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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.
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.
This category includes the most important and best-known gods of the Germanic world. For more, see the categories Anglo-Saxon gods , Æsir and Vanir . See also Category:Germanic 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]
The Germani themselves also worshiped gods with Roman names at votive altars constructed according to Roman tradition; while isolated instances of Germanic bynames (such as "Mars Thingsus") indicate that a Germanic god was meant, often it is not possible to know if the Roman god or a Germanic equivalent is meant. [162]
As names in the Þiðreks saga typically adapt a German name, only figures that are not attested outside of the Þiðreks saga are listed under that name, even if most information on the figure is from the Þiðreks saga. Because the Þiðreks saga is based on German sources, it is counted as a German attestation. Excluded from the list are:
Germanic gods (5 C, 14 P) Germanic goddesses (2 C, 24 P) N. North Germanic deities (3 C)
Interpretatio germanica is the practice by the Germanic peoples of identifying Roman gods with the names of Germanic deities. According to University of Bonn philologist Rudolf Simek, this occurred around the 1st century AD, when both cultures came into closer contact.