#semnones

Semnones' Sacred Grove

Now I have seen this grove being mentioned a few times in certain comments this past week so I wanted to share some more information on it. Extremely little is known about this grove except for the description made by Tacitus in his work Germania:

"At a set time, deputations from all the tribes of the same stock gather in a grove hallowed by the auguries of their ancestors and by immemorial awe. The sacrifice of a human victim in the name of all marks the grisly opening of their savage ritual. Another observance shows their reverence for this grove.

No one may enter it unless he is bound with a cord, by which he acknowledges his own inferiority and the power of the deity. Should he chance to fall, he may not raise himself or get up again, but must roll out over the ground. The grove is the centre of their whole religion. It is regarded as the cradle of the race and the dwelling-place of the supreme god to whom all things are subject and obedient." - Tacitus

The description of this grove is quite facinating. First of all, the location of this grove seemed to have been somewhere inside the territory of the Semnones people, the exact location is sadly unknown but must have been somewhere in the north-east of modern day Germany. Second, it appears that every Germanic tribe was aware of the existence of this grove and sent some of their people to this location when a ritual took place, perhaps willing victims or their high priests.

What's also fascinating about this description by Tacitus is that he mentions this grove is the centre of the entire Germanic religion, the cradle of mankind and the home of the supreme God of the Germanic people. This leads to a theory that the God Wodan was worshiped inside this grove. Wodan is after all the creator of mankind and the chief God of the Germanic pantheon.

Another interesting part is the mention of people being fettered before they enter this grove. This was done to show respect to the deity, to show, possibly Wodan, that you are inferior to him and his powers. You had to physically roll or crawl your way out of this grove if you accidentally fell on the ground.

The theory of this grove being dedicated to Wodan has more possible evidence if you look at the later written sources by the Norsemen. A similar grove has been mentioned in the Helgakvida Hundingsbana II:

"Helgi obtained Sigrún, and they had sons. Helgi lived not to be old. Dag, the son of Högni, sacrificed to Odin, for vengeance for his father. Odin lent Dag his spear. Dag met with his relation Helgi in a place called Fiöturlund, and pierced him through with his spear. Helgi fell there, but Dag rode to the mountains and told Sigrún what had taken place."

Perhaps the whole tradition surrounding this mysterious grove has survived well into the viking age. Another theory however suggests that the grove might have been dedicated to the previous chief God of the Germanic people, Tiwaz. Perhaps it is a tradition that the Proto-Indo Europeans brought into Europe, perhaps they had a similar grove dedicated to their chief God Dyeus, an earlier interpretation of virtually any chief God of Europe.

Because we only have this short description made by Tacitus and no actual archeological evidence/traces of this grove, the exact purpose and origin of this grove remains uncertain. Perhaps it was dedicated to Wodan or an earlier interpretation of him. Perhaps this grove is the location where Wodan hung himself in order to gain knowledge about the runes.

"Semnonenlager am Müggelsee"

(Semnonic Camp at the Müggelsee)

Carl Blechen (1828)

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The Semnones were a Germanic tribe which was settled between the Elbe and the Oder in the 1st century when they were described by Tacitus in Germania:

"The Semnones give themselves out to be the most ancient and renowned branch of the Suevi. Their antiquity is strongly attested by their religion. At a stated period, all the tribes of the same race assemble by their representatives in a grove consecrated by the auguries of their forefathers, and by immemorial associations of terror. Here, having publicly slaughtered a human victim, they celebrate the horrible beginning of their barbarous rite. Reverence also in other ways is paid to the grove. No one enters it except bound with a chain, as an inferior acknowledging the might of the local divinity. If he chance to fall, it is not lawful for him to be lifted up, or to rise to his feet; he must crawl out along the ground. All this superstition implies the belief that from this spot the nation took its origin, that here dwells the supreme and all-ruling deity, to whom all else is subject and obedient. The fortunate lot of the Semnones strengthens this belief; a hundred cantons are in their occupation, and the vastness of their community makes them regard themselves as the head of the Suevic race."

The king of the Semnones Masyas and his priestess Ganna are mentioned by Cassius Dio. They worshipped a supreme god (Latin: regnator omnium deus) at a sacred grove. A grove of fetters is also mentioned in the eddic poem Helgakviða Hundingsbana II.

In the 3rd century, the Semnones shifted southwards and eventually ended up as part of the Alamanni people. An inscription found on an altar in Augsburg, a Roman monument from 260 CE, states that the Semnones were also called Juthungi.