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Thread: The Sweboz of Greater Germania

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    Bruadair a'Bruaisan Member cmacq's Avatar
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    Default The Sweboz of Greater Germania

    I'm going to post a series of articles I researched for EB II concerning the Sweboz, Lugii, and Boi over the coming weeks. The first is on one of the foundation myths of the Saxons; the confederation of tribes that eventually drove out the last of the Sweboz tribes from their home along the lower Elbe. As we shall see in Norse myth Saxon nobility was tied directly to northern Scandinavia.

    Genesis of the Saxons:
    Siggi and the Sekgungoz (the Followers of Siggi)


    An Introduction


    As a morning mist dimly shrouds the primeval forests, bogs, marshlands and mudflats that face the Wadden Sea, the ethno-genesis of the ancient Saxons is more or less obscured by the murky haze of time. Many stories have been told of how the Saxons of Germania came to be. Indeed its said they took their name from a god and son of Odin, who in turn gave up his name as it was applied to their distinctive cutting tool and work of war, upon which they based their wealth and fame. Of course we refer to the deity Seaxnēat, son of Odin, through whom Æscwine, a Saxon prince from Germania and founder of the Essex kingship, claiming descend seven generations before.

    Siggi and the Volsunga Saga


    Briefly mentioned in the Volsunga Saga is one of Odin’s several sons named Siggi, pronounced sehk-GEH or sahk-GEH. In Old Norse (ON) Siggi can mean 'the Harden One' or 'He who Defeats.' However, there may also be a play on words as Siggi or Sigr is very similar to the ON sekr which means 'guilty, convicted, outlawed' and 'condemned to outlawry.' Collectively, each of these qualities is found as an important aspect of the Siggi saga; a disgraced and outlawed war god who finds redemption in a foreign land as the founder of a nation.

    Based largely upon epic poetry the Volsunga Saga is a late 13th century Icelandic prose that recalls the tradition of the founding and decline of the Völsung clan. It opens with the story of Siggi, a heroic deity responsible for murdering a slave who bested him while hunting deer. The murder was soon discovered and therefore outlawed, forced to flee northern Scandinavia, the god turned to piracy and eventually settled among the historic Chauci, only to become their ruler. Below is the opening text of the Volsunga Saga which introduces and outlines the story of Siggi.



    Völsungasaga - Chapter I
    HÉR hefr upp ok segir frá þeim manni, er Sigi er nefndr ok kallaðr, at héti sonr Óðins. Annarr maðr er nefndr til sögunnar, er Skaði hét. Hann var ríkr ok mikill fyrir sér, en þó var Sigi þeira enn ríkari ok ættstærri, at því er menn mæltu í þann tíma. Skaði átti þræl þann, er nokkut verðr at geta við söguna. Hann hét Breði. Hann er fróðr við þat, er hann skyldi at hafast. Hann hafði íþróttir ok atgervi jafnframt hinum, er meira þóttu verðir, eða umfram nokkura.

    Þat er at segja eitthvert sinn, at Sigi ferr á dýraveiði, ok með honum þrællinn, ok veiða dýr um daginn allt til aptans. En er þeir bera saman veiði sína um aptaninn, þá hafði Breði veitt miklu fleira ok meira en Sigi, en honum líkaði stórilla ok segir, at sik undri, at einn þræll skuli sik yfirbuga í dýraveiði, hleypr því at honum ok drepr hann; dysjar síðan líkit í snjófönn. Nú ferr hann heim um kveldit ok segir, at Breði hafi riðit frá honum á skóginn, -- "ok var hann senn ór augliti mér, ok veit ek ekki til hans." Skaði grunar sögn Siga ok getr, at vera munu svik hans ok mun Sigi hafa drepit hann, fær menn til at leita hans, ok lýkr svá leitinni, at þeir fundu hann í skafli einum, ok mælti Skaði, at þann skafl skyldi kalla Breðafönn heðan af, ok hafa menn nú þat eptir síðan ok kalla svá hverja fönn, er mikil er.

    Þá kemr upp, at Sigi hefir drepit þrælinn ok myrðan. Þá kalla þeir hann varg í véum, ok má hann nú eigi heima vera með feðr sínum. Óðinn fylgir honum nú af landi brott, svá langa leið, at stóru bar, ok eigi létti hann fyrr en hann kom honum til herskipa. Nú tekr Sigi at leggjast í hernað með þat lið, er faðir hans fekk honum, áðr þeir skildu, ok varð hann sigrsæll í hernaðinum. Ok svá kemr hans máli, at hann fekk herjat sér land ok ríki um síðir. Ok því næst fekk hann sér göfugt kvánfang, ok gerðist hann ríkr konungr ok mikill fyrir sér ok réð fyrir Húnalandi ok er inn mesti hermaðr. Hann á son við konu sinni, er hét Rerir. Hann vex þar upp með feðr sínum ok gerist brátt mikill vexti ok gerviligr.

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    Herein begins a story told about the man named Siggi, said to be a son of Odin. Also in this telling is Skaði, another man of wealth and fame, yet Siggi was still higher-born; as in those days some men say he was fathered by the gods. Nonetheless, Skaði had a slave called Breða upon whom this tale turns; skilled in everything he did, wondrously athletic, gifted and considered as good as his betters, while more able than some.

    Hear now, that Siggi went hunting with the slave from dawn to dusk. Afterwards, they compared what they had slain and found Breða had felled far more in number and in size; so Siggi took this poorly. Enraged a slave was a better hunter he rushed and slew Breða; and buried the body in a snowdrift. That evening he returned saying Breða rode pass him into the woods saying; ‘all at once he was gone and whatever happened thereafter I know not.’ Skaði suspected Siggi lied and by his hand somewhere his slave lay dead. Thus, with able men he searched, and finally found a lonely corps buried in a large snowdrift. Henceforth, that place was known as the Breðafönn and from that anicent time till now all great snowdrifts were called likewise.

    Then as it was clear Siggi had killed the slave he was now a murderer, pronounced as well an outlaw, and a person exiled from his father’s house. Now altogether Odin was well resolved to give him ships, that he could quit this country and go so far away that he would never return again. These Siggi took to war with warriors his father gave before their parting, and thereafter victory in battle always fell to him. And thus at long last word came he had won himself both land and names, made a noble marriage, became a great warrior, and a mighty king; ruler of Húnaland (Land of the Hugas). Then by his wife he fathered a son whose name was Rerir (the Rower), who raised beside his father, growing to be a tall and able man.


    Húnalandi was a polity centered on the historic kingdom of Lower Saxony located in northwest Germany. This was the homeland of the ancient Chauci, a people which by the Medieval Period had been thoroughly Germanized and were known as the Hugas. Eventually, this ancient tribal group was first subsumed within the Saxon confederation and later incorporated within the Frankish kingdom.
    Last edited by cmacq; 07-03-2015 at 21:54.
    quae res et cibi genere et cotidiana exercitatione et libertate vitae

    Herein events and rations daily birth the labors of freedom.

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