Germ. 40.1Contrā Langobardōs paucitās nōbilitat: plūrimīs ac valentissimīs nātiōnibus cinctī nōn per obsequium sed proeliīs et perīclitandō tūtī sunt.The Langobardi, by contrast, are ennobled by their small numbers: surrounded by very many and very powerful tribes, they are safe not by submission but by battles and by facing danger. Germ. 40.1Reudignī deinde et Avionēs et Angliī et Varīnī et Eudosēs et Suarinēs et Nuitonēs flūminibus aut silvīs mūniuntur.Next come the Reudigni and the Aviones and the Anglii and the Varini and the Eudoses and the Suarines and the Nuitones, protected by rivers or forests. Germ. 40.2Nec quicquam notābile in singulīs, nisi quod in commūne Nerthum, id est Terram mātrem, colunt eamque intervenīre rēbus hominum, invehī populīs arbitrantur.There is nothing noteworthy about them individually, except that in common they worship Nerthus, that is, Mother Earth, and believe that she intervenes in human affairs and rides among the peoples. Germ. 40.2Est in īnsulā Oceanī castum nemus, dicātumque in eō vehiculum, veste contēctum;On an island of the Ocean there is a sacred grove, and in it a consecrated wagon, covered with a cloth; Germ. 40.3attingere ūnī sacerdōtī concessum.to touch it is permitted to the priest alone.
Germ. 40.3Is adesse penetrālī deam intellegit vectamque būbus fēminīs multā cum venerātiōne prōsequitur.He perceives when the goddess is present in her sanctuary, and as she is drawn by heifers he attends her with great reverence. Germ. 40.3Laetī tunc diēs, fēsta loca, quaecumque adventū hospitiōque dignātur.Joyful then are the days, festive the places, which she honours with her arrival and her stay. Germ. 40.4Nōn bella ineunt, nōn arma sūmunt;They do not go to war, they do not take up arms; Germ. 40.4clausum omne ferrum;every iron object is locked away; Germ. 40.4pāx et quiēs tunc tantum nota, tunc tantum amāta, dōnec īdem sacerdōs satiātam conversātiōne mortālium deam templō reddat.peace and quiet are then alone known, then alone loved, until the same priest returns the goddess, sated with the company of mortals, to her temple. Germ. 40.5Mox vehiculum et vestis et, sī crēdere velīs, nūmen ipsum sēcrētō lacū abluitur.Then the wagon and the cloth and, if you care to believe it, the deity herself are washed in a secluded lake. Germ. 40.5Servī ministrant, quōs statim īdem lacus haurit.Slaves perform this service, and the same lake at once swallows them up.
Germ. 40.5Arcānus hinc terror sānctaque ignōrantia, quid sit illud quod tantum peritūrī vident.Hence a mysterious terror and a holy ignorance as to what that may be which only those about to perish behold.