![]() In later sources, jǫfurr the meaning of 'boar' and has been predominantly replaced by 'ruler' or 'prince'. ![]() A number of Germanic names feature as an element in names related to jǫfurr (derived from Proto-Germanic *eburaR, wild boar) such as Jǫfurfǫst and Jǫfurbjǫrn, attested in Swedish runic inscriptions, and Eofor, a Geat in Beowulf. Both the Swedish Yngling royal family and families of Icelandic settlers that can be traced back to Sweden are described as specifically worshiping Freyr and owning boars. ![]() īoar symbolism and religious practice is closely associated with Sweden, a cultic centre for Freyr, and where it has been suggested to have been a totemic animal. Guldgubbar finds include figures of swine and their ritual deposition has been linked with Vanir worship. Scholars have proposed the sonarblót was devoted to Freyr, while in the U and H manuscripts of Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks, the link between the god and Heitstrenging is explicit. In a ritual context, swine are often sacrificed and eaten during blóts (in particular the sonarblót), and are central in some forms of heitstrenging, where the boar is described as being holy. Both Freyr and Freyja share names with swine, with boars referred to as Vaningi, a name for Freyr, and Freyja as Sýr (sow). In mythological sources, the boar Saehrimnir is killed each day to feed the einherjar, while Gullinbursti and Hildisvíni are owned by the gods Freyr and Freyja respectively. In Gesta Danorum, Book VII, the formation is taught by Odin to Harald Wartooth, who was named due to the tusks he grew to replace two of his teeth that fell out while he was young. The formation was also used in the medieval period, as attested in sources such as Knýtlinga saga and Ólafs saga Tryggvasonar. The boar's snout formation was a wedge formation first attested in the 4th century AD, used by the Germanic peoples and named due to its appearance. Germanic īoars had a prominent role for the Germanic peoples and were closely associated with battle. The sole unequivocal depictions of boar-crested helmets outside of Germanic sources are on interior plate E of the Gundestrup cauldron, dating to the La Tène period or early Roman Iron Age, which is commonly believed to be Celtic in origin but also has elements suggesting Thracian origin. Four legions, including the twentieth that was stationed in Britain, also adopted the boar as their emblem. The boar is said to have been sacred to a mother goddess figure among linguistically Celtic communities in Iron Age Europe, while the Roman historian Tacitus, writing around the first century AD, suggested that the Baltic Aesti wore boar symbols in battle to invoke her protection. for millennia, until its virtual extinction in recent historical time." Anglo-Saxon and Vendel era boar symbols are preceded by a thousand years of similar iconography, coming after La Tène examples in the fourth century BC, Gaulish specimens three centuries later, and Roman boars in the fourth century AD. The boar was an important symbol in prehistoric Europe, where, according to the archaeologist Jennifer Foster, it was "venerated, eulogised, hunted and eaten. They have also been proposed to be a costume for the ritual transformation into a boar, similar to berserkers, and to be associated with Freyr.Ĭontext Roman, Celtic and Baltic Gundestrup cauldron depiction, dating to between 200 BC and 300 AD They consist of helmets decorated with either a boar crest or other boar imagery that was believed to offer protection in battle to the wearer. ![]() ![]() Germanic boar helmets are attested in archaeological finds from England and Sweden, dating to Vendel and Anglo-Saxon periods, and Old English and Old Norse written sources. Decorated helmet in Germanic cultures Warriors wearing boar-crested helmets on a Torslunda plate, dated to between the 6th and 8th century AD. ![]()
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