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A scene from one of the Merseburg Incantations: gods Wodan and Balder stand before the goddesses Sunna, Sinthgunt, Volla, and Friia (Emil Doepler, 1905). In Germanic paganism, the indigenous religion of the ancient Germanic peoples who inhabit Germanic Europe, there were a number of different gods and goddesses.
The most important sources on Germanic mythology, however, are works of Old Norse literature, most of which were written down in the Icelandic Commonwealth during the Middle Ages; of particular importance is the Poetic Edda. [1] Archaeological evidence, Runic inscriptions and place-names are also useful sources on Germanic mythology. [1]
Norse, Nordic, or Scandinavian mythology, is the body of myths belonging to the North Germanic peoples, stemming from Old Norse religion and continuing after the Christianization of Scandinavia as the Nordic folklore of the modern period.
Odin the Wanderer (the meaning of his name Gangleri); illustration by Georg von Rosen, 1886 Odin ( Old Norse Óðinn) is a widely attested god in Germanic mythology . The god is referred to by numerous names and kenningar , particularly in the Old Norse record.
The name Freyja transparently means 'lady, mistress' in Old Norse. [1] Stemming from the Proto-Germanic feminine noun * frawjōn ('lady, mistress'), it is cognate with Old Saxon frūa ('lady, mistress') or Old High German frouwa ('lady'; cf. modern German Frau). Freyja is also etymologically close to the name of the god Freyr, meaning 'lord' in ...
The Germanic god Freyr is referred to by many names in Old Norse poetry and literature. Multiple of these are attested only once in the extant record and are found principally in Skáldskaparmál. Some names have been further proposed by scholars to have referred to the god in the Medieval period, including one from Old English literature.
The Germanic god Thor (Old Norse: Þórr) is referred to by many names in Old Norse poetry and literature.Some of the names come from the Prose Edda list Nafnaþulur, and are not attested elsewhere, while other names are well attested throughout the sources of Norse mythology.
In Norse mythology, the Aesir are one of two families of gods, the other being the Vanir: the most important gods of Norse mythology belong to the Aesir and the term can also be used for the gods in general. [117] The Vanir appear to have been mostly fertility gods. [120]