Teresa Mocharitsch (University of Graz)
When it comes to Roman-Germanic history, one name is omnipresent: Tacitus. The rediscovery of his writings is usually seen as a key moment after which Germanic prehistory is integrated in historical narratives. Most influential was the Germania that served as a resource for the construction of an imagined “Germanic identity”. Alongside, several political incidents were recorded in the Annals and Histories like the Batavian revolt and the battle of the Teutoburg Forest. They were paralleled with contemporary history and presented as templates for the fight for freedom. The role of the aggressor was transferred on whoever seemed fitting in the given situation: The Roman Catholic Church, Spain, or France.
From the 16th century onwards, it had been the male actors of these revolts that were idealized as symbols of liberation. A focus that is also prevalent in modern research, in which particularly the reception of the victor of the Teutoburg Forest – Arminius – is addressed frequently (e.g., Wiegels/ Woesler 1995, von Essen 1998, Hutter 2000, Wagner-Egelhaaf 2008, Landesverband Lippe 2009, Kösters 2009). However, the Tacitean texts feature several remarkable women too. Their descriptions led to an ongoing debate on the framing of female agency by Tacitus (e.g., Königer 1966, Schürenberg 1975, Späth 1994, Hälikkä 2002, Schmal 2006). It is striking that especially in a “barbaric” realm influential women are presented. Three female figures from the Germanic sphere gained quite some prominence through the reception of the Tacitean texts: Hertha/Nerthus, Veleda and the wife of Arminius, Thusnelda.
All three of them are attested mainly by Tacitus, even though Thusnelda remains anonymous in his texts. While her role is strictly limited to being a wife and – through her pregnancy – a designated mother, her name is only transmitted through Strabo. Veleda is shown as an important actor of the Batavian revolt. Though she is shielded from those who seek council, Tacitus emphasises her high regard and influence repeatedly. The connection between importance and invisibility is also a major feature of the goddess Nerthus, whose servants are drowned after seeing her cult image in a ritual.
Initially, Veleda and Thusnelda were presented as minor characters in male-dominated spheres but their representation emancipated since the 18th century as they became the motive of monumental paintings and sculptures. Meanwhile, the goddess Nerthus was depicted mainly in prints. Nevertheless, growing interest in early Germanic religion inscribed her name on various landscapes and made it a popular forename in Central and Northern Europe. It´s hardly a coincidence that she serves as eponym for an early feminist novel in Sweden.
This paper aims to fill a vacancy by focusing on Germanic women in the context of Tacitean reception: It investigates how these women are depicted in the 18th and 19th Century, how these representations are connected to literary adaptions, female authorship, and a distancing from the Roman source and finally how they are shaped by the respective cultural climates.