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