Aryaman/Airyaman/Ariomanus/Eremon/Irmin-the Divine Concept of Aryanness

Within the various Indo-European mythologies there exists a God who encapsulates within Himself the very nature and essence of Aryan man. Aryaman (Indo-Aryan), Airyaman (Iranian]) Irmin (Germanic), Ariomanus(Celtic-Gallic) and Eremon (Celtic-Irish) are all cognates of the same deity which must hearken back to Proto-Indo-European times. Apart from the linguistic similarity, these Indo-European peoples are spread over different parts of the globe making linguistic borrowing highly unlikely. Therefore the undivided Aryans must have had a common name for this God.

Aryaman is a solar deity and represents the spirit and very essence of Aryan society. Jaan Puhvel interprets His name " 'Aryanness', the deified embodiment of social self-identification." (Comparative Mythology). He draws a link between Aryaman and the Iranian Airyaman. It should be noted the especial closeness between the Irish Eremon and the Gallic Ariomanus. Indeed Mr Puhvel states Eremon is "etymologically the equivalent of the Gaulish Ariomanus." He then goes on to draw further connections between Eremon/Ariomanus and Aryaman/Airyaman. He states that the names reflect the "same personified 'Aryanness' " and he uses the Proto-Indo-European term for this; *aryomn.

The Celtic Eremon and Ariomanus and the Indo-Iranian Aryanman and Airyaman represent the two geographical extremes of the Indo-European world and yet the names are consistent. These Celtic and Indo-Iranian deities are all connected amongst other things with road building and marriage contracting. Furthermore Mr Puhvel links these four deities with the Germanic Irmin who is specifically a Saxon God. The Irminsul, which is the West Germanic equivalent to the North Germanic Yggdrasil, a world pillar or tree contains the name of this deity, signifying that like His cognates He is a solar deity. The Old Saxon word irmintheod means mankind and by extension 'Irmin's people'. Again we have the same sort of meaning as found in the name Aryaman.

We can draw further links with the Indo-Aryan Manu or the Germanic Mannus. Mannus is the divine ancestor of the Germanic peoples. Manu has a similar position amongst the Indo-Aryans. The 'manus' in Ariomanus and the 'mon' in Eremon may be indirectly linked to this Indo-European divine ancestor. *Aryomn, the reconstructed PIE word for this deity indicates that His presence is to be found not only amongst the Indo-Iranians but to the chagrin of the Aryan-hating liberal multiculturalists He is present amongst the Celts and Teutons as well indicating once more the appropriateness of the term Aryan as a self-designation for all native Indo-Europeans. It is also an indication that aryanness is a concept worth cherishing and protecting. It is the spiritual and physical essence of who we are as Aryans.

Thus the Ar-man is the son (ar) of light; he is the son of the Aryan Gods and Goddesses as we have long known and felt within us. His totem is the eagle, the aar and his rune is the ar rune: " The 'ar', the 'urfyr' (primal fire, god), the 'sun', the 'light' will destroy spiritual as well as physical darkness, doubt, and uncertainty. In the sign of the Ar the Aryans-the sons of the sun-founded their law (Rita), the primal law of the Aryans, of which the earn, or eagle(Aaar), is the hieroglyph." (Guido von List, The Secret of the Runes/Das Geheimnis der Runen).

Irmin, the God of the Irminsul and the Herminones

Some scholars such as Rudolf Simek (Dictionary of Northern Mythology) doubt the existence of the Saxon God Irmin. Their argument is that apart from the Irminsul which presupposes a God Irmin there is no independent evidence to support the theory of there being a God called by this name. They interpret Irmin to mean `great, tall` and thus the Irminsul to be nothing other than a tall column or pillar. This argument is shallow and does not stand up to indepth critical analysis.

My first question is why our Saxon ancestors would erect great pillars to worship if they did not symbolise an actual God? Of course one could equate the Irminsul of the Saxons with the Yggdrasil of the Scandinavians and I believe that this on one level is a valid thing to do. However there is only very limited evidence that the Scandinavians used such great pillars as part of their rites. The Irminsul is a thing that seems to be peculiar to the Saxons and the tradition lives on today in Saxon areas of Germany and in England in the form of the Maypole.

Again there are some who say that "there is no evidence" to link the Maypole with the Irminsul but they are otherwise at a loss to explain the Maypole`s origin! Some in typical Freudian style view the Maypole as a phallic symbol despite there being no evidence to support this. A more likely comparison between Maypole dancing would be the dancing sunwise around certain megaliths which continues up to the present day. Often the people who carry out these customs do not understand the true purpose of the activity or that they are indeed carrying out a prextian sacred rite in honour of the Sun and/or Irmin. It is significant that this is both an English, Scandinavian and a continental Germanic custom. The spread of this customer may have started in Saxon Germany and spread northwards and into England with the arrival of the Anglo-Saxons. Of course with the growth of the English empire this custom spread to other parts of Britain and modern English speaking countries.


The customs that the Church could not suppress or plagiarise continue today in our folklore. A useful guide to such customs is to be found in In Search of Lost Gods. A Guide to British Folklore by Ralph Whitlock.

In addition to the Irminsul the name of Irmin is to be found in one of the three tribal designations referred to in Tacitus` Germania:

In their ancient songs, their only way of remembering or recording the past, they celebrate an earth-born god, Tuisco, and his son Mannus, as the origin of their race, as their founders. To Mannus they assign three sons, from whose names, they say, the coast tribes are called Ingaevones; those of the interior, Herminones; all the rest, Istaevones. Some, with the freedom of conjecture permitted by antiquity, assert that the god had several descendants, and the nation several appellations, as Marsi, Gambrivii, Suevi, Vandilii, and that these are genuine old names. (Germania 2:2, translated by Church and Brodribb) 

 The Frankish Table of Nations from around 520CE states:

"there were three brothers, first Erminus, second Inguo, third Istio; from them developed thirteen peoples."

Other classical writers such as Mela and Pliny also mention the Hermiones. The use of the `h` at the beginning of Hermiones or Herminones is purely a Latin aspirate and was not used by the Germanic peoples. Our ancestors would have referred to themselves as Irmiones/Ermiones or Irminones/Erminones or something cognate with this term. It is interesting that all three Germanic tribal divisions are said to alliterate, ie they each start with the same letter: Ingvaeones, Irminones and Istvaeones.

"The aspirate given by the Romans to Herminones, as to Hermunduri, is strictly no part of the German word, but is also very commonly retained by Latin writers of the Mid. Ages in proper names compounded with Irmin."[Teutonic Mythology, Volume 1, Jacob Grimm]

Interestingly the Hermunduri occupied the region of Saxony and Thunringia and undoubtedly were in part the ancestors of the Saxons and belonged to the tribal division of Herminones.

We know that there is evidence to support the argument that the Ingvaeones were named after their ancestral deity Ing. It is conjectured also that the Istvaeones were named after the first Germanic man, Askr (see Teutonic Mythology, Volume 1). It is logical therefore that the Irmin of Irminones must be a divine ancestor.

Irmin can be found as part of many ancient Germanic names,eg:

Hermanaric, Hermann, Ermintrudis, Irminfrith (King of the neighbouring Thuringi), Irmansuint, Irmingart, Irminolt, Irmandrut, Irmanperalit, Irmandegan, Irmandeo, Eormenric, Eormenred, Iiurminburg, etc.

Of course the great prince of the Cherusci who thrashed the Romans in the 1st century CE was named Arminius or Hermann. He was of course an historical figure but one can see how such figures can become embroiled in myth when comparisons with the legendary Siegfried are made.  

Scholars are tempted to equate Irmin with other deities such as Saxnot who is purely a Saxon God like Krodo but also He has been compared with Tiw and even Woden. I think it best that we consider Him on His own merits until further research of a conclusive nature is carried out.

In an earlier article titled Aryaman/Airyaman/Ariomanus/Eremon/Irmin-the Divine Concept of Aryanness  I demonstrated that Irmin has His origins in an original Aryan deity even though over time amongst the Germanic peoples His worship appears to have been confined mainly to the Saxons. This deity reconstructed name is *Aryomn. We are thus genetically and spiritually Ar-manen or Ir-minen, Arya. There should now be no doubt about the validity of our use of this term as a self-descriptor.

Irmin and Krodo, Saxon Gods

In previous articles I have discussed the Saxon God Irmin and His cognates to be found in other Aryan mythologies, ie Aryaman (Indo-Aryan), Airyaman (Iranian), Eremon (Irish) and Ariomanus (Gallic) and how an original Aryan God is postulated, called *aryomn. I have demonstrated that there is a further link with the Germanic Mannus, the Indo-Aryan Manu and a Celtic `Mon`. I have also discussed the connection between Irmin and the Herminones.

Whilst some scholars such as Rudolf Simek question the existence of Irmin as a deity (Dictionary of Northern Mythology) there are others such as Jaan Puhvel (Comparative Mythology) that do not and have identified that Irmin and His other cognates hark back to a Proto-Indo-European God who was the very essence of Aryanness.

I have recently also discussed my initial research regarding the more obscure Saxon God Krodo. Very few have heard of this deity and yet His memory lives on in my ancestral Harz mountains, not only in the form of place names and myths but also He has now become almost a `mascot` or tourist attraction! Whatever way He is remembered it is important that He is remembered and honoured by those of us who follow the Northern Gods. Like Irmin, I discovered that He is not only a Saxon deity but that He has cognates in other Indo-European mythologies: Sativrat and Kirt (Slavic), Saturn(Roman) and Satyavrata (Indo-Aryan). Like Irmin, Krodo is a solar deity who is associated with the solar wheel (Kolovrat).


I started to ponder what connection there could be between Irmin and Krodo. Obviously they are both Saxon deities and some would say that their existence was disputed. I believe that I have presented enough evidence on my blogs to substantiate the existence of Irmin and there is also sufficient evidence to accept Krodo`s existence. My recent article about Krodo sets out all the available evidence that I have collected thus far.

Apart from being Saxon both Gods were subject to acts of sacrilege by Charlemagne. In 772CE Charlemagne or Karl der Grosse as he is known in Germany  destroyed the Irminsul, a sacred pillar erected for the worship of this God. Shortly after in 780 Karl also destroyed the temple and idol of Krodo. There is evidence for more than one Irminsul but they all appear to have been located in the Saxon lands.


I have to ask myself why was Karl`s hatred towards Irmin and Krodo so intense? We know that the continental Saxons were amongst the last of the West Germanic peoples to accept Christianity. They did so only after appalling persecution and the extermination of their bravest nobles. 4,500 Saxons were beheaded by this monster in Verden after they were caught worshiping the old Saxon Gods. The Saxon Wars from 772 to 804 were in reality religious wars where our Saxon ancestors fought against the forced imposition of Christianity upon their people. They resisted the Christian invader to the very last drop of their blood. For this reason we should be proud of them and remember their holy sacrifice.

Irmin and Krodo must therefore have symbolised to Karl the stubbornness of the Saxon people. For this reason he tried to eradicate all memory of these Gods from our ancestors` memory. He did not succeed! Whether it be Christianity (now a spent force) or Islam we will never bow the knee to an alien and brutal, semitic, psychotic desert tribal `god` who delights in and whose supporters delight in the torture and beheading of those who think differently to them.

Jacob Grimm in his Teutonic Mythology Volume 1 refers to lingering traces of the worship of Irmin in Lower Saxony. He cites an old rhyme which was still in existence at the time of writing (1882) and he says:

"Here there seems unconcealed a slight longing for the mild rule of the old heathen god, in contrast to the strictly judging and punishing christian God."

"Hermen, sla dermen,

sla pipen, sla trummen,

de kaiser wil kummen

met hamer un stangen,

wil Hermen uphangen."

The Survival of the Irminsul and its Connection to the German God Ziu

There has been much speculation over the years about the location of the historic Irminsul with the most popular choices being Eresburg and the Externsteine but I believe that it is a error to assume that there was only one Irminsul. I have now come to the conclusion that Irminsul columns are to be found all over continental Germania and England and indeed many of these pillars have survived down to the present day in the form of Jupiter Columns in Roman occupied Europe and indeed even in the humble marker crosses which are to be found all over rural England.

Eugene Goblet d'Alviella in his most interesting The Migration of Symbols (1894) makes reference to the perrons/perons (French) or perroen (Dutch) of eastern Belgium which are stone columns usually surmounted by a cross. In particular he discusses the Perron of Liege:

"The most celebrated of those perrons is still standing, above a fountain, on the market-place at Liege; it consists of a white marble column placed on a square base with five steps, guarded by four lions. The capital is surmounted by the three Graces, who support a Crown encircling a Fir-cone with a small Cross on its point."

 
Some of my readers may already be aware that the Fir cone or Pine cone is a symbol of the Goddess Zisa, the consort of the ancient Germanic sky God Ziu.  According to Nigel Pennick Cisa/Zisa had a shrine at Augsburg in Germany and her annual festival took place on the 28th of September. (The Complete Illustrated Guide to the Runes), the original name of this city being Zisenburg (A History of Pagan Europe, Pennick/Jones) or Zizarim (The Book of Primal Signs, Pennick). The Roman name of the city was Augusta Vindelicorum. The symbol of Zisa is the pine cone and many large stone pine cones survive from Roman times. Mr Pennick states that the Stadtpyr is the emblem of Augsburg and Her cone appears as a weather vane on the church of St. Peter-am-Perlach, which was built on the site of a holy hill dedicated to the Goddess.

This Goddess is referred to extensively in Jacob Grimm's Teutonic Mythology Volume 1:

"Sie bawten einen tempel gross darein zu eren [in honour of] Zise der abgoettin, die sie nach heidnischen sitten [after heathen ways] anbetten zu denselben zeiten [adored in those days]. Die stat ward genennt [city got named] auch Zisaris nach der abgoettin [after the goddess], das was der pris. Der tempel als lang stund unversert [stood uninjured], bis im von alter abgieng [as from age it passed away], der berg namen von im empfieng [the hill took name], daruf gestanden was [whereon had stood] das werck, und haist noch huet [hight still to-day] der Zisenberck."

 So the combination of a pillar surmounted by a cone reinforces the identification of the column with Ziu and His consort Zisa. There is a strong argument for assuming that Irmin, Saxnot and Ziu are in fact different names for the same deity. All three are both highly important and ancient sky deities who reach far back into the Germanic past. If this theory is correct then I would suggest that it is Ziu who is the oldest form of this deity; Irmin and Saxnot being later developments.

Indeed as a deity Ziu is so ancient that His existence can be traced right back to Proto-Indo-European times and He was clearly The God worshipped by the still undivided Aryans. He is the Welsh duw, the Latin deus, the Lithuanian dievas, the Sanskrit deva, the Avestan daevo (demonised as a 'false God' by the Zoroastrians), the Jupiter of the Romans and the Zeus of the Greeks. Our ancient Aryan ancestors would have called Him Dyeus, 'celestial being'. He was literally the Sky Father and this is particularly reflected in the Latin Iupiter (pronounced Jupiter), Dis-Pater, Deus Pater and the Greek Zeu Pater which is remarkably similar to the Sanskrit Dyauspitah. This deity's dominance as the primary God of the undivided Aryans diminished as the various Aryan tribes went their separate ways and evolved their own pantheons of Gods. The main area of operations of this God was in the daylight sky.


As Jupiter is the Roman version of Ziu we have here a further connection between Ziu and Irmin as the Jupiter columns which are to be found in the Romanised parts of Germania are clearly a form of the Irminsul.


Returning to The Migration of Symbols the author states:

"Lastly, old chroniclers relate that in the thirteenth century the destruction of the Irminsul by Charlemagne was still commemorated at Hildesheim on the Saturday following the Sunday of the Laetare, by planting in the ground, on the cathedral square, two poles six feet high, each surmounted by a wooden object one foot in height, and shaped like a pyramid or cone. The young people then endeavoured with sticks and stones to overthrow this object. Does not this tradition directly connect the Irminsul, or rather the Irminsuls, with the stake which, surmounted by a Cone, is presented to our view in the Frankish buckle, just as the stone column of the Hildesheim cathedral links them with the perrons of Belgium?"

Here the author is referring to Fir cones placed at the end of pillars and venerated by the Franks in eastern Belgium and north east France.

Ziu was the God who presided over the ancient Thing so it is not surprising that we find miniature Irminsuls in the form of market crosses in the market squares of England and other Germanic countries where it was the tradition for public assemblies to be held.