Ertha, the Germanic Earth Goddess
Ertha, the Germanic Earth Goddess
Nothing remarkable occurs in any of these tribes [of northern Germany],
except that they unite in the worship of Ertha, or Mother Earth. They
believe that she interposes in the affairs of men, and visits the
different nations in her chariot. On an island of the ocean stands a
sacred and unviolated grove, in which is a consecrated chariot, covered
with a veil, which the priest alone is permitted to touch. He becomes
conscious of the entrance of the goddess into this secret recess; and with
profound veneration attends the vehicle, which is drawn by yoked cows.
At this season all is joy; and every place which the goddess deigns to
visit is a scene of festivity. No wars are undertaken; arms are
untouched; and every hostile weapon is shut up. At this time, only peace
abroad and at home are known.
At length the same priest conducts the goddess, now weary of mortal
intercourse, back to her temple. The chariot, with its curtain, and, if
we may believe it, the goddess herself, then undergo ablution in a secret
lake. This ritual is performed by slaves, whom the same lake instantly
swallows up. Hence arises a mysterious horror and a pious ignorance of
these events, which are beheld only by those who are about to perish.
- Source: The Works of Tacitus: The Oxford Translation.
(London: George Bell and Sons, Covent Garden, 1889), vol. 2. Translation
slightly revised. This treatise, whose full title is "A Treatise on the
Situation, Manners, and Inhabitants of Germany," was written in Latin in
the year 98. The above excerpt is taken from section 40.
- Additional keywords: myth, mythology, legend, superstition,
Nerthus
Revised September 11, 1996.
