USENER, HERMANN (1833–1905), was a German classical philologist and historian of religion. From 1866 to 1902 Usener was professor at Bonn. His major writings include Das Weihnachtsfest (1889); Religionsgeschichtliche Untersuchungen (2 vols., 1889); Götternamen: Versuch einer Lehre von der religiösen Begriffsbildung (1896); and Die Sintfluthsagen (1899).

In Götternamen, Usener presented a once-influential theory. Taking his method from philology and his data mainly from demons (the indigitamenta) invoked by name in ancient Roman rites, Usener claimed to show that the history of the idea of deity had three phases. First, the concept of deity emerges as that of momentary gods (Augenblicksgötter) whose power is manifested during some fleeting experience, such as plowing and harrowing, but then vanishes. Next, as activities are repeated, these deities gain a certain continuity; they come to stand as functional powers over an entire class of phenomena or activity. Usener calls these "special gods" (Söndergotter). In...