Discover the Norse/Celtic Goddess of Fertility, trade, horticulture and shipping.
Wrapping up the Folklore Women theme for November, Nehalennia a famous Germanic or Celtic goddess known from the third century votive inscriptions. She was revered at the temples of Domburg on the island of Walcheren, and at Colijnspaat located on Zeeland, Netherlands. Nehalennia is displayed with a fruit basket and a loyal dog by her side. She has also been depicted leaning on a bow of a ship. She was a Celtic or Germanic deity, who had power over trading, shipping and possible fertility and horticulture.
The dog may represent a link to the underworld. Her basket of fruit is a fertility symbol according to scholars. Nehalennia is similar to the Suebian Isis, referred to by Tacitus, whose cultic image is represented by a form of a ship.
Written by Nifty Buckles
Sources and References: Boxhorn, Bediedinge van… Nehalennia, Leiden 1647, and further texts, noted by Cornelis Dekker, The Origins of Old Germanic Studies in the Low Countries 2007:209
Davidson, Hilda Ellis (1998). Roles of the Northern Goddess. Routledge. ISBN 0-415-13611-3
Picture: Nehalennia altar in Domburg, Netherlands. On her right is a dog, and in her hands a basket of apples. (Public Domain.)
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