Idistaviso is the location on the
Weser river
The Weser () is a river of Lower Saxony in north-west Germany. It begins at Hannoversch Münden through the confluence of the Werra and Fulda. It passes through the Hanseatic city of Bremen. Its mouth is further north against the ports of Bre ...
where forces commanded by
Arminius
Arminius ( 18/17 BC – 21 AD) was a chieftain of the Germanic Cherusci tribe who is best known for commanding an alliance of Germanic tribes at the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest in 9 AD, in which three Roman legions under the command of ge ...
fought those commanded by
Germanicus
Germanicus Julius Caesar (24 May 15 BC – 10 October AD 19) was an ancient Roman general, known for his campaigns in Germania. The son of Nero Claudius Drusus and Antonia the Younger, Germanicus was born into an influential branch of the Patric ...
at the
Battle of the Weser River
The Battle of the Weser River, sometimes known as the First Battle of Minden or Battle of Idistaviso, was fought in 16 AD between Roman legions commanded by Roman Emperor Tiberius's heir and adopted son, Germanicus, and an alliance of Germanic ...
in 16 CE, attested in chapter 16 of
Tacitus
Publius Cornelius Tacitus, known simply as Tacitus ( , ; – ), was a Roman historian and politician. Tacitus is widely regarded as one of the greatest Roman historiography, Roman historians by modern scholars.
The surviving portions of his t ...
' ''
Annales
Annals are a concise form of historical writing which record events chronologically, year by year. The equivalent word in Latin and French is ''annales'', which is used untranslated in English in various contexts.
List of works with titles contai ...
'' II. The name was amended by
Karl Müllenhoff
Karl Viktor Müllenhoff (born September 8, 1818, in Marne, Duchy of Holstein; died February 19, 1884, in Berlin) was a German philologist who specialized in Germanic studies.
Biography
He was born in Marne, Holstein as the second son of merchan ...
and
Jacob Grimm
Jacob Ludwig Karl Grimm (4 January 1785 – 20 September 1863), also known as Ludwig Karl, was a German author, linguist, philologist, jurist, and folklorist. He is known as the discoverer of Grimm's law of linguistics, the co-author of th ...
in the 19th century to Idisiaviso, meaning "plain of the
Idisi" or "women's meadow".
[Simek (2007:171).]
Theories
Rudolf Simek states that "as the Idisi are supposed to have an influence in the outcome of a battle, similarities with the
valkyrie
In Norse mythology, a valkyrie ("chooser of the slain") is one of a host of female figures who guide souls of the dead to the god Odin's hall Valhalla. There, the deceased warriors become (Old Norse "single (or once) fighters"Orchard (1997:36) ...
s suggest themselves. Idisiaviso would thus be a place at which the Idisi had once been instrumental in a battle."
[
Several etymologies of ]Iðavöllr
Iðavöllr (Old Norse Iðavǫllr, possibly "splendour-plain"Orchard (1997:95).) is a location referenced twice in ''Völuspá'', the first poem in the ''Poetic Edda'', as a meeting place of the gods.
Attestations
In a stanza early in the poem ''V ...
(a location in Norse mythology
Norse, Nordic, or Scandinavian mythology is the body of myths belonging to the North Germanic peoples, stemming from Old Norse religion and continuing after the Christianization of Scandinavia, and into the Nordic folklore of the modern period ...
) have been proposed, and the meaning of the name is considered unclear. If Iðavöllr is emended to ''*Ið svöllr'', the location name corresponds precisely to ''Idisiaviso''.[
]
Notes
References
* Simek, Rudolf (2007) translated by Angela Hall. ''Dictionary of Northern Mythology''. D. S. Brewer
Boydell & Brewer is an academic press based in Woodbridge, Suffolk, England, that specializes in publishing historical and critical works. In addition to British and general history, the company publishes three series devoted to studies, edition ...
.
{{Germanic peoples
Germany in the Roman era