Germanic paganism

Little is known for certain about the roots of Germanic religion.[12]

The 5th-century Golden Horns of Gallehus

Early forms of Germanic religion are known exclusively from archaeological remains and can therefore only be interpreted on the basis of comparative studies with other religions or through the evaluation of Scandinavian literature, who, as the last converts among the practitioners of Germanic religion, maintained a written account of their religion into the Middle Ages.[13] In addition to the rich archaeological finds, like the evidence of a widespread veneration of a fire god,[14] there is also linguistic evidence attesting to Germanic religious practices. Description of the oldest forms of the Germanic religion are based on uncertain reconstructions, which in turn are based on comparisons with other material.[lower-alpha 1] Archaeological findings suggest that the Germanic peoples practiced some of the same 'spiritual' rituals as the Celts, including sacrifice, divination, and the belief in a spiritual connection with the natural environment around them.[15] Germanic priestesses were feared by the Romans, as these tall women with glaring eyes, wearing flowing white gowns often wielded a knife for sacrificial offerings. Captives might have their throats cut and be bled into giant cauldrons or have their intestines opened up and the entrails thrown to the ground for prophetic readings.[16][lower-alpha 2] Spiritual rituals frequently occurred in consecrated groves or upon islands on lakes where perpetual fires burned.[18]

Various deities found in Germanic paganism occur widely among the Germanic peoples, most notably the god known to the continental Germanic peoples as Wodan or Wotan, to the Anglo-Saxons as Woden, and to the Norse as Óðinn, as well as the god Thor—known to the continental Germanic peoples as Donar, to the Anglo-Saxons as Þunor and to the Norse as Þórr. Christianity had no relevance for the pre-Christian Germanic peoples until their contact and integration with Rome.[19]

One of the oldest written sources on Germanic religion is Julius Caesar's Commentarii de Bello Gallico, where he compares the very intricate Celtic customs with the perceived very "primitive" Germanic traditions:

The German way of life is very different. They have no druids to preside over matter related to the divine, and they do not have much enthusiasm for sacrifices. They count as gods only those phenomenon that they can perceive and by whose power they are plainly helped, the Sun, Fire, and Moon; others they do not know even from hearsay. Their whole life is spent on hunting and military pursuits. (Caesar, Gallic War 6.21.1–6.21.3)[20]

Caesar's descriptions of the religion of the Germanic tribes differ greatly from what other sources show, and so it is not given high source value by modern religious researchers. In general, he describes Germania as a barbaric wonderland, very different from the Italy from which he comes. Many of the characteristics he attributes to the population are thus in contrast to the Romans. An interesting detail, however, is his identification of the most important deity in Gaul being the same as the Roman Mercury; he likewise references other Roman gods being found in Germanic beliefs.

Among the gods, Mercury has the most important cult; his sacred images are very frequent. The Gauls call him the inventor of every art and skill, the guide on roadways and journeys, and they believe he has the greatest power over trade and the pursuit of profit. After him, they venerate Apollo, Mars, Jupiter, and Minerva. Of these, they think in much the same way as other peoples do, holding that Apollo dispels disease, Minerva passes along the foundations of arts and crafts, Jupiter rules the heavenly gods, and Mars governs war. (Caesar, Gallic War 6.17.1)[21]

Roman bronze figurine, which depicts a praying Germanic man with a characteristic Suebian knot.

A later and much more detailed description of the Germanic religion was written by Tacitus around 100 AD. His ethnographic descriptions in Germania remain highly valued. According to this, the Germanic peoples sacrificed both animals and humans to their gods, which he identified with Hercules and Mars.[22] He also tells that the largest group, the Suebi, also sacrificed Roman prisoners of war to a goddess whom he identified with Isis.[22]

Another deity, whom he calls Nerthus, is cultivated as a goddess by a number of groups in the northwestern region. According to Tacitus's account, her followers believed that Nerthus interacted directly in human affairs.[23] Her main shrine was in the grove of Castum, located on an island. A covered wagon pulled by bulls was devoted to the goddess and only the high priest was permitted to touch it. This pastor was able to see the goddess stepping into the cart. It was carried all over the country and wherever it arrived, a party and feast in her honor was held. The priest proclaimed festivities over when the goddess was tired of contact with mortals, then the wagon and curtain were washed. The slave performing the purification ritual was subsequently thrown into the lake. During the time the goddess traveled, these tribes did not go to war and did not touch any weapons.[23] According to Tacitus, the Germans perceived temple buildings as inappropriate homes for the gods, nor did they depict them in human form, in the same way that the Romans did. Instead, they cultivated them in sacred forests or groves.[24]

Tacitus' reliability as a source can be characterized by his rhetorical tendencies, since one of the purposes of Germania was to present his own compatriots with an example of the virtues he believed they were missing.[25]

Paganism was still being practiced by the Germanic peoples when the Roman emperor Constantine the Great died in 337 AD, despite his conversion to Christianity; Constantine did not, however, ban pagan rituals at select religious temples across the Empire.[26] Sometime between 391–392, Theodosius I made an official proclamation which outlawed pagan religious practices throughout his region of influence with various successors like Justinian I doing likewise.[26] The Franks were converted directly from paganism to Christianity under the leadership of Clovis I in about 496 without an intervening time as Arian Christians. Eventually the Gothic tribes turned away from their Arian faith and in 589 converted to trinitarian Christianity.[27]

The Royal Mounds at Gamla Uppsala contains hundreds (originally thousands) of tumuli

Pagan beliefs amid the Germanic peoples were reported by some of the earlier Roman historians and in the 6th century AD another instance of this appears when the Byzantine historian and poet, Agathias, remarked that the Alemannic religion was "solidly and unsophisticatedly pagan."[28] However, during the Germanic Iron Age, the Germanic culture was increasingly exposed to the influence of Christianity and Mediterranean culture; for example, the Gothic Christian convert Ulfilas translated the Bible from Greek into Gothic in the mid 4th century, creating the earliest known translation of the Bible into a Germanic language.[29] Another aspect of this development can be seen, for example, in Jordanes, who wrote the story of the Goths, Getica, in the 6th century, since they had been Christians for more than 150 years and dominated the ancient Roman core area, Italy. Jordanes wrote that the Goths' chief god was Mars, whom they believed had been born among them. Jordanes does not bother using the god's original name, but instead employs the Latin form (Mars) and avows the Goths sacrificed captives to him.[30] The Goths were converted to the Arian form of Christianity in the 4th century at the time when Catholicism became the dominant religion of the Roman Empire, earning them the label of heretics.[31] Over time, the ancient religious traditions were replaced by the Christian culture, first to the south, later to the north. The early transition to Christianity and the rapid disappearance of the realms meant that the religious practices of the East Germanic tribes predating Christianity are almost unknown.[32]

Germanic-speakers are well attested to have been stationed in the part of Roman Britain corresponding to England, and their religious practices, combining traditional and Roman elements, are evidenced in archaeology, particularly in the form of inscriptions.[33]

From the fifth century, Germanic-speaking Anglo-Saxon culture became established in England, and the later writings of its Christian writers an important source for pre-Christian Germanic religion. For example, the Christian monk Bede, who in the early eighth century reproduced a traditional, non-Christian calendar in his work De Temporum Ratione, noted that the Germanic Angles began their year on 24–25 December.[34] In addition, some pieces of Old English poetry have survived, all passed on by Christian writers. Important works include Beowulf[35][lower-alpha 3] and some Anglo-Saxon metrical charms.[37][38]

A depiction of Saint Boniface destroying Donar's Oak from The Little Lives of the Saints (1904), illustrated by Charles Robinson.

When the Germanic Lombards invaded Italy in the mid-sixth century, their forces consisted of persons practicing orthodox and the Arian form of Christianity, but a significant portion of them remained wedded to their pagan religious heritage.[39] Over time, the balance between pagan and Christian believers began to change. Eventually for many continental Germanic peoples who still clung to their ancient faith, the conversion to Christianity was achieved by armed force, successfully completed by Charlemagne, in a series of campaigns (the Saxon Wars). These wars brought Saxon lands into the Frankish Empire.[40] Massacres, such as the Bloody Verdict of Verden, where as many as 4,500 people were beheaded according to one of Charlemagne's chroniclers, were a direct result of this policy.[41] Several centuries later, Anglo-Saxon and Frankish missionaries and warriors undertook the conversion of their Saxon neighbors. A key event was the felling of Thor's Oak near Fritzlar by Boniface in 723 AD. According to surviving accounts, when Thor failed to strike Boniface dead after the oak hit the ground, the Franks were amazed and began their conversion to the Christian faith.[lower-alpha 4]

During the eighth-century the Carolingian Franks sought to stamp out Germanic paganism, when for instance, Charlemagne destroyed the mighty tree trunk Irminsul that supported the heavenly vault of pagan Saxons in much the same way that Boniface had destroyed Thor's Oak before.[42] Charlemagne then instituted a forced mass-baptism, which was never forgiven and incited the Saxons to revolt whenever Frankish forces were far away; the Saxons—under the leadership of Widukind—even wiped-out Christian mission centres in Frankish territory.[43] Historian J.M. Wallace-Hadrill asserts that Charlemagne was "in deadly earnest" about extirpating paganism and that his "kingly task" included converting the heathen pagans "by fire and sword if necessary."[44] Germanic paganism's lasting power and influence is revealed to some degree by the amount of anti-pagan measures undertaken during the period of Frankish ascendancy.[44]

Transition from paganism to Christianity was nonetheless an uneven process. For example, when the formidable Harald Gormsson attempted to impose Christianity on Denmark in the mid-10th century, the inhabitants resented the change, which led to his son driving him out of the country and returning it to its pagan practices.[45] Sometime around 1000 CE, Iceland was formally declared Christian, however, pagan religious practices were tolerated in the private sphere. The change of religion took place in some places peacefully, while in others through forced conversion. Norwegian King, Olaf II, (later canonized as St Olaf) who reigned in the early 11th century, attempted to spread Christianity throughout his kingdom, but was forced into exile by a rebellion in 1028 and killed at the Battle of Stiklestad in 1030. In 1080, Sweden's King Inge the Elder, who had converted to Christianity, was exiled from Uppsala by his own people when he refused to sacrifice to the pagan gods.[46] Nonetheless, most of Scandinavia turned from their Nordic pagan practices and converted to Christianity by the 11th century.[47][48] Adam of Bremen provided the last description of widespread paganism being practiced in the Nordic countries.[49]

This Thor's hammer in silver with filigree ornamentation was found in Scania. It was donated to the Swedish History Museum in 1895.

The Scandinavian religion in the early Middle Ages is far better documented than the former Germanic religions, thanks especially to the texts written down in Iceland between 1150 and 1400.[50] Bronze Age personal ornaments show images of their gods on chariots, and rock carvings all across Scandinavia south of Trondheim-Swedish Uppland reveal gods, priests, and various fauna.[51] Sacrifice was known to be merely a part of festivals where the various gods received gifts, or whenever one tried to predict and influence the events of the coming year. The relationship between gods and humans was understood as one that resembled the connection between a great man and those submissive to him; therefore it was important to routinely confirm the relationship with the gods through gifts. Blood sacrifices were used in times of crisis and for the holidays.[52] Ninth-century accounts of the Viking Rus' of Novgorod (perhaps the furthest East that Germanic religious practices manifest) include the sacrifice of "men, women, and cattle" to their deities.[53]

While Christian conversion happened first in Denmark and then Norway, thanks largely to Harald Bluetooth, the Swedish royal household was the last to accept Christian baptism.[54] Pagan religion formed the core of Nordic religious identity and their bond was as much their non-Christian identity and their related tongue than it was their common worship of Odinn, Thor, or Frey.[55] Even after conversion, there are reports that Norsemen like Helgi the Lean—who was a professed Christian—made vows to Thor during sea-voyages or when matters of utmost importance arose, demonstrating how some were slow to give up their old gods entirely.[56]

The Gundestrup cauldron, today in the National Museum of Denmark in Copenhagen.

During the transition between the Bronze Age and the Iron Age (about 500 BC), there was a shift in both living and religious customs.[57] The archaeological finds show a society that was changed, instead of burying their dead, they were now starting to burn them before ceremoniously placing them in the ground.[57] This burial practice remained dominant right up to the transition to Christianity in the Middle Ages. In later sources, it appears that the Germanic peoples believed that the dead would continue to live in a celestial kingdom through burning, while those who were laid in the earth without being burned would remain down there.[58] Among finds that probably had religious significance, objects of Celtic origin dominate, and the mythological motifs found in many cases have clear connections to the Mediterranean region or Celtic culture. Based on archaeological evidence alone, it is nearly impossible to distinguish early Germans from Celts according to historian Malcolm Todd.[59] While there is limited information available on Germanic mythology in the early part of the Iron Age, the remnants that do exist indicate that there were shifts in the religious beliefs of the Germanic peoples over the centuries.[60]

Until about 400 AD, the borders of the Roman Empire were only about 300 km away from Scandinavia, and even closer to other German-speaking tribes. The Roman Empire was the dominant power of that time, both politically, economically and culturally in this part of the world. As the Roman Empire grew and made contact with different cultures across a vast area of Europe, local traditions eventually began borrowing cultural elements derived from the Romans; this also applies to the Germanic peoples. A telling example is that by 300 AD, the Germanic peoples began dividing the week into seven days, each day named after a particular deity.[61]

More examples include sculptures that create an overall common tradition throughout Europe, the Near-North and North Africa. In northern Europe, smaller sculptures with clear similarities to Roman models from archaeological excavations—in particular, at Funen and Øland—dating between 200 and 400 AD, consist of figures that can stand on a table and are either made of metal or wood. Unfortunately, it is impossible to identify which gods these figures are meant to depict or much about the religious beliefs attached to them.[62] A special feature of the Germanic figures, however, is the lack of female figures that were otherwise popular in the Roman Empire, which indicates a deliberate opt-out. In Roman context, these types of figures were mainly used in connection with the larch cult in private homes, where they were placed on small home-altars. However, whether they have been used for the same purpose in the Nordic countries is uncertain. Gradually, these figures disappear again from the finds, and from the Viking Age only very few and small figures are known.[63]

Sometime between 400 and 500 AD, there was an increase in the amount of gold, as indicated by archeological excavations across northern Europe—this is likely related to the extensive use of Germanic mercenaries by the Romans as they attempted to expand their empire. Round gold medals inspired by Roman coins appeared, adorned by images of Balder, Tyr and Odin. These gods were prominently worshipped by the upper class and the Germanic kings. In this example, Roman techniques were used to reproduce and convey Germanic ideas and religion.[64]