Alcis (gods)

Alcis were a pair of young male brothers worshipped by the Naharvali, a tribe of ancient Germanic peoples.

Overview

According to Tacitus (ch.43) the Alcis were a deity of the Naharvali.[1]

Among these last is shown a grove of immemorial sanctity. A priest in female attire has the charge of it. But the deities are described in Roman language as Castor and Pollux. Such, indeed, are the attributes of the divinity, the name being Alcis. They have no images, or, indeed, any vestige of foreign superstition, but it is as brothers and as youths that the deities are worshipped.

— Tacitus. Ch.43.[2]

Tacitus states that the worship of Alcis by the Naharvali took place in a sacred grove, with a priest dressed in woman's clothing presiding - the god(s) were given the name Alcis, and venerated as young men and brothers, but no images of the gods were used. A similarity with Castor and Pollux is noted by Tacitus - though he states the cult was indigenous, not derived from an outside influence.[3]

See also

References
  1. Smith 1880, p. 104  [text] A deity among the Naharvali, and ancient tribe. Grimm (Deutsche Mythol. p.39) considers Alcis in the passage of Tacitus to be the genitive of Alx, which, according to him, signifies a sacred grove, and is connected with the Greek άλσοε. Another Alcis occurs in Apollodorus, ii, 1 § 5. [L. S.] (Leonhard Schmitz)
  2. Tacitus 1916, p. 22.
  3. Tacitus 1916, p. 22, 125.

Sources
  • Tacitus, Cornelius (1916), Reed Staurt, Duane (ed.), Tacitus - The Germania, with introduction and notes (in Latin and English), Macmillan


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