Nerthus is the Germanic Goddess of fertility and also sometimes called âmother earthâ. She was in fact a very important deity and one of the very few ancient Germanic deities of which we have an account of a ritual written by Tacitus and backed up with archeological finds. It is thought that Nerthus is one of the earliest deities in the Germanic pantheon, older than the concept of the Asir and the Vanir.
Nerthusâ name is still in its Proto-Germanic form, with the exception of the last letter, 'NerĂžuzâ. Her name means: 'strong, healthy or powerfulâ. The name has barely changed except for in Scandinavia where she underwent a very interesting evolution. Sometimes Nerthus is also refered to as Hertha, the origin of that name is unclear but most historians believe that this was simply because of a translation mistake. If you would translate the Proto-Germanic word 'NerĂžuzâ into old Norse, you would get the word 'Njordâ. Interestingly, the Norse deity Njordr has similar attributes compared to Nerthus and it is therefore generally agreed that Nerthus turned into Njord in Scandinavia, basically Njordr is a later, male, depiction of the ancient Goddess Nerthus.
The true nature and appearance of this deity is not fully known. We know she is a Goddess of fertility but thatâs about it. We do not know her role in the ancient Germanic pantheon although there are theories. Judging by descriptions made by Tacitus and archeological evidence, the chariot was an important attribute. The chariot isnât exactly a classic Germanic object but ĂŹt was used by the Proto-Germanics during the bronze age, this suggests that the worship of this deity might have started during the Nordic bronze age, together with the worship of several other elder deities such as Ull, Wodan, Frey, Tiwaz, Freya and Sol, together they are the earliest Germanic deities whose worship started during the bronze age.
Thanks to Tacitus we know of a religious rite directly related to Nerthus, it is one of the very rare glimpses into the ancient Germanic spirituality that involves the worship of a deity and human sacrifice. According to Tacitus, Nerthus was mainly worshiped by 7 tribes that belonged to the Suebi confederation: the Reudingi, Aviones, Anglii, Varini, Eudoses, Saurini and Nuitones. Here is the full text of Tacitus in his work Germania on Nerthus:
âThe neighboring Reudigni, the Avions, Angli, Varini, Eudoses, Suardones, and Nuithones, are defended by rivers or forests. There is nothing noteworthy about these peoples individually, but they are distinguished by a common worship of Nerthus, or Mother Earth. They believe that she interests herself in human affairs and rides among their peoples.
In an island of the Ocean stands a sacred grove, and in the grove a consecrated cart, draped with cloth, which none but the priest may touch. The priest perceives the presence of the goddess in this holy of holies and attends her, in deepest reverence, as her cart is drawn by heifers.
Then follow days of rejoicing and merry-making in every place that she designs to visit and be entertained. No one goes to war, no one takes up arms, every object of iron is locked away, then, and only then, are peace and quiet known and loved, until the priest again restores the goddess, satiated with mortal intercourse, to her temple.
After that the cart, the cloth and, if you care to believe it, the goddess herself are washed in clean in a secluded lake. This service is performed by slaves who are immediately afterwards drowned in the lake. Thus mystery begets terror and pious reluctance to ask what the sight can be that only those doomed to die may see.â - Tacitus, Germania
According to Tacitus, a special rite was conducted on an island which involved days of celebration and a peace amongst the Germanic tribes involved in this festival. An image of Her was concealed in a cart, covered with a cloth. Only priests were apparently allowed to touch this cart or the image of her. This cart would be driven around the land until eventually it was placed back inside the grove. The unfortunate souls who helped with this proces, the slaves mentioned by Tacitus, were immediately put to death after the ritual, to make sure that only the priests had knowledge of her cart and image.
Is there any archeological evidence to back this ancient sacred ritual up? There are actually several candidates for the location described by Tacitus. The most convincing theory is that this grove of Nerthus was located on the island of Zealand in Denmark based on the fact that the old medieval name of a place on this island is linked with the word Nerthus, Niartharum.
Several archeological discoveries have been made of ritual wagons from Denmark that date back to the Bronze age. We know that these wagons were for ceremonial purposes because they were incapable of making turns, that would make for a horrible wagon if used in daily life. These ceremonial wagons could perhaps have been used in the ritual described by Tacius.
Another theory, that has now been debunked, suggested that the grove of Nerthus was located RĂźgen, a German island. This theory is based on the interpretation of the name Hertha but now that we know that Hertha was a translation mistake, this theory has been debunked and RĂźgen is no longer considered as the potential site.
There is yet another theory that suggests that the grove of Nerthus could have been located near the modern city of Haarlem in the Netherlands. Two men during the 19th century made a comment on a temple located in the dunes that was dedicated to mother earth, here is one of the two short descriptions:
âAnd as we still find the flowers of the old forest in our woods, so we see among the Haarlem people, in their joyful journeys to Kraantjelek and in the celebration of Hartjesdag, the traces of the former worship of the Earth, Hertha, our great and good mother.â - Frederik Willem van Eden, 1867
A Dutch writer of history, Jan Ter Gouw, claimed that even the name of the city Haarlem is linked with the deity. We can however debunk this theory since we know that Haarlem comes from the Dutch words 'Harulaâ and 'heemâ combined which translates into 'settlement on a sand ridgeâ. There is also no archeological evidence of an ancient pagan temple in Kraantje Lek so these two theories seems have been based on 19th century romanticism, part of the revival of the Germanic mythology.
Another, more possible, theory is that the grove of Nerthus was located on Helgoland, an island now part of Germany. This theory is fully based on the description of Tacitus and the appearance of the island. There is however no archeological evidence to back up this theory so until we find actual archeological evidence in the form of ancient carts or statues, the Danish Zealand seems to have been the most likely location of this ritual. Â
Nerthus continues to be a truly fascinating deity linked to one of the very rare written accounts of a Germanic religious ritual. Even though she was celebrated during a festival of peace, humans were sacrificed at the end of the rite. Sheâs one of the oldest deities in the Germanic pantheon and can rightly be called mother of the earth, perhaps she is the mother of us all.
Here are images of:
Nerthus by Emil Doepler,
Ceremonial Wagons from Dejberg located in Denmark,
The Trundholm sun chariot,
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