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Frankish paganism

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The pagan religion of theGermanic tribal confederationof theFrankshas been traced from its roots in polytheisticGermanic paganismthrough to the incorporation ofGreco-Romancomponents in theEarly Middle Ages.This religion flourished among the Franks until the conversion of theMerovingiankingClovis ItoNicene Christianity(c. 500), though there were many Frankish Christians before that. After Clovis I, Frankish paganism was gradually replaced by the process ofChristianisation,but there were still pagans in the late 7th century.[citation needed]

Pre-Christian traditions

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The majority of pagan Frankish beliefs may share similarities with that of other Germanic peoples. If so, then it may be possible to reconstruct the basic elements of Frankish traditional religion.[1]

Themigration erareligion of theFrankslikely shared many of its characteristics with the other varieties ofGermanic paganism,such as placingaltarsin forest glens, on hilltops, or beside lakes and rivers, andconsecrationof woods.[2]Generally,Germanic godswere associated with local cult centres and their sacred character and power were associated with specific regions, outside of which they were neither worshipped nor feared.[3] Other deities were known and feared and shared by cultures and tribes, although in different names and variations. Of the latter, the Franks may have had one omnipotent godAllfadir( "All Father" ), thought to have lived in a sacred grove. Germanic peoples may have gathered where they believed him to live, and sacrificed a human life to him.[4] Variants of the phraseAll Father(likeAllfadir) usually refer toWuodan(Woden, Óðinn/Odin), and the Franks probably believed in Wuodan as "chief" of blessings, whom the first historianTacituscalled "Mercurius", and his consortFreia,[5]as well asDonar(Thor), god of thunder, and Zio (Tyr), whom Tacitus called "Mars". According toHerbert Schutz,most of their gods were "worldly", possessing form and having concrete relation to earthly objects, in contradistinction to the transcendent God of Christianity.[3]Tacitus also mentioned a goddessNerthusbeing worshipped by the Germanic people, in whom Perry thinks the Franks may have shared a belief.[6]With the Germanic groups along the North Sea the Franks shared a special dedication to the worship ofYngvi,synonym toFreyr,whose cult can still be discerned in the time of Clovis.[7]

In contrast to many other Germanic tribes, no Merovingians claimed to be descended from Wodan.[8]

Some rich Frankish graves were surrounded by horse burials, such as Childeric's grave.

Symbolism of cattle

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Golden cicadas or bees with garnet inserts, discovered in the tomb ofChilderic I(died 482). They may have symbolised eternal life (cicadas) or longevity (the bees of Artemis).[9]

The bulls that pulled the cart were taken as special animals, and according to Salian law the theft of those animals would impose a high sanction.[citation needed]Eduardo Fabbro has speculated that the Germanic goddessNerthus(who rode in a chariot drawn by cows) mentioned by Tacitus, was the origin of the Merovingian conception ofMerovech,after whom their dynasty would be named. The Merovingian kings riding through the country on an oxcart could then be an imaginative reenactment the blessing journey of their divine ancestor.[10]In the grave ofChilderic I(died 481) was found the head of a bull, craftily made out of gold. This may have represented the symbol of a very old fertility ritual,[11]that centred on the worship of the cow. According to Fabbro, the Frankish pantheon expressed a variation of the Germanic structure that was especially devoted to fertility gods.[1]

However, a more likely explanation is that the Merovingian ox-cart went back to the Late-Roman tradition of governors riding through the province to dispense justice in the company ofangariae,or ox wagons belonging to the imperial post.[12][13]The bull in Childeric's grave was probably an insignificant object imported from elsewhere, and belongs to a wide artistic usage of bulls in pre-historic European art.[13]

Foundation myth

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The Frankish mythology that has survived in primary sources is comparable to that of theAeneasmyth of inRoman mythology,but altered to suit Germanic tastes. Like many Germanic peoples, the Franks told afounding mythto explain their connection with peoples ofclassicalhistory. In the case of the Franks, these people were theSicambriand theTrojans.An anonymous work of 727 calledLiber Historiae Francorumstates that following the fall ofTroy,12,000 Trojans led by their kingsPriamandAntenormoved through theSea of Azovand up theTanais(Don) river and settled inPannonia,where they founded a city called "Sicambria". After altercations with theAlansand Emperor Valentinian (late 4th century AD), who renamed them Franks, they moved to the Rhine.

These stories have obvious difficulties if taken as fact. Historians, including eyewitnesses like Caesar, have given us accounts that places the Sicambri firmly at the delta of the Rhine and archaeologists have confirmed ongoing settlement of peoples. The Franks also appear close to the Rhine earlier than the 4th century. Frankish historianFredegar,who also has the Franks originate in Troy but, under an eponymous king namedFrancio,lets them move straight to the Rhine without mentioning the Sicambri. For these reasons, current scholars think that this myth was not prevalent, certainly not historical: for example,J. M. Wallace-Hadrillstates that "this legend is quite without historical substance".[14]Ian Wood says that "these tales are obviously no more than legend" and "in fact there is no reason to believe that the Franks were involved in any long-distance migration".[12]

In Roman andMerovingiantimes,panegyricsplayed an important role in the transmission of culture. A common panegyrical device was the use of archaic names for contemporary things. Romans were often called "Trojans" and Franks were called "Sicambri". A notable example related by the sixth-century historian Gregory of Tours states that the Merovingian Frankish leader Clovis I, on the occasion of his baptism into theCatholic faith,was referred to as a Sicamber byRemigius,the officiatingbishop of Rheims.[15]At the crucial moment of Clovis' baptism, Remigius declared, "Bend your head, Sicamber. Honour what you have burnt. Burn what you have honoured." It is likely that in this way a link between the Sicambri and the Franks was being invoked. Further examples of Salians being called Sicambri can be found in thePanegyrici Latini,theLife of King Sigismund,theLife of King Dagobert,and other sources.

Sacral kingship

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Before Clovis converted to Catholic Christianity, pagan Frankish rulers probably maintained their elevated positions by their "charisma";theirlegitimacyand "right to rule" may have been based on their supposed divine descent as well as their financial and military successes.[3][16]The concept of "charisma" has been controversial.[17]

Fredegar tells a story of the Frankish kingChlodiotaking a summer bath with his wife when she was attacked by some sort of sea beast, which Fredegar described asbestea Neptuni Quinotauri similis,( "the beast ofNeptunethat looks like aQuinotaur"). Because of the attack, it was unknown ifMerovech,the legendary founder of theMerovingian dynastywas conceived of Chlodio or the sea beast.[18]

In later centuries, divine kingship myths would flourish in the legends ofCharlemagne(768–814) as a divinely-appointed Christian king. He was the central character in the Frankish mythology of the epics known as theMatter of France.TheCharlemagne Cycleepics, particularly the first, known asGeste du Roi( "Songs of the King" ), concern a King's role as champion of Christianity. From the Matter of France, sprang some mythological stories and characters adapted through Europe, such as the knightsLancelotandGawain.

Notes

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  1. ^abFabbro, p. 5.
  2. ^Perry, p. 22.
  3. ^abcSchutz, 153.
  4. ^Perry, p. 22-23, paraphrasing Tacitus.
  5. ^Perry, p. 23.
  6. ^Perry, p. 24.
  7. ^Fabbro, p.17
  8. ^J.M. Wallace-Hadrill - Early Germanic Kingship in England and on the Continent. London, Oxford University Press.1971, p. 18.
  9. ^For cicadas, cf. Joachim Werner, "Frankish Royal Tombs in the Cathedrals of Cologne and Saint-Denis",Antiquity,38:151 (1964), 202; for bees, cf. G. W. Elderkin, "The Bee of Artemis",The American Journal of Philology,60:2 (1939), 213.
  10. ^Fabbro, p. 16
  11. ^Fabbro, p.14
  12. ^abWood, p. 33-54.
  13. ^abAlexander Callander Murray, 'Post vocantur Merohingii:Fredegar, Merovech, and "sacred kingship", in: idem ed.,After Rome's Fall: Narrators and Sources of early medieval history. Essays presented to Walter Goffart(Toronto 1998) p.125
  14. ^Wallace-Hadrill p.???
  15. ^Gregory, II.31.
  16. ^Wallace-Hadrill, 169.
  17. ^Schutz, 232 n49.
  18. ^Pseudo-Fredegar, III.9.

References

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Primary

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  • Pseudo-Fredegar.Historia,inMonumenta Germaniae Historica,Scriptores Rerum Merovingicarum, Tomus II. Hannover: 1888.
  • Gregory of Tours.The History of the Franks.Lewis Thorpe, trans. Penguin Group.ISBN0-14-044295-2.
  • Publius Cornelius Tacitus.Germania.

Secondary

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