In
Germanic paganism, a
vé (
Old Norse) or
weoh (
Old English) is a type of
shrine or sacred enclosure. The term appears in
skaldic poetry and in place names in
Scandinavia (with the exception of
Iceland), often in connection with a
Norse pagan deity or a geographic feature. The name of the Norse god
Vé refers to the practice. Andy Orchard says that a vé may have surrounded a
temple or have been simply a marked, open place where worship occurred. Orchard points out that
Tacitus, in his 1st century
CE work
Germania, says that the
Germanic peoples, unlike the
Romans, "did not seek to contain their deities within temple walls."