[German version]

Tacitus describes the cult of the mother deity N., adding as his own interpretation: id est terra mater (Tac. Germ. 40,2). He states that N. is venerated by seven tribes (the so-called Nerthus peoples), whom he includes among the Suebi living to the east of the Elbe. They probably lived in western Mecklenburg and were part of the Ingaevones [3. 460]. On an island (probably in the Danish Baltic Sea) he locates a sacred grove containing a cultic wagon concealed by covers. Only one priest (sacerdos) is allowed to touch it. The goddess’s solemn procession, linked to …