Editing Irminsul (section)

{{short description|Sacred, pillar-like object in Saxon paganism}}
[[File:Zerstörung der Irminsaule durch Karl den Großen by Heinrich Leutemann.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|"The destruction of Irminsul by Charlemagne" by [[Heinrich Leutemann]], 1882]]

An '''Irminsul''' ([[Old Saxon]] 'great pillar') was a sacred, [[Column|pillar]]-like object attested as playing an important role in the [[Germanic paganism]] of the [[Saxons]]. Medieval sources describe how an Irminsul was destroyed by [[Charlemagne]] during the [[Saxon Wars]]. A church was erected on its place in 783 and blessed by [[Pope Leo III]].
[[Sacred trees and groves in Germanic paganism and mythology|Sacred trees and sacred grove]]s were widely venerated by the [[Germanic peoples]] (including [[Donar's Oak]]), and the oldest chronicle describing an Irminsul refers to it as a tree trunk erected in the open air.<ref name="DALVIELLA-1891-112">d'Alviella (1891:112).</ref>