Editing Irminsul (section)

==Etymology==
[[File:Irminsul in Harbarnsen-Irmenseul 2009.jpg|thumb|upright|left|A modern interpretation of the Irminsul, erected 1996 in Harbarnsen-Irmenseul municipality (near [[Hildesheim]] in [[Lower Saxony]]). The [[sun cross]] on the top is based on the coat of arms of the village of Irmenseul.<ref>{{cite web|title=Wiedererrichtung der Irminsul |website=Heimatverein-Irmenseul |url=http://www.heimatverein-irmenseul.de/wiedererrichtung-der-irminsul/ |access-date=11 December 2022}}</ref>]]
The [[Old Saxon]] word compound {{lang|osx|Irminsûl}} means 'great pillar'. The first element, {{lang|osx|Irmin-}} ('great') is [[cognate]] with terms with some significance elsewhere in [[Germanic mythology]]. Among the [[North Germanic peoples]], the [[Old Norse]] form of {{lang|osx|Irmin}} is {{lang|non|Jörmunr}}, which just like {{lang|non|[[List of names of Odin|Yggr]]}} is one of the [[List of names of Odin|names]] of Odin. [[Yggdrasil]] (Old Norse 'Yggr's horse') is a [[Norse cosmology|cosmic tree]] from which Odin sacrificed himself, and which connects the [[Nine worlds]]. 19th century scholar [[Jakob Grimm]] connects the name {{lang|osx|Irmin}} with [[Old Norse]] terms like {{lang|non|iörmungrund}} ("great ground", i.e. the Earth) or {{lang|non|iörmungandr}} ("great snake", i.e. the [[Midgard serpent]]).<ref name="GRIMM-1835-115-119">Grimm (1835:115-119)</ref>

A Germanic god [[Irminism|Irmin]], inferred from the name {{lang|osx|Irminsûl}} and the tribal name [[Irminones]], is in some older scholarship presumed to have been the national god or [[demi-god]] of the Saxons.<ref>Robinson (1917): p.389</ref> It has been suggested that {{lang|osx|Irmin}} was more probably an aspect or [[epithet]] of some other deity – most likely Wodan ([[Odin]]). Irmin might also have been an epithet of the god Ziu ([[Tyr]]) in early Germanic times, only later transferred to Odin, as certain scholars subscribe to the idea that Odin replaced Tyr as the chief Germanic deity at the onset of the [[Migration Period]]. This was the favored view of early 20th century Nordicist writers,<ref>E.g. Meyer (1910): p.192</ref> but it is not generally considered likely in modern times.<ref>E.g. Farwerck (1970): p.33</ref>