Disclaimer: This piece merely reflects my own understanding of this deity based on my research and experiences.

📜 Módraniht

Our only direct mention of the Módra in a source from early England is from the Venerable Bede’s Latin text Dē temporum ratiōnē ‘On the Reckoning of Time.’ Written in 725, it is concerned with the cosmos and its relation to time and other natural phenomena, as well as reconciling various ancient calendars. Within one part of his text concerning the “English months,” he mentions a heathen holiday which he cites as Módraniht ‘Mothers’ night’:

There is very little in the way of scholarly concensus on what Módraniht was or entailed, but there are various pieces of evidence one can look to in order to attempt a reconstruction or revivalization of the Módra ‘Mothers.’

🏛️ The Mātrēs in Britain

There are numerous inscriptions from the Roman period dedicated to the Mātrēs ‘Mothers’ or Mātrōnae ‘Matrons,’ which are presented as a triad of mother figures in altars and votive offerings throughout the northwestern areas of the Roman empire, especially in Germanic and Celtic-speaking regions. They are often depicted with motifs of baskets of food (especially fruit and bread) as well as children. While there are a plethora of continental instances of the Mātrēs/Mātrōnae which may be of interest in uncovering early West Germanic beliefs related to them, I will focus here on those inscriptions which appear in Britain in particular, as there is some evidence that the Celtic peoples who were contemporary with the early English retained elements of of earlier insular beliefs.

Britain has at least 24 inscriptions dedicated to the Mātrēs by the simple title of Mātrēs ‘mothers’ ^❦1RIB 2· London; 130· Daglingworth; 456· Chester; 586 & 3183· Ribchester; 618· Doncaster; 629· Adel; 654· York; 708· Aldborough; 901· Old Carlisle; 1034· Binchester; 1421· Rudchester to Halton Chesters sector; 1424· Halton Chester; 1539 & 1540· Carrawburgh; 1598· Housesteads; 1692· Vindolanda; 1785· Carvoran; 1902· Birdoswald; 2055· Drumburgh to Bowness-on-Solway sector; 2059· Bowness on Solway; 2141· Mumrills; 2147· Castlecary; 3282· Newcastle upon Tyne, one of which is also dedicated to a genius locī ^❦2RIB 130· Daglingworth, and another of which is also dedicated to the nūmen of the emperor.^❦3RIB 1692· Vindolanda

There are also the Mātrēs Commūnēs ‘Universal Mothers’ attested at least twice in Britain^❦4RIB 1453· Chesters; 1541· Carrawburgh and the Mātrēs Domesticae ‘Mothers of Home’ attested 5 times in Britain.^❦5RIB 652· York; 2025· Stanwix; 2050· Burgh-by-Sands to Drumburgh sector; 3037· Chichester; 3210· Catterick These Mothers point to a widespread tradition of the Mātrēs and perhaps a belief in some kind of immanent quality, wherein the Mothers have some form of presence in the daily life of all things and peoples. There are also British instances of the equestrian Mātrēs Campestrēs ‘Mothers of the Field’ ^❦6RIB 1334· Benwell; 2135· Cramond; 3484· Birrens associated with Roman cavalry and probably originating in Gaul.^❦7Irby-Massie 1996, p 294

At least 4 British inscriptions address Mātrēs that include reference to particular regions: one addresses the Mātrēs Germānae ‘German mothers’ ^❦8RIB 2064· Hadrian’s Wall, one the Mātrēs Italicae ‘Italian Mothers’ ^❦9RIB 3031· Dover, one to the Mātrēs Āfrae, Italae, [et] Gallae ‘African, Italian, and Gaulish Mothers’^❦10RIB 653· York, and one to the Mātrēs Italae, Germānae, Gallae, [et] Britannae ‘Italian, German, Gaulish, and British Mothers.’ ^❦11RIB 88· Winchester There is also a dedication to the Mātrēs Omnium Gentium ‘Mothers of All People’^❦12RIB 1988· Castlesteads, and five dedications to the Mātrēs trāmarīnae ‘Mothers from over the sea’ ^❦13RIB 919 & 920· Old Penrith; 1224· Risingham; 1318· Newcastle upon Tyne; 1989· Castlesteads of which one ^❦14RIB 919· Old Penrith is also dedicated to the nūmen of the emperor. These records suggest not only a variety of different regional Mātrēs cults, but a recognition of these different traditions.

There are at least two instances in Britain where the Mātrēs are equated with the Parcae ‘Fates’ ^❦15RIB 881· Skinbuness; 951· Carlisle; the Parcae also appear in Britain without the Mātrēs title twice.^❦16RIB 247· Lincoln; 953· Carlisle

Another title which appears with the Mātrēs in Britain is Ollototae, which likely derives from the Proto-Celtic *olyo- ‘all’ + *toutā ‘peoples’ ^❦17RIB 574· Claverton; 1030 & 1031 & 1032· Binchester perhaps with a sense equivalent to the Latin Mātrēs Omnium Gentium cited above; one of these four instances is also dedicated to a genius locī.^❦18RIB 1032· Binchester

A more difficult British inscription is one dedicated to the Mātrēs Alatervae. ^❦19RIB 2135· Cramond The etymology is obscure, but there are three Lower Rhine inscriptions dedicated to Alaferhuiae and one dedicated to Alateiviae. Alaferhuiae appears to contain the Germanic elements *ala- ‘all’ and *ferhwą ‘life, body, soul’ (← *ferhuz ‘body; life; oak tree’) which has led scholars such as Birkhan^❦20Birkhan 1970, p 520 to suggest a derivation from Proto-Germanic *trewą ‘tree’ for the -tervae element of the British inscription. Others, such as Gutenbrunner^❦21Gutenbrunner 1936, p 154, point to (related) *trewwō ‘faith, loyalty; oath, pledge.’ The title of ‘all faith’ may point to an association with the keeping of oaths; on the other-hand, the connection to ‘all life’ may point in the direction of immanence as found in the Mātrēs Commūnēs. The -i- in -ferhuiae suggests to me that the element may not have been plain *ferhwą, but some form of the derivative *firhwijōz ‘people, mortals, men,’ which would lend again to the universalizing sense found in the Mātrēs Omnium Gentium (and possibly the Mātrēs Ollototae).

Finally, there is an inscription dedicated to the Mātrēs Suleviae in Colchester ^❦22RIB 192, as well as 4 independent non-Mātrēs dedications to the Suleviae in other parts of Britain ^❦23RIB 105 & 106· Cirencester; 151· Bath; 1035· Binchester; notably, one of these latter inscriptions is located in Bath, which is also home to the Aquae Sūlis ‘Waters of Sūlis,’ thermal baths which were associated with the Romano-Celtic goddess Sūlis (Minerva); Sūlis was connected with healing, sight, light, and law. Singular references to Sulevia (along with many other plural attestations) also appear on the Continent, which are likely connected to this goddess; they are also often accompanied by equestrian imagery. The prevailing explanation for the name Sūlis is a derivation from the Proto-Celtic root for ‘sun’ (from which the Irish word súil ‘eye’ is derived) which, when taken with her association with light, may point to her having been a solar deity. The Suleviae, however, were likely originally distinct from the Mātrēs, but came to be associated with them over time throughout the northwestern Roman world.

During the Old English period, the healing waters of the Aquae Sūlis at Bath were abandoned. Most scholars of Old English poetry^†cf. Leslie 1961, p 23-27 consider the location described in the elegiac poem The Ruin to be the Aquae Sūlis, considering especially line 43 ofer hárne stán háte stréamas ‘hot streams over gray stone’ and lines 45-46, hringmere háte / þǽr þá baþu wǽron ‘the hot round pool where the baths were’; if so, the poet confirms the ruined status of the baths.

The picture we get from the Mātrēs inscriptions in Britain is of a host of triple-goddess figures with various associations. Their universality and importance to multiple regions and ethnic groups is emphasized in their inscriptions, and their imagery connects them with abundance and with daily life. They were also connected with fate, and, eventually, perhaps the Romano-Celtic goddess Sūlis. While there is evidence that many Romano-British sites of importance lay abandoned during the Old English period^❦24e.g. Page 1906, there are also indications, especially in Old English poetry, that these sites held a significant place in the cultural consciousness of the early English, even if they went unused by them. It is also likely, given the plethora of Germanic Mātrēs inscriptions both in Britain and on the Continent, that the Germanic pagans who came to Britain had a conception of Mātrēs deities as well, which would comport well with what is suggested by Bede’s account.

🐉️️ Modron

In addition to many triple-goddess Mātrēs/Mātrōnae artifacts, there is also a singular Mātronā ‘Great Mother’^❦25Delamarre 2003, p 219 goddess attested in Gaul with similar imagery to the other Mātrēs depictions. Apart from this, we know little about her. However, we do have some later sources on her Welsh linguistic counterpart, Modron.

The first mention of this figure is in the 10th century poem 31 of The Black Book of Carmarthen, ‘Pa gur yv y Porthaur,’ where there is mention of a Mabon ap Modron ‘Mabon son of Modron,’ who is called a “servant of Uther Pendragon.” Mabon is cognate with the attested Gaulish and Brythonic youth god Maponos ‘Great Son’, and may also be related to the Irish figure of Óengus mac (ind) Óc ‘Óengus the Young Son.’ In the 14th-15th century tale Culhwch ac Olwen, the 3 year old Mabon is kidnapped from Modron, and King Arthur and company must rescue him.

The other source wherein we learn something about Modron is in the 13th century Trioedd ynys Prydein ‘Triads of the island of Britain,’ better known as the Welsh Triads. Here we learn that she is the mother of Owain and Morfydd, and that she is the daughter of Afallach (a figure associated with the Otherworld of Annwn or Avalon).

The Welsh sources do not give us much detail about the figure of Modron, but they do attest to a continued presence of this ancient mother figure in the Welsh consciousness through and beyond the Old English period.

☀️ The healing of the sun

Much as the sub-Roman British connected the potentially solar goddess Sūlis with healing, there is evidence in Old English literature of an association between the Sun (Sunne) and healing amongst the early English. A remedy for éagena mist (misty eyes) in Bald’s Leechbook involves drying ivy-fennel juice on hátre sunnan ‘in the hot sun’^❦26 Royal MS XII D xviii, f.11b before administering it to the patient’s eye. Another remedy, this time for héafodwærc (headache) in Lácnunga, begins with placing honey-beet juice on the face of the patient and having them lie upward wið hátre sunnan ‘against the hot sun.’^❦27 Harley MS 585, f.130r-130v These remedies seem to be giving a significant role to the Sun in the healing process.

The folk practices presented in the medical advice given above appear to be corroborated by the Old English penitential Scriftbóc, wherein, amongst other crimes related to witchcraft, the penalty of a 7-year fast is given to a woman gif héo set hire dohtor ofer hús oððe on ofen forþám ðe héo wylle hig feferádle gehǽlan ‘if she set her daughter on top of the house, or in an oven, because she wants to cure her of a fever’^❦28 MS Junius 121, f. 94r–v ; here, the remedy seems to involve exposure to heat (either of the Sun or the oven) as a curative force.

Beyond the literal use of the Sun as a cure, we see instances in Old English literature where the Sun is more broadly associated with spiritual or metaphorical healing, an association still present in modern English literature (and indeed in many cultures around the world). In Béowulf, the titular hero promises that, after he defeats the Grendel,

Here, the rising of the Sun is connected with the healing of hurt within Heorot.

⛵ Nehalennia

The highest concentration of Mātrēs votives is in Lower Germany, which may suggest that the worship of these figures was original to, or at least most widely observed, in that region. Another figure who appears in this area and shares many of the attributes of the Mothers is Nehalennia. This goddess, who in at least two places appears in a triple-representation^❦29Domburg altar and Ganuenta altar, frequently appears with cornucopia imagery, a dog at her feat, and (most commonly) ships and other nautical imagery.^❦30Irby-Massie 1996, p 293 As with Sūlis and the Suleviae, it is possible that this goddess was worshipped separately but was absorbed into the Mātrēs tradition.

The name of this goddess remains obscure, but has two leading etymologies. The most complete attempt at a Celtic etymology parses her name as a combination of nī- ‘on, in’ + a cognate of Welsh halen ‘salt’ + -yā ‘[feminine noun suffix],’ with a meaning of something like “she who is on the sea/brine.”^❦31Stempel 2004, p 181-193 A continental Celtic cognate for halen (← Proto-Celtic *salanos) might be expected to retain the -s-, giving something more like *Nīsalanyā; however, there may be parallel instances of Celtic names in /s/ which have a form in /h/.^❦32Spickermann & Stempel 2022, p 144 The fullest Germanic etymology connects *nēhwa- ‘near, close’ + the verb *linnaną ‘move aside, turn; cease’^❦33Much 1891, p 326, most likely with the feminine noun suffix -ijǭ (= Proto-Germanic *Nēhwalinnijǭ, West Germanic *Nāhwalinnijā). There are some varieties of West Germanic where the w may have been elided, though the vowels are somewhat problematic, especially when taking into account the variant Nehalaennia which appears in a few places.

Nehalennia’s depiction as a cloaked figure alongside nautical imagery lends to the interpretation of her as a goddess associated with travel, trade, and wealth.

🏝️ Gefion and the Mātrōnae Gabiae

In his Ynglinga saga, Snorri Sturluson tells us that a goddess named ⟨Gefion⟩ attached her four jǫtunn-begotten oxen sons to a plough and with them dug out what would become the island of Zealand, after which point she married king Skjǫldr. The two thereafter go on to rule in Hleiðr (Lejre), which is thought to be the location of Heorot in the poem Béowulf. Explaining the name and origin of this goddess has been difficult for scholars.

On the basis of this connection between Gefion and the Béowulf narrative, Jakob Grimm^❦34Grimm 1835 connected this goddess with instances of Old English geofon and Old Saxon geƀen, both meaning ‘sea.’ Frank Battaglia^❦35Battaglia 1991, p 415-446 took this connection even further, proposing that there are 5 lines in Béowulf which should be retranslated as references to the goddess Gefion, particularly at line 46 where the body of king Scyld (the cognate of Skjǫldr) is given to the sea; he goes on to identify her with Grendel’s mother. Richard North^❦36North 1998, p 221-226 also connects Gefion with Old English geofon / Old Saxon geƀen, explaining it as a derivation from an Old Norse verb *gefja ‘to give.’

There are major issues with this etymological connection. Firstly, an Old Norse form *gefj- would have West Germanic cognates in the form of *gebb-^❦37cf. Old Norse hefja :: Old English hebban, Old Saxon hebbian rather than geof-/geƀ-. Moreover, the West Germanic sea words in question reflect a masculine or neuter a-stem (with a genitive singular -es). The West Germanic terms as attested cannot therefore be reasonably connected with Gefion, at least not as direct cognates.

A potential explanation of Gefion which does not pose so many etymological problems is a proposed connection with another set of Lower Rhine Mātrōnae figures: the Gabiae^❦38CIL XIII 7856 · Müddersheim; 7937, 7938, 7939 7940 · Rävenich; 8192 · Köln; 7950 · Kirchheim; 7780 · Rohr; 8612 · Xanten; 7865 · Iülich, Gabinae^❦39AE 1981, 678, Alagabiae^❦40CIL XIII 8529 · Bürgel, AE 2014, 913 · Bürgel, and Ollogabiae^❦41CIL XIII 6752 · Mainz; 7280 · Mainz-Kastel; there are also two Roman British goddesses attested which seem to be (at least etymologically) connected: Garmangabis^❦42RIB 1074 · Lanchester and Friagabis.^❦43RIB 1576 · Housesteads; AE 1924, 94 While it is not entirely clear whether these terms are derived originally from Celtic or Germanic, it is widely believed^❦44de Vries 1970, § 524; Schmidt 1987, p 144; Schumacher 2007, p 182; Beck 2009, p 67 that these terms have some kind of etymological relationship with each other, and Hilda RE Davidson ^❦45Davidson 1998, p 79 posits a connection between these and Gefion, as does Kevin French^❦46French 2014, p 77 who, building off of arguments introduced by Günter Neumann^❦47Neumann 1998, p 365-366, derives them all from a Proto-Germanic *gabī~gabjō- attested in forms such as Gothic 𐌲𐌰𐌱𐌴𐌹 gabei ‘riches,’ Old High German gebī ‘wealth,’ Gothic 𐌲𐌰𐌱(𐌴)𐌹𐌲𐍃 gab(e)igs ‘rich’ :: Old Norse gǫfugr ‘noble, worshipful,’ and Old Norse gǫfga ‘to worship.’

In French’s etymology, attested Old Norse ⟨Gefion⟩ is taken as (at least originally) representing a normalized form Gefjǫn, deriving from a Proto-Germanic form *Gabjanō ‘[goddess] pertaining to wealth’ (paralleling the Mātrōnae Gabiae), while the form ⟨Gefn⟩ (a name given to Freyja) could derive from a Proto-Germanic *Gabīnō ‘id.’ (parallelling the Mātrōnae Gabinae). Thus, rather than a goddess associated directly with the sea or with ‘giving,’ the Gefion presented by Snorri, creator of Zealand and queen of the Scyldings, may be seen as a late survival of a representative goddess from amongst the mothers Gabiae.

🌄 The Earth’s embrace

While there are no Old English records describing the worship of heathen mother deities, we can still find some vestigial evidence of a divine mother figure in the poetic corpus regarding the earth.

A common device in Old English poetry references the fæðm ‘embrace, bosom’ or bearm ‘bosom, lap’ of an entity as a place of rest or refuge. Often, as might be expected of the Christian context of much of Old English literature, we read of someone being on fæder bearme ‘in the Father’s embrace,’ or in engla fæðmum ‘in the arms of the angels.’ Apart from these, however, the most substantial set of examples of this device is with reference to the Earth itself: foldan bearm ‘the Earth’s bosom’ appears in Exeter Riddle 66 (4b) and in Béowulf (1137a), while Béowulf also features foldan fæþm (1393a) and eorðan fæðm (3049b); The Order of the World also has foldan fæþm (76a), and Crist also has eorðan fæðm (1146b). At the very least, these devices symbolically put the earth in a similar position to the Christian God as an embracing figure.

The clearest context where we see the Earth as a divine figure in Old English is in the metrical charms, where she is invoked for various purposes, such as in the curing of wæterælfádl ‘fluid elf-disease’^❦48Eorþe þé onbere eallum hire mihtum & mægenum “May Earth diminish you with all her might and power”, or when she is directly addressed as a mother figure in the Æcerbót in order to remedy a field that is not yielding many crops:

These mentions are bare in terms of detail regarding belief about this earthly mother, but they do point to her likely importance in Old English Heathenry.

📝 A quick summary

Below is a quick summary of some of the key points presented in the earlier sections of this page:

• • Bede records a heathen ceremony called Módraniht ‘Mother’s night’ that was celebrated on what would become Christmas.
•  
• • There are a plethora of Roman-era inscriptions in Britain and on the Continent (with a large concentration in the Lower Rhine) of a Celto-Germanic Mātrēs/Mātrōnae ‘Mothers’ cult with various appellations, often in triple-goddess form, frequently connected with the classical Fates, and sometimes connected with the geniī locī of a place, or conversely given a ‘universal’ significance as ‘mothers of all.’
•  
• • The Mātrēs Suleviae may provide evidence of a connection that may have gradually developed between the Mothers and the Roman British Sūlis, a (possibly solar) goddess associated with sight, light, law, healing, and particularly the thermal baths in Bath.
•  
• • The Welsh figure Modron, linguistically cognate with the Mātronā ‘Great Mother’ attested in Gaul who bore similar imagery to the Mātrōnae, may have some connection to the Mothers and thus preserve a distant memory of such a cult.
•  
• • Old English folk remedies and penal codes (indirectly) attest to a connection between the Sun and healing, a connection also seen more broadly in English literature; this may constitute a parallel with the association between Sūlis and healing found in Roman Britain.
•  
• • The (probably Celto-Germanic) figure Nehalennia is attested around the same time and location as the highest concentration of Mothers votives, and also appears as a triple-figure. The etymology of her name is debated, but her imagery seems to connect her with the sea, travel, trade, wealth, and potentially also the Mothers cult.
•  
• • The Old Norse figure Gefion is an enigmatic figure who is connected with the island of Zealand and king Skjǫldr, and therefore the location and early plot of Béowulf, but she remains a mysterious figure. Attempts to connect her to West Germanic poetic words for ‘sea’ have proved problematic. Conversely, an approach which connects her to the Mātrōnae Gabiae, Gabinae, and Alagabiae/Ollogabiae of the Lower Rhine; the Roman British Garmangabis and Friagabis; and older Germanic words for ‘wealth’ such as Gothic 𐌲𐌰𐌱𐌴𐌹 gabei provide a fuller etymological explanation. Such a connection would make Gefion, like Welsh Modron, a late survival echoing the earlier Mothers cult.
•  
• • The Old English poetic formula meaning ‘the earth’s embrace’ very closely parallels the Christian poetic formula of ‘the Father’s embrace' and ‘the angels’ embrace,’ endowing the Earth with a similar stature in poetry to divine figures. In metrical charms, the Earth is invoked as a powerful mother figure, potentially connecting her as well with the Mothers cult.

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🍂 Notes

• ^❦1 RIB 2· London; 130· Daglingworth; 456· Chester; 586 & 3183· Ribchester; 618· Doncaster; 629· Adel; 654· York; 708· Aldborough; 901· Old Carlisle; 1034· Binchester; 1421· Rudchester to Halton Chesters sector; 1424· Halton Chester; 1539 & 1540· Carrawburgh; 1598· Housesteads; 1692· Vindolanda; 1785· Carvoran; 1902· Birdoswald; 2055· Drumburgh to Bowness-on-Solway sector; 2059· Bowness on Solway; 2141· Mumrills; 2147· Castlecary; 3282· Newcastle upon Tyne
• ^❦2 RIB 130· Daglingworth
• ^❦3 RIB 1692· Vindolanda
• ^❦4 RIB 1453· Chesters; 1541· Carrawburgh
• ^❦5 RIB 652· York; 2025· Stanwix; 2050· Burgh-by-Sands to Drumburgh sector; 3037· Chichester; 3210· Catterick
• ^❦6 RIB 1334· Benwell; 2135· Cramond; 3484· Birrens
• ^❦7 Irby-Massie 1996, p 294
• ^❦8 RIB 2064· Hadrian’s Wall
• ^❦9 RIB 3031· Dover
• ^❦10 RIB 653· York
• ^❦11 RIB 88· Winchester
• ^❦12 RIB 1988· Castlesteads
• ^❦13 RIB 919 & 920· Old Penrith; 1224· Risingham; 1318· Newcastle upon Tyne; 1989· Castlesteads
• ^❦14 RIB 919· Old Penrith
• ^❦15 RIB 881· Skinbuness; 951· Carlisle
• ^❦16 RIB 247· Lincoln; 953· Carlisle
• ^❦17 RIB 574· Claverton; 1030 & 1031 & 1032· Binchester
• ^❦18 RIB 1032· Binchester
• ^❦19 RIB 2135· Cramond
• ^❦20 Birkhan 1970, p 520
• ^❦21 Gutenbrunner 1936, p 154
• ^❦22 RIB 192
• ^❦23 RIB 105 & 106· Cirencester; 151· Bath; 1035· Binchester
• ^† cf. Leslie 1961, p 23-27
• ^❦24 e.g. Page 1906
• ^❦25 Delamarre 2003, p 219
• ^❦26 Royal MS XII D xviii, f.11b
• ^❦27 Harley MS 585, f.130r-130v
• ^❦28 MS Junius 121, f. 94r–v
• ^❦29 Domburg altar & Ganuenta altar
• ^❦30 Irby-Massie 1996, p 293
• ^❦31 de Bernardo Stempel 2004, p 181-193
• ^❦32 Spickermann & Stempel 2022, p 144
• ^❦33 Much 1891, p 326
• ^❦34 Grimm 1835
• ^❦35 Battaglia 1991, p 415-446
• ^❦36 North 1998, p 221-226
• ^❦37 cf. Old Norse hefja :: Old English hebban, Old Saxon hebbian
• ^❦38 CIL XIII 7856 · Müddersheim; 7937, 7938, 7939 7940 · Rävenich; 8192 · Köln; 7950 · Kirchheim; 7780 · Rohr; 8612 · Xanten; 7865 · Iülich
• ^❦39 AE 1981, 678
• ^❦40 CIL XIII 8529 · Bürgel, AE 2014, 913 · Bürgel
• ^❦41 CIL XIII 6752 · Mainz; 7280 · Mainz-Kastel
• ^❦42 RIB 1074 · Lanchester
• ^❦43 RIB 1576 · Housesteads; AE 1924, 94
• ^❦44 de Vries 1970, § 524; Schmidt 1987, p 144; Schumacher 2007, p 182; Beck 2009, p 67
• ^❦45 Davidson 1998, p 79
• ^❦46 French 2014, p 77
• ^❦47 Neumann 1998, p 365-366
• ^❦48 Eorþe þé onbere eallum hire mihtum & mægenum “May Earth diminish you with all her might & power”

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📚 Bibliography

• 🔖 Battaglia, F 1991· “The Germanic Earth Goddess in Beowulf?” Mankind Quarterly 31,4
• 🔖 Beck, N 2009· Goddesses in Celtic Religion – Cult and Mythology: A Comparative Study of Ancient Ireland, Britain and Gaul
• 🔖 Davidson, HRE 1998· Roles of the Northern Goddess
• 🔖 de Vries, Jan 1970· Altgermanische Religionsgeschichte I-II
• 🔖 Delamarre, X 2003· Dictionnaire de la langue gauloise
• 🔖 Birkhan, H 1970· “Germanen und Kelten bis zum Ausgang der Römerzeit,” Philologisch Historische Klasse 272
• 🔖 French, K 2014· “We need to talk about Gefjun: Toward a new etymology of an Old Icelandic theonym,” MA thesis, U Iceland
• 🔖 Grimm, J 1835· Deutsche Mythologie
• 🔖 Gutenbrunner, S 1936· Die germanischen Götternamen der antiken Inschriften
• 🔖 Irby-Massie, GL 1996· “The Roman army and the cult of the Campestres,” Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik 36
• 🔖 Leslie, RF 1961· Three Old English Elegies
• 🔖 Much, R 1891· “Nehalennia,” Zeitschrift für deutsches Altertum und deutsche Literatur 35
• 🔖 Neumann G, 1998· “Garmangabis,” Namensudien zum Altgermanischen, Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde
• 🔖 North, R 1998· Heathen Gods in Old English Literature
• 🔖 Page, W 1906· A History of the County of Somerset 1
• 🔖 Schmidt, KH 1987· Die Komosition in gallischen Personennamen
• 🔖 Schumacher, S 2007· Die Deutschen und di Nachbarstämme. Lexikalische und strukturelle Sprachkontaktphänomene entlang der keltisch-germanischen Übergangszone
• 🔖 Spickerman, W & Stempel, PdB 2022· “2. a 18. Nehalenia, die keltischsprachige Beschreibung einer Salzwasser- bzw. Meeresgöttin (dea) und die sie begleitenden Neihalenninae,” Fontes epigraphici religionum celticarum antiquarum ii, provincia Germania inferior
• 🔖 Stempel, PdB 2004· “Nehalen(n)ia, das Salz und das Meer.” Anzeiger der philosophisch-historischen Klasse 139

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