German Memory in Asia: Memories of the Old Europe

While we were passing a junction, the driver told,to other European and West-Asian pagan
he wanted to visit a deity, because he had madetraditions, such as Finnish paganism, Sami religion,
a vow some time back and turned the vehicleSlavic paganism, Baltic paganism, Roman
towards a more isolated passage.Though he waspaganism, Greek paganism and Vedic religion. The
Catholic by religion his faith in deity worship is notprincipal gods are known as Odin, Thor and
strange in Sri Lanka.Tyr.The surviving accounts indicate spectacular
Ancient nature worship and Hindu traditions arehuman sacrifices. A unique eye-witness account of
deeply rooted in the daily life of manyGermanic human sacrifice survives in Ibn Fadlan's
people.Steffani, a German Praktikum (Internship)account of a Rus ship burial, where a slave-girl had
student and Romy were watching intently whatvolunteered to accompany her master with his
was happening in that small temple of deityburial.The Heimskringla tells of Swedish King Aun
worship. But the deity and nature worship is notwho sacrificed nine of his sons in an effort to
strange to Europe. Before Christianity wasprolong his life until his subjects stopped him from
introduced into Europe, there were deities andkilling his last son Egil. According to Adam of
also everywhere a variety of Pagan religiousBremen, the Swedish kings sacrificed male slaves
practices.Pagan practices were only abolishedevery ninth year during the Yule sacrifices at the
when the Pagan temples were demolished by theTemple at Uppsala.The Swedes had the right not
later emperors of the Roman Empire and othersonly to elect kings but also to depose them, and
in the Europe. Germanic Pagan religion played itsboth King Domalde and King Olof Tratalja are said
own part in ancient Germany.Germanic paganismto have been sacrificed after years of famine.
refers to the religious practices of the GermanicOdin was associated with death by hanging, and
nations preceding Christianization. The wella possible practice of Odinic sacrifice by strangling
documented form of Germanic paganism is 10thhas some archeological support in the existence
and 11th century Norse paganism. There areof bodies perfectly preserved by the acid of the
various references found in the ancient writings ofJutland peat bogs in Denmark, into which they
Germanic peoples and in Roman descriptions. Thewere cast after having been strangled.
information can be supplemented withAn example is Tollund Man. However, there were
archaeological findings and from the remnants ofno written accounts that explicitly interpret the
pre-Christian beliefs in later folklore.Germaniccause of these strangling, which could obviously
paganism was a polytheistic religion with similaritieshave other explanations.