Traces of an old religion

(The Root “Wit” in Wittekind)

Joannes Richter

Abstract
In order to study the correlations between the roots for the Saxon leader and national hero Wittekind
(Widukind), Wotan and the verb “to wit”, the dual form “wit”, “witan”, “wita”, the initial runes ᚠᚢᚦ,
Chilperic I's Letters and Tiw I decided to extend the list to the names of mountains, regions and
some of the relevant noble families.
The most prominent name may have been the name Wittekind, whose name is described as derived
from “Child of the Woods”. The etymology of Wittekind (Widukind) however remains unsolved.
Instead of the “Child of the Woods” we also may suggest “Child of the Woden”, a child of the sky-
god.
A number of other names such as the medieval Saxon chronicler Widukind of Corvey, whose name
may be related to Widukind. In order to support the Christening efforts the Church may have
introduced the saint St. Veit to compensate the heroic influence of Wittekind.
On a cliff at the island of Rügen a sanctuary had been devoted to the Slav deity Svetovid
(Svantevit). The forms Sventevith and Zvantewith show that the name derives from the word svętъ,
meaning "saint, holy". The second stem is sometimes reconstructed as vit =,"lord, ruler, winner".
Apart from Wittekind another family's name may be found in the House of Wettin, in which Wettin
correlates to Wittekind and Woden. Another relevant name is Vytautas, a Lithuanian king.
Alternative names for Woden have been documented as:
(1) Vidvut, the Vodan of the Vides (Latvians) and
(2) Vut, Wodan as an idol (in Grisons country, Switzerland)
In a earlier paper I suggested ᚠᚢᚦ (Wuþ → Woden) is considered as the author's signature of the
runic Futharc-alphabet.
Introduction
My study of the symbolism of colors, vowels, personal pronouns and divine names started at an
early age and cannot be considered as a professional research. The documentation for these
categories of symbolism had not been structured in a hierarchical model. In the absence of the web
and the Google's search engines the research was difficult. I started with dark papers such as
Blavatsky's studies, which described numerous details in a chaotic, huge pile of lost wisdom.

In the beginning
As a young child at the age of 7 years I remember to have been instructed how mankind, the world
and heaven had been created. The story has not been told by our teacher, but by a priest.
In my elementary school the pupils had to document this story in a notebook, which in a miraculous
way survived several relocation to other houses, including an emigration to Caracas, Venezuela.
In this notebook we were told mankind had been created as male Adam dressed in red and an Eve
dressed in blue. They offended a divine law and had to be removed from the paradise. Strange as it
may seem their clothing changed the colors and from the sin onward had to be drawn in purple for
both Adam and Eve. The notebook has been documented in Godsdienstles 1954-1955 and I
remember there was no explanation for these colors.
Those Sundays of 1954-1955 we went to the church and I remember the huge central mosaic of the
Theresia-church in our suburb district of the city of Eindhoven. There was a large (mosaic ?) picture
of God, who in his left hand held a book with two letters A and Ω, which symbolized the beginning
and the end. This church still exists in its original state, but is closed. A photograph documents the
original letters A & Ω and may be seen at the photograph at Interieur St. Theresiakerk.

1: The A and Ω in the Church St. Theresiakerk (Strijp, Eindhoven)

The initial phase of studying symbolism
Around 1990 – at the end of the cold war period - I remember to have started my study of the
symbolism in the color coding (red, blue and purple) and the letters A and Ω, which as an
chronological overview is documented in The Hermetic Codex II - Bipolar Monotheism.
In noticed the letters A and Ω belonged to the vowels, which in some alphabets also marked the
beginning and the end. Also the vowels belonged to symbols which had been included in the cores
for some of the divine names and the personal pronouns of the first person singular.

Mediterranean languages
For some languages such as French, Provencal, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish the divine names
for the PIE1-Sky-God often could be generated by a formula such as:
PIE-Divine name = “D2” & the personal pronoun of the first person singular ( & “s”).
This formula may be checked by a list in The Hermetic Codex II:
• Provencal: “D” + “iéu” = “Diéu”
• Italian: “D” + “ió” = “Dió”
• Spanish: “D” + “yo” + “s” = “Dios”
• Portuguese: “D” + “eu + “s” = “Deus”
• Romanian: “Z” + “eu” = “Zeu”
• old-German: “D” + “ih” + “s” = “Dis”3
• English: “D” + “i” + “s” = “Dis” (also described by Julius Caesar)
• Romance: “D” + “jau” = “Diéu” (ideally: Djaus)
• Sursilvanic : “D” + “jeu” = “Diéu”
• Sutsilvanic :“D” + “jou” = “Diéu” (ideally: Djous)
• Sicilian dialect: “D” + “iu” = “Diu”
• Old High German: “Z” + “i(u)” = “Ziu”, which may related the neighboring area
• Sutsilvanic :“D” + “jou” = “Diéu” (which is to be located in the Alps).
• Old English: “T” + “ich” = “Tig”, which may be related to the German pronoun “ich”4.
This formula suggested to search for a correlation between divine names and the personal pronoun
of the first person singular, which I shorted to the “ego-pronoun”. In noticed the linguist Morris
Swadesh started his lists with the “ego-pronoun” and considered the personal pronoun of the first
person singular as the most prominent or most important word.
Unfortunately Morris Swadesh ignored the name of the PIE-Sky-God. Most of the Latin-based
languages followed the formula's rule, but only a few Germanic languages could be considered to
follow the formula.

1 PIE = Proto-Indo-European
2 Occasionally the “D” may be exchanged by “Z”, “T” or “þ” (“Th”)
3 Dis has 53 BC been described by Julius Caesar in De Bello Gallico, Book VI- chapter 18
4 Similar pronouns are gothic-Dutch “ik”, ags. “ic and Icelandic “ek”
The northern European languages
In contrast the northern European languages seemed to follow another formula, which had been
based on the dual form of the personal pronoun of the first person. For these languages the dual
form (Anglo-Saxon/English: “wit”, “we two”; Old-Nordic: vit, viþ) usually is considered to have
been generated by adding a “t” respectively “þ” to the plural form (English: “we”) of the personal
pronoun for the first person:
Neben der pluralform steht im älteren germ. der dual wit (t ist angehängte zweizahl) 'wir
beide', vgl. got. ags. asächs. wit, anord. vit (viþ), der sich auf deutschem boden nur im
nordfries. erhalten hat, sonst durch den plural ersetzt und schon ahd. nicht mehr bezeugt
ist; vgl. lit. vèd.

In mhd. zeit zeigt das obd. wir, das nd. wē (wī); im md. dringt wir als schriftsprachliche
form ein und verdrängt vielfach dialektisches wi5,

This concept may have been older than the Futharc / Futhorc runes, which is defined as the
“alphabetical” foundation for the Germanic languages. The Futharc does not begin with an “AB...”-
segment and often is named a futhark row instead of an alphabet.
The three best-known runic alphabets are the Elder Futhark (around 150–800 AD), the Anglo-Saxon
Futhorc (400–1100 AD), and the Younger Futhark (800–1100 AD).
The first three characters ᚠ-ᚢ-ᚦ are the only runic symbols which may be shared in the “standard”
runic rows. From the fourth rune the rows are deviating the standard.
The Old-Nordic viþ (“we two”) seemed to correlate with ᚠ-ᚢ-ᚦ (usually spelled as “f-u-þ”).

vitha
Runes were called vitha by the West Slavs, which is a genitive of *vid or *vit meaning "image" or
"side", "facet". This may also support the translation “Vit” for “ᚠᚢᚦ” and “Vithark” for “ᚠᚢᚦᚩᚱᚳ”.
Probably the Slavic language seems to have been a champion in preserving the symbolism of the
“vitha” (runic symbols).6

5 According to Jacob Grimm in his German Dictionary at wir, pronoun.

6 Hanuš 1842, p. 381 quoted in Deities of Slavic religion
Traces of an old religion
Even before the earliest runic texts we may find some samples of divine names in the Roman
records. Julius Caesar mentioned Dis and Tacitus described Tuisco (Tiwisco ?).

The Futhark alphabet

The Elder Futhark structure probably has been invented by a small group of philosophers and as a
concept may have been spread all over the Germanic territories in Europe.
We do not know how the staves (runic elements) have been interpreted in regionally and
temporarily distributed peoples. The users may have interpreted the symbols in their own dialects
and languages, maybe even Slavic dialects or mixed environments. Our modern alphabet is also
being used for a great variety of languages.
The interpretation of the 5 initial core staves Fuþar.... may have been spread over a larger territory
than the rest of the Futharc rune-rows.
The 3 initial symbols Fuþ seemed to form the most stable structure and may also be found in the
younger versions of the Futharc such as the Younger Futhark and the Anglo-Saxon futhorc.
Therefore Fuþ may be considered as a root element.
The fourth runic symbol (originally a vowel) already became bipolar “a” respectively “o” (“a” in
Fuþa in Younger Futhark and “o” in Fuþo in the Anglo-Saxon futhorc structure). In the Hälsinge
runes the fourth symbol (the vowel “a” or “o”) even disappeared.
The extension of the core staves to 5 elements Fuþor (or even 6 staves Fuþorc) seemed to be
relevant because four divine names “Wut” and “Tiw”, “Þor” and “Rod” or “Crod” may have been
decoded inside “Fuþor” respectively “Fuþorc”. These names may have been derived from the
staves Fuþor or the Futhorc may have been composed to contain some of these names. Maybe
Fuþ had been interpreted as the signature of the inventor “Vut” (= “Wodan”). (Unfortunately there
is no proof for this thesis).
• The first character “F” may have started as a digamma, representing a “W”, but in the course
of time may have been modified or transformed to other consonants “V” and “”F” or
regionally even disappeared in some words such as “Odin”.
• Usually the second stave is interpreted as a “U”, but the rune may also symbolize “Y” or
“I”.
• The third character “Þ” may symbolize “Th” or even “D”, “T”,...
These phonemic ranges for the 3 initial staves Fuþ may also support the philological interpretation
of Fuþ as “Wit”, “Vid” and “Vit”. The range of these phonemes are quite common in the territorial
extensions and among the variety of peoples who had been living in the area covered by the runic
traditions.
The location of the vowels “A” ….”I”...... “Ω” in the rune-row may be considered as an accidental
structure. If the designers had chosen to imitate the most important vowels “A” ….”I”...... “Ω” from
the Phoenician 'alphabet' sequence they may have inserted these vowels after the Fuþ-section. In
the Elder Futhark the vowel “a” can only be located at the fourth stave.
The correlation of the name 'Odin' (Wodan) with 'Wut' (Rage) as in the 'raging one' may have been
added to the characteristic pattern of the almighty sky-god, but does not really belong to wise and
almighty deity.
The structure of the Futhark alphabet at the Kylver runestone
Usually I feel excited after deciphering a complex enigma, but this time the excitement is
spread over a long period of time and delivering a constant euphoric level.
Usually the fuþark is misunderstood in the sense that it does not begin with “ABC” but with “fuþ”,
which is a good reason to claim “fuþark” is “a row of characters” and therefore cannot be named
an alphabet for the lack of an ABC7.
However as soon as we remove the header “fuþ” from the fuþark-row we find a genuine AIΩ
-alphabet, which may be considered as the fuþark-body.

2: The futhark on the Kylver runestone (dated 400 AD) from Gotland, Sweden
- Public Domain - (Agrell died 1937)

Iᚢᚦ--ᚨᚱᚲᚷIᚺᚾᛁᛃᛈᛇᛉᛊᛏᛒᛖᛗᛚᛜᛞᛟ
Futhark-alphabet with a header Iᚢᚦ (1:1 copied from the Kylver stone)

ᚠᚢᚦ--ᚨᚱᚲᚷᚹᚺᚾᛁᛃᛈᛇᛉᛊᛏᛒᛖᛗᛚᛜᛞᛟ
Futhark-alphabet with a header Fᚢᚦ (from the Kylver stone, but “repaired” at ᚠ and ᚹ)

The AIΩ-vowels in the “ᚨᚱᚲᚷ…ᚺᚾᛁᛃᛈᛇᛉᛊᛏᛒᛖᛗᛚᛜᛞᛟ”-body have been highlighted. We may easily

identify the Ω-structure of the terminating letter “O”, which obviously has been copied from the
Greek alphabet.

7 Die speziell runische Reihenfolge ist auch der Grund, warum man das Futhark in der Forschung Runenreihe statt
Runenalphabet nennt. (source: Das ältere Futhark)
Correlations for the core “wit”
The following set of evidence illustrates how the word Fᚢᚦ at the beginning of the Kylver stone
may be interpreted as “Wit” to be followed by an AIΩ-structured alphabet:
Date Name Type Region
400 AD Fᚢᚦᚨ (“Futha”) at the beginning “Futhark”- Gotland, Sweden
of the Kylver stone alphabet
539 – 584 AD Chilperic I's Letters Roman Soissons (France)
ΔΘZΨ (Wioothæ) alphabet
WIJZÆ Norse/ Norway, Denmark
(the trailing letters of the Danish
Norse/Danisch alphabet) alphabet
777- 785 AD Widukind Hero, duke Saxony
961 AD Vitin (→ Wettin) village Saxony
th
10 century Widukind of Corvey. Historian Saxony
th
12 century Svetovid god Rügen (Germany)
1180 AD Wittenberg mountain Wittenberg, Saxony
1296-1356 Duchy of Saxe-Wittenberg
c. 1350 – 1430 Wythaws (Vytautas) king Lithuania
Vidvut, the Vodan of the Vides god Latvia
(Lettons)
Vut, Wodan as an idol idol Grisons country
Switzerland
1 Correlations for the core “wit”
King Chilperic's 4 Letters and the Alphabet's Adaptation
Chilperic I (c. 539 – 584) was the Merovingian king of Neustria (or Soissons) from 561 to his
death. Most of what is known of Chilperic comes from The History of the Franks by Gregory of
Tours. Chilperic's education involved religious and cultural themes. One of his studies concentrated
on the reformation of the Latin alphabet, which had been in use in the Merovingian court.
The extension of the alphabet has been specified as: uui (as a symbol Δ), ω (as a symbol Θ), the (as
a symbol Z), and æ (as a symbol Ψ).
Incidentally the additional four symbols uui (as Δ or ᚹ), ω (as Θ or ʘ), the (as Z) and æ (as Ψ)
match the initial four characters of the runic alphabet ᚠᚢᚦᚩᚱᚳ respectively ᚠᚢᚦᚬᚱᚳ (Younger
Futhark).
In this comparison I assume the initial rune ᚠ (the “F” in “Futhark”) represents a universal symbol
digamma (Ϝ, respectively in undercase: ϝ) which represents /w/ and also covers the phonemes /v/,
/f/, /u/, /y/. This is the first letter of Chilperic's additional letters.
In the archaic religion the first 3 initial runes (“Futh” of “Wuth”), ᚠ (the digamma “ϝ”), “ᚢ”, “ᚦ”
represent a keyword consisting the personal pronoun (“wut” or “wit” = “we two”) and the key for
the word “wutan” (“Wodan”, “to wit”, “witness” → “insight”).
The initial keyword “Wutha” (respectively “Futha”), which may be formed by concatenating
Chilperik's additional characters (ΔΘZΨ) more or less results in the word “Wioothæ” or
“Wodan”8.

King Chilperic I's letters at the end of the Danish-Norse alphabet

King Chilperic I's letters (ᚹΘZΨ or ΔΘZΨ) may be found at the beginning (ᚠᚢᚦᚫ, “Futha”) of the
runic alphabet and at the end (WIJZÆ) of the Danish-Norse alphabet.
The Futhark alphabet seems to consist of the first three characters ᚠᚢᚦ (“Futh”) to be followed by a
fourth character ᚨ (“A”), which represents the initial character for the “alphabetical” (“AIΩ”)-
section.
In Germanic languages a number of ligatures U&U → W, I&J → IJ, A&E → Æ, etc. concentrates
in the range of the ᚠᚢᚦᚨ - Header (“Futha”). Some of these special letters (Ƿ Þ Ð Æ), are also found
at the end of the Danish-Norse alphabet and at the end of the Old English Latin alphabet.
On a local scale the word Æ still is being used as a symbol for eternity, law, matrimony and the
personal pronoun of the 1st person singular. Although the ligature Æ has been introduced later the
symbolism may have been represented earlier by a simple character ᚨ (“A”). Eventually the shape
of the ligature Æ may be understood as the concentrated symbolism of the creation legend for Ask
& Embla in a singular letter Æ.
One of the interesting traces of these symbolisms may be found in the four additional letters ( ᚹΘZΨ
or ΔΘZΨ), which had been introduced to the Latin alphabet by the Merovingian king Chilperic I (c.
539 – 584).9
An essay concentrates on the end of some of the Germanic alphabets, which contain dedicated
special letters (such as Ƿ Þ Ð Æ Ø W IJ).10

8 King Chilperic's 4 Letters and the Alphabet's Adaptation

9 The Role of the Ligature Æ in the European Creation Legend
10 King Chilperic I's letters (ᚹΘZΨ or ΔΘZΨ) may be found at the beginning (ᚠᚢᚦᚫ, “Futha”) of the runic alphab... by
jwr47 on Scribd
Widukind
One of the earliest correlations for the core “wit” is the legendary Wittekind or Widukind, whose
life has been dated between 777 and 785.
Widukind, also known as Widuking or Wittekind, was a leader of the Saxons and the
chief opponent of the Frankish king Charlemagne during the Saxon Wars from 777 to
785. In later times, Widukind became a symbol of Saxon independence and a figure of
legend; the Codex Wittekindeus is said to have been owned by him.

According to the Royal Frankish Annals, the Franks campaigned in Saxony in 772,
when Charlemagne ordered the destruction of the Irminsul sanctuary. The Saxon Wars
continued when Westphalian tribes devastated the church of Deventer and the Angrarii
laid siege to the Frankish court at Fritzlar.

Widukind was first mentioned by the Annals in 777, when he was the only one of the
Saxon nobles not to appear at Charlemagne's court in Paderborn. Instead, he stayed with
the Danish king Sigfred (possibly Sigurd Hring). By 782, Widukind had returned from
Denmark and goaded the Saxon nobles into rebellion. From 782 to 784, battles between
Saxons and Franks occurred annually, while Charlemagne had 4,500 Saxons executed at
the Massacre of Verden.

In the Bardengau in 785, Widukind agreed to surrender in return for a guarantee that no
bodily harm would be done to him. He and his allies were then baptized, possibly in
Attigny,[2] with Charlemagne as his godfather.

Since the 9th century, Widukind had been idolized as a mythical hero. Around 1100, a
tomb for him was made in Enger;

Widukind of Corvey
A number of other names such as the medieval Saxon chronicler Widukind of Corvey (tenth-
century), whose name may be related to Widukind. In order to support the Christening efforts the
Church may have introduced the saint St. Veit to compensate the heroic influence of Wittekind.
A common core “Vit” for Germanic and Slavic religions (?)
The reconstruction vit = "lord, ruler, winner" seems to be too simplified and might be extended to
the runic core “Fuþ”. This claim would also provide a common “vit”-core for the Germanic and
Slavic religions.

Svetovid
On a cliff at the island of Rügen a sanctuary had been devoted to the Slav deity
Svetovid11 (Svantevit). The forms Sventevith and Zvantewith show that the name derives
from the word svętъ, meaning "saint, holy". The second stem is sometimes
reconstructed as vit =,"lord, ruler, winner"12.

Some interpretations claim that Svetovit was another name for Radegast, while another
states that he was a fake god, a Wendish construction based on the name St. Vitus.
However, the common practice of the Christian Church was to replace existing pagan
deities and places of worship with analogous persons and rituals of Christian content, so
it seems more likely that Saint Vitus was created to replace the original Svanto-Vit. 13

Alternative names for Svetovid

Beyond the names above referenced, Svetovid can also be known as Svitovyd
(Ukrainian), Svyatovit (alternative name in Ukrainian), Svyentovit (alternative name in
Ukrainian), Svetovid (Serbian, Croatian, Slovenian, Macedonian and Bosnian, and
alternative name in Bulgarian), Suvid (alternative name in Serbian, Croatian and
Bosnian), Svantevit (Wendish, alternative name in Ukrainian and possibly the original
proto-Slavic name), Svantevid (alternative name in Serbian, Croatian and Bosnian),
Svantovit (Czech and Slovak), Svantovít (Czech), Svantovid (alternative name in
Serbian, Croatian and Bosnian), Swantovít, Sventovit, Zvantevith (Latin and
alternative name in Serbian and Croatian), Świętowit (Polish), Sutvid, Svevid, and Vid.
14

Suvid
In Croatia, on the island of Brač, the highest peak is called Vid's Mountain. In the
Dinaric Alps there is a peak called "Suvid" and a Church of St. Vid. Among the Serbs,
the cult of Svetovid is partially preserved through the Feast of St. Vitus, "Vidovdan",
one of the most important annual events in Serbian Orthodox Christian tradition.[7]15.

Vidovdan
Vidovdan (Serbian Cyrillic: Видовдан, "St. Vitus Day") is a Serbian national and
religious holiday, a slava (feast day) celebrated on 28 June (Gregorian calendar), or 15
June according to the Julian calendar, in use by the Serbian Orthodox Church to
venerate St. Vitus16.

11 primarily venerated on the island of Rügen into the 12th century. (Svetovid)
12 Etymology (Svetovid)
13 Origins (Svetovid)
14 Alternative names (Svetovid)
15 Origins (Svetovid)
16 Vidovdan
Wittenberg, Saxe-Wittenberg

Wittenberg
Historical documents first mention the settlement Wittenberg in 1180 as a small village founded by
Flemish colonists under the rule of the House of Ascania.
In 1260 this village became the residence of the dukes of Saxe-Wittenberg, and in 1293 the
settlement was granted its town charter as a free-standing town.

House of Wettin
Wittenberg developed into an important trade centre during the following several centuries, because
of its central location. When the local branch of the Ascanians died out in 1422, control of Saxe-
Wittenberg passed to the House of Wettin.
The House of Wettin (German: Haus Wettin) is a dynasty of German counts, dukes, prince-electors
and kings that once ruled territories in the present-day German states of Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and
Thuringia. The dynasty is one of the oldest in Europe, and its origins can be traced back to the town
of Wettin, Saxony-Anhalt.

Wettin, Saxony-Anhalt
Wettin (Saxony-Anhalt) was first documented as Vitin civitas in a 961 deed issued by German king
Otto I. The settlement thereafter was a burgward within the Saxon Eastern March, held by Dietrich I
von Wettin, the progenitor of the dynasty.
Vytautas
Vytautas also was the Duke of Trakai
Vytautas (c. 1350 – 1430), also known as Vytautas the Great[1] (Lithuanian:
Vytautas Didysis (help·info), Polish: Witold Kiejstutowicz or Witold Wielki,[1]
Ruthenian: Vitovt, Latin: Alexander Vitoldus, Old German: Wythaws or Wythawt)[2]
from the 15th century onwards, was a ruler of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, which
chiefly encompassed the Lithuanians and Ruthenians. He was also the Prince of Hrodna
(1370–1382), Prince of Lutsk (1387–1389), and the postulated king of the Hussites.[3]

In modern Lithuania, Vytautas is revered as a national hero and was an important figure
in the national rebirth in the 19th century. Vytautas is a popular male given name in
Lithuania. In commemoration of the 500-year anniversary of his death, Vytautas
Magnus University was named after him. Monuments in his honour were built in many
towns in the independent Lithuania during the interwar period from 1918 to 1939. It is
known that Vytautas himself knew and spoke in the Lithuanian language with
Władysław II Jagiełło.[4][5] 17

While Vytautas converted and converted to Catholicism, Vytautas never abandoned the
religion of their ancestors, protecting their pagan subjects from possible attacks and
insults towards them and their faith.18

The Karaim language in Trakai

Vytautas also was the Duke of Trakai.
Karaims (or Karaites) are a small Turkic-speaking religious and ethnic group resettled
to Trakai by Grand Duke Vytautas in 1397 and 1398 from Crimea, after one of his
successful military campaigns against the Golden Horde19.

The Karaim language (Crimean dialect: къарай тили, Trakai dialect: karaj tili,
traditional Hebrew name lashon kedar ‫" לשון קדר‬language of the nomads")[6] is a
Turkic language with Hebrew influences, in a similar manner to Yiddish or Judaeo-
Spanish. It is spoken by only a few dozen Crimean Karaites (Qrimqaraylar) in
Lithuania, Poland and Crimea and Galicia in Ukraine. The three main dialects are those
of Crimea, Trakai-Vilnius and Lutsk-Halych all of which are critically endangered. The
Lithuanian dialect of Karaim is spoken mainly in the town of Trakai (also known as
Troki) by a small community living there since the 14th century.

There is a chance the language will survive in Trakai as a result of official support and
because of its appeal to tourists coming to the Trakai Island Castle, where Crimean
Karaites are presented as the castle's ancient defenders. 20

17 Vytautas
18 Religion
19 Karaim community
20 Karaim language
Vut (Wodan as an idol)

Vidvut
Vidvut is the name for the Vodan of the Vides (Lettons), while Vogt 1, 141 makes
Wideivud, Waidewud a Prussian king ... 21.

Vut
The Longobards spelt it Wôdan or Guôdan, the Old Saxons Wuodan, Wôdan, but in
Westphalia again with the g prefixed, Guôdan, Gudan, the Anglo-Saxons Wôdan, the
Frisians Wêda from the propensity of their dialect to drop a final n, and to modify ô
even when not followed by an i. (1) The Norse form is Oðinn, in Saxo Othinus, in the
Faröe isles Ouvin, gen Ouvans, acc. Ouvan.

Up in the Grisons country---and from this we may infer the extent to which the name
was diffused in Upper Germany----the Romance dialect has caught the term Vut from
Alamanns or Burgundians of a very early time, and retained it to this day in the sense of
idol, false god, 1 Cor. 8, 4. (2) (See Suppl.) 22

21 Grimm, Jacob - Teutonic Mythology - Volume 4 (1888)"

22 Northvegr - Grimm's TM - Chap. 7
Summary
In order to study the correlations between the roots for the Saxon leader and national hero Wittekind
(Widukind23), Wotan and the verb “to wit”, the dual form “wit”, “witan”, “wita”, the initial runes
ᚠᚢᚦ, Chilperic I's Letters and Tiw I decided to extend the list to the names of mountains, regions and
some of the relevant noble families.
The most prominent name may have been the name Wittekind, whose name is described as derived
from “Child of the Woods”. The etymology of Wittekind (Widukind) however remains unsolved.24.
Instead of the “Child of the Woods” we also may suggest “Child of the Woden”, a child of the sky-
god.
A number of other names such as the medieval Saxon chronicler Widukind of Corvey, whose name
may be related to Widukind. In order to support the Christening efforts the Church may have
introduced the saint St. Veit to compensate the heroic influence of Wittekind.
On a cliff at the island of Rügen a sanctuary had been devoted to the Slav deity Svetovid
(Svantevit). The forms Sventevith and Zvantewith show that the name derives from the word svętъ,
meaning "saint, holy". The second stem is sometimes reconstructed as vit =,"lord, ruler, winner"25.
Apart from Wittekind another family's name may be found in the House of Wettin, in which Wettin
correlates to Wittekind and Woden. Another relevant name is Vytautas, a Lithuanian king.
Alternative names for Woden have been documented as:
(3) Vidvut, the Vodan of the Vides (Latvians) and
(4) Vut, Wodan as an idol (in Grisons country, Switzerland)
In a earlier paper I suggested ᚠᚢᚦ (Wuþ → Woden) is considered as the author's signature of the
runic Futharc-alphabet26.

23 mentioned in the Royal Frankish Annals, who had battled Charlemagne in the Saxon Wars from 777 to 785.
24 Der Name Widukind bedeutet Waldkind oder Kind des Waldes und kann als Kenning gelten.
(from Wikipedia's entry: Name, Familie und Herkunft) - Widukind (Sachsen)
25 Etymology (Svetovid)
26 Woden (Wuþ) as the Designer and Author of the Futhark Alphabet
Contents
Abstract.................................................................................................................................................1
Introduction..........................................................................................................................................2
In the beginning...............................................................................................................................2
The initial phase of studying symbolism.........................................................................................3
Mediterranean languages............................................................................................................3
The northern European languages...............................................................................................4
vitha.............................................................................................................................................4
Traces of an old religion.......................................................................................................................5
The Futhark alphabet.......................................................................................................................5
The structure of the Futhark alphabet at the Kylver runestone........................................................6
Correlations for the core “wit”.........................................................................................................7
King Chilperic's 4 Letters and the Alphabet's Adaptation .............................................................8
King Chilperic I's letters at the end of the Danish-Norse alphabet.............................................8
Widukind..........................................................................................................................................9
Widukind of Corvey....................................................................................................................9
A common core “Vit” for Germanic and Slavic religions (?)........................................................10
Svetovid....................................................................................................................................10
Alternative names for Svetovid.................................................................................................10
Suvid.........................................................................................................................................10
Vidovdan...................................................................................................................................10
Wittenberg, Saxe-Wittenberg.........................................................................................................11
Wittenberg.................................................................................................................................11
House of Wettin.........................................................................................................................11
Wettin, Saxony-Anhalt .............................................................................................................11
Vytautas..........................................................................................................................................12
The Karaim language in Trakai.................................................................................................12
Vut (Wodan as an idol)..................................................................................................................13
Vidvut........................................................................................................................................13
Vut.............................................................................................................................................13
Summary.............................................................................................................................................14
Appendix – Overview of the published papers of Joannes Richter at Academia.edu.......................16
Appendix – Overview of the published papers of Joannes Richter at Academia.edu
• Traces of an Old Religion (The Root “Wit” in Wittekind)
• Woden (Wuþ) as the Designer and Author of the Futhark Alphabet
• Is the Core "Wut" in "Wutach" symbolizing "Wutan" ("Woden")
• The Bipolar Core of Germanic Languages
• Simon Stevin's Redefinition of Scientific Arts
• Simon Stevin's definitie van wetenschappelijk onderz
• De etymologie van de woorden met Wit-, Wita en Witan-kernen
• The "Vit"-Roots in the Anglo-Saxon Pedigree
• The Traces of "Wit" in Saxony
• King Chilperic I's letters (ΔΘZΨ) may be found at the beginning ("Futha") of the runic
alphabet and at the end (WIJZAE) of the Danish alphabet
• Aan het slot (WIJZAE) van het Deense alfabet en aan het begin ("Futha") van het
runenalfabet bevinden zich de letters (ΔΘZΨ) van koning Chilperik I
• The Role of the Ligature AE in the European Creation Legend
• A Concept for a Runic Dictionary
• Concentrating the Runes in the Runic Alphabets
• Traces of Vit, Rod and Chrodo
• De sleutelwoorden van het Futhark alfabet
• The Keywords of the Futhark Alphabet
• Het runenboek met het unieke woord Tiw
• A short Essay about the Evolution of European Personal Pronouns
• The Evolution of the European Personal Pronouns
• De miraculeuze transformatie van de Europese samenleving
• The Miraculous Transformation of European Civilization
• The Duality in Greek and Germanic Philosophy
• Bericht van de altaarschellist over de Lof der Zotheid
• De bronnen van Brabant (de Helleputten aan de Brabantse breuklijnen)
• De fundamenten van de samenleving
• De rol van de waterbronnen bij de kerstening van Nederland
• De etymologie van "wijst" en "wijstgrond"
• The Antipodes Mith and With
• The Role of the Dual Form in the Evolution of European Languages
• De rol van de dualis in de ontwikkeling der Europese talen
• The Search for Traces of a Dual Form in Quebec French
• Synthese van de Germanistische & Griekse mythologie en etymologie
• De restanten van de dualis in het Nederlands, Engels en Duits
• Notes to the Corner Wedge in the Ugaritic Alphabet
• The Origin of the long IJ-symbol in the Dutch alphabet
• Over de oorsprong van de „lange IJ“ in het Nederlandse alfabet
• The Backbones of the Alphabets
• The Alphabet and and the Symbolic Structure of Europe
• The Unseen Words in the Runic Alphabet
• De ongelezen woorden in het runenalfabet
• The Role of the Vowels in Personal Pronouns of the 1st Person Singular
• Over de volgorde van de klinkers in woorden en in godennamen
• The Creation Legends of Hesiod and Ovid
• De taal van Adam en Eva (published: ca. 2.2.2019)
• King Chilperic's 4 Letters and the Alphabet's Adaptation
• De 4 letters van koning Chilperik I en de aanpassing van het Frankenalfabet
• The Symbolism of Hair Braids and Bonnets in Magical Powers
• The Antipodes in PIE-Languages
• In het Nederlands, Duits en Engels is de dualis nog lang niet uitgestorven
• In English, Dutch and German the dual form is still alive
• The Descendants of the Dual Form " Wit "
• A Structured Etymology for Germanic, Slavic and Romance Languages
• The “Rod”-Core in Slavic Etymology (published: ca. 27.11.2018)
• Encoding and decoding the runic alphabet
• Über die Evolution der Sprachen
• Over het ontwerpen van talen
• The Art of Designing Languages
• Notes to the usage of the Spanish words Nos and Vos, Nosotros and Vosotros
• Notes to the Dual Form and the Nous-Concept in the Inari Sami language
• Over het filosofische Nous-concept
• Notes to the Philosophical Nous-Concept
• The Common Root for European Religions (published: ca. 27.10.2018)
• A Scenario for the Medieval Christianization of a Pagan Culture
• Een scenario voor de middeleeuwse kerstening van een heidens volk
• The Role of the Slavic gods Rod and Vid in the Futhorc-alphabet
• The Unification of Medieval Europe
• The Divergence of Germanic Religions
• De correlatie tussen de dualis, Vut, Svantevit en de Sint-Vituskerken
• The Correlation between Dual Forms, Vut, Svantevit and the Saint Vitus Churches
• Die Rekonstruktion der Lage des Drususkanals (published: ca. 27.9.2018)
• Die Entzifferung der Symbolik einer Runenreihe
• Deciphering the Symbolism in Runic Alphabets
• The Sky-God, Adam and the Personal Pronouns
• Notities rond het boek Tiw (Published ca. 6.2.2018)
• Notes to the book TIW
• Von den Völkern, die nach dem Futhark benannt worden sind
• Designing an Alphabet for the Runes
• Die Wörter innerhalb der „Futhark“-Reihe
• The hidden Symbolism of European Alphabets
• Etymology, Religions and Myths
• The Symbolism of the Yampoos and Wampoos in Poe's “Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym
from Nantucket”
• Notizen zu " Über den Dualis " und " Gesammelte sprachwissenschaftliche Schriften "
• Ϝut - Het Nederlandse sleutelwoord
• Concepts for the Dual Forms
• The etymology of the Greek dual form νώ (νῶϊ)
• Proceedings in the Ego-pronouns' Etymology
• Notities bij „De godsdiensten der volken“
• The Role of *Teiwaz and *Dyeus in Filosofy
• A Linguistic Control of Egotism
• The Design of the Futhark Alphabet
• An Architecture for the Runic Alphabets
• The Celtic Hair Bonnets (Published Jun 24, 2018)
• Die keltische Haarhauben
• De sculpturen van de Walterich-kapel te Murrhardt
• The rediscovery of a lost symbolism
• Het herontdekken van een vergeten symbolisme
• De god met de twee gezichten
• The 3-faced sculpture at Michael's Church in Forchtenberg
• Over de woorden en namen, die eeuwenlang bewaard gebleven zijn
• De zeven Planeten in zeven Brabantse plaatsnamen
• Analysis of the Futhorc-Header
• The Gods in the Days of the Week and inside the Futhor-alphabet
• Een reconstructie van de Nederlandse scheppingslegende
• The Symbolism in Roman Numerals
• The Keywords in the Alphabets Notes to the Futharc's Symbolism
• The Mechanisms for Depositing Loess in the Netherlands
• Over het ontstaan van de Halserug, de Heelwegen en Heilwegen in de windschaduw van de
Veluwe
• Investigations of the Rue d'Enfer-Markers in France
• Die Entwicklung des französischen Hellwegs ( " Rue d'Enfer "
• De oorsprong van de Heelwegen op de Halserug, bij Dinxperlo en Beltrum
• The Reconstruction of the Gothic Alphabet's Design
• Von der Entstehungsphase eines Hellwegs in Dinxperlo-Bocholt
• Over de etymologie van de Hel-namen (Heelweg, Hellweg, Helle..) in Nederland
• Recapitulatie van de projecten Ego-Pronomina, Futhark en Hellweg
• Over het ontstaan en de ondergang van het Futhark-alfabet
• Die Etymologie der Wörter Hellweg, Heelweg, Rue d'Enfer, Rue de l'Enfer und Santerre
• The Etymology of the Words Hellweg, Rue d'Enfer and Santerre
• The Decoding of the Kylver Stone' Runes
• The Digamma-Joker of the Futhark
• The Kernel of the Futhorc Languages
• De kern van de Futhark-talen
• Der Kern der Futhark-Sprachen
• De symboolkern IE van het Nederlands
• Notes to Guy Deutscher's "Through the Language Glass"
• Another Sight on the Unfolding of Language (Published 1 maart, 2018)
• Notes to the Finnish linguistic symbolism of the sky-god's name and the days of the week
• A modified Swadesh List (Published 12 / 17 / 2017)
• A Paradise Made of Words
• The Sky-God Names and the Correlating Personal Pronouns
• The Nuclear Pillars of Symbolism (Published 10 / 28 / 2017)
• The Role of the Dual Form in Symbolism and Linguistics (Oct 17, 2017)
• The Correlation between the Central European Loess Belt, the Hellweg-Markers and the
Main Isoglosses
• The Central Symbolic Core of Provencal Language (Oct 7, 2017)