- Seaxnēat
Seaxnēat (or Saxnōt) is the mythical founder of the
Saxons . Seaxnēat seems to have been a god unique to the Saxons, although he has been compared toTyr .Etymology
The name is likely to mean 'help of the Saxons', i.e. the god who would aid the tribe in times of trouble (compare modern German "not", need or necessity), though other suggestions include "knife cow" or "cow of the Saxons",
Old English "nēat" andOld Saxon "nōt" (modern English "neat") meaning "cow", or fromOld Norse "njótr" (Old English "notu"), meaning "enjoyment" (i.e., "friend"). [http://www.ealdriht.org/saxnot.html]Seaxnēat is recorded amongst the continental Saxon as Saxnōt, where he is mentioned in
Old Saxon as a god who had to be denounced during their conversion toChristianity in the Old Saxon baptismal vow.Ancestor of the East Saxons
Seaxnēat was also worshiped in
England , where he was seen as the ancestor of the East Saxons, as recorded in the genealogies ofEssex . The other Saxon kingdoms of England,Wessex andSussex , claimed different ancestries.ee also
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West Germanic deities References
etymology from Pewsey, S., & Brooks, A. (1993), East Saxon Heritage
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