Mannus- Germanic PrimordialPrimordial
Domains
Description
All the Germanic peoples are his grandchildren. Born to the earth-god Tuisto, Mannus had three sons whose descendants became the great tribal confederations. Every clan from the Rhine to the North Sea traced its blood to him, and they sang of it before they had writing.
Mythology & Lore
The Songs Before Writing
The Germans had no letters in the time Tacitus described. What they had were songs, sung at gatherings, that told how the world began. In those songs a god called Tuisto rose from the earth, and Tuisto's son was Mannus, the first man. From Mannus came three sons, and from those sons came every Germanic tribe. Each confederation traced its name to one of them.
Tacitus set this down in the Germania. Pliny the Elder had noted the same tribal divisions before him. Beyond these two Roman witnesses, Mannus left no other trace. No temple, no cult image, no story beyond the genealogy itself. The songs that carried his name were never written down by the people who sang them.
Relationships
- Family
- Ing· Child⚠ Disputed