Seaxnēat
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Seaxnēat (or Saxnōt) is the mythical founder of the Saxons. Seaxnēat seems to have been a god unique to the Saxons, although he has been compared to Tyr.
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[edit] Etymology
His name is said to mean either "knife bull" or "bull of the Saxons", Old English nēat and Old Saxon nōt (modern English neat) meaning "bovine mammal". However other theories for the second element "-nēat" put forth from other Germanic languages include Old Norse njótr (Old English notu), meaning "enjoyment" (i.e., "friend").[1]
It is difficult to interpret his name exactly as the Saxon people are traditionally said to have taken their own name from their word for knife, seax. Seaxnēat is recorded amongst the continental Saxon as Saxnōt, where he is mentioned in Old Saxon as a god who had to be denounced during their conversion to Christianity in the Old Saxon Baptismal Vow.
[edit] Ancestor of the Saxons
Seaxnēat was also worshiped in England, where he was seen as the ancestor of the Anglo-Saxons as recorded in the genealogies of Essex, and likely was considered the ancestor of the continental Saxons also. The other Saxon kingdoms of England, Wessex and Sussex, do not record Seaxnēat in their genealogies, but it is possible that at one time he was considered the ancestor of all the Saxon folk. The reason for his absence amongst the Saxons of Wessex and Sussex could be that he was overshadowed by Wōden, the chief god amongst the Anglo-Saxons in England, but in Essex for reasons unknown the Saxons there felt it necessary to remain loyal to him.
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