Fosite- Germanic GodDeity
Also known as: Fosete, Foseti, and Fosetis
Description
On an island the Frisians called Fositesland, a spring belonged to the god Fosite — and anyone who drew from it was forbidden to speak. Around 690 CE the missionary Willibrord sailed there, baptized converts in the spring, and slaughtered the sacred cattle to prove Fosite powerless.
Mythology & Lore
The Silent Spring
On an island in the North Sea the Frisians called Fositesland, Fosite kept his sanctuary. A spring rose there, and anyone who drew water from it was forbidden to speak. Cattle grazed the grounds, consecrated to the god. No one could slaughter them or put them to ordinary work. To break either rule was to court Fosite's retribution.
Willibrord's Defiance
Around 690 CE, the Anglo-Saxon missionary Willibrord sailed to Fositesland. Alcuin, writing in his Vita Willibrordi, records what happened next: Willibrord baptized three converts in the sacred spring, then slaughtered Fosite's cattle for his party to eat. He violated every taboo the sanctuary held and waited for the god to strike him down. The god did not.
The Frisian king Radbod saw things differently. When he learned what Willibrord had done, he subjected the missionary's party to a trial by lot, three times a day for three days, to determine who should die for the sacrilege. The lots spared all but one, who was martyred.
Relationships
- Equivalent to