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<blockquote data-quote="Yaarel" data-source="post: 7488404" data-attributes="member: 58172"><p>Around year 98, Tacitus in his Germania describes an early example of the interpretatio Germanica (which he calls interpretatio Romana). Being a Roman, he ethnocentrically interprets all sacred traditions in Non-Roman cultures, to be as if Roman ‘gods’.</p><p></p><p>Tacitus says the most important ‘god’ in Germania is ‘Mercurius’. Archeologists generally assume he means *Wodanaz (later Old High German Wotan), a tradition that vaguely reminds him of his own god, Mercury.</p><p></p><p>Tacitus also mentions the prominence of three Roman gods − Mercurius, Hercules, and Mars. Archeologists reconstruct these three personas as *Wodanaz, *Þunraz, and *Tiwaz, relating to those tribes that are in the region that the Romans refer to by the exonym, ‘Germania’. </p><p></p><p>These three reconstructions assume some loose association with the Norse nature spirits, Óðinn, Þórr, and Týr. But perhaps Tacitus was referring to unrelated traditions.</p><p></p><p>Note, while Týr is peripheral to the Norse, this reconstructed *Tiwaz is central to the Germanic.</p><p></p><p>Already by the time of Tacitus, the tribal chieftains in Germania were enlisting Germanic warriors to serve in the army of the Roman Empire. These chieftains sought to style themselves as Roman aristocracy, and adopted Roman culture and religion. Eventually the Roman army was virtually all Germanic soldiers.</p><p></p><p>By the 200s, locations in today Germany worship Roman gods by name, such as ‘Hercules’. Hercules is assumed to be the Roman way to honor *Þunraz. But conversely, the Roman polytheism becomes the Germanic worldview. The tribes in Germany come to perceive their own traditions as if Roman gods.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Perhaps, the tribes in Germany were once more animistic, more like Scandinavia still is during the Viking Period. </p><p></p><p>But after many centuries of assimilating (Hellenistic) Roman polytheism, and after some centuries of pervasive Christianity, these Germanic tribes obliterated ancestral animism.</p><p></p><p>For example, by the 1000s, the Germanic tribes speaking Old High German perceive the alp as either ‘a god’ or ‘a demon’ that haunts the spooky aspects of the wilderness, being grotesque and malevolent, and known for mental attacks against victims, including a nightmare (alptraum). Glosses in the margins of Pan-European literature identify the alp with the satyr (Latin satyrus, Greek saturos). The alp is either a Roman god or a Christian demon.</p><p></p><p>The Germanic concept of alp is distinct from both the Norse concept of alfr and the British concept of ælf.</p><p></p><p>Altho these terms, alfr, ælf, and alp, are cognates, their meanings according their respective cultures differ irreconcilably.</p><p></p><p>The Germanic evolved in a way that is unlike the Norse.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Yaarel, post: 7488404, member: 58172"] Around year 98, Tacitus in his Germania describes an early example of the interpretatio Germanica (which he calls interpretatio Romana). Being a Roman, he ethnocentrically interprets all sacred traditions in Non-Roman cultures, to be as if Roman ‘gods’. Tacitus says the most important ‘god’ in Germania is ‘Mercurius’. Archeologists generally assume he means *Wodanaz (later Old High German Wotan), a tradition that vaguely reminds him of his own god, Mercury. Tacitus also mentions the prominence of three Roman gods − Mercurius, Hercules, and Mars. Archeologists reconstruct these three personas as *Wodanaz, *Þunraz, and *Tiwaz, relating to those tribes that are in the region that the Romans refer to by the exonym, ‘Germania’. These three reconstructions assume some loose association with the Norse nature spirits, Óðinn, Þórr, and Týr. But perhaps Tacitus was referring to unrelated traditions. Note, while Týr is peripheral to the Norse, this reconstructed *Tiwaz is central to the Germanic. Already by the time of Tacitus, the tribal chieftains in Germania were enlisting Germanic warriors to serve in the army of the Roman Empire. These chieftains sought to style themselves as Roman aristocracy, and adopted Roman culture and religion. Eventually the Roman army was virtually all Germanic soldiers. By the 200s, locations in today Germany worship Roman gods by name, such as ‘Hercules’. Hercules is assumed to be the Roman way to honor *Þunraz. But conversely, the Roman polytheism becomes the Germanic worldview. The tribes in Germany come to perceive their own traditions as if Roman gods. Perhaps, the tribes in Germany were once more animistic, more like Scandinavia still is during the Viking Period. But after many centuries of assimilating (Hellenistic) Roman polytheism, and after some centuries of pervasive Christianity, these Germanic tribes obliterated ancestral animism. For example, by the 1000s, the Germanic tribes speaking Old High German perceive the alp as either ‘a god’ or ‘a demon’ that haunts the spooky aspects of the wilderness, being grotesque and malevolent, and known for mental attacks against victims, including a nightmare (alptraum). Glosses in the margins of Pan-European literature identify the alp with the satyr (Latin satyrus, Greek saturos). The alp is either a Roman god or a Christian demon. The Germanic concept of alp is distinct from both the Norse concept of alfr and the British concept of ælf. Altho these terms, alfr, ælf, and alp, are cognates, their meanings according their respective cultures differ irreconcilably. The Germanic evolved in a way that is unlike the Norse. [/QUOTE]
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