Ostara , or Eostra ( dr. English Ēastre , dr. German * Ôstara ) - according to the reconstructions of mythologists , the ancient German deity , presumably associated with the advent of spring and the awakening of nature. The name Eostra (Ostara), in the framework of this concept, bore the month of April in the Old English and Old Germanic tradition ( dr. Easter-mōnaþ , dr. German. Ōstar-mānod ). A number of researchers elevate her to the pan-European goddess of dawn .
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The first to speculate on the existence of this goddess is the Northumbrian monk Bede Venerable (673-735). Thus, he speculatively tried to explain the English name Easter ( English Easter ) (and the corresponding month), which was strikingly different from the names of this holiday in European languages.
In Germany, the name Easter ( German Ostern ) was brought along with Christianity by Anglo-Saxon missionaries, such as St. Boniface [1] .
Only in 1835 the mythologist Jacob Grimm suggested the kinship of these names, but solved this problem not in favor of borrowing, but suggested the existence of an ancient German pagan goddess with Indo-European roots - as part of the national-romantic construction of mythology [1] .
Content
Etymology
Since the time of Jacob Grimm, the name Eostra (Ostara) has traditionally been associated with the Pragerman * austrōn "dawn", dating back to the common Indo-European root * h₂wes- "shine, shine." The name derived from this base (reconstructed as * h₂ewsṓs, in the simplified notation * Ausōs) was apparently carried by one of the main goddesses of the pre-Indo-European pantheon - the goddess of dawn . Greek Eos (Ἕως, Ἠώς), Roman Aurora ( Aurora ), Latvian Austra ( Austra ), Lithuanian Aushrina ( Aušrinė ), and Vedic Ushas (उषस्; uṣas) date back to this image. From the same basis a common German word was formed, meaning “ east ” ( Eng. East , German Ost , Dutch. Oost , Swedish. Öster ; cf. lat. Auster “south” of the same origin).
References
The only mention in the medieval sources of Eostra is found in the work of the Honorable Beda “About the Count of Times” (De temporum ratione), where he writes:
Eosturmonath, [whose name] means “Easter month” today, used to be called after their [Anglo-Saxon] goddess Eostre , in whose honor this month a holiday was arranged. Now they call her Easter time (Paschale tempus), giving the joys of the new holiday the old, familiar name.
Original text (lat.)Eostur-monath, qui nunc Paschalis mensis interpretatur, quondam a Dea illorum quæ Eostre vocabatur, et cui in illo festa celebrabant nomen habuit: a cujus nomine nunc Paschale tempus cognominant, consueto antiquæ observationis vocabulo gaudat novatis
Later, many scholars doubted the existence of such a goddess in the Anglo-Saxon pantheon, arguing that no other source of mention of the cult of Eostra is found. Polemic with them, Jacob Grimm wrote in German mythology :
We Germans still call April ostermonat ; ôstarmânoth is also found at Einhardt . The great Christian holiday, which is usually celebrated in April or the end of March, is called in the oldest Old German texts ôstarâ ... The name Ostara , like the Anglo-Saxon Eostra , must have belonged to a great deity in the pagan religion, worship of which was so strong that Christian preachers resigned to it named and named him one of their main celebrations. For all neighboring peoples, this holiday bears the name derived from the Greek pascha; even Ulfilah writes paska , not áustrô , although he could know the word [2] .
Grimm considered such Easter customs as coloring eggs , making bonfires, special holiday games and dancing as the rudiments of the ancient pagan cult of Ostara. Comparing the name of Ostara with the Old High German dialect ôstar , "expressing movement towards the rising sun," he concludes that Ostara was the goddess of the "shining dawn, the rising sun" [3] . Modern research on comparative mythology and linguistics as a whole confirms this assumption.
In 1859, the Hungarian archaeologist Georg Zappert stated that he had discovered a handwritten recording of a lullaby in Old High German , in which Ostara was mentioned. One of the lines of the song read: "Ostara will bring the baby / honey and sweet eggs." Zappert dated the record to the 9th or 10th century. Today, most scientists consider this find a fake.
The name Eostra is associated with the names of some British cities, such as Istria (Eastry) in Kent, Istria (Eastrea) in Cambridgeshire and Istrington in East Riding of Yorkshire [4] .
In 1958, in Germany , about 150 votive plates of the turn of the I-II centuries were discovered. n e., dedicated to goddesses called matronae Austriahenae . Many researchers associate them with Eostra [5] .
Ostara and Easter Customs
As already shown above, back in the 19th century, many scholars tried to connect folk Easter customs with the pre-Christian traditions of worshiping Ostara. It is often claimed that the custom of painting eggs for Easter is of pagan origin and is associated with the cult of Ostara, but there is evidence that this tradition appeared among Christians in Mesopotamia [6] . The image of the Easter hare is also associated with Eostra. Ethnographer Charles J. Bilson singled out in the Northern European tradition a number of spring customs and ceremonies in which the hare was featured. “Whether the British had the goddess Eostra or not,” he writes, “and what role the hare played in her cult is not important, but there are good reasons to believe that endowing this animal with sacred properties goes back centuries and probably it was like it’s connected with large spring holidays among the ancient inhabitants of the British Isles ” [7] . Some argue that hares were probably the sacred animals of Eostra, just like cats were animals of Freya [8] .
Ostara in Neopaganism and Popular Culture
Ostara or Eostra is revered in many neopagan communities. Her holiday is usually celebrated at the vernal equinox , often using traditional Easter symbols. Sometimes she is identified with Idunn , the Scandinavian goddess of eternal youth [9] .
The asteroid (343) of Ostara is named after Ostara .
In honor of Ostara, the British neofolk band Ostara , the albums Eostre : zoviet * france (1984) and Ostara The Wishing Tree (2009) were named.
Dutch band Heidevolk has Ostara song
The name "Ostara" was a German nationalist magazine of the early XX century , founded by Jörg Lanz von Liebenfels .
In the final eighth episode of the first season of the American Gods television series, based on the novel of the same name by Neil Gaiman , Ostara is presented in the guise of Christine Chenovet . In this series, Odin ( Ian McShane ) and Shadow, the main characters of the series, visit Easter Old Goddess of Spring and Resurrection, Ostara, who successfully adapted to the new era, using the Christian celebration of the resurrection of Christ, and creating an alliance with the Goddess of the media ( Gillian Anderson ) One forces her to admit that those who celebrate Easter worship Jesus and not her, forcing her to join his rebellion against the New Gods.
See also
- Goddess of dawn
- Anglo-Saxon gods
- Wheel of the Year
- Easter
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 Richard Sermon. From Easter to Ostara: the Reinvention of a Pagan Goddess? // Time and Mind: The Journal of Archeology, Consciousness and Culture. Volume 1, Issue 3, 2008.
- ↑ Grimm, pp. 290-91
- ↑ Grimm, p. 291
- ↑ Shaw, pp. 59-60
- ↑ Shaw, p. 52
- ↑ Vicki K. Black (1 Jul 2004). Welcome to the Church Year: An Introduction to the Seasons of the Episcopal Church . Church Publishing, Inc. The Christians of this region in Mesopotamia were probably the first to connect the decorating of eggs with the feast of the resurrection of Christ, and by the Middle Ages this practice was so widespread that in some places Easter Day was called Egg Sunday. In parts of Europe, the eggs were dyed red and were then cracked together when people exchanged Easter greetings. Many congregations today continue to have Easter egg hunts for the children after services on Easter Day
- ↑ Billson, Charles J. (1892). The Easter Hare as published in Folk-Lore , Vol. 3, No. 4 (December 1892). Taylor & Francis, Ltd. on behalf of Folklore Enterprises Ltd.
- ↑ Boyle, John Andrew (1974). The Hare in Myth and Reality: A Review Article as published in Folklore , Vol. 84, No. 4 (Winter, 1973). Taylor & Francis, Ltd. on behalf of Folklore Enterprises Ltd.
- ↑ Cusack, Carole M. (2008). The Return of the Goddess: Mythology, Witchcraft and Feminist Spirituality as published in Pizza, Murphy. Lewis, James R. (Editors). Handbook of Contemporary Paganism . Brill Publishers. ISBN 9004163735
Sources
- Grimm, Jacob (James Steven Stallybrass Trans.) (1882). Teutonic Mythology: Translated from the Fourth Edition with Notes and Appendix. Vol. I. London: George Bell and Sons.
- Shaw, Philip A. (2011). Pagan Goddesses in the Early Germanic Goddess: Eostre, Hreda and the Cult of Matrons . Bristol Classical Press
Literature
- Gerber H. Myths of Northern Europe . - Litres, 2013 .-- 473 p. - ISBN 5457027562 .