Nerthus
Nerthus is a Germanic goddess whose image was borne through the countryside in a wagon drawn by cattle. The text mentions that Roman senator Tacitus's first century CE work ethnography of the Germanic peoples Germania mentions that they maintained hornless cattle. Simek compares the deity to a variety of cow-associated deities among non-Germanic peoples.
↻ synthesized from 8 sources
When
- First attested
- 0 CE
- Attested period
- 0 – 2020
- Historical notes
- Mentioned in Tacitus's Germania, 1st century CE.
Relationships
- co occurs with
- Wermund, Offa, Scyld, Rheda, Tamfana, Idis, dísir, Nehalennia, Freyja, Aveta, Ganna, Gefjon, Njǫr-un, Baduhenna, Regnator omnium deus, Isis of the Suebi, Hera, Hathor, Auðumbla, Ymir, Búri, Isis, Freyr, devils
- syncretized with
- Njörðr
Mentioned by
Sources
- peer reviewed
Source passages
“Germania relates how an image of the Germanic goddess Nerthus was borne through the countryside in a wagon drawn by cattle. Simek compares the deity to a variety of cow-associated deities among non-Germanic peoples, such as the Egyptian goddess Hathor (depicted as cow-headed) and Isis (whose iconography contains references to cows), and the Ancient Greek Hera (described as 'the cow-eyed').”
#5776 · extracted by google/gemini-2.0-flash-001
“Nerthus, a Germanic goddess mentioned by Tacitus in his Germania”
#26124 · extracted by google/gemini-2.0-flash-001
“Davidson further links the motif of the ship associated with Nehalennia with the Germanic Vanir pair of Freyr and Freyja as well as the Germanic goddess Nerthus.”
#27007 · extracted by google/gemini-2.0-flash-001
“Although Njörðr etymologically descends from *Nerþuz, Tacitus describes Nerthus female while the Old Norse deity Njörðr is male. The form *Nerþuz does not indicate whether the deity was considered male or female.”
#27399 · extracted by google/gemini-2.0-flash-001
“cult of Nerthus. Such processions may have been particularly part of the worship of the Vanir; the name Nerthus is cognate with that of Freyr's father in Old Norse texts, Njǫrðr. It may also indicate sacred marriage of priestesses with Freyr.”
#41282 · extracted by google/gemini-2.0-flash-001