The Sixfooted Sunwheel

The Germanic Sunwheel takes many forms. One example is Der Sechsfuss (The Sixfooted Sunwheel). Walter Blachetta has this to say in his Das Buch der Deutschen Sinnzeichen:

"The Sixfoot is the image of progressive development-, which is bestowed on men by God in their creativity and creative power. The Hagal rune has here been given the form of movement. In particular the Sixfoot was often added to utensils in the Germanic Bronze Age." (My translation)

 It is interesting that Blachetta should make this link with the Hagal rune but I am sure that this symbol does predate the rune. The rune rows that we know today are survivals of a much larger and broader corpus of Germanic and Aryan symbols which indeed predate the Bronze Age and are part of the culture of the Neolithic period. It is also indicative of the ancient sun worship referred to by Caesar in his de bello gallica:

"The Germans differ much from these usages, for they have neither Druids to preside over sacred offices, nor do they pay great regard to sacrifices. They rank in the number of the gods those alone whom they behold, and by whose instrumentality they are obviously benefited, namely, the sun, fire, and the moon; they have not heard of the other deities even by report. Their whole life is occupied in hunting and in the pursuits of the military art; from childhood they devote themselves to fatigue and hardships. Those who have remained chaste for the longest time, receive the greatest commendation among their people; they think that by this the growth is promoted, by this the physical powers are increased and the sinews are strengthened. And to have had knowledge of a woman before the twentieth year they reckon among the most disgraceful acts; of which matter there is no concealment, because they bathe promiscuously in the rivers and [only] use skins or small cloaks of deer's hides, a large portion of the body being in consequence naked." (Book 6, Chapter 21, translated by W.A. DeMcvitte and W.S. Bohn)

 Of course we know that Caesar was wild off the mark here but Sun worship clearly was an aspect of early Germanic religion (as of many other peoples). Tacitus writing in the following century in his Germania gives us a more accurate and more uptodate pictures of Germanic religion. The Sun was personified as female in Northern Europe and She is referred to in Old Norse sources as Sol but in Old High German as Sunna. She is named in the 10th century Second Merseburg Charm:

Phol and Wodan were riding to the woods,

and the foot of Balder's foal was sprained

So Sinthgunt, Sunna's sister, conjured it.

and Frija, Volla's sister, conjured it.

and Wodan conjured it, as well he could:

Like bone-sprain, so blood-sprain,

so joint-sprain:

Bone to bone, blood to blood,

joints to joints, so may they be mended.