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In Germanic paganism, the indigenous religion of the ancient Germanic peoples who inhabit Germanic Europe, there were a number of different gods and goddesses. Germanic deities are attested from numerous sources, including works of literature, various chronicles, runic inscriptions , personal names, place names, and other sources.
Germanic mythology consists of the body of myths native to the Germanic peoples, including Norse mythology, Anglo-Saxon mythology, and Continental Germanic mythology. [ 1 ] [ 2 ] [ 3 ] It was a key element of Germanic paganism .
It shares many characteristics with Nordic folklore and English folklore due to their origins in a common Germanic mythology.It reflects a similar mix of influences: a pre-Christian pantheon and other beings equivalent to those of Norse mythology; magical characters (sometimes recognizably pre-Christian) associated with Christian festivals, and various regional 'character' stories.
The 9th c. Rök runestone lists names of Germanic heroes and events, but the significance of most of them is nowadays lost. The figures in the lists below are listed either by the name of their article on Wikipedia or, if there is no article, according to the name by which they are most commonly attested.
Sacred trees and groves are mentioned throughout the history of the ancient Germanic people, from their earliest attestations among Roman scribes to references made by medieval Christian monks. Notable examples of sacred trees and groves in the historical record among the ancient Germanic peoples include the following:
Germanic paganism or Germanic religion refers to the traditional, culturally significant religion of the Germanic peoples. With a chronological range of at least one thousand years in an area covering Scandinavia, the British Isles, modern Germany, the Netherlands, and at times other parts of Europe, the beliefs and practices of Germanic ...
Continental Germanic mythology formed an element within Germanic paganism as practiced in parts of Central Europe occupied by Germanic peoples up to and including the 6th to 8th centuries (the period of Germanic Christianization). Traces of some of the myths lived on in legends and in the Middle High German epics of the Middle Ages.
A West Germanic spring goddess associated with a festival held in her name during the 'Easter-month', *Austro-mēnōþ, equivalent to modern 'April'. [7] The matronae Austriahenae, if Germanic, derive from the same stem. [8] The Old English and Old High German forms are the origin of the modern holiday names Easter and Ostern, respectively. [9]