Old Saxon Baptismal Vow

The Old Saxon Baptismal Vow is a 9th century Old Saxon baptismal vow found in Vatican Codex pal. 577. The vow mentions three Old Saxon gods; Uuôden ("Woden"), Thunear, and Saxnōt, which the reader is to forsake. One of many baptismal vows, the vow originates from a monastery library in Mainz, Germany, and is now archived in the Vatican.[1]

The vow reads:

Old Saxon

End ec forsacho allum dioboles uuercum and uuordum, Thunaer ende Uuôden ende Saxnôte ende allum thêm unholdum thê hira genôtas sint[1]
Modern English
'I renounce all the deeds and words of the devil, Thunear, Wōden and Saxnōt, and all those fiends that are their companions'.[1]

Scholar Rudolf Simek comments that the vow is of particular interest because it is the sole instance of the god Saxnōt mentioned in a religious context.[1]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d Simek (2007:276).

References