The story shows that the divine pair, recognizable from Scandinavian sources as Odin and Frigg, was known to the Lombards at this early time. It relates how the goddess Frea, wife of Godan (Wodan), tricked her husband into granting the Lombards victory over the Vandals. The Getica incorporates valuable records of Gothic tradition, the origin of the Goths, and some important remarks about the gods whom the Goths worshipped and the forms of their sacrifices, human and otherwise.Ī story about the origin of the Lombards is given in a tract, Origo gentis Langobardorum (“Origin of the Nation of Lombards”), of the late 7th century. 550 it was based on a larger (lost) work of Cassiodorus, which also incorporated the earlier work of Ablavius. Early medieval recordsĪs the power of Rome declined, records grew poorer, and nothing of great importance survives before the Getica, a history of the Goths written by the Gothic historian Jordanes c. While Tacitus presumably never visited Germany, his information was partly based on direct sources he also used older works, now lost. He describes some of their rituals and occasionally names a god or goddess. Tacitus, on the contrary, provided a lucid picture of customs and religious practices of continental Germanic tribes in his Germania, written c. Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. His limited information accounts for Caesar’s assumption of the poverty of the Germanic religion and the partial inaccuracy and incompleteness of his statement. Contrasting Germans with the Celts of Gaul, Caesar claimed that the Germans had no druids ( i.e., organized priesthood), nor zeal for sacrifice, and counted as gods only the Sun, the fire god (Vulcan or Vulcanus), and the Moon. He made some judicious observations in Commentarii de bello Gallico about their social and political organization, but his remarks on their religion were rather perfunctory. The works of classical authors, written mostly in Latin and occasionally in Greek, throw some light on the religion of Germanic peoples however, their interest in the religious practices of Germanic tribes remains limited to its direct relevance to their narrative, as when Strabo describes the gory sacrifice of Roman prisoners by the Cimbri at the end of the 2nd century bc.įor all his knowledge of the Celts, Caesar had no more than a superficial knowledge of Germans. Sources Classical and early medieval sources Who was the son of the chief god Odin and his wife, Frigg? What is the name of Thor’s hammer? Test your knowledge. This Time in History In these videos, find out what happened this month (or any month!) in history.Britannica Explains In these videos, Britannica explains a variety of topics and answers frequently asked questions.#WTFact Videos In #WTFact Britannica shares some of the most bizarre facts we can find.Demystified Videos In Demystified, Britannica has all the answers to your burning questions.Britannica Classics Check out these retro videos from Encyclopedia Britannica’s archives.
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