InGermanic paganism, avé (Old Norse:[ˈweː]) orwēoh (Old English) is a type ofshrine,sacred enclosure or other place with religious significance. The term appears inskaldic poetry and in place names inScandinavia (with the exception ofIceland), often in connection with anOld Norse deity or a geographic feature.
Andy Orchard says that a vé may have surrounded atemple or have been simply a marked, open place where worship occurred. Orchard points out thatTacitus, in his 1st centuryCE workGermania, says that theGermanic peoples, unlike theRomans, "did not seek to contain their deities within temple walls."[1]
Vé derives from aCommon Germanic word meaning sacred or holy, cf.Gothicweihs (holy),Old Englishwēoh, wīg (idol),Germanweihen (consecrate, sanctify), GermanWeihnachten (Christmas). It shares etymology with the phraseÞor vigi ("mayThorhallow" or "may Thor protect") found on theCanterbury Charm,Glavendrup stone,Sønder Kirkeby Runestone,Velanda Runestone and Virring Runestone. The name of the Norse godVé also shares this etymology.[2]
An alternative word for "sanctuary" isalhs (Gothicalhs, Runic Norsealh, Old High Germanalah, Anglo-Saxonealh); for this etymology seeAlu (runic).
The Old English poemMaxims I refers toweos in the following stanza:
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Wēoh is also attested inBeowulf as an element in the compound nameWēohstan (Old Norse:Vésteinn) and as an element in the wordwígweorþunga, referring to the act of honouring idols.[5][6]
References to a vé are made inOld Norse literature without emphasis. For example, theProse Edda quotes a verse of theSkáldskaparmál ofSkúli Þórsteinsson and mentions a vé:
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Examples of -vé appearing in toponyms after the names of Norse gods and goddesses:
Eight old farms in Norway have the nameVé (inFlå,Norderhov,Ringsaker,Sande,Stamnes,Tveit,Tysnes, andÅrdal). It is also common as the first element in compounded names:Vébólstaðr ("the farm with ave"),Védalr ("the valley with ave"),Véló ("the holy meadow"),Vésetr ("the farm with ave"),Véstaðir ("the farm with ave"),Vésteinn ("the holy stone"),Vévatn ("theholy lake"),Véøy ("theholy island").
The names of the Danish city ofViborg,Jutland, and the former Finnish city ofVyborg, located along thetrade route from Scandinavia to Byzantium, are also considered related.[citation needed]