Note 135 — Chapter IX · THE AGE OF CHARLEMAGNE
Reading edition
The formula of renunciation and confession generally employed in the Christianizing of the Germans, and therefore in all probability in the conversion of the Saxons, was as follows:
Question. Forsakest thou the devil?
Answer. I forsake the devil.
Ques. And all the devil's service?
Ans. And I forsake all the devil's service.
Ques. And all the devil's works?
Ans. And I forsake all the devil's works and words. Thor and Woden and Saxnot and all the evil spirits that are their companions.
Ques. Believest thou in God the Almighty Father?
Ans. I believe in God the Almighty Father.
Ques. Believest thou in Christ the Son of God?
Ans. I believe in Christ the Son of God.
Ques. Believest thou in the Holy Ghost?
Ans. I believe in the Holy Ghost.
"Accepting Christianity was to the German very much like changing of allegiance from one political sovereign to another. He gave up Thor and Woden (Odin) and Saxnot, and in their place took the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost."—Emerton, Introduction to the Study of the Middle Ages, pp. 155-156. Text of these "Interrogationes et Responsiones Baptismales" is in the Monumenta Germaniæ Historica, Leges (Boretius ed.), Vol. II., No. 107.