Bat

Cow goddess of fertility. Egyptian (Upper). She was probably well known in the Old Kingdom (circa 2700 BC onward). Associated principally with Upper Egypt, for a while she may have rivaled Hathor in Lower Egypt but by the time of the New Kingdom (sixteenth century BC) her influence had waned. She may be represented on the Narmer Palette (Cairo Museum) which commemorates the unification of the two kingdoms.

Gildas

by Brian Edward Rise

 
Northern monk who lived in the first half of the sixth century. He is the author of De Excidio Britanniae (“On the Ruin of Britain”), usually dated to the 530-40’s. For the most part it is a condemnation of British kings and church leaders of his own time. The prelude, however, is an outline of British “history” from the first century onward. His goal is not history but rather a list of the misdeeds of his own people that led to the invasion by the Saxons.

A pagan Gothic ritual

Alby Stone

 
The Goths – who appear to have migrated to eastern Europe from Sweden and the southern shore of the Baltic from around 150 onward – seem to have been adhering to a tradition brought with them from their native lands. Tacitus, writing toward the end of the first century, describes the worship of Nerthus, whom he characterises as ‘Mother Earth’, among the Germanic tribes of northern Germany: