-thor-52026588
5. https://worldhistory.us/european-history/the-norse-god-tiwaz-or-tyr-and-the-origin-of-tuesday.php
6.https://www.magnoliabox.com/products/tuisto-or-tuisco-is-the-divine-ancestor-of-the-germanic-peoples-lc990127-0192-1
7. https://i2.wp.com/www.jassa.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/incubusz.jpg
8. A. Rackham
 9. ib.
10.ib.
11.ib.
12.ib.
13. https://pierangelo-boog.blogspot.com/2017/08/ernst-liebenauer-illustrationen-fur_28.html

Nico