Biel

Biel in German mythology, was an idol of the old, Saxons and Thuringians, worshipped especially on the Biel's-height near the convent of Ilfeld, and honored by an altar. He is said to have been a protector of the woods and a propagator of fruitfulness. It seems that. his worship was extended far over the northern provinces. The above-named Biel's-height contains a cliff from which Bonifacius preached the Gospel after hurling Biel from his altar. But Bonifacius had hardly gone, when the people again erected their idol. Even now ruins of an altar and of a priestly residence in Harz, near Blaukenburg, may be found. The inhabitants relate many wonderful things about the idol, and show the place where it stood. As everywhere in Northern Europe, so also were bloody sacrifices brought to this god, and the idol was sprinkled with the blood of the victim.