Donar's Oak

Jove's Oak (interpretatio romana for Donar's Oak and therefore sometimes
referred to as Thor's Oak) was a sacred tree of the Germanic pagans located in
an unclear location around what is now the region of Hesse, Germany.
According to the 8th century Vita Bonifatii auctore Willibaldi, the Anglo-Saxon
missionary Saint Boniface and his retinue cut down the tree earlier the same
century. Wood from the oak was then reportedly used to build a church at the site
dedicated to Saint Peter. Sacred trees and sacred groves were widely venerated "Bonifacius" (1905) by Emil Doepler
by the Germanic peoples.

Contents
Willibald's Life of Saint Boniface
Germanic tree and grove veneration
Location of Gaesmere
Role in Bonifatian hagiography and imagery
See also
Notes
References
External links

Willibald's Life of Saint Boniface

According to Willibald's 8th century Life of Saint Boniface, the felling of the tree
occurred during Boniface's life earlier the same century at a location at the time
known as Gaesmere (for details, see discussion below).[1]

Although no date is provided, the felling may have occurred around 723 or
724.[2] Willibald's account is as follows (note that Robinson has translated robor
Iobis, "tree of Jove", as "oak of Jupiter"): A depiction of Boniface destroying
Thor's oak from The Little Lives of
Cum vero Hessorum iam Now at that time many of the the Saints (1904), illustrated by
Charles Robinson.
multi, catholica fide subditi Hessians, brought under the
ac septiformis spiritus Catholic faith and confirmed
gratia confirmati, manus by the grace of the
inspositionem acciperunt, sevenfold spirit, received the
et quidem, nondum animo laying on of hands; others
confortati, intermeratae indeed, not yet strengthened
fidei documenta integre in soul, refused to accept in
perceipere rennuerunt, alii their entirety the lessons of
etiam lignis et fontibus the inviolate faith. Moreover
clanculo, alii autem aperte some were wont secretly,
sacrificabant; alii vero some openly to sacrifice to
aruspicia et divinationes, trees and springs; some in
prestigia atque icantationes secret, others openly
occulte, alii quidem practiced inspections of
manifeste exercebant; alii victims and divinations,
quippe auguria et auspicia legerdemain and
intendebant diversosque incantations; some turned
sacrificandi ritus their attention to auguries
incoluerunt; alii etiam, and auspices and various
quibus mens sanior inerat, sacrificial rites; while others,
omni abeicta gentilitatis with sounder minds,
profantione, nihil horum abandoned all the
commisserunt. Quorum profanations of heathenism,
consultu atque consilio and committed none of
roborem quendam mirae these things. With the
magnitudinis, qui prisco advice and counsel of these
paganorum vocabulo last, the saint attempted, in
appellatur robor Iobis, in the place called Gaesmere,
loco qui dicitur Gaesmere, while the servants of God
servis Dei secum stood by his side, to fell a
adstantibus succidere certain oak of extraordinary
temptavit. Cumque, mentis size, which is called, by an
constantia confortatus, old name of the pagans, the
arborem succidisset, — Oak of Jupiter. And when in
magna quippe aderat copia the strength of his steadfast
paganorum, qui et inimicum heart he had cut the lower
deorum suorum intra se notch, there was present a
diligentissime devotabant, great multitude of pagans,
— sed ad modicum quidem who in their souls were
arbore praeciso, confestim earnestly cursing the enemy
inmensa roboris moles, of their gods. But when the
divino desuper flatu fore side of the tree was
exagitata, palmitum notched only a little,
confracto culmine, corruit et suddenly the oak's vast bulk,
quasi superni nutus solatio driven by a blast from
in quattuor etiam partes above, crashed to the
disrupta est, et quattuor ground, shivering its crown
ingentis magnitudinis of branches as it fell; and, as
aequali longitudine trunci if by the gracious
absque fratrum labore compensation of the Most
adstantium apparuerunt. High, it was also burst into
Quo viso, prius devotantes four parts, and four trunks of
pagani etiam versa vice huge size, equal in length,
benedictionem Domino, were seen, unwrought by
pristina abiecta the brethren who stood by.
maledictione, credentes At this sight the pagans who
reddiderunt. Tunc autem before had cursed now, on
 summae sanctitatis the contrary, believed, and
antistes, consilio inito cum blessed the Lord, and put
fratribus, ligneum ex away their former reviling.
supradictae arboris metallo Then moreover the most
oratorium construxit holy bishop, after taking
eamque in honore sancti counsel with the brethren,
Petri apostoli dedicavit.[3] built from the timber of the
tree wooden oratory, and
dedicated it in honor of Saint
Peter the apostle.[4]

Germanic tree and grove veneration

Sacred groves and sacred trees were venerated throughout the history of the Germanic peoples and were targeted for destruction
by Christian missionaries during the Christianization of the Germanic peoples. Ken Dowden notes that behind this great oak
dedicated to Donar, the Irminsul (also felled by Christian missionaries in the 8th century), and the Sacred tree at Uppsala
(described by Adam of Bremen in the 11th century), stands a mythic prototype of an immense world tree, described in Norse
mythology as Yggdrasil.[5]

Location of Gaesmere
In the nineteenth century already Gaesmere was identified as Geismar in the Schwalm-Eder district, for instance by August
Neander.[6] There are a few dissenting voices: in his 1916 translation of Willibald's Vita Bonifacii, George W. Robinson says
"The location [of the tree] is uncertain. There are in Hesse several places named Geismar."[1] Historian Thomas F. X. Noble
(2000) describes the location of the tree felling as "still unidentified".[2] In the late 19th century, folklorist and philologist Francis
Barton Gummere identifies the Gaesemere of the attestation as Geismar, a district of Frankenberg located in Hesse.[7]

However, most scholars agree that the site mentioned by Wilibald is Geismar near Fritzlar. In 1897 historian C. Neuber placed the
Donar Oak "im Kreise Fritzlar".[8] While Gregor Richter, in 1906, noted that one scholar considered Hofgeismar as a possible
location, he himself comments that most people consider Geismar near Fritzlar as the right place.[9] Unequivocal identification of
Geismar near Fritzlar as the location of the Donar Oak is found in the Catholic Encyclopedia,[10] in teaching materials for
religious studies classes in Germany,[11] in the work of Alexander Demandt,[12] in histories of the Carolingians,[13] and in the
work of Lutz von Padberg.[14][15] The Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde notes that for Willibald it was probably
not necessary to specify the location any further because he presumed it widely known.[16] This Geismar was close to Büraburg,
then a hill castle and a Frankish stronghold.[17]

Role in Bonifatian hagiography and imagery

One of the focal points of Boniface's life, the scene is frequently repeated, illustrated, and reimagined. Roberto Muller, for
instance, in a retelling of Boniface's biography for young adults, has the four parts of the tree fall down to the ground and form a
cross.[18] In Hubertus Lutterbach's fictional expansion of the Boniface correspondence, Boniface relates the entire event in a long
letter to Pope Gregory II, commenting that it took hours to cut the tree down, and that any account that says the tree fell down
miraculously is a falsification of history.[19]

See also
Capitulatio de partibus Saxoniae, a law code imposed by Charlemagne in 785 that prescribes death for Saxon
pagans refusing to convert to Christianity
 Massacre of Verden, a massacre of 4,500 captive pagan Saxons ordered by Charlemagne in 782
Caill Tomair, a grove dedicated by Thor destroyed by the forces of Brian Born in early 1000

Notes
1. Robinson 63.
2. Emerton xiv.
3. Levison 30–32.
4. Robinson 62—64.
5. Dowden 72.
6. Neander 51.
7. Gummere 388.
8. Neuber 253-55.
9. Richter 52.
10. Mershman.
11. Dam 13.
12. Demandt 424.
13. Riche 40.
14. Von Padberg, Bonifatius 41.
15. Von Padberg, Wynfreth-Bonifatius 74.
16. Udolph and Gensen 586.
17. Schieffer 148.
18. Muller 76–77.
19. Lutterbach 47-58.

References
Dam, Harmjan (2013). Kirchengeschichte im Religionsunterricht: Basiswissen und Bausteine für die Klassen 5–
10 (https://books.google.com/books?id=H0ya9ov7fBkC&pg=SL13-PA5-IA14). Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht.
ISBN 9783525776414. "Zerstörung der Donar-Eiche in Geismar bei Fritzlar (Nord-Hessen)"
Demandt, Alexander (2008). Geschichte der Spätantike: das Römische Reich von Diocletian bis Justinian 284-
565 n. Chr (https://books.google.com/books?id=tDBfQ015a44C&pg=PA424). Munich: C.H.Beck.
ISBN 9783406572418. "Bonifatius erbaute aus dem Holz der Donar-Eiche die erste Petruskirche der späteren
Stadt Fritzlar"
Dowden, Ken (2000). European Paganism: The Reality of Cult from Antiquity to the Middle Ages. Routledge.
ISBN 0415120349
Emerton, Ephraim (2000). The Letters of Saint Boniface. Columbia University Press. ISBN 0231120923
Gummere, Francis B. (1892). Germanic Origins: A Study in Primitive Culture. Charles Scribner's Sons.
Levison, Wilhelm (1905). Vitae Sancti Bonifatii archiepiscopi moguntini (https://books.google.com/books?id=tbA-
AAAAYAAJ). Monumenta Germaniæ historica: Scriptores rerum germanicorum in usum scholarum separatim
editi. Hannover and Leipzig: Hahn. OCLC 2116528 (https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/2116528) (Latin)
Lutterbach, Hubertus (2004). Bonifatius - mit Axt und Evangelium: eine Biographie in Briefen (https://books.googl
e.com/books?id=G0omAQAAIAAJ) (in German). Herder. ISBN 9783451285097.
Mershman, Francis (1913). "St. Boniface" (https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Catholic_Encyclopedia_(1913)/St._B
oniface). In Herbermann, Charles (ed.). Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
Muller, Roberto (1967). Bring Me an Ax!. Notre Dame: Dujarie.
Neander, August; Schneider, K. F. Th (1850). General history of the Christian religion and church (https://books.g
oogle.com/books?id=DK5UAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA51). Crocker & Brewster.
Neuber, C. (1897). "Die altere Geschichte von Fritzlar" (https://books.google.com/books?id=0fssAAAAYAAJ&pg=
PA253). Hessenland: Zeitschrift für die Kulturpflege des Bezirksverbandes Hessen: 253–55. Retrieved
26 September 2016.
Padberg, Lutz von (1989). Wynfreth-Bonifatius. Wuppertal: Brockhaus. ISBN 3417211042.
 Padberg, Lutz von (2003). Bonifatius: Missionar und Reformer (https://books.google.com/books?id=XL2PML7We
KYC&pg=PA41). Munich: C.H.Beck. ISBN 9783406480195. "...in unmittelbare Nähe den Fränkischen Stützpunkt
Büraburg-Fritzlar"
Riche, Pierre (1993). The Carolingians: A Family Who Forged Europe (https://books.google.com/books?id=Tcjy7
bCmFL0C&pg=PA40). U of Pennsylvania P. ISBN 9780812213423. "Protected by Frankish forces, Boniface
established a first monastery at Amoneburg and then, after destroying the sacred Donar Oak at Geismar, a
second in nearby Fritzlar"
Richter, Gregor (1906). "Bonifatiana III" (https://books.google.com/books?id=4g8PAAAAYAAJ&pg=RA1-PA52).
Fuldaer Geschichtsblätter. 5 (5): 49–62. Retrieved 26 September 2016.
Robinson, George W. (trans.) (1916). The Life of Saint Boniface by Willibald. Harvard University Press.
Schieffer, Theodor (1972). Winfrid-Bonifatius und die Christliche Grundlegung Europas (https://books.google.co
m/books?id=Gn09AAAAYAAJ) (in German). Darmstadt: Wiss. Buchges. ISBN 9783534060658.
Udolph, J; Gensen, R (1978). "Bonifatius". In Hoops, Johannes (ed.). Reallexikon der Germanischen
Altertumskunde (https://books.google.com/books?id=OGi7P8ONaKwC&pg=PA221). Walter de Gruyter. pp. 584–
89. ISBN 9783110065121.

External links
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Donar%27s_Oak&oldid=907645558"

This page was last edited on 24 July 2019, at 09:29 (UTC).

Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using
this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia
Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.