Sanctuaries in nature
According to the Roman historian Tacitus the Germans worshipped their gods on holy places in nature.
From Medieval sources, like the 9th century "Indiculus superstitionem" and the laws to fight heathenism that were created after 775AD by Charlemagne, we can distinct between three types of holy places:
· Hills, rocks and stones;
· Flowing rivers, lakes, bogswamps and wells;
· Forests and trees.
The Netherlands still has quite an amount of sanctuaries that date back to heathen times.
What now follows is a list of the different types of sanctuaries:
1. Hills with a name that hints to a heathen origin
Zonnebergen (Sun-hills) sacrificial place for the Sun
Manebergen (Moon-hills) sacrificial place for the Moon
Wodansbergen/Godensbergen* (Wodans-hills/Gods-hills) dedicated to Wodan
Donderbergen (Thunder-hills) dedicated to Donar
Materberg ("mater"=Latin for "mother") dedicated to mothergoddesses
Hemelse bergen (Heavenly-hills) dedicated to Heimdal
Paasbergen (Easter-hills) dedicated to spring/Ostara
Helsbergen (Hells-hills) dedicated to Hel
Hengstbergen (Stallion-hills) fertility sacrifices
* The "G" of "Goden" ("gods" in Dutch) in the second word has been changed from Woden via a sound-shift.
2. Tafelbergen (Table-hills) hills with a flat cone-shape.
3. Sacrificial stones.
4. Devilsstones (with "footsteps" or "bleeding").
5. Holy trees (the tree must have replaced an older one to date back to heathen times.
6. Holy forests.
7. Holy wells and pits.
8. Devilsvalleys, -lakes, -forests, -hills.
9. Childrens trees, -pits, -stones, -hills.
Other heathen elements
10. Clockpits (Unsanctified clocks)
In a lot of saga's "unsanctified clocks" play a part.
That the stories about this clocks can have a heathen origin is proven by Saxo Grammaticus (~1150-1220), the historian of the Danes.
He tells that clocks were used during heathen holidays in Uppsala. (Schuyf 1995: 64)
11. Churches that were built on heathen places
12. Nail-trees and rag-trees (as healing trees)
Places that can be linked to heathen customs in Friesland (Frisia)
Flowing rivers, lakes, bogswamps and wells
· On Helgoland, where Forseti (son of Balder) was worshipped, was a holy well, from which one was only allowed to collect water when he remained silent. (Halbertsma 1984)
· During the reign of Redbad two young men were sacrificed by tying them to a pole on the beach during low tide, which caused them to drown when it became high tide.
The location is unknown. (Halbertsma 1984)
· In the bog-areas of Frisia "bog bodies" and depots of objects were found that were sacrificed there.
The finding location of the bog bodies is a small river near Westergeest, where exactly is unknown (Bos 1995)
· In the saga that describes the origins of Frisian law a god with a golden axe is mentioned.
With this axe he steers a ship to shore, creates a well and founds the Frisian laws.
This well was called Axenhowe.
Some see this god as Forseti, others as Donar.
The location is unknown. (De Vries 1957)
· In folkore fertility was connected to wells.
On the bottom of the well was often a tree in which the babies hung.
The parents often had to make a journey over water, often to a place north of their hometown where they would find their children. (In Germanic religion the home of the dead was also positioned in the north)(Schuyf 1995)
From Stavoren one had to cross water to the Red Cliff to get children.
· Near Nes on the island of Ameland is a natural pool, the Willibrordsdobbe, which is seen by the locals as a holy well. (Schuyf 1995)
Forests and trees
Many Germanic sanctuaries were positioned on open spaces in forsts, which sometimes had an enclosure. (Schuyf 1995)
The Frisian sanctuaries from the Roman times of Nerthus and Baduhenna were positioned in woods.
The location of this woods is unknown. (Derolez 1959)
Some authors think that the wood of the Frisian wargoddes Baduhenna was the later town of Heilo. (Halbertsma 2000)
The connection of trees with fertility can be found back in the belief that babies hang in trees.
This trees are often hollow.
According to Waling Dykstra there was a legend in northern Frisia which tells that little children were taken from a hollow tree ("the tree of lady Holle").
This tree stood somewhere in the woods. (Dykstra 1895)
In Roordahuizen, Achlum, Dronrijp, Langweer and IJsbrechtum the village lime-tree fulfilled this role. (Schuyf 1995)
Hills, rocks and stones
In Bergum lies a big flat stone that is called the Poppestien.
The name and function of the stone, delivering babies, is described in a 13th century charm.
The belief that children come from stones only exists in the north of the Netherlands.
Also from Leek, Rinsumageest, Oenkerk and Urk we know childrens-stones. (Schuyf 1995)
In Oudega lies the Blauwe Steen (Blue Stone), which has even been pointed out on a map from 1664.
In the folktales the scratches on the stone are linked to swordslashes.
Mountains and hills also play a part in fertility.
On the islands of Terschelling, Ameland and Schiermonnikoog the children were thought to come from dunes. (Schuyf 1995)
Heathen clocks
During the sanctification of the Saint-Odolf monastery in Stavoren (which is now drowned in the IJsselmeer) the people forgot to sanctify the clocks (churchbells).
The devil caused the two clocks to fall in the water.
One of them ended up in the Fluessen and the other one in the water near the Galama-dams.
According to folklore fishermen can hear clocks ring on silent nights.
This clocks could point to the presence of a heathen sanctuary near Stavoren. (Schuyf 1995)
Places with the word "Hel" in their names
Research indicates that places with Hel-names in the Netherlands are mostly located near the northside of the nearest building centers.
Often there was a waterpool there that was seen as the door to Hel (the world of the dead).
In Old-Saxon this door was called "helldor".
The Germans localised the world of the dead to the North, while this was unimportant in later Christian legends.
The name of the constellation Grote Beer/La Grande Casserole/The Plough/The Big Dipper, which the Germans used as orientation to find the north, was "Helwagen". (Hell-wagon)
The myths also locate Hel in the north.
In heathen gravefields the skeletons are positioned in a North-South direction, something that also points to the belief that the land of the dead was to the north (Christian graves have an East-West direction).
Names with the word "Hel" in Frisia are among others: Rohel near St. Jansga, Augustinusga, Bolsward and Slappeterp.
And Healbird near Oudkerk (Huisman, 1953)
Literaturelist:
Bos, J. M., Archeologie van Friesland, Stichting Matrijs, Utrecht, 1995
Derolez, R.L.M., De Godsdienst der Germanen, Roermond, 1959
Dykstra, W., Uit Friesland's Volksleven, Van Vroeger en Later, tweede deel, 1895
Halbertsma, H., Het heidendom waar Luidger onder de Friezen mee te maken kreeg, in: Sierksma, Kl. (red.), Liudger 742-809, Muiderberg 1984
Halbertsma, H., Frieslands Oudheid, Stichting Matrijs, Utrecht, 2000
Schuyf, J., Heidens Nederland, Zichtbare overblijfselen van een niet-christelijk verleden, Stichting Matrijs, Utrecht, 1995
Vries, J. de, Altgermanische Religionsgeschichte, band II, Berlin, 1957
