More and more Latin texts are made available online now and by
chance I came across Adam of Bremen’s Gesta
Hammaburgensis Ecclesiae Pontificum (Deeds of Bishops of the Hamburg
Church), at this site: http://www.forumromanum.org/literature/authors_a.html
Once all planned authors have been put online, this will be an
invaluable source!
Adam of Bremen (before 1050 – 1081/1085) was of Saxon origin and
worked for the diocese of Hamburg. The bishops of Hamburg were active in
bringing Christianity to Scandinavia and Adam of Bremen was involved in that
too. He travelled to Scandinavia and in his Gesta
he left us some valuable descriptions about his journey. As Hamburg is situated
in the area of the Saxons, Adam of Bremen included a history of the Saxons for
which he makes use of previous authors of which the most remarkable is Tacitus’
Germania. Remarkable because Tacitus
was hardly read during the Middle Ages and the only surviving manuscript of
that work was discovered by the Italian Humanist Enoch of Ascoli at Hersfeld
Abbey and brought to Italy around 1455.
In the following chapter Adam of Bremen combines some information
from Germania c.10 and 11 with
information about the Irminsul from a
lost work by Einhard (ca 770-841). Adam of Bremen tells about the customs of
the Saxons before they were converted to Christianity. The Saxons resisted for
a long time the attempts of Charlemagne to incorporate their area into the
Frankish empire, but in 804 they suffered a crushing defeat and were violently forced
to accept Christianity. Earlier attempts failed: at the massacre of Verden
(782) 4500 captive Saxons were slaughtered because they refused to be baptized.
In an earlier attempt Charlemagne destroyed the Irminsul in 772 or 774. The Irminsul
was a sacred pillar or world tree. The idea of a world tree, sustaining the world
or the vault of heaven is widespread and found e.g. in Siberia and the Near
East. The mythological reflection of this tree is found in Old Norse sources as
the tree Yggdrasill, the sacred ash around
which the underworld, the world of men and the world of the gods are located. The
word irmin means `strong, great’ and
it could be an appellative of a god, but this is not certain. It is unknown
what rituals were connected with this pillar.
Living myself in a Saxon area, I take a special interest in the
customs of my ancient forefathers, especially regarding religion. My fellow
Saxons, isn’t it time to re-erect the Irminsul
after some 1250 years and go back to the faith of our ancestors, undoing the wrong
Charlemagne did to us? Saxons, unite!
Adamus Bremensis, Gesta
Hammaburgensis Ecclesiae Pontificum, 1.8
'Avium voces et volatus interrogare proprium erat illius gentis.
Equorum quoque presagia ac motus experiri, hinnitusque ac fremitus observare.
Nec ulli auspicio maior fides, non solum apud plebem, sed etiam apud proceres
habebatur. Erat et alia observatio auspiciorum, qua gravium bellorum eventus
explorare solebant. Eius quippe gentis cum qua bellandum fuit, captivum quoquo
modo interceptum, cum electo popularium suorum, patriis quemque armis
committere et victoriam huius vel illius pro iudicio habere. Quomodo autem
certis diebus, cum aut inchoatur luna aut impletur, agendis rebus
auspicatissimum initium crediderint, aliaque innumerabilia vanarum
supersticionum genera, quibus implicati sunt, observaverint, praetereo. Haec
vero ideo commemoravi, quo prudens lector agnoscat, a quantis errorum tenebris
per Dei gratiam et misericordiam sint liberati, quando eos ad cognitionem sui
nominis lumine verae fidei perducere dignatus est. Erant enim, sicut omnes fere
Germaniam incolentes, et natura feroces et cultui demonum dediti, veraeque
religioni contrarii, neque divina neque humana iura vel polluere vel transgredi
inhonestum arbitrabantur. Nam et frondosis arboribus fontibusque venerationem
exhibebant. Truncum quoque ligni non parvae magnitudinis in altum erectum sub
divo colebant, patria eum lingua Irminsul appellantes, quod Latine dicitur
universalis columpna, quasi sustinens omnia'. Haec tulimus excerpta ex scriptis
Einhardi de adventu, moribus et superstitione Saxonum, quam adhuc Sclavi et
Sueones ritu paganico servare videntur.
volatus –us (m): flight
Equorum quoque presagia ac
motus: The belief that horses had a kind of
foreknowledge (praesagia) was
widespread. The horse of Saint Columba knew his master was about to pass away
and in the Illiad one of the horses of Achilles, Xanthus, also had
foreknowledge of the death of his master. Herodotus reports the same belief amongst
the Persians. Given the fact that horses were important among the Indo-European
tribes, it might well be that this belief has ancient roots.
motus -us (m): movement (the Germania
has monitus `admonition’ and this is
undoubtedly the right reading as presagia
ac monitus balances hinnitusque ac
fremitus.)
experior experitus sum: to test, make trial of
hinnitus -us (m): a neighing
fremitus -us (m): loud
noise
auspicium: divination
proceres: the nobles
quippe: since, for
patriis armis: with tribal arms
committere (proelium): to fight
et victoriam huius vel
illius pro iudicio habere: this habit continued
well into the middle ages and is known as trial
by combat: it was believed that God would grant victory to the one who was
fighting for the right cause. (This theme was used by Richard Wager in his Lohengrin: Lohengrin fights against
Telramund for the innocence of Elsa and wins.)
Cum aut inchoatur luna aut
impletur: when the moon starts (= new moon) or is
full,
vanus: empty, void, vane
quibus implicati sunt: with which they are involved.
tenebrea –arum: darkness
praetereo: besides
quando….dignatus est: when he deemed it worthy
natura feroces: wild by nature
polluo pollui: to pollute
frondosus: full of leaves
lignum: wood
sub divo: in the open air
universalis columpna: world pillar
Translation:
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