The American Cyclopædia (1879)/Hertha

HERTHA, Ærtha, or Nerthus, the goddess of earth (Anglo-Saxon, eorthe, Ger. Erde), anciently worshipped by the Æstii, Lombards, Angles, and many other Teutonic tribes established near the lower Elbe, and in the regions of the Baltic. The Scandinavians called her Jord; according to them she was daughter of Annar and Night, sister of Dagur or Day by the mother's side, wife of Odin (thus identical with Frigga), and mother of Thor. This identification of the female principle, or of generation and fertility, with the earth, is found in all religions. The earth being the all-nourishing mother, it was naturally believed that Hertha sympathized with mankind, and the myth of the revival of spring gradually became for the vulgar a faith that she visited them in person at stated times. These visits took place, according to Tacitus, on a sacred island in the Baltic, where the chariot of Hertha was kept. When the goddess had descended from the throne of Odin, she was believed to take her seat in the chariot. Heifers were then harnessed to it, and she was drawn amid festivity over the land. During this procession all feuds were suspended. Finally the goddess, or rather her wagon, on returning to the holy grove, was washed in the sea by slaves, who immediately after were drowned. This appearance of Hertha was also practised in another form among certain German tribes, with whom it was usual on occasions of drought to send the most beautiful maiden of the village, entirely naked, at the head of a female procession over the fields.