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Germanic deities are attested from numerous sources, including works of literature, various chronicles, runic inscriptions, personal names, place names, and other sources. This article contains a comprehensive list of Germanic deities outside the numerous Germanic Matres and Matronae inscriptions from the 1st to 5th century CE.
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]
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:
Creatures found in the legends and folktales of German-speaking countries such as Germany, Austria or Switzerland. Subcategories This category has the following 5 subcategories, out of 5 total.
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 Laufi, meaning "thin as a leaf", is used in all sources except for Gesta Danorum, where it is called Snirtir, from snerta meaning "to attack". The name is used in later Scaldic works, such Hattalykill and the Þulur of the Edda in the sense "sword". [36] Bödvar Bjarki's sword with which he killed Ingeld's son Agnar. [30]
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.
Like elves, dwarfs are beings of Germanic lower mythology. They are mostly male and imagined as a collective; [141] however, individual named dwarfs also play an important role in Norse mythology. [142] In Norse and German texts, dwarfs live in mountains and are known as great smiths and craftsmen.