Germanic Sources
- M - N - O - P - R - S - T - V - W - Z -
Mabillon, Acta SS., II, 84.
"Iuxta ripam ipsius fluminis stips erat magnus diversis imaginibus figuratus atque ibi in terram magna virtute immissus, qui nimio cultu more gentillium a rusticis colebatur." --
a passage in a Pseudo-Augustinian sermon speaks of the trunk of a tree as the object of a special cult
***
Mamertinus 286 CE: 10.5; mentioned an attack by a united army of
Burgundians, Alamanns, Chaibones (Aivones/Saxons) and Heruls in Gaul. They were defeated by Emperor Maximianus.
***
Manilius, Marcus 4.715 ? Astronomica: the earliest treatise we have on astrology; Explanatory notes, 24 drawings, and two star charts are included. ISBN 0-674-99516-3
***
Marcellinus Comes stated that the Heruls sought refuge on Roman territory in 512 CE.
***
Marincola, ix-xxviii (modern author?) (!)
***
Marius of Avenches Chronicle; Covers 455-581; His Chronicon is a work of some historical importance. Though extremely brief it furnishes information with reference to Burgundy and Switzerland during the period embraced by it which is found nowhere else.
He was the 3rd bp. of Lausanne, whither he is said to have transferred the see from Avenches, between Chilmegisilus and Magnerius (Gams, p. 283), or Arricus (Gall. Christ. xv. 329). He is better known as Marius Aventicensis, the chronicler. He was born at Autun, of parents of high rank. At about the age of 43 he was made bishop (A.D. 575). He constructed a church at Paterniacum (Payerne) on his own property, and made various donations to it. In 585 he was present at the 2nd council of Mâcon (Mansi, ix. 958), and after an episcopate lasting 20 years and 8 months died on the last day of 596, in his 64th year. At the council of Mâcon, in 585, he signed himself "episcopus ecclesiae Aventicae." The authors of the Gallia Christiana publish a metrical epitaph of unknown date, which represents him as fabricating with his own hands the sacred vessels for his church and ploughing his own glebe. His Chronicon is a work of some historical importance. Though extremely brief it furnishes information with reference to Burgundy and Switzerland during the period embraced by it which is found nowhere else, and serves to correct the bias of Gregory of Tours against the Arians of Burgundy. It takes up the chronicle of Prosper of Aquitaine in 455 and carries it to 581, continuing his method of marking the years by consulates, and commencing the indictions with 523. An anonymous author has carried it to 623. For an account and criticism of it see Hist. Litt. iii. 401; Cave, i. 538; Ceillier, xi. 399, 400; Wattenbach, Deutschlands Geschichtsquellen, i. 47; Richter, Annalen, p. 37 and refs. there given. It is in Bouquet, Recueil, ii. 12-19, and Migne, Patr. Lat. lxxii. 791-802.
***
Martianus Capella: De Nuptiis Philologiae et Mercurii (Concerning the Marriage of Mercury and Philology): VI.595, VI.608-609; W.H. Stahl and R. Johnson (1971); an early geographer;
"bowls which are called horologia, or sundials, are adjusted according to variations in latitude. Gnomons are replaced at distances beyond five hundred stadia, as the shadows are depressed or elevated according to the location of the dials. Consequently, the longest day of the year at Meroe lasts twelve and two thirds hours, at Alexandria fourteen, in Italy fifteen, and in Britain seventeen. At the summer solstice, when the sun is borne toward the celestial pole, it bathes the regions that lie beneath in continuous daylight; but when it makes its wintry descent, it causes northern regions to shiver in darkness that lasts six months. Pytheas of Massilia reported that he found such a condition on the isle of Thule. Those discrepancies of the seasons, unless I am mistaken, compel us to admit that the earth is round."
[608] But the two regions, or belts, referred to above - one of which is covered with ice because of its proximity to the chill of Plaustrum [the Wain], the other deserted because of antarctic winds - do not have antipodes of their own. However, because of their diametrically opposite locations, they become antipodal to each other. Inhabitants here observe no risings of the celestial bodies, except the planets, which do not course over their heads but have risings near the middle of one side. Fixed stars are visible for six months, and for six months they are out of sight. The equator is the circle that mark risings for them, and only six signs of the zodiac are visible. Days and nights are of six months' duration, and the poles are visible directly overhead. But the one region, adorned with the luster of Septentrio, and the other, with the star Canopus, have no acquaintance with the remaining portions of the sky.
[609] That most learned man Pytheas has disclosed what conditions are like in those regions; but I myself have traversed them: there is no portion of the earth's surface that is not known to me.
The full measurement of the earth's circumference - to convert into Roman miles the figure in stadia which I recorded in the calculations above - is thirty-one thousand five hundred miles. At this point, it would be well to include the opinion which Ptolemy records in his Geography.
***
Martin of Braga (Martinus of Bracara) ca. 515-580
De correctione rusticorum: an elaborate refutation of pagan traditions in his diocese. Formula vitae honestae. Capitula consist of eighty-four canons There is no complete edition of Martin's work.
From: Paganism and Pagan Survivals in Spain up to the Fall of the Visigothic Kingdom Stephen McKenna; Chapter 4 Pagan Survivals in Galicia in the Sixth Century:
The apostle of the Suevi. De correctione rusticorum: an elaborate refutation of pagan traditions in his diocese. For the guidance of the Suevian king Miro, he wrote the Formula vitae honestae.There is no complete edition of Martin's work.
"Mercurius enim homo fuit miserabilis, avarus, crudelis, impius, etc."- Sermon 193, Morin, p. 744.
After Martin had linked up idolatry with the worship of the demons, and thereby made the people aware of its gravity he proceeds to censure the various superstitious beliefs and practices. The first of these idolatrous practices consists in designating the days of the week by the names of the pagan gods, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, and Saturn. (63) Martin looks upon these gods as historical personages who lived among the Greeks. He mentions the revolting and immoral lives which each one of them had lived while on earth.
Capitula consist of eighty-four canons addressed to Nitigus, metropolitan of Lugo and the suffragan bishops under his jurisdiction. These canons of Martin were embodied in the Hispana and were frequently quoted in the Middle Ages by Burchand of Worms, Gratian, etc. The Capitula which Martin translated from the Greek contained a number of canons on idolatry and superstition.
***
Martin of Tours (St); Vita Martini, CSEL, I, 122 (!)
The pagans of a certain neighborhood permitted the saint to destroy one of their temples, but forbade him to injure their sacred trees. These pagans may have not have been Germanic.
***
Mauricius: Strategikon: 6th century Roman military manual which gives advice on 'dealing with the light-haired peoples such as the Franks, Lombards and others like them'
excerpts:
"They are disobedient to their leaders. They are not interested in anything that is at all complicated and pay little attention to external security and their own advantage. They are hurt by heat, cold, rain, lack of provisions, especially of wine, and postponement of battle. They are easily ambushed along the flanks and to the rear of their battle line, for they do not concern themselves at all with scouts and the other security measures. Above all, therefore, in waging war against them one must avoid engaging in pitched battles, especially in the early stages. Instead, make use of well planned ambushes, sneak attacks and stratagems. Delay things and ruin their opportunities. Pretend to come to agreements with them. Aim at reducing their boldness and zeal by shortage of provisions or the discomforts of heat or cold."
'either on horseback or on foot, they are impetuous and undisciplined in charging, as if they were the only people in the world who are not cowards'.
'If they are hard pressed in cavalry actions, they dismount at a pre -arranged sign and line up on foot.'
'[Roman cavalry should] lean forward, cover their heads with their shields, hold their lances high as their shoulders in the manner of the fair-haired races, and protected by their shields they ride in good order, not too fast but at a trot, to avoid having the impetus of their charge breaking up their ranks before coming to blows with the enemy, which is a real risk.'
***
Mela, Pomponius: written 43 CE: Chorographia (Description of the World): III.3.26, 29, 31-32, III.5.36-37, III.6.54-58; online: http://eric.anctil.org/history/src/
3.3.26. "The inhabitants are wild and have enormous bodies, and because there natural wildness they strengthen both very much: their souls are made used to fighting, their bodies used to hardship and especially because of the cold climate. They walk around naked until they are grown up, and childhood lasts very long among them. The men are only dressed in a cape or leaves from trees, even when it is very cold.
3.3.29. The land is hard to cross because of the many rivers and the terrain uneven because of many mountains and due to woods and swamps. Of the swamps Suesia, Metia and Melsyagum are the largest, of the woods the Hercynian wood largest, but there are a number too with no names. The Hercynian wood is 60 day marches long and as it is the best known it is also the largest."
3.3.31. On the other side of the Albis [Elbe], the huge Codanus Bay [Baltic Sea] is filled with big and small islands. For this reason, where the sea is received within the fold of the bay, it never lies wide open and never really looks like a sea but is sprinkled around, rambling and scattered like rivers, with water flowing in every direction and crossing many times. Where the sea comes into contact with the mainland, the sea is contained by the banks of islands, banks that are not far offshore and that are virtually equidistant everywhere. There the sea runs a narrow course like a strait, then, curving, it promptly adapts to a long brow of land.
3.3.32. On the bay are the Cimbri and the Teutoni; farther on, the farthest people of Germany, the Hermiones.
3.5.36. After that, the Scythian peoples - almost all designated under one name as the Belcae - inhabit the Asian frontier except where winter remains continuous and the cold remains unbearable. On the Asiatic litoral, first of all, the Hyperboreans are located beyond the north wind, above the Riphaean Mountains, and under the very pole of the stars, where the sun rises, not every day as it does for us, but for the first time at the vernal equinox, and where it eventually sets at the autumnal equinox. Therefore, for six months daylight is completely uninterrupted, an for the next six months night is completely uninterrupted.
3.5.37. The land is narrow, exposed to the sun, and spontaneously fruitful. Its inhabitants live in the most equitable way possible, and they live longer and more happily than any mortals. To be sure, because they delight in their always festive leisure, they know no wars, no disputes, and they devote themselves primarily to the sacred rites of Apollo. According to tradition, they sent their firstfruits to Delos initially in the hands of their own virgins, and later they sent them through peoples who handed them on in succession to farther peoples. They preserved that custom for a long time until it was profaned by the sacrilege of those peoples. The Hyperboreans inhabit groves and forests, and when a sense of having been satisfied by life (rather than boredom) has gripped them, they cheerfully wreathe themselves in flowers and actually throw themselves into the sea from a particular cliff. For them that is the finest death ritual.
3.6.54. The thirty Orcades [Orkney Islands] are separated by narrow spaces between them; the seven Haemodae [Denmark] extend opposite Germany in what we call the Codanus Bay; of the islands there, Scadinavia, which the Teutoni still hold, stands out as much for its size as for its fertility besides.
3.6.55. Because of the sea's tidal ebb and flow, and because the distance is sometimes covered by waves and other times bare, what faces the Sarmatae sometimes seems to be islands and at other times seems to be one continuous land mass.
3.6.56. In addition to what is handed down in legend, I discover - in authors whom I am not embarrassed to follow - that on these islands are the Oeonae [Grk., Birds of Prey], who feed only on oats and the eggs of marsh birds, and that the Hippodes [Grk., Horsefeet], with their equine hooves, are also there, and the Panotii [Grk., All-Ears] too, who for clothing have big ears broad enough to go around their whole body (they are otherwise naked).
3.6.57. Thule is located near the coast of the Belcae, who are celebrated in Greek poetry and in our own. On it - because there the sun rises far from where it will set - nights are necessarily brief, but all winter long they are as dark as anywhere, and in summer, bright. All summer the sun moves higher in the sky all this time, and although it is not actually seen at night, the sun nevertheless illuminates adjacent places when its radiance is close by; but during the solstice there is no night, because at that time the sun is now more visible and shows not only its brilliance but most of itself too.
3.6.58. Talge [Cheleken], on the Caspian Sea, is fertile without being cultivated and is abundant in every root crop and fruit, but the local peoples consider it an abomination and a sacrilege to touch what grows there. They think that these things have been prepared by the gods and must be saved for the gods. Alongside those coasts that we have called deserted lie a number of equally deserted islands, which, being without names of their own, are called the Scythian Islands.
(3.26 alternate translation) agreed with Caesar: the Germani in general 'employ skins or the slight covering of renones, with a great part of their body left bare'.
***
Merobaudes, Flavius, c. 440, a Spaniard who wrote of Valentian and Aetius (!)
***
Merseburg Charm: Found in the Dome of Merseburg in a handscript from the 10th century from Fulda, the spells are much older.
I
Eiris sâzun idisi, sâzun hera douder.
suma hapt heptidun, suma heri lezidun,
suma clûbôdun, umbi cuoniouuidi:
insprinc haptbandun, invar vîgandun!
II
Phol ende Uuodan uuorun zi holza.
dû uuart demo balderes uolon sîn uuoz birenkit.
thû biguolen Sinthgunt, Sunna era suister;
thû biguolen Frîia, Uolla era suister;
thû biguolen Uuodan, sô hê uuola conda:
sôse bênrenkî, sôse bluotrenkî, sôse lidirenkî:
bên zi bêna, bluot zi bluoda, lid zi geliden,
sôse gelîmida sîn!
English Translation
I
Once the Idisi sat here and there.
some tied the fetters some paralyzed the "army" of the enemies,
some gathered sacred fetters:
escape the fetters, escape your enemies!
II
Phol and Wotan went to the forest.
There Balder's horse sprained its foot..
Then Sinthgunt the sister of Sunna charmed it;
Then Frija the sister of Volla charmed it;
Then Wodan charmed it, as he was well able to do.
Be it sprain of the bone, be it sprain of the blood, be it sprain of the limb:
Bone to bone, blood to blood, limb to limb,
Thus be they fitted together.
J.K. Bostock: A Handbook on Old High German Literature, 1955, 16
***
Messianus: see Caesarius
***
Muspilli, 9th century: the end of the world in fire; A Continental poem with similarities to Vóluspa
***
© 2004-2007 Northvegr.
Most of the material on this site is in the public domain. However, many people have worked very hard to bring these texts to you so if you do use the work, we would appreciate it if you could give credit to both the Northvegr site and to the individuals who worked to bring you these texts. A small number of texts are copyrighted and cannot be used without the author's permission. Any text that is copyrighted will have a clear notation of such on the main index page for that text. Inquiries can be sent to info@northvegr.org. Northvegr™ and the Northvegr symbol are trademarks and service marks of the Northvegr Foundation.
|