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Winter's Cold Embrace: Gods and Goddesses of Death (Part 2) - Ep 08
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In this episode, we explore the gods and goddesses associated with winter and death. From Itztlacoliuhqui of Mesoamerica, to Boreas, Demeter, and Persephone of ancient Greece; Cailleach Beara in Scotland who's also known as the Cailleach in Ireland; Marzanna of Western Slavic lands; Perchta in the Alpine valleys; Frau Holle of the Germanic region, and Hel of Norse mythology, these deities reflect how ancient cultures grappled with the trials of winter and the inevitability of death.
Transcripts
- For transcripts of this episode head over to: https://archpodnet.com/tpm/08
Links
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- Digitized National Folklore Collection of Ireland
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Transcript
Introduction and Episode Overview
00:00:01
Speaker
You're listening to the Archaeology Podcast Network.
00:00:28
Speaker
Welcome to the Past Macabre, where we journey through history to explore how our relationship with death reflects the values, fears, and hopes that shape how people live.
Winter and Death Deities Across Cultures
00:00:39
Speaker
I'm your host, Stephanie Rice, and thank you for joining me for Episode 8, Winter's Cold Embrace, Death Gods and Goddesses Part 2.
00:00:48
Speaker
This is part of a series of episodes that will look at some of the many deities of death from around the world. Since the winter solstice just passed, I'd like to spend this episode highlighting the gods who represent both winter and death. The traits given to these gods and the way they are worshipped, or feared in some cases, can give us insight into how ancient cultures endured through this often unforgiving season.
00:01:14
Speaker
The landscape and climate that people lived in shaped the way that they interacted with the world, which was then reflected into the deities who personified the various aspects of the natural world around them. Winter is a season that often has themes of death, transformation, and renewal woven into its myths, especially in places that experience truly barren and frozen winters.
Exclusion of Closed Practices
00:01:37
Speaker
In this episode, we'll take a look at Mesoamerican, Greek, Celtic, Germanic, Slavic, and Norse gods and goddesses who range from representing winter as an inevitable natural cycle to a malevolent force that needs to be banished.
00:01:53
Speaker
Quick
Mesoamerican Winter-Death Deities
00:01:54
Speaker
reminder that I haven't included any deities from closed practices in this series, and wherever possible, I will provide information on how to learn more from descendant communities directly in the show notes. Bundle up, it's time to set out on our journey to discover the deities who truly personify the cold embrace of death.
00:02:25
Speaker
We'll start our tour of wintery death deities in a place that might be a bit unexpected, Mesoamerica. Since it's closer to the equator, this region is typically associated with warm, tropical weather to most people in the US and Europe. But there are several mountain ranges that reach high enough elevations to experience frost and snow.
00:02:46
Speaker
Mexico City is nestled within one of these mountain ranges called the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt, and it's about 2,240 meters or 7,350 feet above sea level. The third highest mountain in all of North America towers nearby, appropriately named Silatapero, which means star mountain in Nahuatl.
00:03:11
Speaker
Nahuatl is one of the indigenous languages of Mexico, and the Nahuatl people who speak it are today the largest indigenous group in Mexico. There are currently 1.7 million speakers of Nahuatl across Mexico and scattered through Central America. Here in Central Mexico, the winter weather was personified as the god named Itzelacuryuki, which means bent obsidian blade.
00:03:39
Speaker
As with the gods of most pantheons, the exact details varied from place to place and over time, so I'll focus on the Aztec version of him. For a bit of historical and geographical context, the site where Mexico City stands today was home to the people commonly referred to as the Aztecs.
00:03:59
Speaker
They were an alliance of three polities, comparable to Greek city-states, that were run by three different groups of people who were part of the larger Nahuatl ethnic group who spoke the Nahuatl language. The members of the alliance called themselves Ehikantatloyem, which meant triple alliance.
00:04:18
Speaker
From their core city-states on the shores of Lake Texcoco, they dominated most of modern-day central Mexico, just before and during the beginnings of the Spanish invasion. The oldest city-state within the Alliance was Texcoco, home of the Agua people, who were the Nahuatl group that established themselves in the early 13th century CE.
00:04:40
Speaker
Their influence grew and their city state was known as a knowledge center where people came from all over the region to learn from its massive library that reportedly held hundreds of manuscripts.
00:04:53
Speaker
There were things like detailed genealogical histories, mathematical texts, bureaucratic documents like records of land ownership, codified laws, maps, and important religious calendars. It even held books from other cultures all over Mesoamerica.
00:05:12
Speaker
Unfortunately, this library and all others across Mesoamerica were destroyed by the Spanish invaders. We know these libraries existed because several of the people responsible for their destruction wrote about them and took some manuscripts back to Europe with them as souvenirs. Sadly, out of the thousands of manuscripts that existed across Mesoamerica, only 15 are known to have survived to modern times.
00:05:40
Speaker
On a brighter note, the palace at Texcoco had a botanical garden that partially survived the Spanish conquest. When it was complete, it had plants from all over Mesoamerica, and some of the imported species still survive in the ruins of the garden today. Archaeologists have found that the botanical garden had intricate aqueducts with artificial waterfalls built in. It was basically an engineering and aesthetic marble.
00:06:08
Speaker
At the very center, there was a huge marble shrine dedicated to the rain god Talak. It housed many different species of birds from far off regions, and all of this here at this palace goes to show that the aqua maintained far-reaching trade networks. The next members of the alliance were the Tepanex of Tlacopan, who were descendants of both Nawaz and the Otomi ethnic group.
00:06:37
Speaker
The Otomi have lived in the area much longer than the Nawaz, and there are still several Otomi groups today. The largest are the Inyanyo in Hidalgo. Takopan was established around 1400 CE, and it was originally just a small vassal state for the short-lived Tepanic Empire that ruled from a different city-state nearby.
00:06:59
Speaker
The Tepanec Empire expanded to control most of central Mexico very quickly, but they lost power when their final ruler died before his son was old enough to rule. Several of the people that they once cruelly subjugated rose up, including the Tepanec people of Tlacopan, and then the Triple Alliance was born. When they defeated their former rulers, the Alliance destroyed the original Tepanec city-state that was the center of their empire.
00:07:30
Speaker
The third and probably the most famous ah members of the Alliance were the Mexica. They began as vassals for the Tepanics and served as their mercenaries in exchange for land to settle on and a portion of the spoils of war.
00:07:46
Speaker
Over time, they gained renown as fierce warriors, and even though their economic influence slowly grew from their share of the loot when they raided on behalf of the Tepanics, the Mexica got the bad end of the deal. The land they were given to settle by the Tepanics only had brackish water, which is caused when seawater and freshwater are mixed together, and it has to be filtered before it's drinkable.
00:08:11
Speaker
The Tepanics controlled all of the resources in the region, and this included all of the freshwater springs. They were not known for freely sharing any of their resources with their subjects. The brackish water created a vast wetland that made it challenging for the Mexica to build on their land. But in spite of the difficulties, they built Tenochtitlan, the city that would become the core of one of the most well-known empires of Mesoamerica.
00:08:40
Speaker
The Mejica were able to transform a very small swampy island within Lake Texcoco into a massive, well-engineered city. They built a canal system similar to Venice that was used for transporting people and goods around the city.
00:08:55
Speaker
As more and more people moved to Tenochtitlan, artificial islands were built to expand the city as well as its agricultural area. But the increase in people and crops also meant an increased demand for water. This grew to be the main grievance between the Mexica and Tepanics, and it's what led to the Mexica forming the Triple Alliance and leading them to victory over their oppressors.
00:09:21
Speaker
Based on the surviving manuscripts from the Aztecs, Itz the Kulioki was the god of frost, cold, obsidian, the physical state of being dead, misery, punishment, winter, and the plan of Venus when it's the evening star. That is
Transition to Greek Deities
00:09:39
Speaker
quite a long list.
00:09:41
Speaker
According to the creation myth believed by the people of the Triple Alliance, and I specify that because there are many regional variations, the Sun God Tonatiu demanded tribute from the other gods before he would move across the sky.
00:09:57
Speaker
The god Tawis Kalpantekwuri, whose name translates to Lord of Dawn, threw an atlat spear at him but missed, and Taunatiu threw his own, which hit Tlawa Kalpantekwuri and killed him. Then he became Itzelakulioki, and he was always depicted from then on with an arrow in his forehead.
00:10:23
Speaker
The Sun God accepted his death as a sacrifice, and so he's always depicted in white clothes similar to that of a sacrificial victim. As I mentioned, he was associated with Venus as the evening star specifically.
00:10:39
Speaker
just for a little astronomical and astrological context. Venus is significant in many Mesoamerican beliefs since it's the second brightest object in the night sky. Honestly, it's pretty important in many beliefs around the world. The moon is obviously the first brightest in the night sky.
00:10:59
Speaker
Venus's position relative to the sun is on a 584 day cycle where Venus is the morning star for 263 days and then it disappears behind the sun and is not visible for 50 days and then it becomes the evening star for 263 days and then it's not visible again for eight days and then it restarts the cycle.
00:11:23
Speaker
The transformation of the Lord of the Dawn into It's the Kulioki was most likely representative of this cycle, and specifically the part where the morning star disappears behind the sun and then re-emerges as the evening star. Since this cycle doesn't align with the solar year, Venus isn't always the evening star during winter time.
00:11:48
Speaker
It takes a full eight years for Venus to cycle to realign back so that it appears in the night sky at the same exact spot on the same exact day. Even though a celebration was already held at the beginning of winter every year, a special feast was held on these years and it was much larger than the typical celebrations that were normally spent on the beginning of winter.
00:12:12
Speaker
Itsulyuki was associated with obsidian blades because of his role as a sacrificial victim and the fact that they were used in ritual sacrifices. And also as a god of coal because obsidian is a volcanic glass that absorbs heat, which makes it feel almost supernaturally cold to the touch.
00:12:32
Speaker
This, along with some other interpretive art associated with him, is why researchers think that he was associated with the state of being dead as opposed to being a god of the underworld or a god who causes death.
00:12:48
Speaker
Another reason that researchers think this is because even though he's depicted in scenes of sacrifice like other death gods and other death gods have been sacrificed like he was, he's not depicted in the same skeletal fashion, nor is he associated with the underworld in the way that other gods who are explicitly associated with death or guiding souls are.
00:13:14
Speaker
And there are many different death gods and goddesses from Mesoamerica to compare depictions against. So we will be returning to this region in a later episode. But for now, we will continue our tour. Like many of the other gods associated with death, he is associated with misery and punishment as well.
00:13:35
Speaker
There are many different death gods
Greek Myths and Seasonal Cycles
00:13:38
Speaker
and goddesses from Mesoamerica. We could compare It's the Kulioki and his iconography too, but they will be featured in a later episode. For now, we'll leave the frost covered mountains of Mesoamerica and continue to another region that few associate with wintery deities, the Mediterranean. We'll take a look at the ancient Greek representations of winter and death.
00:14:03
Speaker
Like Mesoamerica, parts of Greece do get ice and snow depending on the elevation and how far north it is. It's rare but even Athens gets a light dusting of snow every few years and it's in the southern part of Greece and it's at sea level. During the winter, strong icy winds blow from the north and they're personified as the god Boreas.
00:14:27
Speaker
Boreas is the god of these freezing northern winds, the storms that they cause, winter, and of ice. While not explicitly a god of death, he is associated with death caused by winter storms. Offerings were made to him to protect sailors or travelers who had to travel during the winter, and offerings were also made to ask for his wrath to be directed towards their enemies.
00:14:53
Speaker
In one famous example, it was said that the Athenians were able to withstand invasion by the Persians under Xerxes because they prayed to Boreas, who responded by destroying 400 Persian ships in a sudden winter storm. He was depicted with a billowing cloak and a conch shell that he used to call these powerful storms similar to Tritons, and he had a violent temper that matched the rough storms and howling winds that came in during the winter. In the most famous myth about Boreas, he abducts the Athenian princess Orythia and forces her to have his children. One of these is the Greek goddess of snow, Kioni. After this, Orythia was deified as the goddess of cold mountain winds.
00:15:40
Speaker
Despite his lesser status amongst modern Greek mythology, Boreas was so influential to the Greek world that, according to their worldview, there was a mythical sunny utopia far to the north called Hyperborea, which literally translates to beyond Boreas. It was said that the people there lived to be over 1,000 years old, and some authors said that they were giants.
00:16:06
Speaker
The Roman author Iliens specifically gives a height of six cubits for three of the Hyperborean priests of Apollo, which is about 2.7 meters or almost nine feet tall.
00:16:19
Speaker
In some myths, these hyperboreans were the descendants of Boreas himself. In other myths, they were the chosen favorites of Apollo. But either way, it was specifically called out that they were sheltered from the wrath of Boreas through divine intervention alone.
00:16:37
Speaker
Boreas wasn't an entirely malevolent deity, though. Because of his association with strong winds, he was also associated with fast horses, and when a horse was particularly swift, riders would say the horse was fathered by Boreas.
00:16:53
Speaker
Even though many of his myths are lost to us, we can still find his influence in the names of some of the things associated with the north, cold, and or winds, like the northern boreal forests and the northern lights, also known as the aurora borealis. Now the next Greek embodiment of death and winter that we're going to look at is a pair of famous goddesses, Demeter and Persephone.
00:17:20
Speaker
Neither were specifically goddesses of winter, but both were goddesses of the underworld, and together they represent the death of plants at wintertime and the famine caused by abnormally long, harsh winters. The abduction of Persephone by Hades is one of the most famous Greek myths and probably the most famous mythical explanation of the seasonal cycles, so I won't rehash it in detail.
00:17:46
Speaker
The core of it is that Hades, god of the underworld, abducted Persephone, goddess of spring. Her mother Demeter, goddess of agriculture and fertility, becomes so overwhelmed with grief that she plunges the entire world into a long barren winter that causes a famine and she searches for Persephone across the world.
00:18:07
Speaker
Once Demeter finds her daughter has been taken to the underworld, she appeals to Zeus for aid in getting Persephone back. But because Persephone had eaten pomegranate in the underworld, she was forever bound to it and could not completely leave. As a compromise, she's able to leave the underworld for part of the year and with their happiness at being reunited, they bring spring and then summer to the earth together.
00:18:32
Speaker
But when Persephone has to return to her duties as queen of the underworld, her absence and Demeter's grief cause winter to spread over the earth again. This myth is connected to the annual ritual known as the Eleusinian Mysteries, and it was held every autumn in the sanctuary of Demeter at Eleusis. Eleusis was said to be one of the places that Demeter stopped on her search for Persephone, and when she found her daughter, Demeter returned to share agriculture with humans for the very first time here.
00:19:03
Speaker
Not a lot is known about the cult of Demeter or the ritual because, as the name implies, it was kept secret from everyone who wasn't an initiate. However, archaeological evidence and fragments of personal accounts have given us some insight. Initiates would recreate Demeter's role in the abduction of Persephone, and they too would go on a deeply emotional journey that was meant to bring about profound insight through experiencing grief, determination, and transformation. And at the end, they would gain enlightenment and potentially the knowledge to give themselves the perfect afterlife.
00:19:41
Speaker
The Eleusinian mysteries lasted 10 days and started with a procession of sacred artifacts, followed by a ritual cleansing of each participant, and then the participants fasted, reflecting on the fact that it was said Demeter didn't eat anything while she searched for her daughter. After the preparations are done, participants join in an all-night vigil, which represented Demeter's tireless search, and then they would consume a drink called Kaikion.
00:20:11
Speaker
In recent decades, researchers have been able to run detailed chemical analyses of the residue found in cups that were used during the Eleusinian mysteries and similar ritual ceremonies that were associated with the Cult of Demeter.
00:20:26
Speaker
They found traces of the ergot fungi, which is known to have a psychoactive alkaloid similar to LSD. After fasting for several days, staying awake all night, and then drinking Kaekyun, the initiates would enter the Telestrion, or initiation hall. We don't know what happened inside, but it was said to represent the descent into the underworld, and so part of this could include sending the initiates into darkness.
00:20:55
Speaker
Other cultures around the world have rituals for reaching altered states of consciousness through the combination of psychoactives and sensory deprivation. Even when sober, people are likely to hallucinate after just 15 minutes of sensory deprivation. The only thing that we do know of what happened inside the Telisterion was that they completed a ritual of quote, things done, things shown and things said.
00:21:21
Speaker
but sharing any of the details was reportedly punishable by death. After emerging from the Telisterion, the public was then allowed to join in the celebrations.
00:21:32
Speaker
There was a massive feast that lasted all night and people danced at a site called Rarian Field, which is said to be the exact spot where Demeter taught humans agriculture and the first grain crop ever grew. On the final day of the celebrations, libations were ritualistically poured out for the dead onto this field from special vessels called Plimicoi.
00:21:58
Speaker
As I previously mentioned, both Persephone and Demeter were goddesses of the underworld. Persephone is famously the queen of the underworld as the wife of Hades, but her name indicates that she may have once had her own older association with the underworld before the Greeks.
00:22:14
Speaker
The exact origin of her name is unclear, and there were many variants to her name across different Greek literature, and this is a good indicator that it was not originally a Greek name. Many writers could not settle on the spelling or even pronunciation of it. The most widely accepted interpretations of her name are Bringer of Death or Destroyer of Death.
00:22:39
Speaker
either would fit as her roles as Queen of the Underworld in Bringer of Death and as a spring goddess who brings new life or ends death. Similarly, the origin of Demeter's name is fuzzy and gives evidence that she was worshipped by people before the Greeks worshipped her, and most scholars agree that her name likely translates to Grainmother or Earthmother.
00:23:07
Speaker
Across Greece, she was mostly known as the goddess of agriculture, food, and fertility. But as with most deities, she had regional variants. In Attica, she held the title of Enesidora, which means she who sends up gifts. And she was viewed as an underworld goddess who sent gifts up through the earth from the underworld. Many classicists have interpreted that as a representation of the grain growing up from the earth.
00:23:37
Speaker
In Arcadia, she was known as Demeter Melina, which means Black Demeter. In this form, she was depicted as a snake-haired woman with a horse's head holding a dolphin and a dove. This has been interpreted as symbols displaying her power over the underworld, the sea, and the air as a goddess of the entire world and not just Earth as in the ground.
00:24:04
Speaker
In this form, she was seen as a goddess of both death and fertility alongside her daughter Persephone, and they both performed their roles together. In Sparta, she was also a goddess of death and fertility known as Demeter Thonia, or Demeter of the Underworld. When someone died in Sparta, a sacrifice was made in her name at the end of the mourning period.
00:24:28
Speaker
The fact that there are so many regional associations with the underworld for Demeter combined with her overall association with Earth indicates that she may have once been a nature goddess representing the seasonal cycles of death in the winter time and fertility in the spring all on her own.
00:24:46
Speaker
As I'm sure you know, there are more Greek gods of death and the underworld, but Phorias, Demeter, and Persephone are the only ones associated with both death and winter. We'll explore the others in a future episode, but for now, we're heading north for a look at the pantheons in more wintry climates. Our journey now takes us to Scotland, where we'll meet another deity who rules over both death and
Scottish and Alpine Winter Myths
00:25:11
Speaker
winter.
00:25:12
Speaker
Scotland's rugged landscape has long shaped the lives and stories of its people. Its breathtaking highlands, rocky coastlines, expansive moorlands, and treacherous bogs create an environment that's both awe-inspiring and sometimes dangerous.
00:25:30
Speaker
Winters in Northern Scotland can be especially harsh, marked by freezing temperatures, fierce winds, and heavy snowfall that isolate communities and test survival. Historically, this seasonal struggle influenced agricultural practices since survival through the winter was largely dependent on the ability to stock up enough food to last through these long periods of isolation. In Scottish myths, the Kalyaknabhaira is a powerful goddess who rules over the harsh, dark winter months.
00:25:59
Speaker
It's said that she formed the mountains and the locks across Scotland with her staff, and she's described as unyielding and impartial when she brings snow, frost, and death as she moves across the countryside. She's almost always described as an old giant woman with long white hair.
00:26:18
Speaker
In some variations, she has a single eye in the center of her forehead like a cyclops. She's often described as having the ability to see the unseen and to see through any false intentions. In fact, the origin for the word kaliak in old Gaelic means hidden one or veiled one. In modern Gaelic, it's become synonymous with old woman or hag. One of the places associated with the kaliak is the Gulf of Chlorivreken,
00:26:48
Speaker
This is on the western side of Scotland's near the Inner Hebrides Isles and it's the third largest whirlpool in the entire world. It's caused by a seabed that's as jagged and rocky as the Isles and mainland of Scotland. There's a place within the Gulf where a steep natural wall suddenly rises up 41 meters or 135 feet from the sea floor.
00:27:14
Speaker
When the fast-moving currents at high tide crash into this wall, they're forced up to the surface and they create massive waves that can create the potentially deadly whirlpool as they crash back down. When it's at its most powerful, the waves have been documented as up to 9 meters or 30 feet high, and the whirlpool can be as large as 50 meters or 160 feet wide.
00:27:40
Speaker
Korivreken means cauldron of the played, and the name comes from a myth about the Kalyak. In the story, she uses the gulf each autumn to wash her giant played. She calls in the heavy northern winds that blow in raging storms to feed the whirlpool within the gulf until it becomes a raging maelstrom. The gulf churns for days, and when she's done with her played, it's bright white.
00:28:09
Speaker
This is what she uses to blanket the mountains with snow for the first snow of winter. On the islands near the Gulf, she is known as Kalyakushka, which means water witch or water hag. And it's said that she lives at the bottom of the whirlpool here, waiting to drown the sailors or swimmers who get too close.
00:28:31
Speaker
She's found across the North Channel in Ireland as well, though here she's known as the Kyla and is a goddess associated with Samhain or the original Halloween, winter, cattle, deer, and rocky mountainous places. I give some info about her in episode four, The Neolithic Origins of Halloween, since the cairn that is said to be her tomb has ties to Samhain, and it's part of a larger burial complex that's known as the Sheev Nikyla, which means the hill of the witch or hag.
00:29:02
Speaker
The name is in reference to the myth of how the Kyla formed this place and how it led to her death. If you're curious to learn more, check out episode four. The Kyla rules over the world for half of the year from Samhain or Halloween to Beltana or Mayday, and then Brigid or Brig, the goddess of healing, poetry, wisdom, workers, and springtime, takes over and rules from Beltana to Samhain.
00:29:31
Speaker
In some myths, the Kyla and Brigid are the same woman, and the Kyla is said to drink from the well of youth on Imolk every year to return to her youthful form. Imolk is another holiday that is associated with Brigid. Just how Lugus-na is also associated with the Kyla, just not as famously as Samhain.
00:29:54
Speaker
In other myths, the Kyla and Brigid battle through their seasonal elements for control over the world, and this battle starts around Immulch, which is on February 1st. It's said that if February 1st is a clear day, then that's actually the Kyla's doing because she's going out to gather firewood for a longer winter.
00:30:17
Speaker
and that's when their battle begins. Whether as the Kalyakh Nabaira in Scotland or the Kyla in Ireland, this goddess reflects the raw power and cyclical inevitability of winter. Next, we'll head to the Alpine region, encompassing modern-day Austria, southern Germany, Switzerland, and northern Italy. The Alps are famous for their towering mountains, dense forests, and gorgeous but isolated valleys.
00:30:46
Speaker
Winters in this area are particularly severe, with heavy snowfall, freezing temperatures and avalanches posing a constant threat. Historically, communities in the Alps relied on pastoralism, which means they mostly raised domesticated animals and moved semi-nomadically or fully nomadically based on seasonal grazing lands. that They supplemented their diets with small-scale agriculture, but nothing on larger scales like fields and fields of grain. For nomadic herders, winter can be a period of intense hardship as supplies dwindle and travel becomes treacherous.
00:31:25
Speaker
These environmental challenges shaped Alpine mythology. Alpine mythology began as a fusion of Gallo-Roman, Germanic, and Slavic mythologies, and it was shaped to reflect the region's stark beauty and dangers to become the unique thing that it is today. In Alpine mythology, Perk is a goddess associated with winter morality, education, children, and often the souls of the dead.
00:31:51
Speaker
As Christianity spread through the region, Perk was adopted to become associated with the religious feast day like many other pagan goddesses were, like Brigid. But unlike the others, she didn't become a saint. Instead, Perk played a dual role as a benevolent protector and a harsh demonic enforcer.
00:32:13
Speaker
Perkz maintained the social order during their bleak winter months by instilling discipline and community cohesion in the face of nature's harshness. Her malevolent side was probably played up by the influence of Christianity, but she was likely still a goddess with dual nature in pre-Christian times. Her name overlaps with both the word for hidden and the word for bright in Old High German. Pergahn and Brecht, respectively.
Germanic and Slavic Deity Transformations
00:32:43
Speaker
It's been theorized that this could have been an intentional play on words to reflect her dark and light aspects. Modern humans are not the only ones who enjoy a good pun. In some myths, she's described as a beautiful young woman. In others, she's described as an old hag. In both forms, she's depicted as having one foot like a swan.
00:33:07
Speaker
Perkz rewards those who complete their domestic tasks, especially spinning, which is an incredibly important task for a culture reliant on clothes to keep them warm and alive during incredibly cold winters. She punishes those who fail to uphold their duties to the community very harshly. Her punishments often involve gruesome tales of disembowelment that earned her the nickname Belly Slitter.
00:33:36
Speaker
Her rewards for those who are diligent could be immense prosperity, exceptionally good luck, or blessings of fertility. Similar to the Wild Hunt myth that's found in other Germanic, Celtic, and Slavic cultures, Perkda is said to lead a horde of spirits called the Perkden that roam during the 12 days of Christmas, which is also known as Epiphany.
00:33:58
Speaker
Epiphany is the feast that Perchda eventually became tacked on to, and some scholars believe that's because this was the time of year that her feast used to be as well. Nearby, in modern-day central Germany, a similar Germanic goddess is Frau Hol, also known as Hulda or Old Mother Frost.
00:34:21
Speaker
In contrast to Perk, who is often depicted as a wandering figure in the wilderness, Frau Hol is strongly associated with specific locations. She's said to live at the bottom of a pond in the high Messiner Mountains that is called Frau Hol Pond today. There's even a statue of her that overlooks it now. And there's now an entire park dedicated to her in the area where the pond is.
00:34:49
Speaker
Frau Hol is a goddess of winter fertility, hunting, crafting, and death. She taught humans how to make linen out of flax, she makes it snow every year, and she guards the souls of young children when they pass. There's evidence that she was a very powerful deity within the pre-Christian pantheon of this region,
00:35:11
Speaker
Early Christian missionaries documented that the locals called her Queen of Heaven, and they held a feast for her near the winter solstice, which, to the dismay of the Christian missionaries, was often on Christmas Eve. She was the leader of the wild hunt for this region, the full-blown, in-the-sky, demonic and spiritual and godly horde wild hunt.
00:35:38
Speaker
This role was normally filled by Odin or Lucifer or King Arthur in some legends, and she's the only one who's depicted as a woman leading the Wild Hunt. Unlike Perik, Frau Hol was not adapted into a feast day association, nor was she sainted. Instead, she was demonized and became associated with witchcraft and leading women down sinful paths.
00:36:07
Speaker
Most likely, this choice to demonize her came from the fact that her cult was such a huge following and so important to the people of the area. Some later texts with very obvious Christian influence say that she's cursed for choosing to go on hunts for all eternity rather than going to heaven.
00:36:27
Speaker
Her daughters were all turned into dogs and together they're tasked with punishing the lazy during the 12 Nights of Christmas by going door to door to every human and checking if they've done all of their tasks. Next we'll head east where there's a pre-Christian Slavic goddess with similar traits as Frau Hol and Perkht. Her name is Marzana, Morina, or Mara depending on the region.
00:36:52
Speaker
Like Germanic beliefs, much of the pre-Christian Slavic mythology has been lost, and what remains was entwined with Christianity very deeply. We know very little about Marzana as she was pre-Christian contact. According to the very first mention of her that's found in written records that is one of the only mentions of her pre-Christian contact, it says that she's a benevolent goddess of the earth, creation, and fertility.
00:37:23
Speaker
But then later source documents that are roughly at the time of Christian contact a little before have her listed as a goddess of death, the plague, winter, and nightmares. For context, this was also the time when the plague was ravaging Europe. It's likely that this switch could have happened because of that.
00:37:47
Speaker
But because it's unclear, folklorists in the 18th century filled in the gaps with several different myths to try to explain this transformation. The most famous of these myths is that she became the goddess of death when her husband, Yarrillo, the god of agriculture and war, cheated on her, and then she became so bitter and cold, and then she killed him in revenge. From then on, she is the goddess of the underworld and winter.
00:38:17
Speaker
Yurillo returns from the dead in the spring in this myth to get his revenge and kills Marzana, bringing about the end of winter. Since they're gods and they can't be permanently killed, this cycle of revenge continues forever, creating the annual seasonal cycles. The only celebration associated with Marzana today is called the Todastrogon, which translates to to drive out death.
00:38:45
Speaker
This festival in the springtime was held to bring the end of winter and it involves an effigy of Marzana being ritually drowned and sometimes burned and sometimes both. This is said to send her back to the underworld so that spring can begin anew.
00:39:04
Speaker
Winters in these regions were often harsh and unrelenting. They had heavy snowfall, icy winds, and prolonged darkness. So it's no wonder that this type of ritual has continued into modern times alongside Christianity. These three goddesses share many of the same traits, especially their ties to winter and death.
Norse Mythology and Hel
00:39:25
Speaker
But interestingly, they were integrated into Christianity in three different ways.
00:39:29
Speaker
Now, for the final leg of our journey, we'll travel further north to Scandinavia, because what would an episode about winter and death be without some Norse mythology? There are quite a few Norse gods and goddesses associated with death or winter, but Hel is the only deity who is connected to both.
00:39:50
Speaker
She's the daughter of Loki and Angroboda, and she's described as half blue and half flesh, which researchers have interpreted to mean half dead and half alive. Not metaphorically, though, but literally, as in one half of her body is a corpse and the other half is still alive. Hel is the goddess of the dead and ruler of one of the potential places for souls to go in the afterlife of Norse mythology.
00:40:19
Speaker
Unlike most other goddesses, Hel rules her realm entirely on her own without a husband. She's not mentioned in many of the surviving sources, but what's left depicts her as neither malevolent nor benevolent, and she doesn't meddle in the affairs of others ever. She simply exists as an inevitable and impartial force.
00:40:43
Speaker
In her origin myth, Odin learns of a prophecy that she and her siblings Jormungandr and Fenrir are crucial to bringing about Ragnarok, which is the event that will be the destruction of the world. In order to prevent her role in these events, Odin banishes Hel to Nilfheim, the primordial realm of ice that lies under the roots of the world tree.
00:41:07
Speaker
This frozen wasteland is why she's associated with harsh, frozen, and wintery landscapes, because this is where she built the realm of her own. Her realm, which is also called hell, is for those who died of natural causes like old age or sickness, or for people who died in ways that weren't considered honorable.
00:41:29
Speaker
Balder ended up here when he died due to Loki's trickery instead of going to Valhalla or Folkvanger, the realms that are reserved for those who died honorably in battle. Hell is guarded by Garm, a blood-covered hellhound who is briefly introduced in the oldest surviving source for Norse mythology, the poetic Edda.
00:41:49
Speaker
It says, of all the gods is Odin the greatest, and Slepnir the best of steeds, Bifrost of bridges, Bragi of scalds, Habrock of hawks, and Garm of hounds. So this 10th century CE description of Garm is calling him the bestest boy.
00:42:12
Speaker
Just before hell is a place called Nestrond, or nastrond, which translates to corpse shore. This was the Nordic bad place. This is where the people who did terrible things in life went when they died, not to hell. Nestrond was also home to the monstrous serpent called Nidog, who was said to chew on the corpses and gnaw at the roots of the world tree.
00:42:39
Speaker
Despite such a terrifying and unwelcoming description of its queen, guardian, and location, Hell was actually a warm and inviting place. It was described as a large lavish welcoming hall where Hell provided hospitality for those who came to her. Hell wasn't meant to be an afterlife for punishment. It was meant to provide eternal comfort and safety from the harsh landscape outside.
00:43:09
Speaker
It's reminiscent of some of the older earth goddesses who were said to take the dead back into their embrace when they were buried into the earth.
Episode Conclusion and Audience Engagement
00:43:17
Speaker
The armies of Hel are going to rally behind Loki against the Aesir at Ragnarok according to the prophecy, so she will care for her warriors in the same way that Odin does at Valhalla or Freya does at Folkvanger. I'm sure Hel would not want her warriors just wasting away on a frozen wasteland.
00:43:37
Speaker
We will certainly be back in a later episode to delve more deeply into the other realms of the dead in Norse mythology, but this is the end of our tour of deities who are associated with winter and death. We've seen ways that these deities reflect humanity's enduring relationship with the harshest of seasons. Most of the gods and goddesses were also related to rebirth and fertility though, which embodies the hope and renewal that comes with the end of winter.
00:44:07
Speaker
Thanks for joining me for this episode. In the next episode, episode eight, we'll be continuing our series about death gods and goddesses. Until next time.
00:44:20
Speaker
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00:44:31
Speaker
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00:44:48
Speaker
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00:45:27
Speaker
The Archaeology Podcast Network is 10 years old this year. Our executive producer is Ashley Airy, our social media coordinator is Matilda Seabreck, and our chief editor is Rachel Rodin. The Archaeology Podcast Network was co-founded by Chris Webster and Tristan Boyle in 2014 and is part of CulturoMedia and DigTech LLC. This has been a presentation of the Archaeology Podcast Network. Visit us on the web for show notes and other podcasts at www.archpodnet.com. Contact us at chrisatarchaeologypodcastnetwork.com.