I I m i HANDBOOKS HISTORY OF RELIGIONS MORRIS JASTROW, JR., PH.D. Professor of Semitic Languages in the University of Pennsylvania VOLUME III A SERIES OF Handbooks on the History of Religions EDITED BY MORRIS JASTROW, JR. Professor of Semitic Languages in the University of Pennsylvania The following volumes are now ready : /. THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA By EDWARD WASHBURN HOPKINS, Professor of Sanskrit and Comparative Philology in Yale Univer- sity. 8vo. Cloth xviii + 612 pages. For introduc- tion, $2.00. II. THE RELIGION OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA By MORRIS JASTROW, JR., Professor of Semitic Languages in the University of Pennsylvania. 8vo. Cloth, xiv + 780 pages. For introduction, $3.00. ///. THE RELIGION OF THE TEUTONS By P. D. CHANTEPIE DE LA SAUSSAYE, Professor in the University of Leiden. Translated by BERT J. Vos, Associate Professor of German in the Johns Hopkins University. 8vo. Cloth. v+5O4 pages. GINN & COMPANY PUBLISHERS This compilation © Phoenix E-Books UK on tbe Ibistorg of THE RELIGION OF THE TEUTONS . BY P. D. CHANTEPIE DE LA SAUSSAYE, D.D. (UTRECHT) PROFESSOR IN THE UNIVERSITY OF LEIDEN TRANSLATED FROM THE DUTCH BY BERT J. VOS, PH.D. (JOHNS HOPKINS) ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF GERMAN IN THE JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY BOSTON, U.S.A., AND LONDON GINN & COMPANY, PUBLISHERS 3tbrnrum ENTERED AT STATIONERS' HALL COPYRIGHT, 1902 Bv GINN & COMPANY / ALL RIGHTS RESERVED PREFACE THE volume be allowed to its own cause present may plead ; its plan and scope are explained in the Introduction. It is for critics to decide how far the author has succeeded in his task, and wherein he has failed. It is the hope of the author that his book may at all events prove useful in conveying some definite information on controverted points, the more so as the excellent work of F. B. Gummere on Germanic Origins, which is the only English work of a general character, covers for the greater part a different field. I wish to express my gratitude to several scholars who have had considerable share in the production of this book. With- out the repeated and earnest solicitation and the encourage- ment received from Professor Morris Jastrow, Jr., of the University of Pennsylvania, this book would not have been written. Its appearance in English is due to Professor B. J. Vos of the Johns Hopkins University, who, in view of his own deep interest in the subject, was especially qualified to under- take the translation. The first eleven chapters also pub- lished in Dutch have been carefully revised by Professor B. Symons of the University of Groningen, who has read the proof sheets with the keen eye of the specialist, and whose numerous suggestions have frequently proved of value in con- trolling and correcting my own views. In the chapters devoted to mythology my obligations are less direct. I have, however, gratefully made use of the material collected in the latest and best works, and more especially of V vi PREFACE the excellent sketch of Mogk in Paul's Grundriss der germa- nischen Philologie. The general reader may, however, be assured that I have never accepted data without verification, and the scholar will observe that my conclusions frequently differ from those embodied in recent publications. It is my hope, also, that the historical method adopted in the work, and the endeavor to maintain a sharp distinction between what we actually know and what we do not know, may be esteemed advantages which will in a measure redeem other possible imperfections. P. D. CHANTEPIE DE LA SAUSSAYE. LEIDEN, January, CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I. INTRODUCTION i II. HISTORY OF TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY 7 III. THE PREHISTORIC PERIOD 49 i+ ~i IV. TRIBES AND PEOPLES 65 > 2. V. TEUTONS AND ROMANS 97 / & VI. PAGANISM AND CHRISTIANITY 113 2. o VII. HEROIC SAGA THE GERMAN 133 / 6 VIII. THE ANGLO-SAXONS 149 / v IX. OF THE NORTH BEFORE THE AGE THE VIKINGS .... 163 / "f > X. NORWAY AND ICELAND : HISTORY AND LITERATURE . 180 3 XI. FOLKLORE 210 XII. THE PANTHEON 221 XIII. GODS AND DIVINE NATURE . 282 XIV. ANIMISM, SOULS, WORSHIP OF THE DEAD 289 XV. WALKYRIES, SWAN-MAIDENS, NORNS 304 XVI. ELVES AND DWARFS 318 XVII. GIANTS 328 XVIII. THE WORLD : COSMOGONY, COSMOLOGY, AND ESCHATOLOGY 338 XIX. WORSHIP AND RITES 355 XX. CALENDAR AND FESTIVALS 379 XXI. MAGIC AND DIVINATION 385 XXII. CONCLUSION , . 398 BIBLIOGRAPHY 417 INDEX 465 THE RELIGION OF THE ANCIENT TEUTONS CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION SCOPE AND GENERAL PLAN THE country we live in and the blood in our veins constitute close and permanent ties of Kinship between ourselves and the primitive Teutons. This applies without reservation to the German, Dutch, English, and Scandinavian peoples, in part also to the French, and, so far as descent is concerned, to the Americans of the United States as well. Though our religion is derived, from the Jews^and our culture from the classical nations of antiquity, our natural origins are to be found among the ancient Teutons. If we are not their offspring in a spiritual sense, they are yet our ancestors after the flesh, from whom we have inherited, in large measure, our way of looking at things, as well as numerous ideas and customs. It is therefore of vital interest to us to determine as accu- rately as possible what this inheritance consists of, in contra- distinction to the foreign influences to which we have been subjected. Moreover, the present century has witnessed a revival of interest in the heroes and legends of the primitive Teutonic period. In modern literature the Norse gods and heroes, the German Nibelungs, have taken on a new lease of life. This world of myth and saga has a peculiar charm for 2 THE RELIGION OF THE ANCIENT TEUTONS us, even though it has not been immortalized in masterpieces of art, as that of ancient Greece. It is the aim of this volume to present a survey of our knowl- edge concerning Teutonic heathenism. The term employed for this purpose, "mythology," includes the myths and stories, as well as their scientific treatment. This double sense of the term, how- ever, involves no real difficulty, any more than in the case of the " term history," to which the same objection might be made. On the other hand, what would appear to be a more serious " " objection is the application of the term mythology to the whole of the heathen religion, inasmuch as neither cult nor religious institutions and observances, though connected with " mythology, properly form a part of the concept myth. History " " " of religion and mythology are by no means convertible terms in the treatment of the more civilized ; highly peoples, whose religious life is known through their literature, it is essential to distinguish carefully between these two phases. But in the case of tribes and peoples that stand on a lower level of civilization, and concerning whom our knowledge is of a fragmentary character, there seems to be no valid objection " " against applying the term mythology to the entire field. While perhaps not strictly correct from a logical point of view, this usage has been so universally followed in the case of the Teutons, that we feel justified in adhering to it. Teutonic mythology, therefore, comprises all that is known of the religion of the ancient Teutons, that is, the Germans, the Anglo-Saxons, the Scandinavians, the Gothic, and other East Teutonic peoples. The terminus ad quern of our treatment is the conversion of these peoples to Christianity, which did not take place in the North until about A.D. 1000. At the same time survivals of paganism among the Christianized Teutons in the Middle Ages and down to our own times, while not forming, in the strict sense of the word, a part of our subject, must necessarily be taken into consideration. INTRODUCTION 3 That mythology is an historical science may now be regarded as an established fact; and this implies that in its deductions it is absolutely confined to such data as have been definitely ascertained from records, and which, in addition to being weighed according to the canons of historical criticism, have been judged in connection with their origin and character. Difficult as such a task is, still greater obstacles are encountered when we attempt to combine these isolated facts and to con- struct a of from the material thus collected system mythology ; for at this point we touch the apparently simple but in reality extremely complicated field of myth-interpretation. Nothing, indeed, is easier than to interpret mythical characters and stories in accordance with some clever aperfu or in keeping with certain stock ideas. In following such a system the elements that fit in with the interpretation are made use of, while the others are completely ignored and the gaps in the historical data entirely neglected. On the other hand, to com- prehend in their unity and interrelations all the features of one myth, and all the myths concerning a particular god or hero, is always extremely difficult, and in many cases absolutely impos- " sible. To hit an idea is mere to follow it out to upon play ; its conclusion is work to fathom a logical ; mythological fact, what shall we call that ? You know the crowfoot weed that shoots out its tendrils in every direction ? Wherever the spur of a runner touches the ground a new root rises up and a new plant, and in this way a large space is rapidly covered. The task of laying bare the complete ramifications of this weed on a large plot of ground, without injuring the least little fibre, furnishes a faint idea of the trial of patience involved in myth- x ological investigations." The question also suggests itself whether the unity which we believe to have found really exists.