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The Ancient Teutonic Priesthood

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The Ancient Teutonic Priesthood THE ANCIENT TEUTONIC PRIESTHOOD. BY H. MUNK.0 CHADWICK, B.A. (Read at Meeting of May i6tk, 1900.) I. THE PRIESTHOOD OF THE ANCIENT GERMANS. CESAR in his account of the Germans (B. G., vi., 21) makes the statement that they had no Druids. This statement has gyven rise to much controversy; for it is not clear whether he meant to say that the Germans had no priests at all, or merely that they had no priesthood similar tothatof the Gauls. In Tacitus' account of the Germans, a hundred and fifty years later, the priesthood constitutes an important element in their society, and is characterised by features which it is difficult to reconcile with the supposition that it was then a new institution.' As a matter of fact, a German priest is said to have been present at the triumph of Germanicus (A.D. 14).1 , In order to comprehend Caesar's meaning, it is necessary first to examine briefly his account of the Druids. Accord­ ing to his account (B. G. vi., 13 ff.), the Druids had the entire control of religion, and the direction of both public and private sacrifices. Their organisation extended over the whole of Gaul, and they were presided over by an Arch- druid, who was elected for life. They met annually in a consecrated place within the territories of the Carnutes, a district which was regarded as the centre of Gaul. All suits of whatever character, whether private or public, were here brought before them, and the decision was left entirely in their hands. They could enforce their sentences, whether against individuals or states, under penalty of excommunica­ tion, which was equivalent to outlawry. The Druids were, moreover,'instructors of the young. They were excused from all tribute and military service, and devoted themselves 1 Strabo vii., p. 292; as ail the other persons mentioned in this passage are chiefs, the priest must have been regarded as a person of distinction. The Ancient Teutonic Priesthood. 269 to the study and exposition of natural and moral philosophy. They appear not to have been a distinct caste, since it is stated {ib, 14) that many were induced to embrace the pro­ fession by the desire to escape national obligations. They were sometimes—whether usually or not is uncertain— drawn from the ranks of the nobility. Thus Deiuiciacus the Aeduan was a Druid,1 while his brother, Dumnorix, held the chief magistracy of the Aedui. Some additional information is to be obtained from Strabd and Diodorus. According to Strabo (iv., p. 197), "there are three classes of persons who are especially honoured by the Gauls, namely, Bards, Vates, and Druids. The Bards are minstrels and poets, the Vates are sacrificers and interpreters of natural phenomena ($voio\oyoi), while the Druids practice both cfrvo-ioXoyla and moral philosophy. They are considered to be most just, and for this reason they are entrusted with the decision of all cases, both private and public. Formerly they even settled wars, and parted those who were on the point pf fighting. Above all they were entrusted with the settlement of suits for manslaughter." Diodorus (v., 31) gives much the same account. He states that the Vates, whom he calls navrei? (seers), fore­ tell the future by augury and by divination at sacrifices, and have the whole people in subjection to them. He calls the Druids <f>iko<To$oi, and says that they also were present at all sacrifices, " for they think that offerings can be made ,tp the gods, and favours asked from them, only through the mediation of those who are acquainted with their nature and, as it were, understood their language." According to Diodorus therefore both the Druids and the Vates were .present at sacrifices. Concerning the sanctuaries of the Druids we have very little information. According to Lucan (i., 453 f.) and Tacitus (Ann. xiv. 30), they inhabited, or, at all events, ' Cicero, de Diuin. i., 41, 90. 270 The Ancient Teutonic Priesthood. practised their rites, in sacred groves.1 This agrees with the well-known fact that reverence for trees was a leading^ feature in their worship. ' From these notices it appears that the Vates and the Druids were distinct classes of persons, though it is not very easy to distinguish between them. Both seem to have - taken part in sacrifices. Prophetic power also seems to have been claimed by the Druid as well as by the Vates. Thus, according to Cicero (I.e.), Deiuiciacus claimed to have the power of foretelling the future, partly by auguries and partly by conjecture. It is, of course, possible, that the two classes are confused to some extent by our authorities through ignorance. It seems probable, however, that the administration of justice belonged exclusively to the Druids. The female Druids, mentioned in later works,2 seem to be simply women possessed of prophetic powers. For information regarding the priestly system of the ancient Germans we are dependent almost entirely upon Tacitus. His account of their duties may briefly be sum­ marised as follows:—(1) They had to take omens on public occasions; this included the casting of lots and the obser­ vation of the sacred horses. In the latter duty the priest was accompanied by the king or the princeps ciuitatis? (2) They had duties in connection with the meeting of the tribal assembly. They had to open the meeting by pro­ claiming silence, and to them alone belonged the right of inflicting punishment both at the assembly and when the host was called out for war.* It seems likely also that the right of proclaiming excommunication against persons guilty of cowardice belonged to them.8 (3) They had the guardianship of the sacred groves and of the symbols and other holy objects which were kept there.8 When the host 1 Cf. also Mela, iii., 2, 19. ' * Holder, Alt-Celtischer Sprachschatz, p. 1329 f. • Germ., 10. , . * lb., 7,11. *Cf. Germ., 6. « Jb., 40,43. The Ancient Teutonic Priesthood: 271 assembled for war, the priests took the sacred symbols from their sanctuaries and carried them into battle.1 Lastly, there can be little doubt that they had duties in connection with public sacrifices, though this is not explicitly stated by Tacitus. The information to be derived from other early authori­ ties is slight, but does not conflict with Tacitus' account. Ammianus Marcellinus (xxviii., 5, 14) states that over the priests of the Burgundians there presided a chief priest, called Sinistus? who held office for life, and was irre­ movable. Jordanes (c. 5) says that the priests of the Goths were drawn from the nobility. According to Bede, H, E., ii., 13) the priests of the ancient English were forbidden to carry arms or to ride, except on mares. Here also we find the priests of Deira presided over by a high priest. It cannot be denied that there is a certain resemblance between the position of the German priests and that of the Druids. In both cases we find some kind of regular priestly organisation, under the presidency of a chief priest (Tacitus' sacerdos ciuitatis), though among the Germans the organisation seems to be confined within the limits of the ' state' or tribe. Among the Germans, as among the Gauls, the priests seem to have been exempt from the duty of fighting, though they were present on the field of battle. Like the Druids, the German priests inhabit, or at all events have charge over, sacred groves. Lastly, in addition to their distinctively religious functions, both the Druids and the German priests have duties in connection with, the administration of justice. Tacitus' information is here corroborated by the evidence of language. In Old High German the word ewarto? which literally means s Identical with Goth, sinista, ' eldest.' s The word is to be compared with O. Fris. asega, ' lawman' (lit, ' speaker of the law'), whiih is identical with O. Sax. eosago, used in Heliand to denote a (Jewish) scribe. 272, The Ancient Teutonic Priesthood. ' guardian of the law,' is used to denote a priest of the Jews. This usage can hardly be explained, except on the supposition that the word was formerly used to denote a native priest of the Germans. It is likely therefore that it was in their capacity of guardians of the law that the priests opened the assembly and had the right of inflicting punishment. There are, however, two important points of difference between the Druids and the priests of the Germans: (i) In the administration of justice, the latter have rather the semblance of power than the reality. While among the Gauls the whole administration of justice lay exclusively in the hands of the Druids, among the Germans on the other hand this power belonged to the assembled host, the priests being apparently merely the officers of the latter. (2) The. German priesthood seems to be exclusively con­ cerned with public duties and to be almost entirely bound up with the ' state/ or tribe^ Priests appear not to have , been required for private worship. Tacitus (Germ., 10) distinctly states that the casting of lots, which on public occasions devolved on the state-priest, in the private house­ hold was performed by the head1 of the house. It is . probable that such was the case also with private sacrifices, though from Tacitus' silence on the subject, and Cassar's statement1 that the Germans were not zealous in offering sacrifice, it is likely that such sacrifices were not of frequent occurrence. Again the priestly organisation of the Germans seems not to extend beyond the bounds of each individual state.
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