It is much to be regretted that this is all we learn on this subject, which becomes very interesting when we remember how little trace there is of phallic gods in the Northern mythology. But that Geát was a god, and not merely a hero, is not left entirely to inference: it is distinctly asserted by various and competent authorities: Nennius has declared him to have been _filius dei_, not indeed the God of Hosts, and God of Gods, but of some idol[691]. But Asser, who was no doubt well acquainted with the traditions of Ælfred’s family, says[692], “Quem Getam dudum pagani pro deo venerabantur,” which is repeated in the same words by Florence of Worcester[693] and Simeon of Durham[694], and is contained in a Saxon genealogy preserved in the Textus Roffensis, “Geáta, ðene ða hǽðenan wurðedon for God.” We can therefore have no scruple about admitting his divinity; and a comparison of the Gothic and Scandinavian traditions proves the belief in it to have been widely held. The name, which is derived from _geotan_, to pour, most probably denotes only the special form in which Wóden was worshipped by some particular tribes or families; and the occurrence of it in the genealogies, only the fact that such tribes or families formed part of the national aggregates, to whose royal line it belongs. But nevertheless we must admit the personality attributed to him by those tribes, and the probability of his having been, at least for them, the national divinity. The circumstance of his name having left such deep traces as we perceive in the quotations given above, proves not only the especial divinity of the person, but perhaps also the political power and importance of the worshippers[695]. ----- Footnote 689: And see Geijer, Gesch. Schwed. i. 30. Gaut, Gautrek, Algaut, Gauthilld. Yngl. Sag. cap. 38. Footnote 690: Cod. Exon. p. 378. If Geát really be Wóden, this is another approximation to Hermes in his phallic character. Altogether the myth of the ἱερός γάμος, so constant in Greek mythology, is scarcely traceable in the North. The Wóden worship, at least, may have had something more of the character of the Apollo worship among the Dorians. Footnote 691: Nennius, § 31. Huntingdon follows Nennius, Hist. Angl. bk. ii. Footnote 692: De Reb. Gest. Ælfredi, an. 849. Footnote 693: Flor. Wig. Chron. an. 849. Footnote 694: De Reb. Gest. Regum, an. 849. Footnote 695: See the author’s edition of Beówulf, vol. ii. Postscript to the Preface. Leo’s Beówulf, etc.; and Ettmuller’s Beówulf, etc., with the last of whom, upon the maturest consideration, I find it impossible to agree. -----