It’s been a while, but welcome to the third instalment of my Dutch Mythology series! Previously we covered the Dutch Goddesses Arcanua and Baduhenna, now it’s time for another Goddess: Hludana.

What we know.

As with all Dutch deities, we only know bits and pieces, and Hludana is no different. We only know Her from five votive stones found, three of which in Germany and two in the Netherlands. Four stones were found within the area that used to be the Provence of Germania Inferior, so we know Hludana was most likely a Germanic Goddess.

The first four stones found, in Germany and Holdeurn (modern Nijmegen), give us nothing more than a name. This caused a lot of speculation as to who this Goddess was. The name sounds similar to known Goddesses like the Germanic Holda and the Norse Hlodyn, which caused Jacob Grimm to think that the earth Goddess Hlodyn and Hludana were the same Goddess. And for a while this was the general concensus: that Hludana was the Germanic name of the Hlodyn, or perhaps a variation of Holda. The discovery of a new votive stone in Friesland in the year 1888 shed some new light on this Goddess.

 

In the Frisian village Beetgum a discovery was made while excavating a terp. They found a votive stone where the lower part of a woman can still be seen, together with an inscription dedicated to the Goddess Hludana. This was the first stone to give us more information than just the name. The stone reads:

DEAE HLVDANAE
CONDVCTORES
PISCATVS MANCIPI
Q VALERIO SECV
NDO VSLM

Meaning: “To the goddess Hludana, the fishing contractors, when Quintus Valerius Secundus acted as tenant, fulfilled their vow willingly and deservedly.”

This tells us that Hludana was probably a Goddess of fishing. Since Beetgum at the time this stone was made was connected to the sea, as was Holdeurn, this would fit. The stones in Germany were all found along the river Rhine, so perhaps this Goddess was connected to this river as well.

What I think.

There is still some discussion going about the connection between Hludana, Hlodyn and Hulda. I think the stone found in Beetgum gives us the information we need to see that Hludana was a Goddess Herself and not an identification or different name for Hlodyn or Hulda.

I see her as the Dutch Goddess of fishing, commerce and the river Rhine. Us Dutchies have always had deep connections to water, so a Goddess dedicated to fishing is something we would definitely have. Commerce is something that my own mind interjects with fishing: you do it so you can sell the fish and feed your family, hence the gold and coins in the aesthetic above.

Correspondences:

Rituals: fishing, water, anything work related.
Colours: blues and soft greens {water colours}, golds.
Symbols: fish, nets, winding rivers.
Stones: aquamarine, pearl, blue calcite, hagstones, simple river rocks.
Metals: gold, silver and copper {coin metals}.

Sources:

Book – Over de beoefening der Nederlandse mythologie, naar aanleiding der jongste tot dat onderwerp betrekkelijke geschriften – Johan van der Wal
Book – Nederlandsche volksoverleveringen en Godenleer – L. Ph. C. van den Bergh
Book – Teutonic Mythologie vol.1 – Jacob Grimm
Website: Livius.org
Website: Forgotten Gods – Reginheim
Website: Good Ol’ Wikipedia

So that’s it for the third installment of the Dutch Mythology series! Let me know what you think, or if you have a request for the next bit of mythology information. ‘Til next time!