The Lost Beliefs of Northern Europe - Othroerir Asatru Kindred

190 Pages·2003·1.67 MB·English

by  Hilda Ellis Davidson

The
Lost Beliefs of
Northern Europe

Fragments of ancient belief have been incorporated into folklore and Christian
tradition with the result that the original beliefs have been obscured by the
thought patterns and ideologies of later times. Centuries of cultural and
religious influences come between us and pagan believers. The Lost Beliefs of
Northern Europe brings the complex nature of the evidence to our attention.
It stresses the possibilities and difficulties of investigating pre-Christian faiths,
and emphasizes the need to separate speculation from sound evidence. This
book will be a useful tool for students of archaeology, early religion and
folklore, as well as for the general reader who wants to know more about the
true nature of northern European pagan belief.
Hilda Ellis Davidson is a specialist in the field of early northern religion. Her
many publications include Gods and Myths of Northern Europe (1964) and
Myths and Symbols of Pagan Europe (1989). She has been Vice-President of
Lucy Cavendish College, Cambridge, and President of the London Folklore
Society.

The
Lost Beliefs of
Northern Europe

Hilda Ellis Davidson

London and New York
First published 1993
by Routledge
11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE

Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge Inc.
29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001

Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group

This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2003.

© 1993 Hilda Ellis Davidson
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or
reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical,
or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including
photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or
retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Davidson, Hilda Ellis
The Lost Beliefs of Northern Europe
I. Title
291.0936

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Davidson, Hilda Roderick Ellis.
The lost beliefs of northern Europe/Hilda Ellis Davidson.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Celts—Religion. 2. Germanic peoples—Religion. 3. Mythology, Norse.
4. Europe, Northern—Religion. 5. Europe, Northern—Antiquities. I. Title.
BL900.D38 1993
291′.0936–dc20 92–40808

ISBN 0-203-40850-0 Master e-book ISBN

ISBN 0-203-71674-4 (Adobe eReader Format)
ISBN 0-415-04936-9 (hbk)
ISBN 0-415-04937-7 (pbk)
Contents
List of Figures vii
Introduction 1
1 HELP FROM ARCHAEOLOGY 11
Sacred space 12
The burial at Vix 14
The ship-burial at Sutton Hoo 17
The hall at Yeavering 22
The Strettweg Wagon 24
The Gundestrup Cauldron 25
The memorial stones of Gotland 31
The contribution of archaeology 35
2 GLIMPSES OF THE GODS 37
Early amulets 37
Stones from the Roman provinces 45
Myths and monuments 50
Naming after the gods 54
Divine names and titles 59
3 THE GODS IN THE MYTHS 64
Sources of the myths 64
The divine world 67
Myths of the divine community 71
Myths of Odin 76
Myths of Thor 79
Myths of Loki 84
Other deities in the myths 85
4 THE CULTS OF THE NORTHERN GODS 87
Communal worship 88
Cults of the battle-gods 95
The cult of Odin 98
The cult of Thor 101
v
CONTENTS
The cult of Freyr 103
5 GODDESSES AND GUARDIAN SPIRITS 107
The cult of the Great Goddess 108
The local goddesses 113
Guardian spirits 117
The cult of the dead 122
6 CONTACTS WITH THE OTHERWORLD 127
The early centuries 128
Funeral symbolism 134
Communication with the Otherworld 136
Holy places 138
Fitting the pieces together 142
7 THE INTERPRETERS 144
The medieval Christian viewpoint 144
The first collectors 145
The solar myths 146
Ritual and myth 149
The structure of myth 152
The approach of Dumézil 153
Outside influences 155
Conclusion 160
Bibliography 163
Index 172

vi
Figures
1 Plans of sacred sites at (a) Aulnay-aux-Planches (Marne), France
and (b) Libenice, Czechoslovakia (Piggott 1968) 12
2 Crater from Vix grave (drawing by Eileen Aldworth) 15
3 The ‘ploughman’ figure from Sutton Hoo cemetery (Carver
1986) 21
4 A reconstruction of centre at Yeavering in the seventh century
(Webster and Bakehouse 1991) 23
5 The Gundestrup Cauldron: (a) outlines of outer plates and (b)
outlines of inner plates (Powell 1971) 26–7
6 Stone from Bro, Gotland (Lindqvist 1941) 32
7 Stone from Alskog, Gotland (Nylen 1978) 34
8 Metalwork ornament of horseman with spear (Paulsen 1967) 38
9 Odin (?) with eagle and raven on helmet plate (Simpson 1967) 38
10 Bracteate from Sievern, type A (Hauck 1970) 39
11 Bracteate from Denmark, type B (Davidson 1967) 39
12 Bracteate from Holmsland, type C (Hauck 1972) 40
13 Bracteate from Trollhättan (Hauck 1970) 41
14 Weaving goddess from south-west Germany (Enright 1990) 41
15 Anglo-Saxon brooch from Warwick (Vierck 1967) 42
16 Battle scene from the Sutton Hoo helmet (Evans 1986) 43
17 Metal plate from Alamannic grave (Paulsen 1967) 43
18 Embracing figures on gold foil from Helgö, Sweden (drawing by
Eileen Aldworth) 44
19 Rosmerta with her churn (?), from Corbridge (Ross 1967) 47
20 Drawing of goddess Nehalennia (Hondius-Crone 1955) 49
21 Odin devoured by the wolf, Andreas Cross, Isle of Man
(Simpson 1967) 51
22 Serpent takes Thor’s bait, Altuna Stone (Davidson 1967) 52
23 Thor and the giant fishing, from Gosforth (Davidson 1967) 53
24 Thor’s hammer amulet in silver from Sweden (Simpson 1967) 54
25 Odin returns with magic mead, on stone from Larbro, Gotland
(Nylen 1978) 73
vii
FIGURES
26 Panels from Gallehus horn (Davidson 1967) 89
27 Stone from Häggeby, showing a horse-fight (Davidson 1967) 91
28 Stone from Svenkista, showing Thor’s axe-hammer (Simpson
1967) 102
29 Hooded men from Romano-British carving, Cirencester
(Davidson 1989b) 120
30 Figures on tapestry, Oseberg ship burial (Davidson 1967) 128
31 A ritual shaft from the Vendée (Piggott 1968) 130
32 Stave church at Gol in Hallingdal, Norway (Lindholm 1968) 140
33 Reconstruction of a Romano-British temple (Yorkshire Museum
Guide 1985) 141
Note: Figure sources are referenced in the Bibliography and individual artists
accredited with each figure.
Every attempt has been made to obtain permission to reproduce
copyright material. If there are any omissions, please contact Fiona
Parker at Routledge’s London office.
viii
Introduction
Stout men were we, but that passed by,
Above our bones men tread.
(attributed to Fland mac Lonain:
trans. Robin Flower)

How should we approach a religion of the past when it has left no creed for us
to study, no sacred books or descriptions of rituals, no life of its founder and,
indeed, little trace of the religious leaders and thinking minds who contributed
to its development? Sometimes it is only possible to put together a few
fragments of recorded beliefs and practices, to study carved stones or to find
traces of mythology in legends and folk traditions and the tentative
interpretation of names of nearly forgotten deities. This is roughly the position
with the beliefs of some of the peoples of northern Europe, such as the Finno-
Ugrians (including the Saami or Lapps and the Estonians), the Balts (including
the Lithuanians and the Letts) and the Slavs. Traces of their mythology survive
in folklore and folk art, and archaic features of surviving Baltic languages make
the names of super-natural beings of much interest to scholars. In Finland the
material collected by Lönnrot in the early nineteenth century, found in the lays
making up the Kalevala, indicates a fine heritage of mythological tradition, but
after so long a space of time there is little definite evidence from which to
reconstruct ritual and belief (Honko 1987). In the case of the Celtic and
Germanic peoples, however, the position is different, in studying their religion
we are faced with many problems and there are vast gaps in our knowledge,
but we have evidence from early art and archaeology in many different regions,
and in addition an extensive early literature from medieval Ireland and Iceland.
Although this was recorded by Christian chroniclers and story-tellers, in most
cases in monasteries, it has, nevertheless, preserved a1 good deal of information
about pre-Christian traditions and myths. Antiquarian enthusiasm for the past
and the lively spirit of many of the old tales have ensured their continued
existence in manuscripts and popular oral tradition long after Christianity was
firmly established. It should therefore be possible to build up at least a partial
picture of the old religion of north-western Europe, provided we realize the
possibilities and limitations of the sources available.
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