Remnants of Woden worship in Lower Saxony, recorded by Jacob Grimm:
Farmers in Schaumburg would plan the rye harvest so they all finished at the same time, at which point they would plant their scythes upright, pour out libations of beer, brandy or milk over the last strip they harvested, then wave their hats, beat their scythes three times and call out “Wôld, Wôld, Wôld!”
Nearby in Steinhude, farmers would go to a hill they called Heidenhügel after the fall harvest, light a bonfire, and wave their hats and call out “Wauden, Wauden!”
In Oldenburg, a custom survived of leaving a bunch of rye unharvested for Woden’s horse and dancing around it, similarly to what Grimm observed in Mecklenburg.
Painting by Kara Malikova.
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