The Sacred Salt River
Germanic tribes obtained salt by pouring saline water over the glowing embers of trees. A salt-rich river (the Saale) flowed between the territories of the Hermunduri1 and the Chatti2, and war broke out over its ownership. For the Germanic peoples believed that such a region lay close to the heavens and that human prayers could heard by the gods nowhere better than here. They believed that the salt in this river and these forests was a gift of divine grace; unlike other peoples, who obtained salt left behind by receding tides, here the salt emerged from the river water through the interaction of two hostile primal elements: water and fire. The war ended fortuitously for the Hermunduri but disastrously for the Chatti; in fulfillment of their vow, the victors sacrificed all the captured men and horses.
1 Hermunduri (also known as the Hermanduri) were a prominent ancient Germanic and Suebian tribe recorded by Roman authors from the 1st century BC through the 4th century AD
2 The Chatti were a powerful ancient Germanic tribe that inhabited the central and
northern highlands of modern-day Hesse, southern Lower Saxony, and the upper
Weser River valleys in Germany.
Translation FairyTaleChannel.com
