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 to Tyr.

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" and Old Saxon "nōt" (modern English "neat") meaning "cow", or from Old 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 to Christianity 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 of Essex. The other Saxon kingdoms of England, Wessex and Sussex, claimed different ancestries.

ee also

*West Germanic deities

References

etymology from Pewsey, S., & Brooks, A. (1993), East Saxon Heritage

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