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In the 3rd and 4th centuries, the Elder Futhark script was still in its early phase of development, with inscriptions concentrated in what is now Denmark and Northern Germany. The tradition of runic literacy continued in Scandinavia into the Viking Age, developing into the Younger Futhark script.
The valknut: According to scholar Leszek Gardeła, "Probably the most vivid manifestation of the number nine motif in the material culture of the Viking Age comes in the form of the so-called valknútr, a symbol carved in wood, metal and stone which usually takes the form of three inter-locking triangles (giving a total of nine triangle points)."
The most widespread religious symbol in the Viking Age Old Norse religion was Mjöllnir, the hammer of Thor. [284] This symbol first appears in the ninth century and might be a conscious response to the symbolism of the Christian cross. [28]
The god Baldr is attested from Scandinavia, England, and Germany; except for the Old High German Second Merseburg Charm (9th century CE), all literary references to the god are from Scandinavia and nothing is known of his worship. [233] The god Freyr was the most important fertility god of the Viking Age. [234]
The oldest inscriptions (before 500) found on the Continent are divided into two groups, the area of the North Sea coast and Northern Germany (including parts of the Netherlands) associated with the Saxons and Frisians on one hand (part of the "North Germanic Koine"), [15] and loosely scattered finds from along the Oder to south-eastern Poland ...
In Zeus' case it was a shield, and in Athena's a cloak with a gorgon head. The Greek word aigis could thus have become the "helm of awe" through folk etymology because of the similarity with ON œgr which means "terrible". It has nothing to do with the Norse sea giant Ægir. [20] Hildegrim Middle High German: Hildegrîn, Old Norse: Hildegrímur
Runology is the academic study of the runic alphabets, runic inscriptions, runestones, and their history. Runology forms a specialised branch of Germanic philology . The earliest secure runic inscriptions date from around AD 150, with a potentially earlier inscription dating to AD 50 and Tacitus 's potential description of rune use from around ...
Nerthus (1905) by Emil Doepler depicts Nerthus, an early Germanic goddess whose name developed into Njörðr among the North Germanic peoples. Germanic mythology consists of the body of myths native to the Germanic peoples, including Norse mythology, Anglo-Saxon mythology, and Continental Germanic mythology.