Old Saxon Baptismal Vow


The Old Saxon Baptismal Vow, also called the Old Saxon Catechism, Utrecht Baptismal Vow and Abrenuntiatio Diaboli, is a baptismal vow that was found in a ninth-century manuscript in a monastery library in Mainz, Germany. The vow mentions three Germanic pagan gods of the early Saxons which the reader is to forsake: Uuôden, Thunaer and Saxnōt. Scholar Rudolf Simek comments that the vow is of particular interest because it is the sole instance of the god Saxnōt mentioned in a religious context. One of many baptismal vows, it is now archived in the Vatican Codex pal. 577.
Not withstanding the conventional name of the text, there is a dispute as to how the language of the text should be categorised, as it shows features of Old English, Old Low Franconian and Old Saxon.

The Vow

The text runs as follows:

Language dispute

While the manuscript of the vow is ninth-century, its language seems to be from the eighth. It is undoubtedly written in a mix of different West Germanic dialects, including features that could belong to Old High German, Old Low German, Old Saxon, Old Frisian, Old Dutch, and Old English. This has led to extensive debate about where the text originated, not least because the text would stand as an important early monument to the language and traditions of whatever modern country can claim it — yet it is possible that none of these distinctions seemed very important to the people who copied and adapted the text. Key layers seem to be:
In the glossary below, the spelling has been normalised:
Original wordModern DutchModern Low German Modern Low SaxonModern English
EndEnUnEnAnd
eikikikI
forsaoverzaakversakversakeforsake
allumalleallalleall
diobolesduivelseDeibelsdüvelsdevil's
ercumwerkenWarkenwarkenworks
andenunenand
ordumwoordenWoortenwöördewords
ThunærDonarDonarDunarThunor
endeenunenand
ôdenWodanWodanWodanWoden
endeenunenand
SaxnôteSaxnotSaxnotSaxnoteSaxnot
endeenunenand
allumallenallalleall
thêm dezediesendeethose
unholdumontrouwenUnmannenunheiligenunfaithful
thêdiededeewho
hirahunheröäretheir
genôtasgenotengenöemgenotencompanions
sintzijnsientsintare

Editions