#Merkwede

[germanicseidr]

Merkwede

The Merkwede is the ancient primeval woods that seperated the Germanics from other people. This forest has been named in the poetic edda, its location was at first thought to be somewhere in Scandinavia, per example the Kolmården forest in Sweden but it is way more likely that this forest was located somewhere on the borders of ancient Germania.

The word itself, 'Merkwede' is the Dutch word for this forest. It is a composition of the Proto-Germanic words 'merkwiz'and 'widuz' meaning dark and forest. This forest is named Myrkviðr in old Norse and Mirkwidu in the old Saxon language. Acccording to the poetic edda, Múspells sons will cross this very forest when they appear from their realm Muspelheim during Ragnarok.

It almost appears as if Merkwede is a mythological place but there are however older written sources that suggest that this forest is very much real and not just known by the Scandinavian people. Thietmar, a bisshop of Merseburg, mentions a place called Miriquidi, a forest located near the ore mountains which lies in South-East Germany on the border of the Czech republic. Thietmar however also mentions a Mircwidu forest which was located in the South-West of the Netherlands. This could refer to the Meriwidu forest in the Netherlands, named after the Merwede river. These two are possible candidates for this mysterious forest as they are both located on the borders of ancient Germania.

Another written source, a 13th century Norse story called Hervarar saga og Heidreks, speaks of a conflict between the Goths and the invading Huns from the East of Europe. In this story a forest is mentioned by name, the Myrkviðr forest that seperates the land of the Huns from the Goths. The location of this forest must have been near the Maeotian swamp close to the Don river in modern day Southern Russia.

Another more possible candidate is the Hercynia Silva, the ancient Hercynian woods described by Julius Caesar in his work 'de bello Gallico'. This is how Caesar described the forest:

"There isn't any person belonging to this part of Germania who says that he either has gone to the extremity of that forest, though he had advanced a journey of sixty days, or has heard in what place it begins. It is certain that many kinds of wild beast are produced in it which have not been seen in other parts of which the following are such as differ principally from other animals, and appear worthy of being committed to record."

About a century later, a Roman historian Velleius described how emperor Tiberius moved through this forest from the land of the Chatti towards the Marcomanni. Another Roman historian, Florus, described how Drusus managed to cross this forest in 12BC during his campaign against the Germanics. Where did the name Hercynia Silva come from? The Romans didn't invent this name but copied it from the Greeks. Aristoteles already described the landscape of modern day Southern Germany in 350BC in his work Meteorologika. Greek historian Strabon described how the Celtic Boii's homeland was located in Herkúnios Drumós.

The Greeks didn't invent the name either, no they got the name from the Celts who lived near this woods before the Germanics migrated southwards. The name can be traced back to the Proto-Celtic word 'Erkunia' which means mountain range. Perhaps the Proto-Indo European people were already aware of this forest and could have named it Perkunia, we can however not be certain about this but apparently this forest was immens and known by ancient people before the Germanics settled in this area.

Unfortunately most of Hercynia forest has been cut down throughout the centuries but a small part of this forest still exists and is now known as the black forest in modern day Germany. This is an excellent candidate for the Merkwede forest as it is located on the border of two different cultures, that of the Celts and the Germanics. Even now the Black forest is huge, imagine it was only a part of the ancient Hercynia forest and you can understand why the Germanics thought this forest must have been endless.

It is very possible that this forest was once so large that the Germanic people might have viewed it as the end of the world or civilization. No one could possibly live inside this immense primal woods except for otherworldly beings and Gods. Walking in this forest meant walking into two different worlds, that of the humans and of the Gods. Mysterious things could happen or be seen while wandering through this dense forest with its ancient trees, a place forgotten since the beginning of time. Perhaps the Allfather himself wandered through these woods thousands of years ago, searching for knowledge.

The name of this forest also lives on in popular culture. J.R.R Tolkien used the name of this forest to create Mirkwood, a great forest where the woodland elves live in his work the Hobbit.

Here are pictures of: Modern day Ore Mountains forest, Biesbosch forest in the Netherlands (location where once the Meriwidu forest could have stood), Black forest in Germany, Artist's view of Myrkvidr forest by Adam Wesierski,

[merkwede]