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Continental Germanic mythology formed an element withinGermanic paganism as practiced in parts ofCentral Europe occupied byGermanic peoples up to and including the 6th to 8th centuries (the period of Germanic Christianization). Traces of some of themyths lived on inlegends and in theMiddle High German epics of theMiddle Ages. Echoes of the stories, with thesacred elements largely removed, may appear throughoutEuropean folklore and in Europeanfairy tales.
The mythologies of the following tribes are included in this category:
Compared toNorth Germanic and, to a lesser extent,Anglo-Saxon mythology, examples of Continental Germanicpaganism are extremely fragmentary. Besides a handful of briefElder Futhark inscriptions the lone, genuinely pagan Continental Germanic documents are the shortOld High GermanMerseburg Incantations. However, pagan mythological elements were preserved in later literature, notably in Middle High German epic poetry, but also inGerman,Swiss, andDutch folklore.
