Chapter 15

Now that I have expounded the primeval triad of Germanic races, I have to offer some conjectures on the sevenfold division. Pliny's quintuple arrangement seems not so true to fact, his Vindili are Tacitus's Vandilii, his Peucini not referable to any founder of a race. But Tacitus to his first three adds four other leading races, the Marsi, Gambrivii, Suevi and Vandilii, in whose names there exists neither alliteration nor the weak form as a mark of derivation.

The Marsi between Rhine and Weser, an early race which soon disappears, in whose country the Tanfana sactuary stood, lead up to a hero Marso, whom we must not mix up with the Roman Mars gen. Martis, nor with Marsus the son of Circe (who in like manner gives name to an Italian people, Gellius 16, 11. Pliny 7, 2. Augustine in Ps. 57). The Marsigni = Marsingi, a Suevic people, acknowledged the same name and origin. The proper name Marso occurs in Mabillon no. 18, in a deed of 692, also in the polypt. Irminonis p. 158ª 163b, but seldom elsewhere. Mersiburg and Marseburg, Pertz 8, 537. 540, seem to belong here, while some other names given above, p. 201, are open to doubt; I do not know if a MHG. phrase, obscure in itself, is at all relevant: 'zuo allen marsen varn,' MS. 1, 25ª, which may signify, to go to all the devils, expose oneself to every danger; conf. 'einen marsen man,' Crane 2865. The Gothic marzjan (impedire, offendere) might seem allied to the root, but that would have been merrian, merran in OHG.

The name of the Gambrivii I assign to the root gambar, kambar strenuus, from which also is derived the name of Gambara, ancestress of the Langobards. There may have been likewise a hero Gambaro. And the forest of Gambreta (instead of Gabreta) is worth considering. Gambara's two sons are called Ibor = OHG. Epur, AS. Eofor, ON. Iöfur, i.e., aper, boar, and Ajo: all the three names appear to be corrupt in Saxo. Gram.

Ought we to assume for the Suevi, OHG. Suâpâ, an eponymous hero Suevo, Suâpo, and perhaps connect with him an old legend of a mountain? Pliny 4, 13 places in the land of the 'gens Ingaevonum, quae est prima Germaniae,' a certain 'Sevo mons immensus' reaching to the Sinus Codanus; and Solinus, following him, says 22, 1: 'Mons Sevo ipse ingens........initium Germaniae facit, hunc Inguaeones tennet;' but Isidor (Orig. 10, 2) makes out of it: 'dicti autem Suevi putantur a monte Suevo, qui ab ortu initium Germaniae facit'. From this evidently is taken the account of the immigrating Swâben in the Lay of Anno 284: 'si sluogen iri gecelte (pitched their tents) ane dem berge Suebo (so several read for Suedo), dannin wurdin si geheizin Suâbo'. (40) In the Low German psalms 57, 17 mons coagulatus is rendered 'berg sueuot,' which is perhaps to be explained by the legend of the lebirmer [liver-sea, Tacitus's mare pigrum? Germ. 45. Agr. 10]. It seems more to the point, that in Sæm. 164-8 the Sefa fiöll (fells, mountains, of the Sevs) are mentioned in those very Helga-songs, one of which sings of Svafaland, king Svafnir and the valkyr Svava. A v after s is frequenly dropped, and the readings Sevo, Suevo can thus be reconciled. Suâpo then would be a counterpart to Etzel and Faírguns (pp. 169, 172)? The AS. Sweppa, or rather Swæfdæg, can hardly be brought in here.

Tacitus's Vandilii and Pliny's Vindili stand in the same relation to each other as Arminius and irmin, Angrivarii and Inguiones; both forms come from winding and wending, out of which so many mythic meanings flow. Wuotan is described under several names as the wender, wanderer [Germ. wandeln ambulare, mutare].

On the slight foundation of these national names, Marsi, Gambrivii, Suevi and Vandilii, it is unsafe as yet to build. Tacitus connects these with Mannus, but the heroes themselves he does not even name, let alone giving any particulars of them.

Clear and definite on the other hand are the historian's notices of another famous hero: Fuisse apud eos et Herculem memorant, primumque omnium virorum fortium ituri in proelia canunt, Germ. 3. Speaking of sacrifices in cap. 9, after mentioning Mercurius first, he immediately adds: Herculem ac Martem concessis animalibus placant, the demigod being purposely put before even Mars. Chapter 34 tells us of the ocean on the coast of the Frisians, then says: Et superesse adhuc Herculis columnas fama vulgavit, sive adiit Hercules, seu quidquid ubique magnificum est, in claritatem ejus referre consensimus. Nec defuit audentia Druso Germanico, sed obstitit oceanus in se simul atque in Herculem inquiri. Mox nemo tentavit, sanctiusque ac reverentius visum de actis deorum credere quam scire. The Annals 2, 12 name a 'silva Herculi sacra,' between the Weser and Elbe in the land of the Cheruscans; while the Peutinger Table puts a 'castra Herculis' near Noviomagus (Nimwegen). All this means something, it all points to some demigod who is identified, not unadvisedly, with that of the Romans. Hercules, whose deeds were accomplished in countries widely remote, is thought to have visited Germany also, in the Gaditanian pillars at one end of Europe have a counterpart in the Frisian coast on another side of it. In the German battle-song the praise of Hercules is sounded first, victims are slain to him as to the highest gods, to him a wood is consecrated. Of pillars, even Widukind still knows something, by his speaking of Hirmin's effigies columnarum (pl.) not columnae. Was the plural irmansûlî (p. 115) more exact than irmansûl, and had the image several pillars? Did the Roman in his Hermin and Herminones think of Herakles and Hercules, whose name bore plainly on its face the root, Hra, Hera? was that why he retained the aspirate in Herminones and Hermunduri, and not in Arminius? An approximation of sound in the names of the two heroes, Roman and German, may surely be presupposed. The position of Herculis silva and columnae does not indeed agree with that of the Herminones, but the worship of such a hero was sure to spread far and not to be confined to the particular race to which he gave his name. In the German Irman, Irmin, it seems correct for the aspirate to be wanting, as in Arminius; in Cherusci it is indispensible, and therefore the Romans never wrote Herusci.

If in this 'Hercules' we wish to see one of the great gods themselves, we must apparently exclude Mercury and Mars, from whom he is distinguished in cap. 9, i.e., Wuotan and Zio. And for supposing him to mean Donar, i.e., Jupiter (as Zeuss does, p. 25), I see no other ground than that the Norse Thôrr, like Hercules, performs innumerable heroic deeds, but these may equally be placed to the credit of Irmin, and Irmin and the thundergod have nothing else in common. Yet, in favour of 'Hercules' being Donar, we ought perhaps to weigh the AS. sentences quoted on p. 161, note; also, that Herakles was a son of Zeus, and a foe to giants.




ENDNOTES:

40. Kaiserchr. 285: sîn gecelt hiez er slahen dô ûf einin berc der heizit Swero, von dem berge Swero sint sie alle geheizen Swâbo. For Swero read Swevo (see Suppl.). Back