Everything about Nerthus totally explained
Nerthus is a goddess in
Germanic paganism associated with fertility. Nerthus was mentioned by
Tacitus, a
1st Century AD Roman historian, in his work entitled
Germania. An amount of speculation exists regarding the goddess and her potential later traces amongst the
Germanic tribes.
Etymology
Etymological links have long been made betweern Nerthus to
Njörðr.
Njörðr is commonly viewed as a masculine counterpart to
Nerthus. Jacob Grimm wrote, “I should prefer Nertus to Nerthus, because no other German words in Tacitus have
TH, except Gothini and Vuithones.” He rejected the reading Herthus, “though the aspirate in
herda might seem to plead for it, the termination –us is against it.” On the other hand, Edgar Polomé argued that
Njörðr and
Nerthus come from different roots, adding, "Nerthus and Njörðr are two separate divine entities, whatever similarity their names show."
Lotte Motz proposed that the Germanic goddess described by Tacitus may not have been called
Nerthus at all. She argued that the name was selected by Grimm from several manuscript variants because it bore an etymological resemblance to
Njörðr.
Notwithstanding the arguments of Motz and Polomé, many modern scholars continue to accept Grimm's derivation. John McKinnell represents this view:
“The usually accepted stemma has three families, and readings shared by the best manuscripts of any two of them are thought likely to be correct. The best X group manuscripts (Vatican, Cod. Vat. 1862, Leiden UL XVIII Periz.Q.21) read Neithum; the best y manuscripts (Cod. Vat. 1518, Codex Neapolitanus) have Nerthum, and the best Z manuscript (Iesi, Æsinas Lat. 8) reads Nertum. The sound /th/ didn't exist in classical Latin, though the spelling is found in words derived from Greek or the Germanic languages (such as thesaurus 'treasure', or the name Theodoricus). Tacitus would therefore be unlikely to introduce the spelling th gratuitously. In the fifteenth century, the Italian scribes who produced most of the earliest surviving manuscripts (including the Iesi manuscript) would have a natural tendency to replace th with t, as was consistently done in their native language (see Italian tesoro, Teodorico), but would be very unlikely to do the reverse. Nerthum is therefore more probably correct than Nertum. If both Y and Z should read Nerthum, that reading must be preferred. A different stemma, proposed by Robinson, has only two groups, and the best manuscripts in both read Nerthum. Whichever stemma is correct, Nerthum therefore seems the likeliest reading, although it could represent either a grammatically masculine Nerthus or a grammatically neuter Nerthum.”
Tacitus' account
Tacitus records a processional ritual devoted to this goddess enacted by the northern Germanic tribes:
After the Langobardi come the Reudigni, Auiones, Angli, Varni, Eudoses, Suarines and Nuithones all well guarded by rivers and forests. There is nothing remarkable about any of these tribes unless it be the common worship of Nerthus, that's Earth Mother. They believe she's interested in men's affairs and drives among them.
On an island in the ocean sea there's a sacred grove wherein waits a holy wagon covered by a drape. One priest only is allowed to touch it. He can feel the presence of the goddess when she's there in her sanctuary and accompanies her with great reverence as she's pulled along by kine.
It is a time of festive holiday making in whatever place she decides to honour with her advent and stay. No one goes to war, no one takes up arms, in fact every weapon is put away, only at that time are peace and quiet known and prized until the goddess, having had enough of peoples company, is at last restored by the same priest to her temple. After which the wagon and the drape, and if you like to believe me, the deity herself is bathed in a mysterious pool.
The rite is performed by slaves who, as soon as it's done, are drowned in the lake. In this way mystery begets dread and a pious ignorance concerning what that sight may be which only those who are about to die are allowed to see. --Germania, ch. 40.
Although some scholars have pointed out possible foreign models for Tacitus’ account of the Nerthus cult, it's more probable that he based his account on native Scandinavian tradition. Tacitus provides the first detailed account of a heathen ritual recorded in the Germanic territories. Serious scholars scarcely neglect it when discussing Germanic pagan beliefs and practices.
Theories
A number of theories have been proposed regarding the figure of Nerthus, including the location of the events described, relations to other known gods and goddesses and her role amongst the Germanic tribes. Evidence of the veneration of a mother goddess, representing the earth, survived among the
Angles (Tacitus' Anglii) into Christian times as evidenced in the processional Æcerbót ritual. Similarly, the Lonbards (Tacitus' Longobardi) are said to venerate Odin's wife, Frea, in their first chronicle. The kenning "Odin's wife" is a well-known paraphrase for the earth in Icelandic poetry of the Middle Ages.
Location
A number of scholars have proposed a potential location of Tacitus' account of Nerthus as on the island of
Zealand in
Denmark. Reasoning behind this notion is the linking the name Nerthus with the medieval place name Niartharum (now called Naerum) located on Zealand. Further justification is given that
Lejre, the seat of the ancient kings of Denmark, is also located on Zealand.
Pairs
It has been suggested by
Hilda R. Ellis Davidson that that there was possibly originally a male and female pair of deities,
Njord and Nerthus, with
Freyja later replacing Nerthus. Davidson also proposes that there were other male and female pairings of Germanic gods of whom little is known but their names such as
Ullr and
Ullin.
Wagon
The wagon of Nerthus has been likened to several other legends of wagons. In one story, the major
Vanir god
Freyr is named in connection with a wagon that customarily traveled about the land in his name to bless the fields, according to a story named
Hauks þáttr hábrókar in the 14th century
Flateyjarbók manuscripts. In the same manuscript, King Eric of Sweden consults a god named
Lytir in a wagon who was brought to his hall and performed a divination ceremony.
H.R. Davidson draws a parallel between these incidents and the Tacitus' account of Nerthus, stating that
Lytir could have been another name for Freyr. Further, Hilda Davidson and Terry Gunnell, among many others, have noted various archaeological finds of ritual wagons in Denmark dating from 200 AD and the
Bronze Age, as well as a neck-ring wearing female figure "kneeling as if to drive a chariot" also from the Bronze Age. Davidson posits that evidence suggest that similar customs as detailed in Tacitus' account continued to exist during the close of the pagan period through worship of the Vanir and Freyr.
[
]War of the Gods
The Æsir were described as having fought with the Vanir in the War of the gods, which has sometimes been theorized as a mythological description of a shift of religion. This war resulted in linked figures such as Njord, Freyr and Freyja becoming war hostages among the Æsir.
The difference in religious worship between Scandinavian Bronze Age and Iron Age (based on the archaeological material) isn't controversial. As an example, the sun wheel symbol is abundant in the archaeological material from Bronze Age Scandinavia, but was later much more scarcely used. The transition between these two practices hasn't been satisfactory explained, however. Older theories focusing on the invasion and conquest by a warrior culture are today seen as unlikely.
Accepting the view described above of the development of Nerthus and her counterpart into Freyja and Freyr along with their diminished importance doesn't implicate accepting the shift of religion hypothesis. Followers of the trifunctional hypothesis of Georges Dumézil see the Vanir as the gods of common Norsemen, whereas the Æsir were the gods of the warrior and clerical castes (represented primarily by Thor and Odin respectively). The fading of the Vanir's importance would then suggest a social rather than religious development.
Epyonyms
Further Information
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