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Information about Wotan's knot?

Article about: Hi all! I wonder if someone has some history on the so called Wotan's knot on the M36 chains? The reason I'm asking is that we in Sweden have the same symbol as a road-sign for a relic site

  1. #1

    Default Information about Wotan's knot?

    Hi all!

    I wonder if someone has some history on the so called Wotan's knot on the M36 chains? The reason I'm asking is that we in Sweden have the same symbol as a road-sign for a relic site of interest, for example our runic stones ("runstenar"), that are seen in many places in Sweden. It looks like this:

    Information about Wotan's knot?

    Now, in Sweden this isn't called a Wotan's knot (Wotan being the old Norse Asa-god Oden) but a Saint Hans Cross. Saint Hans is used in the Nordic countries as the name for John the Babtist. Also, if you google "Wotan's knot", the symbol that comes up most frequently is not the knot on the M36 chain, but a completely different one.

    Therefore, it would be a great learning experience if someone had som historical information about how the "Wotan's knot" ended up on the M36 and what it symbolized in the nazi folklore.

    Martin

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  3. #2

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    Great topic Martin

    It should make for a great discussion !!

    Regards Larry
    It is not the size of a Collection in History that matters......Its the size of your Passion for it!! - Larry C

    One never knows what tree roots push to the surface of what laid buried before the tree was planted - Larry C

    “The farther back you can look, the farther forward you are likely to see.” - Winston Churchill

  4. #3

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    Hmmmm, there doesn't seem to be very much information out there on the origin of the knot. I talked to a historian and archeologist who is a friend of mine and he also identified the knot as a "S:t Hans knot", that is with christian origin. He also said that the knot is seen on some runic stones in Sweden but that these would probably have been erected in the period of transition between paganism and christianity in Sweden.

    I also looked in both Siegert's and Wittmann's "bibles" but found nothing about the origin on the knot on the M36.

    Now, maybe I'm streching it here, but could it be that for example Wittmann just named the knot after what he knew it to be and that that name has stuck in the collecting community ever since?

    Any of you that have been in this game longer than Witty's bible, do you remember if this knot always have been named "Wotan's knot"?

  5. #4

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    Interesting thread. The symbol you show and all collectors refer as a Wotans knot is not a Wotans knot for me.


    For me, the symbol below is the right symbol. A Valknut or Odens knop. As we know, Wotan is the old Germanic name for Oden/Odin.

    Valknut - Wikipedia

    Information about Wotan's knot?

  6. #5

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    I have no problem at all with questioning some assumptions that have been stated and even been put into print - that sometimes turn out to have zero or no discernible basis in fact. And while not directly related to this topic, for many, many years supposed experts on daggers kept repeating that the SS/octagonal box marking on the back of the chains was the mark of "Karl Diebitsch". That after some lengthy investigation and discussion turned out to have no period basis. Or the "1936" SS Degen also with no basis in fact. One of the problems being that false "facts" may have prevented some actual research from being done while some of the people who knew were still available to be asked. Best Regards, Fred

  7. #6

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    I did some further research into this topic and found some threads to follow up on. For example, the SS Ahnenerbe visited Sweden during late summer/fall in 1935 to "search for the Germanic roots". Amongst other things they did gypsym castings of some of our runic stones in the Swedish counties Bohuslän (in the west of Sweden) and Östergötland (mid-south of Sweden, where they by the way have a horrible accent ) The result of the studies was this book called "Die heilige Urschrift der Menschheit", which would translate into "The holy charter of humanity", which supposedly portrays these castings.

    Information about Wotan's knot?

    When time permits I will go to the library of the Swedish National Heritage Board and borrow it and see if there is anything on the "Wotan's knot".

    To be continued...

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