The Germanic peoples, before contact with Christianity, did not, as a rule, condemn suicide, and this attitude, reflected in laws and narratives, changed only slowly under the influence of the Church. The earliest known cases of suicide occurred among both sexes after the battles of Vercellae and Aqua Sextiae. They are explainable by reference to religious beliefs and the position of women in the Germanic tribe. These explanations also hold for suicides among the early Norwegians and Icelanders; hanging particularly is found to be meant as a sacrifice. In suicides of women, however, there may be seen traces of suttee (Witwentotung). Suttee probably existed among Germanic peoples at a very early time and was given up as they turned from a migratory to an agricultural way of life.