Tacitus' Lost Letters

Chapter Four: Letter Two

Chapter Four: Letter 2

(translator's note: the opening to this letter seems not be among the dipyths found so far.)

But, here we find, they honor a group of three which they call Matrones. It sounds like our word 'matrones' but, in fact, it comes from the Ubi word : mnas They are members of a rather formidable breed of mnas brictas "women endowed with magic"(1).

They seem to be Norns of some sort. Norns are most common north of here among the Viks. There they speak of a beautiful hall near the spring under an ash tree, and from it come three maidens whose names are Urth, Verthandi, Dkuld. Theses maidens shape the lives of men, and are called Norns. They appoint very unequal destines for some have a good and abundant life, but others have little wealth or fame. Some have a long life and others a short one. The good Norns come from good stock and shape good lives, but those who meet with misfortune owe it to the evil Norns.(2)

Each clan here has their own Norns, that come to every child that is born in order to shape its life. (2)

They keep a supply of apples on their laps to eat when they grow old, to become young again. People invite them to feasts and give them gifts, especialy apples, when they leave, in order to ensure their good will.(3)

That's right -apples. Wouldn't be sufficient for ours... Can you imagine bringing mighty Jupiter or Apollo apples. Although whether a gift of apples really suffice, I will not venture an opinion on.

In the stonecarver's workshop, there is a nearly finished altar to these deities, dedicated by the Octocannae clan. Several are Albini - a tribe from Britannia - that are settled near here, too.

As I mentioned, I'm staying with Aufania and her mother, Vipsana and, through them, I had the good luck to become acquainted with the whole family of the Octocannae. I don't know her connection to this clan, since she is herself Ubi. But she seems to be settled here, and shows no intention of returning to her valley south of Agrippina.

The Octocannae are a separate clan - perhaps the absent husband is one of them - on the very outermost edge of the Ubi umbrella, with a small temple compound and several stone altars to the matrones. The Octocannae and the Albini are on quite friendly terms. One of the altars was dedicated by a group of four Albinis and 3 three Octocannae.

Apparently these Octoccannae are a stock of very good soldiers, which is a great honor among the Ubi - to be selected to join our legions. Many take Roman citizenship. It's the better families that send their boys to be soldiers here - not like in Rome. The Octocannae have intermarried quite often with the clan of the Albini - a tribe originally from Britannia, but forced to move here after we defeated Boudicca and her group. A lot of them now live quite close to here, in Albiniacum.(4)

I had the good fortune to see another Matrones altar - at the garrison in Bonn. Our party stopped there on the way up here and inclement weather obliged us to remain for some weeks...

One of the officers there has taken a liking to these deities and set a sanctuary with altars he himself paid for! I believe his name was Vettius.

His was inside, but in general, they judge it altogether unsuitable to hold the Goddesses enclosed within walls. They consecrate whole woods and groves, and they call these places by the names of the Deities; divinities, which are beheld only in contemplation and mental reverence.(5)

Groves of oaks are chosen even for their own sake, and the priests perform no rites without using the foliage of these trees... Anything growing on oak trees they think to have been sent down from heaven, and to be a signal that that particular tree has been chosen by a god.

I just had the marvelous opportunity to witness an augury in an oak grove. It was a moving and beautiful sight. And to experience this close up and first hand. Truly a blessing. These old bones, that they could still be part of it... It's all done at night and in the dark - save for a few torches for getting to the grove itself - it's in the deepest part of the woods and up a sharp incline.

I hope you received the first two sets of diptychs. This brings the third set to you. I hope to see the parchments soon. Are they on the way?

I hope, and trust this finds you thriving. If you are well, then I am heartened.

Greetings from Gelduba

(1) Meid, Wolfgang; Gaulish Inscriptions, their interpretation in the light of archaeological evidence and their value as a source of linguistic and sociologcal information, Archaeolingua, Series Mino1, 1992.

(2) The Poetic Edda, trans. by Lee M. Hollander, University of Texas Press: Austin, 1990.

(3) The Complete Fornaldarsögur Norðurlanda:Legendary Sagas of the Northland in English Translation: Norna-Gestr Saga (The Story of Norna-Gest) Early 14th century Translated by George L. Hardman, 2011 http://www.germanicmythology.com/FORNALDARSAGAS/NornaGestrSagaHardman.html

(4) Matronen und verwandte Gottheiten, ed. by Gerhard Bauchhenß and Günter Neumann Beiheft der Bonner Jahrbücher, Band 44, (Köln: Rheinland-Verlag)1987.

(5) Tacitus, Germania, Medieval Sourcebook, www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/tacitus1.html (5/7/2005) 16 pages