Nerthus

We know so little of Hretha that many interpretations are possible, and certainly a goddess called Nerthus was of great importance to at least some of the Germanic peoples Tacitus mentions her in Germania and may have had other names.

Hrethmonath (March): the early English calendar Carla 2008

And Alvarez then makes very heavy weather indeed of "Nerthus," a brief poem from an earlier collection, Wintering Out (1972):

Kesh & Loaning Tracy, Robert 1980

Proposed in the 1950's, the basic idea is that bog bodies were mostly offerings to the Nordic gods Odin or Nerthus "Mother Earth", with the rest either murder or accident victims.

Bog bodies baffle scientists 2011

So 1500 years after Tacitus described Nerthus riding in a ceremonial vehicle amid great rejoicing, we have an account of the English celebrating the corn harvest in September by carrying a female image in a waggon, also amid noisy rejoicing.

Archive 2008-09-01 Carla 2008

If he'd mentioned the North Sea area it would have tied up neatly with the Nerthus theory.

Hrethmonath (March): the early English calendar Carla 2008

He also says that the slaves who washed the wagon of the goddess Nerthus were drowned in a sacred lake, although this is attributed to a desire to maintain secrecy rather than to sacrifice as such.

Human sacrifice in Anglo-Saxon England: what rite might have been used? Carla 2008

Here's an article which postulates that the Anglo-Saxon goddess Hretha might be an incarnation of the Germanic goddess Nerthus, who may have been brought to Britain by the Angles.

Hrethmonath (March): the early English calendar Carla 2008

I'll probably have more to say about Nerthus in a future post.

Halegmonath (September): the early English calendar Carla 2008

Maybe, though some indication of Hretha's role and attributes would have been even moe helpful :- When all we have is a name it's impossible to say whether Hretha and Nerthus were connected; even if both were identified with the same area they could still be different deities.

Hrethmonath (March): the early English calendar Carla 2008

"If he'd mentioned the North Sea area it would have tied up neatly with the Nerthus theory."

Hrethmonath (March): the early English calendar Carla 2008