Irminsul

Irminsul (pillar of Irmin) was an oak or wooden pillar venerated by the Saxons and which was said to connect heaven and earth.

Related Topics:
Oak - Saxons

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Irmin was the war god of the Saxons, son of Mannus, and ancestor of the tribe of the Herminones. The Old Norse form of Irmin was Jörmun and interestingly, just like Ygg, it was one of the names of Odin. Yggdrasil was the yew or ash tree from which Odin sacrificed himself, and which connected heaven and earth. It appears, thus, that Irminsul may have represented a World tree corresponding to Yggdrasil among the Saxon tribes of Germany. The holy yew at the temple at Uppsala mentioned by Adam von Bremen (11th century) could have a direct relation to the Irmin pillar; the flight of Widukind and other Saxon nobles to Denmark in 777 after the victory of Charlemagne has been forwarded as a means of late pagan cultural exchange between Saxony and Scandinavia. However, at this time Old Saxon and Old Norse were still mutually intelligible, and the two neighbouring cultures probably retained open transmission of ideas.

Related Topics:
Irmin - Mannus - Herminones - Old Norse - Names - Odin - Yggdrasil - Yew - Ash tree - World tree - Germany - Temple at Uppsala - Adam von Bremen - Widukind - Denmark - 777 - Old Saxon

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The actual Irminsul of the Saxons may have been a wooden pillar with an idol on top. Jakob Grimm connects the name Irmin with Old Norse iörmungrund "Earth", and iörmungandr (anguis maximus, i.e. the Midgard serpent).

Related Topics:
Jakob Grimm - Old Norse - Midgard serpent

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According to one suggestion, it could have been situated on or near the Externsteine. A 12th century Christian relief on these stones depict a tree-like design at the feet of Nicodemus. It is disputed whether this is simply intended as a depiction of a palmtree, or if it represents the bent or fallen Irminsul after the triumph of Christianity.

Related Topics:
Externsteine - 12th century - Nicodemus

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By the time of Charlemagne, there were probably several Irmin pillars. One of them, at Eresburg castle near Paderborn, he is reported to have destroyed in 772.

Related Topics:
Paderborn - 772

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Awareness of the significance of the concept seems to have persisted well into Christian times; Grimm cites the 12th century Kaiserchronik as mentioning several Irmin pillars:

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concerning Mercury:

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:ûf einir yrmensûle / stuont ein abgot ungehiure, /den hiezen sie ir koufman;

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:"on an Irminsul / stands an enormous idol / which they call their merchant"

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concerning Julius Caesar:

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:Rômere in ungetrûwelîche sluogen / ûf einir yrmensûl sie in begruoben;

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:"the Romans slew him treacherously / and buried him on an Irminsul"

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concerning Simon the Magician:

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:ûf eine yrmensûl er steic / daz lantvolc im allesamt neic

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:"he climbed upon an Irminsul / the peasants all bowed before him"

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Remains of an Irmin pillar apparently dating to Roman times are found in the Hildesheim cathedral. The nearby village of Irminseul ({{coor dm|51|59|N|9|56|E|}}) points to an older connection of the area with the concept. Other placenames in the area like Drachenberg "dragon's mount" and Wormstal "worm's dale" point to the Nibelungs legend.

Related Topics:
Roman - Hildesheim - Nibelungs

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Association of Wotan with Mercury rather than, being the god of war, with Mars, may have been due to an identification of the Irmin pillars with the hermai dedicated to Mercury.

Related Topics:
Wotan - Mars - Herma

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The design of the Irminsul symbol current in Neopaganism is based on the shape of the tree in the Externsteine relief, but straightened back into a vertical position. The shape of this design has been likened to that of the Tyr (Ziu) rune. Irmin may have been an epitheton of Ziu in early Germanic times, only later transferred to Wotan, or Wotan himself may have emerged as separate from Ziu only in the Migration period.

Related Topics:
Neopaganism - Tyr - Migration period

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