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Religious Foundations of Group Identity in Prehistoric Europe: the Germanic Peoples
PETER BUCHHOLZ Religious Foundations of Group Identity in Prehistoric Europe: The Germanic Peoples Any reader of Heimskringla ("circle of the earth"), the history of the kings of Norway by the great 13th century Icelandic writer Snorri Sturluson, will be struck by the enormous weight which the author attaches to religion. This refers both to Christianity and to pagan phenomena which preceded and even co-existed with it for some time. Snorri's work should, in my view, be ascribed a relatively high source value, if only because it is demonstrably based on older traditions either fixed in poetry or transmitted as oral prose. Öral tradition is of course not the topic of the present paper (cf. Buchholz 1980; Buchholz 1991), but the preservation of such traditions alone, many of which contain religious material, does indeed show that society or parts of it attached sufficient importance to such phenomena as to commit them to memory, parchment, runic signs or pictorial representation. The last scribe or "author" may of course have had considerable antiquarian interests, as is evident e.g. in some of the mythic poems of the Elder Edda, but such interests cannot be regarded as the cause for the existence of the myth, but only as one of the reasons for its preservation. We shall hopefully glimpse something of the role of myth in Germanic societies in the course of my paper. Leaving Myth aside for the moment, I want to stress that ÖN prose material, including Heimskringla, shows a marked interest in the concrete manifestations of cult (which, for paganism as seen through Christian eyes at least, definitely includes magic) and belief. -
ABSTRACT Savannah Dehart. BRACTEATES AS INDICATORS OF
ABSTRACT Savannah DeHart. BRACTEATES AS INDICATORS OF NORTHERN PAGAN RELIGIOSITY IN THE EARLY MIDDLE AGES. (Under the direction of Michael J. Enright) Department of History, May 2012. This thesis investigates the religiosity of some Germanic peoples of the Migration period (approximately AD 300-800) and seeks to overcome some difficulties in the related source material. The written sources which describe pagan elements of this period - such as Tacitus’ Germania, Bede’s Ecclesiastical History of the English People, and Paul the Deacon’s History of the Lombards - are problematic because they were composed by Roman or Christian authors whose primary goals were not to preserve the traditions of pagans. Literary sources of the High Middle Ages (approximately AD 1000-1400) - such as The Poetic Edda, Snorri Sturluson’s Prose Edda , and Icelandic Family Sagas - can only offer a clearer picture of Old Norse religiosity alone. The problem is that the beliefs described by these late sources cannot accurately reflect religious conditions of the Early Middle Ages. Too much time has elapsed and too many changes have occurred. If literary sources are unavailing, however, archaeology can offer a way out of the dilemma. Rightly interpreted, archaeological evidence can be used in conjunction with literary sources to demonstrate considerable continuity in precisely this area of religiosity. Some of the most relevant material objects (often overlooked by scholars) are bracteates. These coin-like amulets are stamped with designs that appear to reflect motifs from Old Norse myths, yet their find contexts, including the inhumation graves of women and hoards, demonstrate that they were used during the Migration period of half a millennium earlier. -
Dynamics of Religious Ritual: Migration and Adaptation in Early Medieval Britain
Dynamics of Religious Ritual: Migration and Adaptation in Early Medieval Britain A Dissertation SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA BY Brooke Elizabeth Creager IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Peter S. Wells August 2019 Brooke Elizabeth Creager 2019 © For my Mom, I could never have done this without you. And for my Grandfather, thank you for showing me the world and never letting me doubt I can do anything. Thank you. i Abstract: How do migrations impact religious practice? In early Anglo-Saxon England, the practice of post-Roman Christianity adapted after the Anglo-Saxon migration. The contemporary texts all agree that Christianity continued to be practiced into the fifth and sixth centuries but the archaeological record reflects a predominantly Anglo-Saxon culture. My research compiles the evidence for post-Roman Christian practice on the east coast of England from cemeteries and Roman churches to determine the extent of religious change after the migration. Using the case study of post-Roman religion, the themes religion, migration, and the role of the individual are used to determine how a minority religion is practiced during periods of change within a new culturally dominant society. ii Table of Contents Abstract …………………………………………………………………………………...ii List of Figures ……………………………………………………………………………iv Preface …………………………………………………………………………………….1 I. Religion 1. Archaeological Theory of Religion ...………………………………………………...3 II. Migration 2. Migration Theory and the Anglo-Saxon Migration ...……………………………….42 3. Continental Ritual Practice before the Migration, 100 BC – AD 400 ………………91 III. Southeastern England, before, during and after the Migration 4. Contemporary Accounts of Religion in the Fifth and Sixth Centuries……………..116 5. -
Map 10 Rhenus-Albis Compiled by J.H.F
Map 10 Rhenus-Albis Compiled by J.H.F. Bloemers, 1995 Introduction The map covers a large part of what Ptolemy (2.Prolog.; 2.11) called Germania Megale, that immense part of Germania outside the formal north-west limits of the Roman empire, bordered by the North Sea and Baltic Sea. During the Roman period the landscape was, as elsewhere, quite different from the present; in this region the coast, estuaries, rivers and moors deserve special attention. Long-known historical information has to be combined with knowledge acquired after World War II by intensive geological and palaeogeographical research in the Netherlands and northern Germany. Due to the rise in sea level and post-Roman shoreline changes, the coast along the southern North Sea has changed considerably since the Roman period, retreating landwards. In general, with the help of well-founded geological data, it can now be reconstructed in advance of the present-day shoreline (Kossack 1984, 51-82; van Es 1988, 88-94). Even so, it still seems prudent to render long stretches as approximate. In antiquity, principal rivers such as the Rhenus, Visurgis and Albis spread over wide flood-plains, but are now channeled between embankments. Large areas in the north of the modern Netherlands and Germany were covered by peat, and consequently almost inaccessible. Today, these are drained and cultivated, with the result that the ground level is now many feet lower than during Roman times. In addition, ancient Germania Megale was famous for its extensive, dense forests. All the Greek and Roman texts relating to the region are conveniently assembled by Byvanck (1931) and Goetz (1995). -
Nerthus, That Is, Mother Earth
Odin’s Wife: Mother Earth in Germanic Mythology SAMPLE CHAPTER © 2018 William P. Reaves II. Nerthus, that is, Mother Earth “Tacitus’ much-quoted account in Germania ch. 40 of the ceremonies related to the goddess Nerthus in the area around Schleswig-Holstein or Jylland is of particular interest here for several reasons. First of all, it suggests that the images of the Bronze Age petroglyphs depicting the hieros gamos and processions related to a fertility deity had parallels in southern Scandinavia as late as AD 100, when Tacitus wrote his account. Secondly, it provides the first reliable evidence that the ceremonies were now associated with a named goddess, who must therefore have had her own mythology and background. This in turn implies that enacted rituals to do with the goddess probably had a mythological parallel.” —Terry Gunnell, The Origins of Drama in Scandinavia, (1995), p.53. In literature, Terra Mater (Mother Earth) first appears as a distinct figure of the old heathen religion in the Germania. Despite intense scholarly debate over the motivations of its author, Germania, written by the Roman historian Tacitus around 98 AD, was probably intended as an accurate account of the customs and conditions of the Germanic tribes who posed a threat on the northern border of the Roman Empire for several hundred years. While his moral observations of the Germanic tribes in contrast to the Roman way of life have led some scholars to propose that this was his chief aim in writing it, this is not sufficient as a general interpretation of the text.1 Not only does Tacitus criticize the Germanic way of life almost as often as he praises it, but much of the material has nothing to do with moral issues and cannot be explained simply as filler. -
Tacitus, Germania, 98 CE Tacitus Was Probably Born in 56 Or 57 CE in Northern Italy Into an Equestrian (Minor Noble) Family. He
Tacitus, Germania, 98 CE As to the Germans themselves, I think it probable that they are Tacitus was probably born in 56 or 57 CE in Northern Italy into an indigenous and that very little foreign blood has been introduced either by equestrian (minor noble) family. He had quite a successful career in invasions or by friendly dealings with neighbouring peoples. For in former Roman public service, holding both military and civil offices, culminating in becoming the proconsul of the Roman province of Asia, 112-113 CE. He times it was not by land but on shipboard that would-be immigrants wrote a several literary and historical works, many of which criticize faults arrived; and the limitless ocean that lies beyond the coasts of Germany, and in Roman society by comparing them to others. Germania is not a travel as it were defies intruders, is seldom visited by ships from our part of the story, nor even a personal account. Instead, Tacitus drew upon earlier writers, and possibly talked to contemporaries who had been there to world. And to say nothing of the perils of that wild and unknown sea, who compile an ethnographic and geographical description of Germania would have been likely to leave Asia Minor, North Africa, or Italy, to go to (which includes parts of present-day France and Germany), especially the Germany with its forbidding landscapes and unpleasant climate - a country customs and culture of the various tribes who lived there, whom the Romans generally called “barbarians.”1 that is thankless to till and dismal to behold for anyone who was not born 1. -
The Cimbri of Denmark, the Norse and Danish Vikings, and Y-DNA Haplogroup R-S28/U152 - (Hypothesis A)
The Cimbri of Denmark, the Norse and Danish Vikings, and Y-DNA Haplogroup R-S28/U152 - (Hypothesis A) David K. Faux The goal of the present work is to assemble widely scattered facts to accurately record the story of one of Europe’s most enigmatic people of the early historic era – the Cimbri. To meet this goal, the present study will trace the antecedents and descendants of the Cimbri, who reside or resided in the northern part of the Jutland Peninsula, in what is today known as the County of Himmerland, Denmark. It is likely that the name Cimbri came to represent the peoples of the Cimbric Peninsula and nearby islands, now called Jutland, Fyn and so on. Very early (3rd Century BC) Greek sources also make note of the Teutones, a tribe closely associated with the Cimbri, however their specific place of residence is not precisely located. It is not until the 1st Century AD that Roman commentators describe other tribes residing within this geographical area. At some point before 500 AD, there is no further mention of the Cimbri or Teutones in any source, and the Cimbric Cheronese (Peninsula) is then called Jutland. As we shall see, problems in accomplishing this task are somewhat daunting. For example, there are inconsistencies in datasources, and highly conflicting viewpoints expressed by those interpreting the data. These difficulties can be addressed by a careful sifting of diverse material that has come to light largely due to the storehouse of primary source information accessed by the power of the Internet. Historical, archaeological and genetic data will be integrated to lift the veil that has to date obscured the story of the Cimbri, or Cimbrian, peoples. -
Sidelights on Teutonic History During the Migration Period
SIDELIGHTS ON TEUTONIC HISTORY DURING THE MIGRATION PERIOD M. G. CLARKE ^=00 ICO 'CO GIRTON COLLEGE STUDIES No, III GIRTON COLLEGE STUDIES EDITED BY LILIAN KNOWLES, LITT.D., READER IN ECONOMIC HISTORY IN THE UNIVERSITY OP LONDON No. 3 SIDELIGHTS ON TEUTONIC HISTORY DURING THE MIGRATION PERIOD CAMBEIDGE UNIVERSITY PEESS Edition: FETTER LANE, E.G. C. F. CLAY, MANAGER 100, PRINCES STREET Btrlin : A. ASHER AND CO. leipjifi: F. A. BROCKHAUS #efo 8orh: G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS Bambap. anH Calcutta : MACMILLAN AND CO., LTD. All rights reserved SIDELIGHTS ON TEUTONIC HISTORY DURING THE MIGRATION PERIOD BEING BY M. G. CLARKE, M.A. Cambridge : SEEN BY at the University F ress 1 PRESERVATION 191 SERVICES \\ PR SI PRINTED BY JOHN CLAY, M.A. AT THE UNTVEKSITY PRESS PREFACE following chapters are the outcome of two periods THEof stud}7 undertaken during the tenure of research scholarships awarded by Girton College, and form an attempt to discover the amount of historical truth under lying the allusions to persons and events in the Old English heroic poems. The essay deals with an aspect of these poems, which I has not, so far as know, been treated systematically by- anyone who has previously written on the subject. Thus, in the absence of any model, I have had to work on independent lines, especially as regards the grouping and arrangement of different traditions, and the method of discussion followed in the several chapters. The actual arrangement has been adopted for convenience of discus sion, according to the nationality of the persons concerned, except in cases where a particular section forms a complete epic narrative with a personal (as opposed to a national) interest of its own: in these cases the tradition has been discussed under the heading of the poem in which it is contained, or that of the character round whom the narrative centres. -
The Interpretatio Romana and Tacitus' Germania, XL Revisited
NERTHUS AS A FEMALE DEITY The interpretatio romana and Tacitus' Germania, XL revisited by Marco Battaglia - University of Basilicata It is well known that the information Tacitus required to compile his 'Germani a' [= G.] was based on a fragmentary bulk of direct and in direct sources, both contemporary and older. Amongst these, one of the most striking is the e silentio testimony provided by Aufidius Bas sus' and Pliny the Elder's lost commentaries on the early 1st century AD Germanic wars, which would probably have constituted (the con ditional is compulsory) an invaluable instrument in the interpretation of Tacitus' affirmations and allusions. In addition, considering the author's indirect experience and knowledge of the territory known as Germania libera, the 'uncomfortable' family relationship which con nected him to general Agricola, his father-in-law, and the enmity be tween him and emperor Domitian and, consequently, the troubled gestation of the work, Tacitus' text perhaps demands a more accurate investigation, especially in those parts, such as the one dealing with religion, which have often been accorded a cursory and generic Indo European label. An equally well-known problem arises from one of a rare ritual description (G., ch. 40), where he gives an account of a Germanic dei ty, whose name is Nerthus [sci!.: *Nerpuz]. Next come the Reudigni, the A viones, the Anglii, the Varini, the Eudoses, the Suardones, and Nuithones, who are sheltered by rivers and forests. None of these tribes has any remarkable feature, except their common worship of Nerthus, the Mother Earth, and the belief that she interferes in human affairs, when she is carried through the nations in her chariot. -
Ways of the Asatru
Ways of the Ásatrú Beliefs of the Modern, Northern Heathens By Michael J. Smith © Michael J. Smith 2003 All Rights Reserved. Permission to reprint, reproduce, or utilize sections of this book is given, so long as it remains unaltered, in its entirety, that it is not sold for monetary gain, and acknowledgement of the author is given. Harvest-Moon Publishing ***Author’s Note: The Old Norse/Scandinavian letter “þ” is pronounced like in “thin” but with a more pronounced “t” sound and the letter “ð” is pronounced harder, like in “the”.*** 2 Ways of the Ásatrú Beliefs of the Northern, Modern Heathens By Michael J. Smith Published by: Harvest-Moon Publishing 3 Contents: Preface ……………………………………………………………..5 Introduction ………………………………………………………..6 Chapter 1: The Tenets of Ásatrú ………………………………….7 Chapter 2: The Nature of Divinity and Deity in Ásatrú …………..9 Chapter 3: The Deities of Ásatrú ………………………………..12 Chapter 4: Other Divine/Semi-Divine Beings …………………..26 Chapter 5: Ancestors and Ancestor-Worship …………………...30 Chapter 6: Blóts, Fórns, Feasts, and Sumbles …………………...31 Chapter 7: Daily Devotions and Rites of Passage ……………….41 Chapter 8: Living Trú …………………………………………...46 Afterword ………………………………………………………...49 Appendix A: Ritual Regalia ……………………………………..50 Appendix B: Holy Symbols ……………………………………...52 Appendix C: Sample Hátíð Rituals ………………………………54 Appendix D: The Beginner’s Booklist …………………………...67 Appendix E: Bibliography ………………………………………..69 About the Author ………………………………………………….73 4 Preface: ..."Heed my words, my children, and the gods of antiquity will be the gods of the future." --The Odin Brotherhood, by Dr. Mark L. Mirabello There are two issues which I would like to bring to the reader's attention concerning this book. The first would be that this book should not, by any means, be considered an absolute authority on Ásatrú. -
Tacitus on Germany
Tacitus On Germany By Cornelius Tacitus TACITUS ON GERMANY The whole of Germany is thus bounded; separated from Gaul, from Rhoetia and Pannonia, by the rivers Rhine and Danube; from Sarmatia and Dacia by mutual fear, or by high mountains: the rest is encompassed by the ocean, which forms huge bays, and comprehends a tract of islands immense in extent: for we have lately known certain nations and kingdoms there, such as the war discovered. The Rhine rising in the Rhoetian Alps from a summit altogether rocky and perpendicular, after a small winding towards the west, is lost in the Northern Ocean. The Danube issues out of the mountain Abnoba, one very high but very easy of ascent, and traversing several nations, falls by six streams into the Euxine Sea; for its seventh channel is absorbed in the Fenns. The Germans, I am apt to believe, derive their original from no other people; and are nowise mixed with different nations arriving amongst them: since anciently those who went in search of new dwellings, travelled not by land, but were carried in fleets; and into that mighty ocean so boundless, and, as I may call it, so repugnant and forbidding, ships from our world rarely enter. Moreover, besides the dangers from a sea tempestuous, horrid and unknown, who would relinquish Asia, or Africa, or Italy, to repair to Germany, a region hideous and rude, under a rigorous climate, dismal to behold or to manure [to cultivate] unless the same were his native country? In their old ballads (which amongst them are the only sort of registers and history) they celebrateTuisto, a God sprung from the earth, and Mannus his son, as the fathers and founders of the nation. -
Grímnismál: Acriticaledition
GRÍMNISMÁL: A CRITICAL EDITION Vittorio Mattioli A Thesis Submitted for the Degree of PhD at the University of St Andrews 2017 Full metadata for this item is available in St Andrews Research Repository at: http://research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk/ Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/10023/12219 This item is protected by original copyright This item is licensed under a Creative Commons Licence Grímnismál: A Critical Edition Vittorio Mattioli This thesis is submitted in partial fulfilment for the degree of PhD at the University of St Andrews 12.11.2017 i 1. Candidate’s declarations: I Vittorio Mattioli, hereby certify that this thesis, which is approximately 72500 words in length, has been written by me, and that it is the record of work carried out by me, or principally by myself in collaboration with others as acknowledged, and that it has not been submitted in any previous application for a higher degree. I was admitted as a research student in September, 2014 and as a candidate for the degree of Ph.D. in September, 2014; the higher study for which this is a record was carried out in the University of St Andrews between 2014 and 2017. Date signature of candidate 2. Supervisor’s declaration: I hereby certify that the candidate has fulfilled the conditions of the Resolution and Regulations appropriate for the degree of Ph.D. in the University of St Andrews and that the candidate is qualified to submit this thesis in application for that degree. Date signature of supervisors 3.