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Anglo-Saxon Heathendom and Icelandic Asatru: a Comparison and
Contrast
by Eric Wodening
Foreword
The ancient Germanic peoples essentially followed the same religion.
Nearly all of them appear to have worshipped the major gods known to
us from Norse mythology--inn, rR, FreyR, and so on. They also
believed in many of the same "spirits" or wights--elves dwarves,
thurses, and so on. They held various festivals, rituals, and
customs in common. This is not to say that there were not
differences among the tribes in their religious customs and beliefs.
There was always some variation in religious practices and beliefs
among the Germanic peoples.
Perhaps the best demonstration of both the similarities and the
differences which sometimes existed in the religious beliefs of the
Germanic peoples would be to examine the respective beliefs of the
Anglo-Saxon and Icelandic heathen.
It must be noted right away that the ancient Germanic peoples lacked
a name for their religion or its branches. An ancient Anglo-Saxon
heathen if asked about his religion would probably have referred to
it simply as mn odisc gelfa, "my tribe's belief." The Icelanders
may have responded along similar lines, although today this ancient
and modern branch of the Germanic heathen religion is
called "Asatru." For simplicity's sake, we will use "Anglo-Saxon
heathendom" and "Asatru" for the faiths of the ancient Anglo-Saxons
and Icelanders respectively..
Why There Were Differences
Of course, it is understandable why there would be similarities
between ancient Anglo-Saxon heathendom and ancient Asatru. After
all, both groups of people descended from the Germanic tribes. Why,
then, would there be any differences between the two? There are
several reasons and all of them are very simple. The first is that
even when a large group of people (such as several tribes or several
nations) share a belief system, variations in that system will often
arise peculiar to any given people. A perfect example of this is
Irish and Italian Catholicism. Even though both Irish Catholics and
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Italian Catholics belong to the same denomination of the same
religion, one can easily observe differences between the two,
especially in the ways in which each group observes church holidays.
The Anglo-Saxons and Icelanders would have naturally evolved their
own beliefs and customs peculiar only to themselves.
Second, ancient heathendom was a religion closely tied to the land
and hence the changing of the seasons. For the ancient Germanic
peoples, winter did not necessarily arrive with the winter solstice,
but whenever the first frost occurred. The beginnings of the seasons
and the dates of festivals would then vary according to the climate.
Naturally, a festival which would take place at the beginning of
winter would occur later in a warmer clime than it would a colder
one.
Third, there are differences between ancient Anglo-Saxon heathendomand ancient Icelandic Asatru because of the time frame involved.
England was converted in the 6th and 7th centuries CE while Iceland
was not converted until 1000 CE. In the 400 years between the
conversion of the Anglo-Saxons and the conversion of the Icelanders
there was considerable opportunity for the religion to change and
evolve, and no doubt such changes came even quicker due to the ever
changing social conditions forced upon Northern Europe by
Christianity.
Other changes developed from the social and political climate of the
times. For the Anglo-Saxons the institution of sacral kingship was
very important. Four hundred years later, however, the Icelanders
had witnessed Norwegian kings demeaning the very office by breaking
troth with the gods and the folk through unabashed tyranny.
The institution of sacral kingship then ceased to be important for
the Icelanders and they sought other ways of defending the tribal
luck. Finally, it appears that the ancient heathen believed that
great men could become gods upon their death--the Icelandic sagas
show a few examples of kings being deified after they had passed on.
In the 400 years between the Conversion of the Anglo-Saxons and the
earliest Old Norse sources, various heroes could have been raised to
godhood in the people's minds.
While Anglo-Saxon heathendom and Icelandic Asatru both belong to
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the same religion and as a result share much in common, there are
also minor differences between the two which can occasionally result
in confusion for anyone new to the study of heathendom.
The Gods
By far our best source on information on the gods worshipped by the
ancient Germanic peoples are the Old Norse and Icelandic poems and
sagas. References to the gods in Old English (the language of the
Anglo-Saxons) sources are exceedingly rare. The names of the major
gods were, however, preserved in several place names. Because of
this we know that ancient Anglo-Saxon Anglo-Saxon heathendom and
Icelandic Asatru shared most of the major gods named in the Norse
sources.
Below is a table listing the major gods known to us from the elder
sources. An asterisk before the name of a god indicates that it is areconstruction (that is, the name does not actually appear in the
language). A short commentary follows on each of the gods.
The Gods of Anglo-Saxon heathendom and Asatru Old English
Icelandic/Norse
Wden inn
nor rR
Frge Frigg
Tw TyR
Fra FreyR
Fro Freyja
*Nor NjrR
*Forseta Foreseti
Hama HeimdallR
Bealdor BaldR
Geofon Gefjun
Hel Hel
ostre ?
? UllR
? Loki
Even a cursory glance at this table shows that ancient Anglo-Saxon
heathendom and ancient Asatru share the major gods of the Eddas in
common. We know that these gods were worshipped by the Old Norse
speakers from the literary record, place names, and archaeological
evidence. While the Old English literary record of these gods is
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scant, we do have place names and archaeological evidence that shows
that the Anglo-Saxons worshipped them.
That the Anglo-Saxons and the Icelanders (and the ancient
Scandinavians before them) apparently held these gods in common
shows that there was a high degree of agreement in the overallreligion that is heathendom. Naturally, there were a few differences
between the two, and some gods found in Icelandic heathendom might
not have been known to the Anglo-Saxon heathen. Similarly, a few
gods appear to have been known to the Anglo-Saxons, but not to the
Icelanders.
Wden: Known in Old Norse as inn, best known now by an Anglicized
version of that name, Odin, he appears to have been an important god
for both the Anglo-Saxons and the ancient Scandinavians. He is the
god most often mentioned in Old English sources and both England andScandinavia boast several places named for him. Interestingly, the
most important Old English source to mention Wden, The Nine Herbs
Charm, casts him in a role familiar to us from Norse mythology--as
the supreme wizard.
nor: Called rR in Old Norse and Thor in modern English, he was
perhaps the single most popular god among the ancient Germanic
peoples. Both England and Scandinavia had several places named for
him and the fifth day of the week still bears his name in English
and most of the Scandinavian countries (in modern English,
Thursday).
Frge: Wden's wife, called Frigg in Old Norse and Frigga in modern
English. She is rarely mentioned in Old Norse sources and references
to her in Old English are nearly non-existent; however, places were
named for her in both England and Scandinavia. The day Friday was
also named for her (OE Frgesdg).
Tw: Called TyR by the Old Norse, references to Tw in Old Norse and
Scandinavian sources are rare. Nonetheless, we know he was important
to both the Anglo-Saxons and the ancient Scandinavians from the
places named for him and the day which still bears his name (NE
Tuesday).
Fra: Called FreyR in Old Norse and Frey in modern English, he was
frequently mentioned in Old Norse sources. Also called Ing or Yngvi
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in Old Norse, he may be remembered in the Old English Rune Poem's
verse for Ing as well as the genealogy for the kings of Bernicia,
where an Ingui is listed. Places were named for him in both England
and Scandinavia.
Fro: Called Freyja in Old Norse and Freya in modern English, thesister of Fra had places named for her in both England and
Scandinavia. She appears in the Old Norse sources more than any
other goddess.
NjrR: The word Nor appears nowhere in Old English as the name of
a god, though this would have been that god's name in the language.
Though he is never mentioned in Old English sources, it is quite
possible that the Anglo-Saxons worshipped him. The Roman scholar
Tacitus in Germania records the worship of a goddess Nerthus among
various Germanic tribes, among them the Angles who would settleBritain a few centuries later. The name Nerthus is almost certainly
the same as NjrR, which has led to much debate as to this
goddesses' identity. Some have even assumed that somehow through the
centuries the goddess Nerthus changed sexes to become the god
NjrR. More likely explanations are that Tacitus either heard the
gender of the god's name wrong and assumed he was a goddess or that
the Nerthus mentioned by Tacitus is simply NjrR's cult companion,
perhaps the mysterious sister mentioned in Old Norse sources. At any
rate, Scandinavia had many places named for the god.
Forseti: The word Forseta appears nowhere as a name for a god in Old
English. Like NorR, it is provided here to show what the Old
English name of the god would have looked like. While his name does
not appear in Old English sources, Forseti was probably worshipped
by the Anglo-Saxons. He was the favourite god of the ancient
Frisians (in whose language he was called Fosite), who later
migrated to Britain with the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes. The name
literally means "he who presides" or "president." He was apparently
less important to the Old Norse speakers, as references to him in
their literature is sparse. Indeed, he is even made the son of
BaldR! The Old Norse sources do show, however, that Forseti was
thought of as a "president." In the Eddic poem Grmnsml it is said
that Forseti settles all disputes. This brings to mind the head of a
thing or judicial assembly, who often had to settle disputes between
people.
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HeimdallR: In the Old Norse sources HeimdallR appears as the
guardian of Bifrst and the enemy of Loki. A scrap of a myth refers
to a battle between HeimdallR and Loki in the form of seals over a
gem called the "sea kidney"--sometimes identified with Fro's
necklace, Brsingamen by modern scholars. It is difficult to tell if
the Anglo-Saxons knew of HeimdallR. The poem Bowulf relates a talein which a hero named Hama rescued a necklace called Brosinga mene,
which could well be the Old English name for Fro's necklace. It
seems possible that the author of Bowulf confused the Germanic hero
Hama (the German hero Heimo linked to the cycle of Dietrich of Bern
legends) with the god HeimdallR and attributed one of the god's
legends to the hero. It also seems possible that Hama was simply a
shortened form of the Old English equivalent of HeimdallR (if one
even existed). If this is the case, then HeimdallR may have been
worshipped by the Anglo-Saxons. Unfortunately, as Bowulf drew
heavily upon continental sources, the tale of Hama and the necklacemay have come from Denmark, making it possible that the Anglo-Saxons
did not known of the god.
BaldR: It is difficult to say if BaldR was even a god. There are
almost no places named for him and evidence of his worship is non-
existent. To further complicate matters are the conflicting myths
about BaldR. In the Icelandic sources he appears as a god. He is the
son of Wden and Frge and the most beloved of the gods, brave,
wise, and pure of heart. The Danish scholar Saxo paints an entirely
different picture of him. He calls BaldR a semideus or "a demigod,"
indicating that he was the son of Wden by a mortal woman (keep in
mind that this was not unusual--most Germanic kings traced their
descent from Wden). Saxo also portrays BaldR as anything but pure
of heart. He is selfish, devious, and wholly wanton. It then seems
possible that the BaldR myths developed along national and political
lines. For the Norwegians he may have been a hero, one of such
stature that he was later deified. For the Danes he may have been an
archvillain, one who would never see the halls of the gods. As for
the Anglo-Saxons, there are no certain references to BaldR in Old
English. Indeed, some scholars have questioned whether the word
bealdor, a cognate of BaldR meaning "bold one, brave one." even
existed. Of course, if BaldR was merely a hero deified by the
Norwegians, we would have no reason to believe that the Anglo-Saxons
worshipped him.
Geofon: Geofon appears as a word for the sea in Old English. No
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place does it appear as the name of a goddess; however, it appears
to be the cognate of Gefjun. Gefjun was a Danish goddess of whom
Snorri tells a short myth in the Prose Edda. Gefjun came to King
Gylfi of Sweden as an old beggar woman and entertained him so well
that he offered her as much land as she could plough with four oxen
in a day as a reward. She then turned her four sons by an ettin intooxen and hitched them to a plough. She ploughed so deep and so hard
that she dragged the land to a sound west of Sweden. She then fixed
the land so that it wouldn't move and named it Zealand (now Danish
territory). Where Zealand had once been there was now the lake
called Mlar. Considering the fact that in this myth Gefjun deals as
much with the sea as she does the land and considering the fact that
she was worshipped in Denmark (the general area from whence the
Angles, Saxons, and Jutes originated), it is quite possible that
Geofon was worshipped by the Anglo-Saxons and that her name later
became a byname for the sea. Regardless, many places in Denmark boreher name.
Hel: In the Old Norse sources Hel is the queen of the realm of the
dead (also called Hel). In Old English sources Hel is also the name
of the realm of the dead (hence our modern word Hell). In his
Teutonic Mythology Jacob Grimm theorized that the goddess Hel was
known to most, if not all, of the Germanic peoples. He even
theorized that she and her realm may well have been inseparable, if
not one and the same. Grimm noted that in Anglo-Saxon literature the
place called Hel is often described with the characteristics of a
person or or a wolf (its gaping jaws are often referred to)--so
often that it seems possible that they were not speaking
figuratively of a place, but literally of an entity.
If this is the case, then the newly converted Anglo-Saxons may have
still held a belief in Hel as an entity who governed the dead. This
particularly seems likely concerning Hel's position in the Eddas.
ostre: In his De Temporum Ratione the Anglo-Saxon scholar Bede
stated that the Old English osturmna (roughly around March or
April by the modern calendar) was named for the goddess ostre, to
whom the Anglo-Saxons sacrificed during that month. Our modern word
Easter, used for the Christian festival celebrating the resurrection
of Jesus, also derives from her name. That she was also worshipped
by the Continental Germans can be proven from the fact that the
modern German name for the same festival (Ostern) also derives from
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her name. The name ostre itself is related to the names of the
Greek and Roman dawn goddesses, Eos and Aurora respectively, so that
she was perhaps a goddess of the dawn and hence spring and the
renewal of life. Unfortunately, ostre appears to have been unknown
in Scandinavia and Iceland, as they preserve no trace of her name.
It is possible that she was known to the Scandinavians under anothername. The goddess Iunn mentioned in the Eddas as guarding the
apples of immortality would seem a possibility, considering the fact
that she also appears to deal in the renewal of life.
UllR: UllR is mentioned infrequently in Old Norse sources, though
place names in Norway and Sweden show him to have been an important
deity. He appears nowhere south of Norway and Sweden, however, and
references to him are almost totally absent from the records of
Denmark, the Continent, and England. It seems unlikely then that he
was worshipped by the Anglo-Saxons.
Loki: Loki is one of the major characters in the Icelandic sources,
although his behaviour seems a bit schizophrenic when the myths are
taken as a whole. He appears as either a good natured trickster,
sometimes getting the gods into trouble, but ultimately helping
them, or a malevolent creature who commits acts of evil against the
gods and ultimately sides with the ettins against them. The reason
for this is difficult to say. Perhaps Loki began as a benevolent
trickster figure but evolved under Christian influence into a
demonic character. Equally likely is that there were two Lokis. Both
the Eddas and Saxo Grammaticus refer to an ettin named Utaraloki,
who is quite clearly hostile to the gods. It is possible that the
two eventually became confused in the people's minds, so that myths
once attributed to Utaraloki were now attributed to the trickster.
Regardless, there is no evidence that Loki was ever worshipped. None
of the elder sources refer to his worship nor are there any places
named for him.
Loki's name is entirely absent from Old English and it is impossible
to know if the Anglo-Saxons believed in Loki at all, let alone
whether they regarded him as a benevolent trickster or a malevolent
ettin.
The Wights
Around the world most peoples believe in entities less powerful than
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gods, but more powerful than man. Generally scholars refer to such
entities as spirits or demons (not to be confused with the demons of
Christian mythology). Perhaps the best known example of such
entities are the angels of the Judaeo-Christian mythos. Like most
other peoples, the Germanic peoples also believed in such entities,
generally calling them by ancient cognates of our word wight (OEwiht). Below is a table of the major wights known to the Germanic
peoples. A short commentary on each of them follows.
The Wights of Anglo-Saxon heathendom and Asatru Old English
Icelandic/Norse
lf lfR
yrs urs
Eoten Jtunn
Dweorgh DvergR
Nicor NykR
lf: The plural in Old English is ylfe and in Old Norse it is lfar.
The Old English word survived as our modern elf. In the Old Norse
sources the elves are often named alongside the se (Old Norse sir)
and were apparently closely related to the Wen (ON Vanir)--at the
very least we are told that Fra was given lfheimR ("home of the
elves") as a gift upon receiving his first tooth. The precise nature
of the elves is unclear in the Old Norse sources. At times they
appear to be entities nearly on par with the gods, even associated
with the sun (an Old Norse kenning for the sun was "the ray of
elves," almost as if they were somehow responsible for it). At the
same time, however, they appear almost as if they were the spirits
of the dead. They apparently live in mounds and at least two dead
Norwegian kings bore titles with the word "lfR" in them. Anyhow,
the elves were linked to healing and invoked in childbirth as well.
Despite this, they were also believed to cause diseases
though "elfshot"--tiny darts or arrows of their own design.
In Old English sources the elves also appear to have been powerful
entities. In Bowulf they are named alongside the eotenas ("ettins"
or "giants") and other demonic (form a Christian point of view,
anyhow) forces. In the charm With Fstice "elfshot" is named
alongside "shot from the se (that is, the gods)" as a cause for
disease. From later folklore we know that in England were also
regarded as living in mounds, though this idea could have admittedly
been imported by the Danes. We also know from Old English sources
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that they were regarded as causing diseases from "elfshot"--a belief
common to most of the Germanic peoples.
yrs and Eoten: These two terms appear to have been virtually
interchangeable in both Old English and Old Norse (urs and jtunn
respectively). In modern English the terms survived as thurse andettin respectively. They refer to what we now sometimes
call "giants." In his book Runelore Edred Thorsson theorized that
the terms may have originally been more specific in meaning. That
is, jtunn referred to the ancient, nearly cosmic giants such as
Ymir. On the other hand, the term urs referred to the somewhat dull
minded and less powerful giants we more often see in the Norse myths
(usually as nor's opponents). Thorsson's theory is an appealing
one, though it is not borne out by Old English records. In Old
English the term yrs could hardly have referred to an unintelligent
wight. It developed the meaning "wizard" and was also used of theChristian devil. The Anglo-Saxons may well have regarded the yrs
not only as a malevolent creature, but one intelligent enough to be
compared to the Christian Satan.
Dweorgh: This is simply our modern word dwarf, in Old Norse dvergR.
References to the dwarves are scant in Old English, where they are
mentioned most prominently in two charms against diseases caused by
them. Later English folklore, however, shows the English view of the
dwarves to be consistent with that of every other Germanic people.
The dwarves are master smiths, often living in mountains or rocks,
known to be rather jealous of their treasures. This is the view of
the dwarves seen in the Icelandic sources as well, although there
they are no mere fairy tale characters, but wights powerful enough
to associate with the gods. Indeed, the gods' greatest treasures
(Wden's spear Gungnir, nor's hammer, and so on) were all made by
dwarves.
Wlcyrige: In Old Norse, Valkyrja, our modern word valkyrie. The
word in both languages literally means, "chooser of the slain." In
Old Norse sources the Valkyrjur appear as Wden's "handmaidens"--the
wights charged with bringing newly killed heroes to Valhll
or "Valhalla." Today many tend to view the Valkyrjur as beautiful
maidens who wait upon the warriors in Valhll--Vendela in armour.
And while the Valkyrjur are often said to be beautiful in the
ancient sources, they also had a savage side. In Njals Saga
Valkyrjur appear in a dream, weaving upon a loom of entrails and
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weighted with severed heads.
The more savage side of the Valkyrjur may have been remembered by
the Anglo-Saxons. The word Wlcyrige is used to gloss the Furies of
Greek mythology. Curiously, in his Sermon Lupi Wulfstan condemns
Wlcyrigen alongside witches. This is odd, as the term wicce (ourmodern word witch) in Old English denoted a mortal, usually
malevolent, spellcaster, while the Old Norse term Valkyrja denoted a
goddess who chooses the slain. This leaves us with a number of
possibilities.
The first is that following the Conversion the myths of the
Wlcyrigen degenerated until they were regarded as little more than
mortal human beings. This often happened following the adoption of
Christianity. The elves, once seen as being nearly as powerful as
the gods, were reduced to the level of fairies.
The second is that the Wlcyrigen could have originated as mortal
priestesses who, upon their death, were deified and became part of
Wden's entourage. This could be borne out by references in Old
Norse and Icelandic literature to the Valkyrjur as "the adopted
daughters of Wden." Third, Wulfstan could have simply been mistaken
and assumed that the Wlcyrigen were mortal entities, when in truth
they were regarded as goddesses.
Nicor: Both Old English nicor and Old Norse nykr are cognate to
German nix and nixie; however, both words appear to have referred to
water wights of a much deadlier and more sinister nature than the
Germans' fairy tale river spirits. Indeed, Grendel's mother (from
Bowulf) is an example of the Anglo-Saxon's idea of a nicor!
It must be noted that besides these wights, Anglo-Saxon heathendom
and Norse Asatru apparently shared a host of other wights, who
survived in the fairy tales of England, Scandinavia, and Iceland.
And though the names may vary from country to country, as may the
particulars, the stories are often so similar that one must wonder
that they don't have a common origin in the ancient Germanic past.
Indeed, if the elder sources and the later fairy tales are any
indication, every house, hill, stream, and lake had its very own
wight!
Indeed, beyond the worship of a few major gods and various beliefs
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(such as Wyrd), it is in the area of the wights where the Germanic
peoples held the most in common. The reason for this is simple. The
worship of the gods, including deified heroes, was to a large degree
the province of priests and kings. On the other hand, the worship of
wights was largely a matter of folk belief--the belief of the common
man. It was the owners of the homes that saw to it that the housewights got sacrifices, not the local priest or lord.
Folk belief is often much more conservative than those beliefs
controlled by priests and kings, so that such beliefs, if they
originated in the deep past of the Germanic peoples, probably
changed very little. This is how such customs as the Yule log
managed to survive several centuries in different countries. For
that reason, perhaps, do we see an amazing consistency in beliefs
regarding the dwarves and other wights.
The Holidays
When it comes to the religious festivals of the Germanic peoples we
enter a murky area of the lore. The elder sources record very little
information about the holidays. It is difficult to say why, but
perhaps the chroniclers took them for granted. After all, how many
times does the average modern American feel the need to explain
Thanksgiving to others? This leaves the modern heathen in a bit of a
bind, as there is often little in the way of guidance from the elder
sources when it comes to holiday customs and observances. In many
cases we cannot even be certain that any given holiday celebrated by
any given people (such as Lammas among the Anglo-Saxons) was ever
celebrated by the other Germanic peoples. In other cases, we may be
certain that a specific day was celebrated by the whole of the
Germanic peoples, but be at a total loss as to the day's name.
Regardless, we do have some information on ancient Germanic
festivals, little though it may be. Similarly, we can somewhat use
traditional observances that have been passed down through the ages
as something of a guide. Between the little information contained in
the elder sources and holidays as passed down to us from the day
yore, we can hazard a few rough guesses as to how any one festival
may have been conducted in ancient times. Below is a table listing
the various holidays. A question mark following a holiday's name or
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a question mark in place of a name simply means that we cannot be
sure of what it was originally called. A short commentary on each
follows.
The Holidays of Anglo-Saxon heathendom and Asatru Modern English Old
English Icelandic/Norse
Yule Gol Jl
Candlemas owomeoluc Giblt?
Easter ostron ?
May Day rimeolce? Sumarml
Midsummer Midsumer/La? Misumar
Lammas Hlfmsse KornskurR?
Harvest Hrfest Haust
Hallowe'en Winterfylle? VetrnttR
Yule: Yule is by far the most documented holiday among the Germanic
peoples. The holiday's name appears in nearly every Germanic
languages and Latin sources even refer to Gothic months named for
it. As early a source as the Latin scholar Procopius refers to a
festival celebrated by the people of Thule (Scandinavia, perhaps?)
to greet the sun on its return. Many of Yule's customs have survived
to this day as part of the Christian and secular celebration of
Christmas.
Bede speaks at length of the Anglo-Saxon celebration of Gol. He
states that their year began on December 25 and that they referred
to this night as Mdranht or "Mothers' Night." Garman Lord thinks
it is possible that the night was actually called Mdranecta
or "Mother of Nights"--that is, the first night of the year--
instead, although he admits that this is not confirmed by any
surviving manuscripts. Another possibility that scholars have
considered is that the Anglo-Saxons may have made sacrifices to
their ancestral mothers--possibly the goddesses called in Old Norse
the Dsir--on this night. Regardless, Bede notes that they watched
the night through, proving that staying awake all night
on "Christmas Eve" is a ancient custom. Anglo-Saxon sources also
tell of the wearing of animal masks at the Anglo-Saxon Gol
celebration, perhaps an indication that the mummer's plays of the
Middle Ages may be more ancient than many scholars think.
Like the Anglo-Saxons and probably every other Germanic tribe, the
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Icelanders and the ancient Scandinavians also celebrated Jl. One of
Wden's names in Old Norse is Jlnir, which quite clearly derives
from the holiday's name. An ancient historian mistakenly stated that
Jl was named after Jlnir. Regardless, the holiday seems to have
been sacred to Wden. It seems possible that sacrifices to Fra were
also made at this time. At either Yule or February the boar to besacrificed to Fra would be led before the king. He was considered
so holy that men would place their hands upon him and swear oaths.
In Heimskringla King Hakon not only ordered that Jl should begin at
the same time as the Christian celebration of Christmas, but that
every man should brew some ale and keep Jl holy for as long as it
lasted. It seems then that drinking as always been a part of the
Yule celebration.
Finally, it must be pointed that the imagery today associated
with "Christmas" is fairly consistent among the nations descendedfrom the Germanic peoples From Scandinavia to Germany to England,
one will see houses decked out in holly and evergreens around
Yuletide. Similarly, the Yule log is a tradition found in many of
those countries. And, of course, drinking is done in abundance. This
could well point to a common heritage for these customs in the
depths of the Germanic past.
owomeoluc: February 2 was chosen by the Christian church for the
minor festival of Candlemas, though today it is better known to most
Americans as Groundhog Day. Of course, on Groundhog Day the
groundhog is supposed to emerge from his burrow, either seeing his
shadow and forecasting four more weeks of winter, or not seeing his
shadow and indicating an early spring.
This superstition originated in Europe (particularly Germany), where
a bear or a badger was often the animal people used to forecast the
coming weather. It must be pointed out that the date varied from
locality to locality, however, with some people observing it on
February 14th rather than February 2nd (in fact, when Missouri
officially recognized the second as Groundhog Day, there was a bit
of an uproar among some farmers). This custom could well date back
to ancient times, as many folk beliefs do.
Among the Anglo-Saxons this date was called owomeoluc, from the
fact that this was the time when the ewes came into milk. Bede wrote
that the month of February was called Solmana in Old English,
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meaning "month of cakes," and that cakes were offered to the gods in
this month. Bede may well have been mistaken on the name, as the
word sol meaning "cakes" appears nowhere else. Garman Lord theorizes
that instead Bede may have misunderstood the source for his
information, probably a farmer in the countryside, who may have told
him that it was Suhlmona or "plough month." Indeed, it must benoted that a custom still performed on various dates in late January
and early to mid February in parts of Britain is the blessing of the
plough. The blessing of the plough may well have its origins in
rites of the sort described in the Old English charm cer Bt, which
was meant to bring fertility to the land.
The sacrifice of cakes to the gods may also have been meant to bring
fertility to the land in hope of bountiful crops in the summer and
fall. Of course, the Anglo-Saxons might have also spent some time
watching for the bear or badger to come out of hibernation as well.
It is unclear whether the Scandinavians had a holiday corresponding
exactly to owomeoluc. They may have sacrificed to Fra in February,
so that it is possible that they may have celebrated a festival
equivalent to owomeoluc that month. The Icelanders conducted a
sacrifice at the beginning of the month they called Gi, which
generally fell anywhere from mid-February to mid-March according to
our calendar. The Giblt could well have been an Icelandic version
of the holiday called owomeoluc in Old English.
Easter: Today Easter is used of the Christian festival celebrating
the resurrection of Jesus according to their mythology. Like Yule,
the name Easter dates back to heathendom. The Anglo-Saxons usually
called the holiday astron, the plural of Old English astre (see
the discussion on astre above). Bede tells us that the Anglo-Saxons
called April osturmona, after the goddess astre, for whom they
held festivals that month. That the worship of astre and the
celebration of her festival was not confined to the Anglo-Saxons can
be seen in the modern German word for the holiday, Ostran, which
also derived from the goddess's name.
Though we know that the Anglo-Saxons apparently celebrated the
holiday of Easter, we don't really know how they celebrated it. It
is difficult, then, to say whether such things as "Easter eggs" are
a survival of a heathen custom. In fact, some scholars argue that
the egg symbolism of the Christian "Easter" originated in the Near
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East. Here I must disagree with them. It seems to me that
the "Easter egg" is most prevalent in areas settled by speakers of
Indo-European languages. That is, not only do the Germanic countries
celebrate the Christian "Easter" with "Easter eggs," but so do the
Slavs (indeed, the Russians are known for their exquisitely designed
eggs), while the custom is much rarer in the Near East. The customwould then seem to have its origins among the Indo-European peoples.
The "Easter bunny" or "Easter hare" first appeared in Germany in the
1500s, so that we cannot rule out the survival of a heathen custom,
though we have no way of knowing if the Anglo-Saxons knew of
the "Easter hare."
As noted above, the Scandinavians either did not know of the goddess
ostre or failed to preserve her name. In mediaeval Iceland the
Christian holiday was not called by a cognate of Easter, but Paskar
instead, a word descending ultimately from the Hebrew word forPassover. We see the same thing occurring in Norway, Sweden, and
Denmark. That does not mean that the ancient heathen Scandinavians
did not celebrate their own equivalent of Easter, whatever its name
may have been. In fact, they share many Easter customs with other
Germanic peoples. In Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and Iceland, Easter is
celebrated with decorating eggs, Easter egg hunts, and various games
involving Easter eggs, much as it is celebrated in other Germanic
countries. If these customs are indeed survivals of heathen ones
rather than borrowings from foreign sources, then the Scandinavians
may have celebrated a holiday analogous to the Anglo-Saxons'
astron.
rimeolce: May Day was a holiday long celebrated in England, though
it was forgotten for a time in the modern era. Of course, it takes
its modern name from the month of May, which is a Latin borrowing.
It is then extremely doubtful that the elder heathen called it "May
Day." This leaves us at a loss as to what the day was called. In
many countries the day is known as "Walpurgis Day," a day named in
honour of the early, Anglo-Saxon St. Walburga. This has led some
scholars to theorize that a goddess named Walburga (often identified
with Fro) must have existed, so that St. Walburga simply took over
a holiday originally held in honour of a goddess of the same name.
The elder sources, however, contain no references to a goddess
called Walburga, so that it is doubtful she even existed. It seems
more likely that the Anglo-Saxons may have originally called the
holiday rimeolce, the name they gave the month of May. According to
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Bede, rimeolce was so named because the cows could be milked three
times a day. If the Anglo-Saxons named a day for a time when the
ewes came into milk (owomeoluc), who is to say that they wouldn't
name one for the time when the cows could be milked three times a
day? Regardless, the name rimeolce could well be very ancient and
may have been common to all of the Germanic peoples at one time. Inparts of Sweden the marsh-marigold is called trimjlkgrs or "three
milk grass."
Regardless of the holiday's name, we can be fairly certain that May
Day is a heathen survival. In England May Eve was celebrated with
bonfires. May Day itself was celebrated by gathering flowers and in
some areas even a battle between individuals costumed as "Winter"
and "Summer." The erection of the maypole on May Day could have been
a borrowing from the Celts, as many other Germanic peoples erect it
on Midsummer Day instead. Of this, however, we cannot be certain.Some other Germanic peoples appear to focus on May Eve as the
primary time of celebration. Among the Germans Walpurgisnacht was
celebrated with huge bonfires and much merriment. Of course, the
Germans also believed Walpurgisnacht to be a time for witches, as so
aptly portrayed Goethe's Faust.
Like most Germanic peoples, the ancient Scandinavians also
apparently celebrated May Day. In Sweden Valborgsmssoafton is still
a major holiday, celebrated with bonfires and, today, even
fireworks. For both the ancient and modern Icelanders the end of
April marked the official beginning of summer. Sumurml, which
usually occurred around April 20, marked the last days of winter and
the first days of summer. It is possible that the "blt for victory"
or sigrblt mentioned in Norse sources occurred at this time.
Midsummer: The Christian church chose the summer solstice as the
date for St. John's Day. At least part of the reason this date was
chosen was the fact that it also marked the date of one of
heathendom's biggest celebrations, Midsummer. Among many of the
Germanic peoples, Midsummer was a summertime equivalent of Yule. In
England Midsummer's Eve was celebrated with huge bonfires, through
which daring young men would leap. Midsummer's Eve was also
considered a perfect time for divination. Among other things a young
maid could use various means of learning whom she would marry on
Midsummer's Eve. Midsummer's Day was celebrated with the gathering
of flowers (as on May Day) and the usual dancing and drinking.
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As to the holiday's name, the Anglo-Saxons probably did call it
Midsumer, however, Old English sources could lead us to wonder if it
wasn't originally called by another name. Anglo-Saxon chroniclers
sometimes refer to June and July as rra La and ftera
La, "before" La and "after La," respectively. This reflectsthe names for December and January rra Gola and ftera
Gola, "before Yule" and "after Yule." This makes it possible, at
least, that the Anglo-Saxons also knew Midsummer by the name "La"
as well.
As stated earlier, nearly all of the Germanic peoples celebrated
Midsummer and the Scandinavians were no different. As in other
Germanic countries, Midsummer's Eve was celebrated with bonfires
through which young men would leap. To this day in Sweden young
girls still weave garlands from flowers and the maypole is stillraised. Today, as perhaps in ancient times, the Swedish Midsummer
celebration lasts three days.
Lammas: From Old English sources we know that Lammas or, in Old
English, Hlfmsse was a Christian festival in which the season's
first new loaves of bread were blessed, celebrated on August 1.
Given the fact that Christianity's festivals almost never concern
themselves with the first fruits of the season, it would seem likely
that Lammas was a survival of a heathen festival, in which the first
loaves of the season were baked and perhaps offered to the gods.
Regardless, there are other clues that Lammas was originally a
heathen festival. On the holiday "Lammas lands," lands that were
held privately from spring to Lammas, were thrown open to common
pasturage until next spring. Similarly, in Scotland, Lammas was one
of the days on which tenants paid their rent.
That Lammas was originally a heathen festival seems likely, though
the heathen holiday could hardly have been called "Hlfmsse." The
msse in Hlmsse is our modern word mass, as in "a Catholic mass"
and stems originally from Latin. Garman Lord theorizes that the
festival may have originally been called Hlfmst or "feast of
loaves," though we have no way of knowing this for certain. Though
we cannot be sure of its original name, it seems likely that it was
named for the loaves of bread that were baked at the time.
Old Norse and Icelandic sources show little trace of a festival
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celebrated in either late July or early August; however, this does
not make it entirely impossible. In Sweden August was called
Skrdemnad "reaping month" or Skortant "reaping." In Iceland it was
called Kornskurmn or "corn reaping month." This means that the
harvest of the first grain of the summer must have taken place in
Sweden and Iceland at approximately the same time that it did inEngland. It seems possible, if not likely, then, that the ancient
Scandinavians may have had a festival at this time. After all, it
would have been a reasonable and pleasurable way to end the first
harvest of the year.
Harvest: In ancient times, as now, September was a month when
several crops were harvested. It should come as no surprise, then,
that the ancient Germanic peoples may have held harvest festivals
around the fall equinox. Indeed, the Old English word hrfest and
its cognates in the other Germanic languages not only meant "thereaping of grain," but also "the season of fall" as well. That the
Anglo-Saxons may have held a harvest festival in September can be
shown by the name they gave that month--Haligmona or "holy month."
This indicates that some sort of sacral activity accompanied the
September harvest. In other words, a festival may have been held.
This festival could well have survived in many parts of England
as "Harvest Home," in which the end of the harvest was celebrated.
It seems likely that the Scandinavians also celebrated a harvest
festival. Icelandic sources refer to the haustblt or "fall
sacrifice" and the haustbo or "fall feast." And just as "Harvest
Home" celebrations are common in England and America, so too are
they to be found in Scandinavia and Iceland. These festivals could
well be heathen survivals.
Winter Nights or Winterfylle: The festival called VetrnttR
or "Winter Nights" in Old Norse sources is one of the best
documented holidays among the Germanic peoples. Several Icelandic
sagas refer to it and its observance has survived in some form to
this day. Celebrated around October 14 according to our modern
calendar, the ancient Scandinavians considered VetrnttR to be the
official beginning of winter (as it still is in Iceland and Norway).
It appears to have been a time of several blts. Icelandic sources
make it fairly clear that blts to both the lfar (the elves) and
the Dsir took place at this time. It also seems likely that a blt
to Fra also took place during this festival. A good part of this
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festival was celebrated in private, with only close friends and
family present. King Olaf's poet Sigvat complained in one of his
verses once that while travelling in Sweden he could not find
lodging because everyone was sacrificing to the the elves.
It seems quite apparent that the Anglo-Saxons celebrated their ownequivalent of VetrnttR. The Old English name for the month of
October was Winterfylle, which has been interpreted as "winter full
moon." That the Anglo-Saxons gave this name to the month of October
indicates that they may have considered it the beginning of winter,
much as the Scandinavians did. Winterfylle is immediately followed
by Bltmona on the Anglo-Saxon calendar. Bede states that Bltmona
was so named because the ancient Anglo-Saxons gave a portion of
their slaughtered livestock to the gods at that time. It would then
appear that the Anglo-Saxons not only began winter at approximately
the same time as the Scandinavians, but held blts at approximatelythe same time too. This Anglo-Saxon equivalent to VetrnttR could
well have been called by the month name, Winterfylle.
It would be misleading to say that these were the only holidays
celebrated by the Germanic peoples. In the elder sources we
sometimes see references to festivals which were apparently peculiar
to only one tribe or region. For instance, the ancient Icelandic
Asatruarar celebrated a festival called orrablt, so named because
it took place in the month of orri (which began anywhere from
January 9th to January 16th according to our modern calendar).
Though an important holiday for the ancient Icelanders, it is not to
be found among the Anglo-Saxons or the Continental Germanic tribes.
Similarly, it must be pointed out that many rural areas in modern
England celebrate their own festivals peculiar only to themselves.
Many of these festivals could date back to heathen times. The above
mentioned festivals are simply those that appear to have been the
major festivals of the year for the Germanic peoples, what the
Fourth of July or Thanksgiving are to modern Americans.
As can be seen, the ancient Anglo-Saxons and the ancient Icelanders
held quite a bit in common with regards to religious festivals. We
know that both groups celebrated Yule and Midsummer. They may have
also held Easter, "May Day," "Harvest Home," and "Winter Nights" in
common. owomeoluc and Lammas are the only two holidays which they
might not have shared--evidence for the celebration of the two
lacking in Iceland and Scandinavia. Even then, however, we cannot
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rule out the possibility that they were celebrated in Iceland and
Scandinavia in one form or another.
Sacral Kingship
As can be seen above, the Anglo-Saxons and Icelanders shared manybeliefs and many religious practices in common. In addition to those
cited above, both groups also believed in the dynamistic force
called in Old English mgen and in wyrd. One of the biggest
differences between the two groups, however, was in the fact that
the Anglo-Saxons practised sacral kingship, while the Icelanders did
not.
For the Anglo-Saxons sacral kingship was a central part of their
religion. The king was the high priest of the tribes. He was the
bearer of the tribal mgen, its protector and guardian. As theking's luck fared, so too did the luck of the tribe. Sacral kingship
was not unique to the Anglo-Saxons. It was also practised in Sweden,
Denmark, Norway, and other Germanic countries.
On the other hand, circumstances would force Iceland to abandon
sacral kingship. In the ninth and tenth centuries Norway suffered
through some of the worst kings to appear among the Germanic
peoples. The first of these was ironically the man who unified
Norway, Harald Finehair. Harald Finehair seized the hereditary
estates and forced all farmers, whether they owned land or not, to
be his tenants. Many left their homes to settle in Iceland. His son
and heir, EirkR Bloodaxe was even worse. He continued his father's
reign of tyranny and even murdered his own brothers. In the end he
was driven from Norway. In behaving as despots, Harald Finehair and
EirkR Bloodaxe both violated the central tenets of sacral kingship.
As the folk's representative to the gods, it was the duty of the
king not only to defend the folk's luck, but the folk themselves.
Unfortunately, Harald Finehair and EirkR Bloodaxe did very little
in the way of defending the folk, instead violating their rights
given to them by the gods, such as the right to keep their own
hereditary lands. Since the kings of Norway had broken troth with
them, many Norwegians fled for Iceland where they had to find new
ways of defending the tribal luck.
Even though the system the Icelanders developed lacked sacral
kingship, its roots were still firmly in Germanic tradition. Like
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the other Germanic peoples, much of the task of determining the law
fell to various local assemblies or ings. The highest ing,
the "Supreme Court" if you will, was the Aling, the
national "parliament" of Iceland. Within this ing system the duties
which would usually fall to a king were divided between various
offices. In the Icelandic government it was the lgsgumaR ("lawspeaking man") who acted as the guardian of the law. Indeed, he was
required to recite it from memory at the beginning of each Aling.
The interpretation of the law fell to the goar, who in heathen
times had been the priests.
The goar made up the Lgrtta, a legislative assembly consisting of
forty eight members. Among other things, the Lgrtta named the men
who would sit on the various courts. In this way the Icelanders saw
to it that the tribal luck was defended, even though they lacked a
king.
It must be pointed out that the Icelanders were not the only
Germanic peoples who did not have sacral kings. Many scholars
believe that the Saxons may have lacked sacral kingship before they
arrived in England, where they adopted the concept from the Angles.
Yet other Germanic tribes failed to develop the concept of sacral
kingship, depending on powerful nobles and the ing system to defend
the tribal luck. That Iceland operated without a sacral king is then
not a precedent, but another variation in the very flexible
traditions of Germanic government.
Endword
Anglo-Saxon heathendom and Icelandic Asatru had much in common. Both
groups worshipped the same major gods. Similarly, both groups
believed in many of the same wights--no doubt elves, ettins,
dwarves, and nickers populated the legends of both peoples. Finally,
they also celebrated many of the same festivals.
At approximately the same time of year, both the Anglo-Saxons and
the ancient Scandinavians celebrated Yule, Midsummer, and Winter
Nights. These two branches of heathendom are remarkably similar, as
two branches of the same religion would be expected to be.
Anglo-Saxon heathendom and Icelandic Asatru also differed in many
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respects. Some of the gods known to the Anglo-Saxons might not have
been known to the Icelanders and vice versa. And while they appear
to have held the major festivals in common, some of the lesser
festivals may not have been celebrated by both groups or may have
had much less importance to one group than it did the other.
Of course, the most glaring difference between Anglo-Saxon
heathendom and Icelandic Asatru is that the Icelanders lacked sacral
kingship. This is not to say that the Icelanders did not believe in
sacral kingship, but more likely that they did not practise it.
Their own kings having broken troth with them, the Icelanders had to
protect the tribal luck through other means.
Even then, the system they developed was rooted firmly in the ing
system found among many Germanic peoples, including the Anglo-
Saxons.
Though they differ in some respects, Anglo-Saxon heathendom and
Icelandic Asatru are very similar.
Both were genuine manifestations of Germanic heathendom and both
grew out of the beliefs of the same peoples who inhabited northwest
Europe in the days of yore.
SPANISH *************************************************
Paganismo anglosajn y satr islands: comparacin y contraste
Por Eric Wodening
Prefacio
Los pueblos germanos antiguos seguan esencialmente la misma religin. Casi todos ellos parecen
haber adorado a la mayora de los Dioses conocidos por nosotros de la mitologa nrdica -inn,
rR, FreyR y dems. Tambin crean en muchas de las mismas energas o espritus elfos,
enanos, gigantes y dems. Celebraban varios festivales, rituales y costumbres en comn. Y no es
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que no haya diferencias entre las tribus en sus costumbres religiosas y creencias. Siempre hubo
alguna variacin en las prcticas religiosas y creencias entre el pueblo germano.
Quizs la mejor demostracin de las similitudes y diferencias que algunas veces existieron en las
creencias religiosas de los pueblos germanos sera examinar las creencias respectivas de los
paganos anglosajones e islandeses.
Debe ser notado ya mismo que los pueblos germanos antiguos no tenan un nombre para su
religin o sus ramas. Si un pagano anglosajn antiguo cuestionara su religin podra haberse
referido a eso simplemente como mn odisc gelfa, la creencia de mi tribu. Los islandeses
pudieron haber respondido alrededor de lneas similares, aunque actualmente esta rama antigua y
moderna de la religin pagana germnica es llamada satr. Por el bien de la simplicidad,
usaremos paganismo anglosajn y satr para las religiones de los anglosajones e islandeses
antiguos, respectivamente.
Porqu hubo diferencias
Por supuesto, es entendible porqu habran similitudes entre el paganismo anglosajn antiguo y el
satr antiguo. Despus de todo, ambos grupos de personas descendieron de las tribus
germnicas. Por qu, entonces, habra algunas diferencias entre los dos? Hay muchas razones y
todas ellas son muy simples. La primera es que aunque un grupo grande de personas (tal como
muchas tribus o muchas naciones) comparten un sistema de creencias, las variaciones en ese
sistema surgen a menudo peculiares para cualquier persona determinada. Un ejemplo perfecto de
esto es el catolicismo irlands e italiano. A pesar de que ambos pertenecen a la misma
denominacin de la misma religin, fcilmente uno puede observar diferencias entre los dos,
especialmente en cuanto a lo que cada grupo realiza en las festividades de la iglesia. Los
anglosajones e islandeses podran haber evolucionado naturalmente sus propias creencias ycostumbres peculiares slo para ellos mismos.
En segunda, el paganismo antiguo fue una religin estrechamente ligada a la tierra y por tanto al
cambio de estaciones. Para los pueblos germanos antiguos, el invierno no llegaba necesariamente
con el solsticio de invierno, sino cuando ocurra la primera nevada. Entonces, los comienzos de las
estaciones y las fechas de los festivales podan variar de acuerdo al clima. Naturalmente, un
festival que tuviera lugar al comienzo del invierno poda ocurrir despus en un clima ms clido
que en uno ms fro.
En tercer lugar, hay diferencias entre el paganismo anglosajn antiguo y el satr islands antiguo
debido al contexto temporal involucrado. Inglaterra fue convertida en los siglos VI y VII de la era
comn, mientras que Islandia no fue convertida hasta el ao 1000 de la era comn. En los 400
aos entre la conversin de los anglosajones y la conversin de los islandeses hubo una
considerable oportunidad para que la religin cambiara y evolucionara, y no hay duda de que esas
transformaciones vinieron an ms rpido debido a los constantes cambios en las condiciones
sociales impuestas sobre el norte de Europa por la Cristiandad.
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Otros cambios se desarrollaron desde el clima social y poltico de los tiempos. La institucin del
reinado sagrado fue muy importante para los anglosajones. Cuatrocientos aos despus, sin
embargo, fueron testigos de la degradacin de los reyes noruegos a s mismos al romper la
fidelidad con los Dioses y con la gente a travs de la tirana descarada.
Entonces, la institucin del reinado sagrado dej de ser importante para los islandeses y buscaronotros caminos para defender la suerte tribal. Finalmente, parece que el pagano antiguo crey que
los grandes hombres podran convertirse en Dioses hasta su muertelas sagas islandesas
muestran algunos ejemplos de reyes siendo deificados despus de que fallecieron. En los 400 aos
entre la conversin de los anglosajones y las ms tempranas fuentes del nrdico antiguo, varios
hroes podran haber sido elevados a divinidad en las mentes de la gente.
Mientras el paganismo anglosajn y el satr islands pertenecan ambos a la misma religin y
como resultado comparten mucho en comn, tambin hay diferencias menores entre los dos que
ocasionalmente pueden provocar confusin para algn novato en el estudio del paganismo.
Los Dioses
Por mucho, nuestra mejor fuente de informacin acerca de los Dioses adorados por los pueblos
germanos antiguos son los poemas y sagas en nrdico antiguo e islands. Refirindonos a los
Dioses en ingls antiguo (lenguaje de los anglosajones) las fuentes son excesivamente raras. Los
nombres de la mayora de los Dioses eran, sin embargo, preservados en muchos nombres de
lugares. De esto sabemos que el anglosajn antiguo, el paganismo anglosajn y el satr islands
compartieron la mayora de los Dioses mayores mencionados en las fuentes nrdicas.
A continuacin hay una tabla listando a los Dioses mayores conocidos por nosotros mediante las
fuentes viejas. Un asterisco antes del nombre de un Dios indica que es una reconstruccin (esto
es, que el nombre no aparece actualmente en el lenguaje). Se aade un comentario breve a cada
uno de los Dioses.
Los Dioses del paganismo anglosajn y del satr en ingls antiguo
Islands/nrdico
Wden inn
nor rR
Frge Frigg
Tw TyR
Fra FreyR
Fro Freyja
*Nor NjrR
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*Forseta Foreseti
Hama HeimdallR
Bealdor BaldR
Geofon Gefjun
Hel Hel
? ostre
? UllR
? Loki
Aun una mirada superficial a esta tabla muestra que el paganismo anglosajn y el satr antiguo
comparten en comn a los Dioses mayores de las Eddas. Sabemos que estos Dioses fueron
adorados por hablantes del nrdico antiguo desde un registro literal, nombres de lugares y
evidencia arqueolgica. Mientras que el registro literal en ingls antiguo de estos Dioses es escaso,
tenemos nombres de lugares y evidencia arqueolgica que muestra que los anglosajones los
adoraban.
El hecho de que los anglosajones y los islandeses (y los escandinavos antiguos antes que ellos)
aparentemente mantenan estos Dioses en comn, muestra que haba un alto grado de acuerdo
en la religin en general que es el paganismo. Naturalmente, haba algunas diferencias entre los
dos y algunos Dioses encontrados en el paganismo islands podran no haber sido conocidas por el
pagano anglosajn. Similarmente, algunos Dioses parecen haber sido por los anglosajones, pero
no por los islandeses.
Wden: Conocido en nrdico antiguo como inn, mejor conocido ahora por la versin inglesa de
ese nombre, Odin, l parece haber sido un Dios importante para los anglosajones y para los
escandinavos antiguos. l es el Dios ms mencionado en las fuentes del ingls antiguo y ambas,
Inglaterra y Escandinavia se jactan de muchos lugares nombrados a l. Interesantemente, la
fuente del ingls antiguo ms importante para mencionar a Wden, el encantamiento de nueve
hierbas, lo encasilla en un rol familiar para nosotros en la mitologa nrdica, como el mago
supremo.
nor: Llamado orR en nrdico antiguo y Thor en ingls moderno, tal vez l solo fue el Dios ms
popular entre los pueblos germanos antiguos. Ambas, Inglaterra y Escandinavia tuvieron muchos
lugares nombrados a l y el quinto da de la semana aun lleva su nombre en ingls y en la mayora
de los pases escandinavos (en ingls moderno, Thursday).
Frige: La esposa de Wden, llamada Frigg en nrdico antiguo y Frigga en ingls moderno. Ella es
raramente mencionada en fuentes de nrdico antiguo y las referencias a ella en ingls antiguo son
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casi inexistentes; sin embargo, hubo lugares nombrados a ella en Inglaterra y Escandinavia.
Tambin el da viernes Friday fue nombrado por ella (OE Frgesdg).
Tw: Llamado TyR por el nrdico antiguo, las referencias a Tw en fuentes de nrdico antiguo y
escandinavo son raras. En todo caso, sabemos que l fue importante para los anglosajones y los
escandinavos antiguos por los lugares nombrados a l y el da que sigue llevando su nombre (NETuesday).
Fra: Llamado FreyR en nrdico antiguo y Frey en ingls moderno, l fue mencionado
frecuentemente en las fuentes del nrdico antiguo. Tambin llamado Ing o Yngvi en nrdico
antiguo, l puede ser recordado en el verso de Ing del poema rnico en ingls antiguo, as como en
la genealoga de los reyes de Bernicia, donde un Ingui es listado. Lugares fueron nombrados a l en
Inglaterra y Escandinavia.
Fro: Llamada Freyja en nrdico antiguo y Freya en ingls moderno, la hermana de Fra tuvo
lugares nombrados a ella en Inglaterra y Escandinavia. Ella aparece en las fuentes del nrdico
antiguo ms que cualquier otra Diosa.
NjrR: La palabra Nor no aparece como el nombre de un Dios en el ingls antiguo, aunque esto
pudo haber sido nombre de Dios en el lenguaje. A pesar de que l nunca es mencionado en las
fuentes del ingls antiguo, es muy probable que los anglosajones lo adoraran. El estudioso romano
Tcito registra en Germania el culto a una Diosa Nerthus entre varias tribus germnicas, entre ellas
los anglos quienes estableceran Britania algunos siglos despus. El nombre Nerthus es
ciertamente casi el mismo de NjrR, el cual ha dado lugar a mucho debate en cuanto a esta
identidad de Diosas. Aun algunas han sido asumidas de alguna forma a travs de los siglos, la Diosa
Nerthus cambi sexos para convertirse en el Dios NjrR. Explicaciones ms probables son que
Tcito o escuch mal el gnero del nombre del Dios y asumi que era una Diosa o que la mencinde Nerthus por Tcito es simplemente un acompaante del culto de NjrR, tal vez la hermana
misteriosa mencionada en las fuentes del nrdico antiguo. De todos modos, Escandinavia tuvo
muchos lugares nombrados al Dios.
Forseti: La palabra Forseta no aparece como el nombre de un Dios en el ingls antiguo. Como
NorR, aqu est previsto mostrarse cmo pudo haberse visto el nombre del Dios en ingls
antiguo. Mientras que su nombre no aparece en las fuentes del ingls antiguo, Forseti fue adorado
probablemente por los anglosajones. l fue el Dios favorito de los frisones antiguos (llamado
Fosite en su lenguaje), quienes despus emigraron a Britania con los anglos, sajones y jutos. El
nombre significa literalmente quien preside o presidente. l fue de menor importanciaaparentemente para los hablantes del nrdico antiguo, las referencias a l en su literatura son
escasas. De hecho, l incluso es hecho el hijo de BaldR! Las fuentes del nrdico antiguo muestran,
sin embargo, que Forseti fue considerado como un presidente. En el poema ddico Grmnsml
se deca que Forseti estableca todas las disputas. Esto trae a la mente el jefe de algo o una
asamblea judicial que a menudo tena que establecer las disputas entre la gente.
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HeimdallR: En las fuentes del nrdico antiguo HeimdallR aparece como el guardin de Bifrst y
enemigo de Loki. Un fragmento de un mito se refiere a una batalla entre HeimdallR y Loki en la
forma de sellos sobre una gema llamada el rin marino algunas veces identificado por
estudiosos modernos con el collar de Fro, Brsingamen. Es difcil decir si los anglosajones
conocan de HeimdallR. El poema Bowulf relata un cuento donde un hroe llamado Hama rescata
un collar llamado Brosinga mene, el cual bien podra ser el nombre para el collar de Fro en inglsantiguo. Parece posible que el autor de Bowulf confundiera al hroe germnico Hama (el hroe
alemn Heimo vinculado al ciclo de leyendas de Dietrich de Bern) con el Dios HeimdallR y le
atribuyera una de las leyendas del Dios al hroe. Tambin parece ser posible que Hama fuera
simplemente una forma acortada del equivalente del ingls antiguo para HeimdallR (si alguno
existi). Si este es el caso, entonces HeimdallR pudo haber sido adorado por los anglosajones.
Desafortunadamente, como Bowulf influy fuertemente sobre fuentes continentales, el cuento
de Hama y el collar pudo haber venido de Dinamarca, haciendo posible que los anglosajones no
supieran del Dios.
BaldR: Es difcil decir si BaldR era an un Dios. Casi no hay lugares nombrados a l y la evidencia desu culto es inexistente. Adems, hay asuntos complejos en los mitos conflictivos acerca de BaldR.
En las fuentes islandesas l aparece como un Dios. l es el hijo de Wden y Frge, adems de ser el
ms amado de los Dioses, valiente, sabio y puro de corazn. El estudioso dans Saxo pinta una
imagen completamente diferente de l. l llama a BaldR como un semideus o semidios,
indicando que l fue el hijo de Wden a travs de una mujer mortal (hay que pensar que esto no
era inusualla mayora de los Dioses germnicos rastrearon su descendencia desde Wden).
Tambin Saxo retrata a BaldR como todo menos puro de corazn. l es egosta, taimado y
completamente irracional. Entonces es posible que los mitos de BaldR se desarrollaran a lo largo
de lneas nacionales y polticas. Para los noruegos l pudo haber sido un hroe, uno de tal estatura
que fuera deificado despus. Para los daneses l pudo haber sido un archienemigo, uno quiennunca vera los salones de los Dioses. As como para los anglosajones, no hay referencias ciertas
acerca de BaldR en ingls antiguo. De hecho, algunos estudiosos han cuestionado si la palabra
bealdor, un cognado de BaldR significando audaz, valiente lleg a existir. Por supuesto, si BaldR
fue solamente un hroe deificado por los noruegos, pudiramos no tener razn para creer que los
anglosajones lo adoraran.
Geofon: Geofon aparece como una palabra para el mar en ingls antiguo. Ningn lugar aparece
como el nombre de una Diosa; sin embargo, parece ser el cognado de Gefjun. Gefjun fue una
Diosa danesa de quien Snorri cuenta un mito breve en la Edda prosada. Gefjun lleg al rey Gylfi de
Suecia como una vieja pordiosera y lo entretuvo tan bien que l le ofreci como recompensatantas tierras como ella pudiera arar con cuatro bueyes en un da. Entonces ella convirti en
bueyes a los cuatro hijos que ella tuvo con un gigante y los enganch a un arado. Ella ar tan
profundo y tan fuerte que arrastr la tierra hasta el oeste de Suecia. Entonces ella estrech la
tierra de forma que no se moviera y la nombr Zelandia (ahora territorio dans). Donde Zelandia
alguna vez haba estado se encontraba el lago llamado Mlar. Considerando el hecho de que en
este mito Gefjun negocia tanto con el mar como con la tierra y considerando el hecho de que ella
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fue adorada en Dinamarca (el rea general de donde los anglos, sajones y jutos son originarios), es
muy posible que Geofon fuera adorada por los anglosajones y que su nombre despus se
convirtiera en un apodo para el mar. De cualquier forma, muchos lugares en Dinamarca llevan su
nombre.
Hel: En las fuentes del nrdico antiguo Hel es la reina del mundo de los muertos (tambin llamadoHel). En las fuentes del ingls antiguo Hel tambin es el nombre del reino de los muertos (por
tanto nuestra palabra moderna Hell). Jacob Grimm, en su Mitologa teutnica teoriz que la
Diosa Hel fue conocida por la mayora o por casi todos los pueblos germanos. Incluso teoriz que
ella y su reino bien podran haber sido inseparables, si no es que uno mismo. Grimm seala que en
la literatura anglosajona, el lugar llamado Hel, es a menudo descrito con las caractersticas de una
persona o de un lobo (sus fauces abiertas son referidas a menudo), tan a menudo que parece
posible que ellos no estuvieran hablando figurativamente de un lugar sino de una entidad
literalmente.
Si este es el caso, los anglosajones recientemente convertidos an podran tener una creencia en
Hel como una entidad que gobern los muertos. Esto sobre todo, parece probable refirindose a
la posicin de Hel en las Eddas.
ostre: El estudioso anglosajn Bede, en su De Temporum Ratione declara que el ingls antiguo
osturmna (aproximadamente en marzo o abril del calendario moderno) fue nombrado por la
Diosa ostre, a quien los anglosajones ofrecan sacrificios durante ese mes. Nuestra palabra
moderna Easter, usada por el festival cristiano celebrando la resurreccin de Jess, tambin se
deriva de su nombre. Que ella tambin fue adorada por los alemanes continentales puede ser
probado desde el hecho de que el nombre alemn moderno para el mismo festival (Ostern)
tambin se deriva de su nombre. El nombre ostre en s mismo est relacionado a los nombres de
Diosas diurnas griegas y romanas, Eos y Aurora, respectivamente, de modo que ella tal vez fue una
Diosa del amanecer y por lo tanto de la primavera y de la renovacin de la vida.
Desafortunadamente, ostre parece haber sido desconocida en Escandinavia e Islandia, ya que
ellos no conservan rastro de su nombre. La Diosa Iunn mencionada en las Eddas como la
guardiana de las manzanas de la inmortalidad parecera una posibilidad, considerando el hecho de
que ella tambin aparece para lidiar con la renovacin de la vida.
UllR: UllR es poco mencionado en las fuentes del nrdico antiguo, aunque nombres de lugares en
Noruega y Suecia muestren que l ha sido una deidad importante. Sin embargo, no aparece en el
sur de Noruega y Suecia, y las referencias a l estn casi ausentes de los registros de Dinamarca, el
continente e Inglaterra. Entonces parece poco probable que l fuera adorado por los anglosajones.
Loki: Loki es uno de los mayores personajes en las fuentes islandesas, a pesar de que su
comportamiento parece un poco esquizofrnico cuando los mitos son vistos como un todo. l
aparece o como un tramposo bonachn que algunas veces mete a los Dioses en problemas pero
finalmente los ayuda, o como una criatura malvola quien comete actos de maldad contra los
Dioses y finalmente se pone contra ellos del lado de los gigantes. La razn de esto es difcil de
decir. Quizs Loki comenz como una figura tramposa benevolente pero evolucion en un
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personaje demoniaco bajo la influencia cristiana. La misma probabilidad es que hubiera dos Lokis.
Las Eddas y Saxo Grammaticus se remiten a un gigante llamado Utaraloki, quien es claramente
muy hostil a los Dioses. Es posible que los dos, eventualmente se volvieran confusos en la mente
de las personas, por lo que los mitos alguna vez atribuyeron a Utaraloki fuera ahora atribuido al
tramposo. A pesar de todo, no hay evidencia de que alguna vez Loki fuera adorado. Ninguna de las
fuentes antiguas se remite a su culto y tampoco hay lugares nombrados a l.
El nombre de Loki est completamente ausente del ingls antiguo y es imposible saber si los
anglosajones creyeron del todo en Loki, dejando a un lado si lo consideraban como un tramposo
benevolente o un gigante malvolo.
Los espritus
Alrededor del mundo la mayora de la gente cree en entidades menos poderosas que los Dioses,
pero ms poderosas que un hombre. Los estudiosos se remiten generalmente a tales entidades
como espritus o demonios (n debe ser confundido con los demonios de la mitologa cristiana). Tal
vez el mejor ejemplo conocido de tales entidades son los ngeles de los mitos judeo-cristianos.Como la mayora de otras personas, los germnicos tambin creyeron en tales entidades,
llamndolas generalmente por cognados antiguos de la palabra wight (OE wiht). Abajo hay una
tabla de los mayores espritus conocidos por la gente germnica. Le sigue un pequeo comentario
para cada uno.
Los espritus del paganismo anglosajn y satr ingls antiguo
Islands/nrdico
lf lfR
yrs urs
Eoten Jtunn
Dweorgh DvergR
Nicor NykR
lf: El plural en ingls antiguo es ylfe y en nrdico antiguo es lfar. La palabra en ingls antiguo
sobrevivi como el moderno elfo. En las fuentes del nrdico antiguo son nombrados a menudo
junto con los se (sir en nrdico antiguo) y fue al parecer estrechamente relacionado a los Wen
(Vanir del NA)por lo menos se nos dice que a Fra le fue dado lfheimR (hogar de los elfos)como un regalo al recibir su primer diente. La naturaleza precisa de los elfos no es clara en las
fuentes del nrdico antiguo. En momentos parecen ser entidades casi a la par con los Dioses,
incluso asociados con el sol (un kenningar del nrdico antiguo para el sol fue el rayo de los elfos,
casi como si de alguna forma ellos fueran responsables de eso). Al mismo tiempo, sin embargo,
parece como si ellos fueran los espritus de los muertos. Aparentemente ellos viven en montculos
y al menos dos reyes noruegos muertos llevaban ttulos con la palabra lfR en ellos. De cualquier
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forma, los elfos estuvieron vinculados a la curacin y tambin invocados en los partos. A pesar de
esto, tambin se les crea la causa de enfermedades, siendo los tiros de elfo pequeos dardos o
flechas de su propio diseo.
En las fuentes del ingls antiguo los elfos tambin parecen haber sido entidades poderosas. En
Bowulf son nombrados al lado de los eotenas (ettins o gigantes) y otras fuerzas demoniacas(de cualquier forma, un punto de vista cristiano). En el encantamiento Con Fstice, tiro de elfo
es nombrado al lado del tiro de los se (o sea, los Dioses) como una causa de enfermedad. Del
folclor tardo sabemos que en Inglaterra tambin se les consideraba viviendo en montculos,
aunque esta idea ciertamente podra haber sido importada por los daneses. Tambin sabemos por
fuentes del ingls antiguo que ellos fueron considerados como causa de enfermedades gracias al
tiro de elfo una creencia comn de los pueblos germanos.
yrs y Eoten: Estos dos trminos parecen haber sido virtualmente intercambiables tanto en el
ingls antiguo como en el nrdico antiguo (urs y jtunn, respectivamente). En el ingls moderno
los trminos sobrevivieron como thurse y ettin respectivamente. Ellos remiten a lo que ahora
algunas veces llamamos gigantes. Edred Thorsson, en su libro Runelore (Tradicin rnica)
teoriz que los trminos originalmente pueden haber sido ms especficos en significado. Esto es,
jtunn se remita a los antiguos gigantes casi csmicos tales como Ymir. Por otro lado, el trmino
urs se remita a los algo torpes y menos poderosos gigantes que se ven ms a menudo en los
mitos nrdicos (usualmente como oponentes de nor). La teora de Thorsson es atractiva,
aunque no est confirmada por los registros del ingls antiguo. El trmino yrs el ingls antiguo,
difcilmente podra haber sido remitido a un espritu poco inteligente. Se desarroll el significado
mago y tambin fue usado por el diablo cristiano. Los anglosajones bien pudieron haber
considerado a los yrs no slo como una criatura malvola, pero lo suficientemente inteligente
para ser comparada con el Satn cristiano.
Dweorgh: Esto es simplemente nuestra palabra moderna para enano, dvergR en nrdico antiguo.
Las referencias a los enanos son escasas en ingls antiguo, donde ellos son mencionados ms
prominentemente en dos encantamientos contra enfermedades causadas por ellos. El folclor
ingls tardo, sin embargo, muestra la visin inglesa de los enanos para ser coherentes con los
dems pueblos germanos. Los enanos son maestros herreros, a menudo viviendo en montaas y
rocas, conocidos por ser celosos de sus tesoros. Tambin esta es la visin de los enanos mostrada
en las fuentes islandesas, aunque ellos no son meros personajes de cuentos de hadas, sino como
espritus suficientemente poderosos como para asociarlos con los Dioses. De hecho, los ms
grandes tesoros de los Dioses (Gungnir la lanza de Wden, el martillo de nor, etc.) fueron
hechos todos por los enanos.
Wlcyrige: Valkyrja en nrdico antiguo, nuestra palabra moderna valquiria. En ambos lenguajes la
palabra literalmente significa selector de los muertos. En las fuentes del nrdico antiguo las
Valkyrjur aparecen como las sirvientas de Wden los espritus cargados con los hroes
recientemente muertos para llevarlos al Valhll o Valhalla. Actualmente muchos tienden a ver a
las Valkyrjur como doncellas hermosas quienes esperan a los guerreros en el Valhlluna Vendela
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en armadura. Y mientras las Valkyrjur son a menudo vistas como hermosas por las fuentes
antiguas, tambin tuvieron un lado salvaje. En la saga de Njals, las Valkyrjur aparecen en un sueo,
tejiendo un telar con entraas ponderado con cabezas cortadas.
El lado ms salvaje de las Valkyrjur pudo haber sido recordado por los anglosajones. La palabra
Wlcyrige es usada para hacer brillar a las Furias de la mitologa griega. Curiosamente, Wulfstanen su Sermn del lobo condena Wlcyrigen al lado de brujas. Esto es extrao, como el trmino
wicce (bruja en nuestra palabra moderna) en ingls antiguo denota un mortal lanzador de
conjuros, usualmente malvolo, mientras que el trmino Valkyrja del nrdico antiguo denota a
una Diosa que selecciona a los muertos. Esto nos deja con muchas posibilidades.
La primera es que siguiendo la conversin los mitos de las Wlcyrigen degeneraron hasta que
ellas fueron consideradas como algo ms que seres humanos. Esto pasaba a menudo seguido a la
adopcin de la Cristiandad. Los elfos, alguna vez vistos casi tan poderosos como los Dioses, fueron
reducidos al nivel de hadas.
La segunda es que las Wlcyrigen podran haber sido originalmente sacerdotisas mortalesquienes, despus de su muerte, fueron deificadas y se convirtieron en parte del entorno de
Wden. Esto podra haber confirmado a las Valkyrjur en las referencias en nrdico antiguo y en
literatura islandesa como las hijas adoptivas de Wden. La tercera, Wulfstan simplemente
podra haber sido malentendido y asumido que las Wlcyrigen fueron entidades mortales, cuando
en verdad ellas fueron consideradas como Diosas.
Nicor: Tanto nicor en ingls antiguo, como nykr en nrdico antiguo son cognados de nix y nixie
(genio) en alemn; sin embargo, ambas palabras parecen haberse remitido a espritus acuticos de
una naturaleza ms siniestra y mortal que los espritus del ro de los cuentos de hadas alemanes.
De hecho, la madre de Grendel (de Bowulf) es un ejemplo de la idea de los anglosajones paranicor!
Debe ser sealado que adems de estos espritus, el paganismo anglosajn y el satr nrdico
compartieron aparentemente a un anfitrin de otros espritus, quien sobrevivi en los cuentos de
hadas de Inglaterra, Escandinavia e Islandia. Y aunque los nombres, as como los datos pueden
variar de pas a pas, las historias son a menudo tan similares que uno puede preguntarse si ellos
no tienen un origen comn en el pasado germnico antiguo. De hecho, las fuentes antiguas y los
cuentos de hadas tardos son indicio de que cada casa, colina, arroyo y lago tuvieron su propio
espritu!
De hecho, ms all del culto de algunos Dioses mayores y varias creencias (como la del Wyrd), en
el rea de los espritus es donde los pueblos germanos tuvieron ms en comn. La razn para esto
es sencilla. El culto a los Dioses, incluyendo hroes deificados, fue un alto grado de la jurisdiccin
de los sacerdotes y reyes. Por otro lado, el culto de los espritus fue en gran parte un asunto de
creencia popularla creencia del hombre comn. Fueron los dueos de las casas quienes se
encargaron de los sacrificios en el hogar de los espritus, no el sacerdote local o seor.
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La creencia popular es a menudo mucho ms conservadora que aquellas creencias controladas por
sacerdotes y reyes, es como tales creencias, si fueron originadas en el pasado profundo de los
pueblos germanos, probablemente cambi muy poco. Es as como lidiaron las costumbres tales
como el tronco del Yule para sobrevivir muchos siglos en diferentes pases. Por esa razn, quizs,
vemos una consistencia impresionante en las creencias concernientes a los enanos y otros
espritus.
Las festividades
Cuando se trata de los festivales religiosos de los pueblos germanos, entramos a un rea turbia de
la tradicin. Las fuentes antiguas registran muy poca informacin acerca de las festividades. Es
difcil decir porqu, pero quizs los cronistas las dieron por sentadas. Despus de todo, cuntas
veces el americano moderno promedio siente la necesidad de explicar la Accin de gracias a
otros? Esto deja al pagano moderno en un aprieto, como a menudo hay poco en cuanto a la
orientacin de las fuentes antiguas cuando se trata de costumbres festivas y observancias. En
muchos casos ni siquiera podemos estar seguros de que alguna determinada festividad celebrada
por cierta gente (tal como Lammas entre los anglosajones) fuera alguna vez celebrada por otros
pueblos germanos. En otros casos, pudiramos estar seguros de que un da especfico fuera
celebr