Several Germanic tribes celebrated the returning of the daylight. A predominant deity was during this jubilee driven around in a noisy procession on a ship on wheels.Germanic Paganism among the Early Salian Franks – Eduardo Fabbro, M.A., University of Brasilia, The Journal of Germanic Mythology and Folklore, Volume 1, Issue 4, August 2006 During this feast the Germanic people celebrated as the days grew longer again the (re-)birth of the sun.Oorsprong Carnaval | Boemelburcht. Boemelburcht.info (20 June 2014). Retrieved on 2015-05-13. The winter would be driven out, to make sure that fertility could return in spring. A central figure was possibly the fertility goddess Nerthus. Also there are some indications that the effigy of NerthusTacitus, Germania 9.6: Ceterum nec cohibere parietibus deos neque in ullam humani oris speciem adsimulare ex magnitudine caelestium arbitrantur – "The Germans, however, do not consider it consistent with the grandeur of celestial beings to confine the gods within walls, or to liken them to the form of any human countenance." Germania 40: mox vehiculum et vestis et, si credere velis, numen ipsum secreto lacu abluitur – "Afterwards the car, the vestments, and, if you like to believe it, the divinity herself, are purified in a secret lake." Trans. Alfred John Church and William Jackson Brodribb, The Agricola and Germany of Tacitus, London: Macmillan, 1868, OCLC 776555615 or Freyr was placed on a ship with wheels and accompanied by a procession of people in animal disguise and men in women's clothes.Davidson, Hilda Ellis (1990). Gods and Myths of Northern Europe. Penguin Books. . Aboard the ship would the marriage of a man and woman be consummated as a fertility ritual.Federatie Europese Narren Nederland – Federatie Europese Narren Nederland . Fen-nederland.nl. Retrieved on 13 May 2015.
