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 Posted: Mon Aug 30, 2010 1:25 pm
I am not entirely sure if this is the place for this. I am a newcomer, just sent a request to join the Guild a little earlier, and I have a question. Doing some research, trying to find out more about Earth Goddesses, I came across Nerthus. And the issue is this while I was able to determine she's an Earth Goddess and she's Norse and has something to do with a Wagon, I cant find anything else on her, but I do feel a connection to her.
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Posted: Mon Aug 30, 2010 1:41 pm
Actually, she's Germanic. The Germanic culture and beliefs is the major root of both Norse and Anglo-Saxon cuture but is not identical and is somewhat older. And you can't find any information on her because there really is none. All we have is a single mention from a single Roman observer. An knowing Romans, he may have fiddled with her name, so there's not much to go on.
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Posted: Mon Aug 30, 2010 1:45 pm
Damn. Thanks for the heads up. Hmm in that case who is a major Earth Goddess for the Norse or Germanic Tribes?
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Posted: Mon Aug 30, 2010 1:56 pm
Depends on what you mean by Earth Goddess. Freyja is the more lusty, fertility type goddess. But Frigg is the more nurturing mother goddess type. At any rate, they are the two prime Norse Goddesses that we have any information on so you could easily look them both up.
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Posted: Mon Aug 30, 2010 3:31 pm
Quote: Damn. Thanks for the heads up. Hmm in that case who is a major Earth Goddess for the Norse or Germanic Tribes? Interestingly enough according to Wiki Nerthus is associated with Njord... Quote: Nerthus often is identified with the Vanir god Njörðr who is attested in various thirteenth century Old Norse works and in numerous Scandinavian place names. The connection between the two is due to the linguistic relationship between Njörðr and the reconstructed Proto-Germanic *Nerþuz,[1] "Nerthus" being the feminine, Latinized form of what Njörðr would have looked like around 100 CE.[2] This has led to theories about the relation of the two, including that Njörðr may have once been a hermaphroditic deity or, generally considered more likely, that the name may indicate an otherwise unattested divine brother and sister pair such as the Vanir deities Freyja and Freyr.[1] Connections have been proposed between the unnamed mother of Freyja and Freyr and the sister of Njörðr mentioned in Lokasenna and Nerthus.[3]
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Posted: Mon Aug 30, 2010 6:30 pm
Yes, I've seen that theory. It is interesting and I can see where some might make such connections. Especially since the three Vanir we are aware of seem to be some sort of deity of fertility and plenty. Personally though, it's not a theory that I favor.
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Posted: Tue Aug 31, 2010 12:30 am
I've heard people couple them together as lovers as well as siblings, as UPG. I'm very skeptical of that myself.
OP, there's also Jorð, Þorr's mother. She's a Jotun.
The wagon in question is something a statue of her was carried around upon. IIRC, the statue was covered and only uncovered and washed in the ocean once a year. And the slave-women who washed it were killed, I think....? man it's been ages since I read that. I can't recall.
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Posted: Tue Aug 31, 2010 6:02 am
Thanks much for what your guys replies. I have looked at Wiki, its where I found Nerthus. I had been hoping to find more info on her as she appeals to me in the sense of her being what I expect a Goddess of Earth to be.
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Posted: Tue Aug 31, 2010 6:19 am
She's essentially lost to us, I'm afraid. But I think you're going at it from the wrong angle. Various goddesses may not really be as we expect them to be before we get to know them. Maybe you should set your expectations to the side for the time being.
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Posted: Tue Aug 31, 2010 6:57 am
You have an excellent point. This is why I joined this Guild. To get my confusion straightened out and get on the Path thats right.
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Posted: Sat Nov 19, 2011 12:44 am
Nerthus may be lost, but that doesn't mean we can't do a prayer or something to see if she was a real goddess or if she was the name of another deity that the name got misconstructed.
As for OP, there's also Jorð, Þorr's mother. She's a Jotun I have a question.
Are there people who worship the Jotun? I have honored the Jotun wives of Nijord and Freyr, and thought of honoring Jorð, Þorr's mother.
I found that the book Hammer of the Gods: An introduction to Anglo-Saxon paganism there were a few Jotun written about as other deities with in the paradigm that are not primary deities. Thats why I was wondering.
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Posted: Sat Nov 19, 2011 12:52 am
That would be your UPG, though.
You worshipped Jotun and you are a person, therefore, people worship Jotun.
"Primary deities"?
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Posted: Sat Nov 19, 2011 1:53 pm
A thought:
There is a similar goddess, Habondia, for whom there is slightly more information available.
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Posted: Sat Nov 19, 2011 2:07 pm
Got any links on that Morg? I can't seem find any reliable info.
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Posted: Sat Nov 19, 2011 5:06 pm
Sanguina Cruenta That would be your UPG, though. About Nerthus or the Jotun? Sanguina Cruenta You worshipped Jotun and you are a person, therefore, people worship Jotun. Ok. I guess a better question would be is it highly uncommon or have you come across other people who have worshiped and honored the Jotun? In Asatru the primary deities would be the Aesir and other or secondary deities would be the Jotun. Is Loki considered an Aesir by his blood brotherhood to Odin or is he still a Jotun? I ask because the lore and some of the books are unclear.
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