Níð (Old Norse) (Anglo-Saxon nith, Old High German (OHG) nid(d), modern German form Neid) in ancient Germanic mythology was the constituting and qualifying attribute for people suspected of being a mythological creature called nithing (Old Norse níðing, OHG nidding, more recent High German Neiding). Old Norse is the North Germanic language that was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and inhabitants of their overseas settlements during the Viking Age The word mythology (from the Greek grc μυθολογία mythología, meaning "a story-telling a legendary lore" Nith literally meant "envy, hate, malice, insidiousness". [1]
A few sociologists, such as German Gisela Bleibtreu-Ehrenberg (see bibliography), regard it as a significant contribution in the genesis of homophobia and misogyny (both creating and maintaining patriarchy) in the Western world, and also in a wider context of Western (i. BenPhelpsJPG|thumb|right|Westboro Baptist Church picket signs with Ben Phelps grandson of Fred Phelps Misogyny (mɪˈsɒdʒɪni is hatred (or contemptof women Misogyny is parallel to Misandry — the hatred of men Patriarchy is the structuring of Society on the basis of Family units where fathers have primary responsibility for the welfare of hence authority over e. originally Indo-European) asceticism (asceticism used here as an English translation of the German term Leibfeindlichkeit characterizing especially fear and hate of lecherousness, sometimes also translated as "hostility of the body"[2]). Ascetic redirects here You might also be looking for Acetic acid.
According to at least two scholarly sources (depending on how much one limits this definition of 'most likely'), nith did not only motivate practicing of malicious seid[3] magic but was regarded the most likely motivation of all for practicing seid. Seid or seiðr is an Old Norse term for a type of Sorcery or Witchcraft which was practiced by the pre-Christian Norse. Seid or seiðr is an Old Norse term for a type of Sorcery or Witchcraft which was practiced by the pre-Christian Norse. [4][5] The nithing used its malicious seid magic to destroy anything owned and made by man, ultimately the human race and Midgard itself[6], due to its basically unlimited envy, hate, and malice that were nith. Midgard (an Anglicized form of Old Norse Miðgarðr) is an old Germanic name for our World, the places inhabited by humans,
Hence, the nithing was regarded as a mythological fiend "that only exists to cause harm and bring certain undoing". [7] Harboring nith was regarded as destroying the "individual qualities that constituted man and genetical relation"[8], making deviant, perverse, and ill instead so that this fiend was considered the direct opposite of decent man and its nith as contagious.
A nithing did not actually become inhuman during life, its nithing's deed only made it apparent as what it had always been. [10] Any eerieness and inscrutability was what made people suspect a person of being a nithing, whether this was based upon physical abnormalities or mental traits. [11] These eerie people were isolated within their kinship, which might have contributed to their status of social misfits and criminals.
The seid used prominently by nithings was linguistically closely linked to botany and poisoning. [12][13] Therefore, seid to a degree must have been regarded as identical to murder by poisoning. This Norse concept of poisoning based on magic was equally present in Roman law:
Nithing poisoning ties in with the legal Germanic differentiation of murder and killing. Criminal murder differed from legitimate killing as by being performed in secret insidiously, away from the eyes of the community that had not been involved in the matter.
Since sorcery "was not accepted officially, it could not serve the kinship as a whole, only private cravings; no decent person was safe from the secret arts of sorcerers" [15], and as nith was insidiousness, a nithing was also thought to be a pathological liar and an oathbreaker, prone to committing perjury and especially treason. Summing up the relations between nith and criminality:
This excessive mass of nithing associations might at first seem cumbersome and without any recognizable pattern. However the pattern behind it is outlined in the following sections.
It was believed that the reason for a nithing to resort to insidious seid magic in order to cause harm instead of simply attacking people by decent, belligerent violence to achieve the same end was that it was a cowardly and weak creature, further indicating its being direct opposite of Germanic warrior ethos. [19][20] This weak, cowardly, and basically unmanly state was referred to by the adjective earg(h) in Anglo-Saxon, modern English form eerie (but also argh), Old Norse argr, Finnish (via Swedish) arka, OHG agr, Old Frisian erg, modern German arg, maybe[21] (via Gothic influence) Spanish haragán. Earg is often but translated as "cowardly, weak". Any seidberender (practitioner of seid) was automatically argr. [22]
Anglo-Saxon yrhde, but ergi in all other Germanic languages was the noun form of earg, but originally its comparative form. Ergi (noun and argr (adjective are two Old Norse terms of Insult, denoting Effeminacy or other unmanly behavior Ergi (noun and argr (adjective are two Old Norse terms of Insult, denoting Effeminacy or other unmanly behavior Ergi literally meant "annoyance, nuisance", and such an annoyance was what the mere existence and presence of a nithing was regarded as. Ergi furthermore referred to the feeling of anger (literally derived from ancient ergi), Old Norse erger, modern German Ärger, that an abhorrent nithing moved in decent belligerent males, and to the trouble (modern German Ärger just as well) the nithing hence was in as well. On all these linguistical and etymological relations of earg and ergi see Weisweiler 1923. [23]
Ergi and earg were further described by specifying swearwords that were called eacans (Old Norse auca, Icelandic yki, OHG authon) in ancient Germanic law. An eacan was the severe insult made by calling someone a nithing and earg, and due to its severity Germanic laws demanded retribution for this accusation if it had turned out unjustified. The Icelandic Gray Goose Laws [25] referred to three eacan swearwords that were regarded as equal to earg by themselves. See also Medieval Scandinavian laws The Gray Goose Laws (Icelandic Grágás) were a collection of laws from the Icelandic Commonwealth period consisting Those were ragan, strodinn, and sordinn, all three meaning top and bottom same-sex activities among males. The terms top, bottom and switch are used by many people including Heterosexual and LGBT people BDSM practitioners and others in [26] Another eacan from the Gray Goose was "being a sorcerer's friend".
Eacans from other laws included: The Gulathing law[27] referred to "being a male bottom", "being a slave", "being a seiðmaðr", the Bergen/Island[28] law referred to "being a seiðmaðr", "being a sorcerer and/or desiring same-sex activities as a male (kallar ragann)", the Frostothing law[29] to "desiring male same-sex activities as a bottom", the Salian law[30] to "being a sorcerer", the Anglo-Saxon[31] and Danish laws[32] mostly summed it all up as "being a nithing".
Thus, it is apparent that earg/ergi of a nithing was strongly connoted not only with sorcery, unmanliness, weakness, and effeminacy but also especially with lecherousness (lecherous actually being the pivotal meaning of the adjective earg) yielding especially desire for same-sex activities among males, and to slightly lesser degree sexual perversion in general (see more below). Effeminacy is a trait in males that generally contradicts traditional male ( masculine) Gender roles It is a derogatory term frequently applied to Femininity Ergi of females was considered as excessive lecherousness bordering raging madness, ergi of males as perversity and effeminacy. [33]
To evaluate the ancient age of all these convictions, it is noteworthy that Roman historian Tacitus's Latin terms ignavi et imbelles et corpore infames ("cowardly, not belligerent, and perverted") he used for perverted criminals that were ritually killed by Germanic tribal law in his 98 A. Publius (or Gaius) Cornelius Tacitus (ca 56 &ndash ca 117 was a senator and a Historian of the Roman Empire. D. book on ancient Germany[34] directly equalled earg in its correspondent aspects. The Germania ( Latin title De Origine et situ Germanorum, English for the Origin and Situation of the Germans) written by Gaius [35] Any Germanic person speaking Latin would have translated the one word earg most likely as "ignavus et imbellis et corpore infamis". [36]
Nithings always practiced seid in female clothes regardless of their biological sex, and they were considered to lose their physical biological sex by that act if they had been male before. [37][38] More recent dialect forms of seid linguistically link it to "female sex organs". [39] Also, there exists (or existed) evidence on the Golden horns of Gallehus that male initiates of seid were ritually castrated. The Golden Horns of Gallehus ( DR 12 †U) were two horns made of Gold, one shorter than the other discovered in Gallehus north of Tønder in South [40] So either way, basically all practitioners of seid were equally female, or rather, in regard to the nithing concept, a neutral fiend though nonetheless obviously opposing male Germanic warriors by what was regarded as mental or moral effeminacy.
According eacans in the Gulathing law[41] were "having born children as a male", "being a male whore", while the Gray Goose[25] referred to "being a woman each ninth night", and "having born children as a male".
Due to the zoomorphic association of basically shamanic seid, the nithing was thought magically to disguise not only as a human being, but also as a wild animal. Its capability of magical transformation of biological sex from male to female by practicing seid was regarded as equal to the capability of transformation of the whole physical self, especially into unpredictable, raging animals, most notably wolves and werewolves. [18][42] See also section Common legal consequences of nith below on more zoomorphisms.
Nithings also used seid to "make" animals out of thin air (though especially vermin destroying harvests)[43] which is a common practice of shamanism.
A "classical definition of ergi"[44] is found in the scoldings (see section below) of warriors Gudmund and Sinfyötli in the New Helgi song, offending each other as earg and thus challenging each other before a fight. Gudmund perjorates Sinfyötli in verse 36:
and in following verses 37-39 Sinfyötli rebuts this:
| Verse 37 | Verse 38 | Verse 39 |
|---|---|---|
| Walkury, an abhorrent | Hag on Warinsey island | On saganes |
| monster have you been | that was you | you gave birth |
| frightening, and earg, | so insidiously | to nine wolves, |
| by Odin! | conjuring illusions. | fathered by |
| The Einherjars | You said that | Sinfyötli. In Norse religion, the Einherjar ( Old Norse "lone fighters" are spirits of warriors who had died bravely in battle. |
| fought in desire | the only warrior | |
| about you | you desired to marry | |
| stubborn whore. | was I, Sinfyötli. |
In accordance with these more detailed descriptions of what constituted ergi as appearing in the New Helgi song, the Gulathing law[41] referred to eacans swearwords further describing earg as "being a mare", "being a pregnant animal", "being a bitch", "having indecent intercourse with animals", the Bergen/Island law[45] referred to "biting another man", "being a pregnant animal", the Frostothing law[29] to "being a female animal", the Uplandslag law to "having sexual intercourse with an animal"[46] These are only a few select examples.
The -berender component of seidberender (often simply translated as "practitioner of seid") is etymologically closely related to Indo-Germanic words for "bearing", "giving birth", and "pregnant", and even in modern Russian there are related terms literally meaning "pregnant mare". [47] Furthermore, ergi was linguistically most closely tied to obscene allegations regarding stallions. [48] This[38] is probably the pivotal reason why seidberender literally means "pregnant from (practicing) seid", why seid was regarded as effeminating, as lecherous ergi; this "probably is as close to the original, central meaning of the word [seid] as we can get". [49]
Seid initiates were probably initiated by that practice (or were thought of as such) after castration so they could perform seid magic such as by botany and poisoning. See also Völsa þáttr and, for a similar religious custom in another Indo-European culture, Asvamedha. Völsa þáttr is a short story which is only extant in the Flatey Book, where it is found in a chapter of Óláfs saga helga. The Ashvamedha ( Sanskrit: sa अश्वमेध aśvamedhá; " Horse sacrifice " was one of the most important royal Rituals
Probably originally due to ritual castration of male seid initiates, nithings were thought to be suffering of physical ailments and were associated with crippledness. Most notably were limping as an outer indication of being a nithing (such as in the story of Rögnvald Straightleg whose last name was in fact but an ironic offence as his legs were actually crippled[50]), and the believe sorcerers would not only give birth to animals but also to crippled human children. [51]
These physical afflictions were regarded as furthermore supporting weakness of a nithing. It was often hard to distinguish these attributes from actual physical illness, and since "any eerieness and incomprehensiblity was what made people suspect a person of being a nithing, whether this was based upon physical anomalities or mental traits", they were often regarded as mentally ill even during ancient times already, as defined by actually or perceivedly deviant social behaviour and feeling. [11]
The Germanic word for ill if relating to a nithing was Anglo-Saxon seoc, OHG sioh, Gothic siuks, Old Norse sjukr, Swed. sjuk, OFris sek, MHG siech, modern Englisch sick, its noun form (meaning "illness" or "disease") was Old Norse sott, Gothic sauhts, OFris secht, OHG, OSax, Anglo-Saxon suht, modern High German Seuche ("epidemy") and Sucht ("addiction"). [52][53]
Especially the modern German variants of Germanic suht (Seuche and Sucht) still pronounce not only the alleged high risk of infection (Seuche = "epidemic"), of "catching" a nithing's unmanly, lecherous, and malevolent ergi as common in ancient myth, yet also the close connotation with physical and mental addiction (Sucht = "addiction"), as in stubbornly clinging to deviant behaviour and feeling, and with Seid potions and poisoning that were later associated with drugs in post-Medieval times.
These links of the ancient Germanic nithing myth with epidemics (and also natural disasters) as divine punishment upon a mankind not dealing with nithings as these creatures deserve, but also with drugs was first evidenced by German scholar Gisela Bleibtreu-Ehrenberg in two of her books dating 1978[54] and 1989[55]. See also Sodomy#Medieval Christianity on sodomy. Sodomy (ˈsɒdəmi is a term used today predominantly in Law (derived from traditional Christian usage to describe the act of Anal intercourse, Oral intercourse
Even after Christianization, pagan superstition and magic were referred to as ergi by Christian writers using their native language. [57]
More evidences on the historical relations between the ancient nithing myth, homophobia, belief in witches, and belief in the existence of satanism or satanic conspiracies such as satanic ritual abuse can be found in Gisela Bleibtreu-Ehrenberg's two German books[54][55]. For other uses of the word see Satanism (disambiguation. Satanism can refer to a number of belief systems depending on the user and context Satanic ritual abuse ( SRA, sometimes known as ritual abuse, cult related abuse, ritualized abuse, sadistic ritual abuse, ritual See also Sodomy#Medieval Christianity on sodomy. Sodomy (ˈsɒdəmi is a term used today predominantly in Law (derived from traditional Christian usage to describe the act of Anal intercourse, Oral intercourse
Nithings had to be scolded, i. e. they had to be shouted in their faces what they were in most derogatory terms, as scolding (Anglo-Saxon scald, Norse skald, Icelandic skalda, OHG scelta, Modern German Schelte) was supposed to break the concealing seid spell and would thus force the fiend to give away its true nature. [58] Dehumanizing, zoomorphic scolding was very common to denote a nithing since it was said to frequently turn into animals.
If the accused did not retort by violent attack yielding either the accuser to take his words back or the accuser's death, he was hence proven to be a weak and cowardly nithing by not retorting accordingly. [60]
Beside by words, scolding could also be performed by pejorative visual portrayals, especially by so-called nithstangs or nithing poles. These were stands similar to modern scarecrows, especially two of them together, indicating anal intercourse. [61]
The immediate consequence of being proven a nithing was outlawing (see for example [62])
"Nobody is allowed to protect, house, or feed the outlaw. He must seek shelter alone in the woods just like a wolf. "[18][64] "Yet that is but one aspect of outlawry. The outlaw is not only expelled from the kinship, he is also regarded henceforth as an enemy to mankind. "[64]
Ancient dehumanizing terms meaning both "wolf" and "strangler" were common as synonyms for outlaws: OHG warc, Salian wargus, Anglo-Saxon vearg, Old Norse vargr. [65] See also section Nith and dehumanizing zoomorphism above.
Outlaws were regarded as physically and legally dead[66], their spouse was seen as widow or widower and their children as orphans[65], their fortune and belongings were either seized by the kinship or destroyed. [67][68]
Nithings were considered to re-enter their bodies after death by their seid magic[70][71][72], and even their dead bodies themselves were regarded as highly poisoning and contageous. [73]
To prevent them from coming back as undead, their bodies had to be made entirely immobile, especially by impaling[74][75][76], burning up [14][77][78][79][80][81], drowning in rivers or bogs (see also Tacitus)[82][81], or even all of the above. "Not any measure to this end was considered too awkward. " [73]
In the case of nithings, we must not think of legal executions in the proper sense, rather these executions were legally endorsed lynching, sudden and incontrollable eruptions of social hatred and anger of all people involved. [84]
If a person that had been accused as a nithing made it to escape their execution, he or she actually had to live all on their own in nature, far from any kinship.
Noted German scholar in sociology, psychology, ethnology, Indo-European studies (both in ethnology and linguistics), religious studies, and philosophy, Gisela Bleibtreu-Ehrenberg expounds on potential historical context, genesis, and evolution of the ancient Germanic nithing myth and its influences upon Christianity and modern science from the end of the last glacial epoch in about 9,000 b. Indo-European studies is a field of Linguistics dealing with Indo-European languages, both current and extinct An ice age is a period of long-term reduction in the Temperature of the Earth 's surface and atmosphere resulting in an expansion of continental Ice sheets C. until the present day especially in her works[54][55] (the second ordered and sponsored by the German parliament on the societal, juridical, and national health consequences and challenges of the aids disease), treating it as a common concept in all Indo-European cultures and linking it with the basic genesis and evolution of such things as homophobia, misogyny, patriarchy, racism, asceticism, or the Medieval witch hunts, drawing upon, among others, Mircea Eliade, Marija Gimbutas, Sigmund Freud, C. G. Jung, Norbert Elias, Theodor Adorno, Max Horkheimer, Karl Popper, Michel Foucault, and James W. Prescott. The Bundestag ("Federal Diet " or "Lower House of German Parliament" is the Parliament of Germany. BenPhelpsJPG|thumb|right|Westboro Baptist Church picket signs with Ben Phelps grandson of Fred Phelps Misogyny (mɪˈsɒdʒɪni is hatred (or contemptof women Misogyny is parallel to Misandry — the hatred of men Patriarchy is the structuring of Society on the basis of Family units where fathers have primary responsibility for the welfare of hence authority over List of racism-related topics|Racism by country Racism, by its simplest definition is the belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that Ascetic redirects here You might also be looking for Acetic acid. "Witch trial" redirects here For the song by Rush, see Fear series. Mircea Eliade ( – April 22, 1986) was a Romanian historian of religion fiction writer philosopher and professor at the University of Chicago Marija Gimbutas ( Marija Gimbutienė) ( Vilnius, January 23, 1921 – Los Angeles, United States February 2 Sigmund Freud (ˈziːkmʊnt ˈfʁɔʏt born Sigismund Shlomo Freud (May 6 1856 &ndash September 23 1939 was an Austrian Psychiatrist who founded Norbert Elias ( June 22, 1897 &mdash August 1, 1990) was a German sociologist of Jewish descent who later became Theodor Ludwig Wiesengrund Adorno ( September 11, 1903 &ndash August 6, 1969) was a German -born international sociologist Max Horkheimer (February 14 1895 &ndash July 7 1973 was a German Philosopher and Sociologist, and a founder and guiding thinker of Critical Sir Karl Raimund Popper ( July 28 1902  &ndash September 17 1994) was an Austrian and British Philosopher and a professor Michel Foucault ( (15 October 1926 – 25 June 1984 was a French philosopher, Historian, Intellectual, Critic and Sociologist. James W Prescott (born c1930 is an American developmental Psychologist, whose research focused on the origins of Violence, particularly as it relates to a lack See also Sodomy#Medieval Christianity on sodomy. Sodomy (ˈsɒdəmi is a term used today predominantly in Law (derived from traditional Christian usage to describe the act of Anal intercourse, Oral intercourse
The historical Germanic vocabulary used here and its etymological relations can be found via the search function at the Germanic Lexicon Project. Ergi (noun and argr (adjective are two Old Norse terms of Insult, denoting Effeminacy or other unmanly behavior Seid or seiðr is an Old Norse term for a type of Sorcery or Witchcraft which was practiced by the pre-Christian Norse. Ergi (noun and argr (adjective are two Old Norse terms of Insult, denoting Effeminacy or other unmanly behavior Effeminacy is a trait in males that generally contradicts traditional male ( masculine) Gender roles It is a derogatory term frequently applied to Femininity In Greek society Effeminacy ( Greek: grc ἀνανδρία &ndash anandria; grc μαλακία &ndash malakia Latin: mollites Moral turpitude is a legal concept in the United States that refers to "conduct that is considered contrary to community standards of justice honesty or good morals" Note though that in Anglo-Saxon and Norse the letters eth (Ð, ð) and thorn (Þ, þ) can be used interchangeably. Eth ( Ð, ð; also spelled edh or eð) is a letter used in Old English, Icelandic, Faroese (in Thorn, or þorn (Þ þ is a letter in the Anglo-Saxon and Icelandic Alphabets It was also used in Medieval Scandinavia