882 THE SAXONS IN ENGLAND. [book i.
and continue—often under other names, nay per-
haps engrafted on another creed—to inform the
daily life of a people who are still unconsciously
acted upon by ancient national feelings. A spell or
a popular superstition may yet recall some traces of
the old belief, even as the heathen temple, when
purified with holy water and dedicated in another
name, retained the holiness which had at first been
attached to the site of its foundation.
What Paulus Diaconus5 Jonas of Bobbio, Jor-
nandes, Adam of Bremen, Alcuin, Widukind, and
the monks of St. Gall, assert of other German
races, Beda asserts of the Anglosaxonrsb also, viz.
that they worshiped idols1, idola, simulacra deo∙
rum ; and this he affirms not only upon the autho-
rity of his general informants and of unbroken
tradition, but of Gregory himself. Upon the same
authority also he tells us that the heathen were
wont to sacrifice many oxen to their gods2. To
l What Tacitus says of the Germans (Germ, ix.^not having temples
or images is to be taken with great caution. It is clear from other
passages of his own work that some tribes had. such, even in his time ;
yet if rare then, they may easily have become universal in the course
of two or three centuries, particularly among those tribes whom mili-
tary service or commerce had gradually rendered familiar with the
religious rites of Rome.
2 These facts are stated in a letter from Gregory to Mellitus, in the
following words : “ Cum ergo Deus Omnipotens vos ad Teverentissimum
virum fratrem nostrum Augustinum episcopum perduxerit, dicite ei quid
diu mecum de causa Anglorum cogitans tractavi, videlicet, quia fana
idolorum destrui in eadem gente minime debeant ; sed ipsa, quae in eis
sunt, idola destruantur, aqua benedicta fiat, in eisdem fanis aspergatur,
altaria Construantur, reliquiae ponantur. Quia, si fana eadem bene
Constructa sunt, necesse est ut a cultu daeɪnonum in obsequium veri
Dei debeant Commutari ; ut dum gens ipsa eadem fana sua non videt
dρstrui, de corde errorem deponat, et Deum verum cognoscens ас
CH. XU.]
HEATHENDOM. IDOLS.
833
Beda himself we owe the information that HréiSe
and Eostre, two Saxon goddesses, gave their names
to two of the months ; that at a certain season cat-
tle were vowed, and at another season cakes were
offered to the gods1. From him also we learn that
upon the death of Sæbeorht in Essex, his sons re-
stored the worship of idols in that kingdom 2 ; that
Eadwini of Northumberland offered thanks to his
deities for the safe delivery of his queen3; that
Rædwald of Eastanglia sacrificed victims to his
gods 4 ; that, on occasion of a severe pestilence, the
people of Essex apostatized and returned to their
ancient worship5, till reconverted by Gearoman,
under whose teachings they destroyed or deserted
the fanes and altars they had made; that incan-
tations and spells were used against sickness6;
that certain runic charms were believed capable of
breaking the Bonds of the captive 7 ; that Eorcen-
berht of Kent was the first who completely put
down heathendom in his kingdom, and destroyed
adorans ad loca, quae Coneuevit, familiarius concurrat. Et quia boves
soient in sacrificio daemonum multos occidere, debet eis etianɪ hac de
re aliqua soleɪnnitas immutari ; ut die dedicationis, vel natalitii sancto-
rum martyrum, quorum illic reliquiae ponuntur, tabemacula sibi circa
easdeɪn aecclesias, quae ex fanis Commutatae sunt, de ramis arborum
faciant, et religiosis Conviviis Solemnitatem celebrent, пес diabolo iam
animalia immolent, βed ad Iaudem Dei in esu suo aiɪimalia occidant, et
donatori omnium de satietate sua gratias référant ; ut dum eis aliqua
exterius gaudia reservantur, ad interiora gaudia Consentire facilius va-
leant.” Bed. H. E. i. 30.
* De Natura Rerum, cap. 15. 2 H. E. ii. 5.
3 H. E. ii. 9. 4 H. E. ii. 15.
5 “ Coeperunt fana, quae derelicta erant, restaurare, et adorare si-
Omlacra ; quasi per haec possent a mortalitate defendi.” H. E. iii. 30.
’ H. E. iv. 27. τ H. E. iv. 22.