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Germanic mythology consists of the body ofmyths native to theGermanic peoples, includingNorse mythology,Anglo-Saxon mythology, andContinental Germanic mythology.[1][2][3] It was a key element ofGermanic paganism.
As theGermanic languages developed fromProto-Indo-European language, Germanic mythology is ultimately a development ofProto-Indo-European mythology. Archaeological remains, such aspetroglyphs inScandinavia, suggest continuity in Germanic mythology since at least the Nordic Bronze Age.[1][2]
The earliest written sources on Germanic mythology include literature byRoman writers. This includesCommentaries on the Gallic War byJulius Caesar,Geographica byStrabo, andGermania byTacitus.[1] LaterLatin-language sources on Germanic mythology includeGetica byJordanes,History of the Lombards byPaul the Deacon,Ecclesiastical History of the English People byBede,Vita Ansgari byRimbert,Gesta Hammaburgensis ecclesiae pontificum byAdam of Bremen, andGesta Danorum bySaxo Grammaticus.[1]
Vernacular sources on Germanic mythology include theMerseburg Charms, theNibelungenlied,[2] and various pieces ofOld English literature, particularlyBeowulf.[1] The most important sources on Germanic mythology, however, are works ofOld Norse literature, most of which were written down in theIcelandic Commonwealth during theMiddle Ages; of particular importance is thePoetic Edda.[1]
Archaeological evidence,Runic inscriptions and place-names are also useful sources on Germanic mythology.[1]
The myths of the Germanic peoples feature narratives focused onGermanic deities and a variety of other entities.
The beginning and end of the world is told inVöluspá, the first and best known poem in the Poetic Edda. The seeress in Völuspá tells of how the world began with a great magical nothingness calledGinnungagap, untilOdin and his two brothers raised the Earth from the sea. They came across the tree trunksAsk and Embla, whom they created into the first human couple.[1]
The accounts of Völuspá are contrasted with those inVafþrúðnismál andGrímnismál. These say that Odin created the world from the body of the giantYmir. Odin and his brothers were in turn descended fromBúri, who had been created by the primeval cowAuðumbla. Parallels to Auðumbla are found inIndo-Iranian religion, testifying to the ancient Indo-European origins of Germanic mythology.[1]
A central point in the Germanic cosmos is the treeYggdrasil.[3] Germanic mythology prophesises the end of the world in a comingRagnarök.[1]
A number of Germanic gods are mentioned in Old Norse literature and they are divided into theÆsir and theVanir. The Æsir are primarily gods of war and dominate the latter, who are gods of fertility and wealth.[1]
The chief god of the Æsir isOdin, a god associated with war,seiðr (witchcraft), and wisdom. He was probably worshipped primarily by kings and noblemen rather than the common people. Odin is the lord ofAsgard, the abode of the gods, which includes the majestic hallValhalla, where warriors who died a heroic death in battle (Einherjar) were admitted in order to prepare them to help Odin in the coming Ragnarök.[1]
Odin's wife wasFrigg. His popular son, by the jǫtunnJǫrð, wasThor, the god associated with thunder. Wielding his hammerMjölnir, Thor engaged in conflict with thejötnar (giants) and the serpentJörmungandr. Thor has many parallels in Indo-European mythology. He appears to have been worshiped extensively by the Germanic peoples, particularly warriors and the common people. A notable brother of Thor isBaldr. Other significant Æsir include the trickster godLoki;Heimdallr, who is reported inRígsþula to have fathered the three classes of men; andTýr, a god associated with war and who lost his hand to the wolfFenrir, who some scholars have proposed on linguistic evidence may have been a central deity in the Germanic pantheon in earlier times.[1]
In Old Norse literature, the Æsir and Vanir are described as being in conflict. Through this conflict, certain Vanir gods, such asNjörðr,Freyja, andFreyr, join the Æsir.[1] Similarities have been pointed out between Njörðr andNerthus, a Germanic fertility god mentioned by Tacitus inGermania in the 1st-century AD.[1] Sources also mention numerous other entities, such asHel, who oversees an underworld location of the same name.[3]
A number of legendary creatures appear in Germanic mythology, such asdísir,fylgjur,draugar,dwarfs,elves,[1] as well asjötnar,goblins,giants,trolls anddragons.[citation needed]
During the Middle Ages,Germanic peoples wereconverted to Christianity. The study of Germanic mythology has remained an important element ofGermanic philology since the development of the field and the topic is an integral component ofHeathenry, the modern revival ofGermanic paganism. Elements of Germanic mythology have survived into modernGermanic folklore.
