In Germanic paganism, the indigenous religion of the ancient Germanic peoples who inhabit Germanic Europe, there were a number of different gods and goddesses. 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.
Gods
| Name | Name meaning | Attested consorts and sexual partners | Attested children | Attestations |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alcis (Latinized Germanic) | Contested | None attested | None attested | Germania |
| Baldr (Old Norse), Bældæg (Old English) | Old Norse form is contested. Old English form directly translates as "shining day". | Nanna | Forseti | Merseburg Incantation, Poetic Edda, Prose Edda, Gesta Danorum, Chronicon Lethrense, Annales Lundenses, possibly Beowulf |
| Bragi (Old Norse) | Connected with Bragr ("poetry") | Iðunn | None attested | Poetic Edda, Prose Edda, skaldic poetry |
| Dellingr (Old Norse) | Possibly "the dayspring" or "shining one" | Nótt | Dagr | Poetic Edda, Prose Edda |
| Forseti (Old Norse) | "Chairman" | None attested | None attested | Poetic Edda, Prose Edda |
| Freyr (Old Norse), Frea (Old English), Yngvi (Old Norse), Ing (Old English) | "Lord" | Gerðr | Fjölnir (Heimskringla) | Gesta Hammaburgensis ecclesiae pontificum, Poetic Edda, Prose Edda, Heimskringla, Ögmundar þáttr dytts, Gesta Danorum, various others |
| Heimdallr (Old Norse) | "World-brightener" | None attested | None attested | Prose Edda, Poetic Edda |
| Hermóðr (Old Norse), Heremod (Old English) | "War-spirit" | None attested | Sceaf (Old English only) | Poetic Edda, Prose Edda, Beowulf, Old English royal genealogies |
| Höðr (Old Norse) | "Warrior" | None attested | None attested | Poetic Edda, Prose Edda, Gesta Danorum, Chronicon Lethrense, Annales Lundenses, possibly Beowulf |
| Hœnir (Old Norse) | Contested | None attested | None attested | Poetic Edda, Prose Edda, skaldic poetry |
| Lóðurr (Old Norse) | Contested | None attested | None attested | Poetic Edda, skaldic poetry |
| Loki (Old Norse) | Contested | Sigyn, Svadilfari, Angrboda | Nari/Narfi, Váli, Fenrir, Hel, Jormungandr, and Sleipnir | Poetic Edda, Prose Edda, Heimskringla, Loka Táttur, Norwegian rune poem, Danish folk tales |
| Móði and Magni (Old Norse) | "Courage" and "Strength" | None attested | None attested | Poetic Edda, Prose Edda |
| Máni (Old Norse) | "Moon" (Gives his name to Monday). | None attested | None attested | Poetic Edda, Prose Edda |
| Mímir (Old Norse) | "Rememberer" | None attested | Sons, unnamed | Poetic Edda, Prose Edda |
| Meili (Old Norse) | "the lovely one" | None attested | None attested | Poetic Edda, Prose Edda |
| Njörðr (Old Norse) | Contested | Once unnamed sister, once Skaði | Freyr, Freyja | Poetic Edda, Prose Edda, Heimskringla, Egils saga, Hauksbók ring oath, place names |
| Odin: Óðinn (North Germanic), Wōden (West Germanic), *Wōðanaz (Proto-Germanic) (see List of names of Odin for more) | "Frenzy"
(Gives his name to Wednesday). |
Frigg (consort), Skaði (Heimskringla only), Gunnlöð, Jörð, Rindr | See Sons of Odin | Most attestations of Germanic paganism |
| Óðr (Old Norse) | "The frenzied one" | Freyja | Hnoss, Gersemi | Poetic Edda, Prose Edda |
| Saxnōt (Old Saxon), Seaxnet, Seaxnēat, Saxnat (Old English) | Contested | None attested | None attested | Old Saxon Baptismal Vow, Old English royal genealogies |
| Thor: Þórr (North Germanic), Þunor (Old English), Thunaer (Old Saxon), Donar (Southern Germanic areas) | "Thunder", all names stem from Proto-Germanic *ÞunraR
(Gives his name to Thursday). |
Sif (consort), Járnsaxa | Móði and Magni, Þrúðr | Most attestations of Germanic paganism |
| Tuisto (Latinized Germanic) | "double", from the Proto-Germanic root *twai – "two"; "a god, born of the earth" (deum terra editum) | None attested | Mannus | Germania |
| Týr (Old Norse), Tīw, Tīg (both Old English), Ziu (Old High German) | "God", derived from Proto-Germanic *Tīwaz
(Gives his name to Tuesday). |
Unnamed, possibly Zisa | None Attested | Poetic Edda, Prose Edda, skaldic poetry, Hadrian's Wall altar |
| Ullr (Old Norse) | Something like "Glory" | None attested | None attested | Poetic Edda, Prose Edda, skaldic poetry, Gesta Danorum, Thorsberg chape, toponyms in Norway and Sweden |
| Váli (Old Norse) | "Chosen" | None attested | None attested | Poetic Edda, Prose Edda, Gesta Danorum (as Bous) |
| Viðarr (Old Norse) | Possibly "wide ruler" | None attested | None attested | Poetic Edda, Prose Edda |
| Vé (Old Norse) | Vé | Possibly Frigg | None attested | Poetic Edda, Prose Edda |
| Vili (Old Norse) | "Will" | Possibly Frigg | None attested | Poetic Edda, Prose Edda |
Goddesses
| Name | Name meaning | Attested consorts and sexual partners | Attested children | Attestations |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baduhenna (Latinized Germanic) | Badu-, may be cognate to Proto-Germanic *badwa- meaning "battle." The second portion of the name -henna may be related to -henae, which appears commonly in the names of matrons. | None attested | None attested | Tacitus's Annals |
| Bil (Old Norse) | Contested | None attested | None attested | Prose Edda |
| Beyla (Old Norse) | Proposed as related to "cow," "bean," or "bee." | Byggvir | None attested | Poetic Edda |
| Dís (Old Norse) | "goddess" | None attested | None attested | Poetic Edda |
| Eir (Old Norse) | "Peace, clemency" or "help, mercy" | None attested | None attested | Poetic Edda, Prose Edda |
| Ēostre (Old English) | "East" (Gives her name to Easter according to Bede). | None attested | None attested | De temporum ratione |
| Freyja (Old Norse) (See List of names of Freyja for more) | "Lady" | Freyr, Óðr | Hnoss, Gersemi | Poetic Edda, Prose Edda, Heimskringla, Sörla þáttr |
| Frigg (Old Norse) | Derived from an Indo-European root meaning "Love"
(Gives her name to Friday, as the Germanic equivalent of Venus). |
Odin (consort), Vili, Vé | Baldr, Höðr | Poetic Edda, Prose Edda, Gesta Danorum, Historia Langobardorum, Second Merseburg Incantation |
| Fulla (Old Norse) | Possibly "bountiful" | None attested | None attested | Second Merseburg Incantation, Poetic Edda, Prose Edda |
| Gefjun (Old Norse) | Related to "giving" | Skjöldr, unnamed jötunn | Four oxen | Prose Edda, Ynglinga saga, Völsa þáttr, |
| Gersemi (Old Norse) | "Treasure, precious object" | None attested | None attested | Heimskringla |
| Gerðr (Old Norse) | "Fenced in" | Freyr | Fjölnir (Heimskringla) | Poetic Edda, Prose Edda, Heimskringla |
| Gná (Old Norse) | Possibly related to Old Norse Gnæfa, meaning "to project" | None attested | None attested | Prose Edda |
| Gullveig (Old Norse) | Contested | None attested | None attested | Poetic Edda |
| Haeva [de] (Latinized Germanic) | Possibly "marriage" | Possibly Hercules Magusanus | None attested | Votive stone from the Netherlands (CIL XIII 8705) |
| Hariasa | Possibly related to the valkyrie name Herja or meaning "goddess with lots of hair" | None attested | None attested | Stone from Cologne, Germany (CIL XIII 8185) |
| Hlín (Old Norse) | Possibly related to the Old Norse term hleinir, itself possibly meaning "protects" | None attested | None attested | Poetic Edda, Prose Edda |
| Hludana (Latinized Germanic) | "The famous" | None attested | None attested | Votive stones from the Netherlands and Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany |
| Hnoss (Old Norse) | "Treasure" | None attested | None attested | Prose Edda |
| Hretha (Old English) | Possibly "the famous" or "the victorious" | None attested | None attested | De temporum ratione |
| Idis (Old Norse) | well-respected and dignified woman | None attested | None attested | Merseburg charms |
| Ilmr (Old Norse) | Potentially related to Old Norse ilmr, a masculine noun meaning "pleasant scent" | None attested | None attested | Prose Edda, skaldic poetry |
| Iðunn (Old Norse) | Possibly "ever young" | Bragi | None attested | Poetic Edda, Prose Edda |
| Irpa (Old Norse) | Possibly relating to "dark brown" | None attested | None attested | Jómsvíkinga saga, Njáls saga |
| Lofn (Old Norse) | Potentially related to "Praise" | None attested | None attested | Prose Edda |
| Nanna (Old Norse) | Possibly "mother" from nanna, or potentially related to nanþ-, meaning "the daring one" | Baldr | Forseti | Poetic Edda, Prose Edda, Gesta Danorum, Chronicon Lethrense, Setre Comb |
| Nehalennia (Latinized Germanic) | Possibly "she who is at the sea" | None attested | None attested | Votive altars discovered around what is now the province of Zeeland, the Netherlands |
| Nerthus (Latinized Germanic, from Proto-Germanic *Nerthuz) | Latinized form of what Old Norse Njörðr would have looked like around 1 CE. | None attested | None attested | Germania |
| Njörun (Old Norse) | Possibly related to the Norse god Njörðr and the Roman goddess Nerio | None attested | None attested | Poetic Edda, Prose Edda, skaldic poetry |
| Norns (Old Norse) (Urðr, Verðandi, Skuld) |
Unknown | None attested | None attested | Poetic Edda, skaldic poetry |
| Rán (Old Norse) | "Theft, robbery" | Ægir | Nine daughters | Poetic Edda, Prose Edda, Friðþjófs saga hins frœkna |
| Rindr (Old Norse) | Possibly related to *Vrindr | Odin | Váli | Poetic Edda, Prose Edda, Gesta Danorum |
| Sága (Old Norse) | Possibly "to see" | None attested | None attested | Poetic Edda, Prose Edda, skaldic poetry |
| Sandraudiga (Latinized Germanic) | "She who dyes the sand red." | None attested | None attested | North Brabant stone |
| Sif (Old Norse) | "In-law-relationship" | Thor | Þrúðr, Ullr | Poetic Edda, Prose Edda |
| Sigyn (Old Norse) | "Victorious girl-friend" | Loki | Nari, Narfi and/or Váli | Poetic Edda, Prose Edda |
| Sinthgunt (Old High German) | Contested | None attested | None attested | Second Merseburg Incantation |
| Sjöfn (Old Norse) | "Love" | None attested | None attested | Prose Edda |
| Skaði (Old Norse) | Possibly related to Scandia. | Ullr, Odin, once Njörðr. | Sæmingr | Poetic Edda, Prose Edda, Ynglinga saga |
| Snotra (Old Norse) | "The clever one" | None attested | None attested | Prose Edda |
| Sól (Old Norse), Sunna (Old High German) | "Sun"
(Gives her name to Sunday). |
Glenr | daughter, unnamed | Second Merseburg Incantation, Poetic Edda, Prose Edda |
| Syn (Old Norse) | "Refusal" | None attested | None attested | Prose Edda |
| Tamfana (Latinized Germanic) | Unknown | None attested | None attested | Germania, Tamfanae sacrum inscription |
| Þrúðr (Old Norse) | "Power" | None attested | None attested | Poetic Edda, Prose Edda, Karlevi Runestone |
| Þorgerðr Hölgabrúðr (Old Norse) | Literally "Þorgerðr Hölgi's Bride" | None attested | Hölgi, possibly others | Jómsvíkinga saga, Njáls saga, Skáldskaparmál, Færeyinga saga |
| Vár (Old Norse) | "Beloved" | None attested | None attested | Poetic Edda, Prose Edda |
| Vihansa (Latinized Germanic) | "War-goddess" | None attested | None attested | Votive stone from Belgium (CIL XIII 3592) |
| Vör (Old Norse) | Possibly "the careful one" | None attested | None attested | Prose Edda, Poetic Edda Thrymsvitha |
| Zisa | Possibly related to *Tiwaz | None attested | Possibly Tyr via linguistic connection | Codex Monac, Codex Emmeran, and Suevicarum rerum scriptores |
Pseudo-deities and purported deities
- Astrild, a synonym for the Roman deity Amor or Cupid invented and used by Nordic Baroque and Rococo authors
- Biel [de], a purported deity potentially stemming from a folk etymology
- Ercol, a synonym for the Roman deity Hercules used in King Alfred's Anglo-Saxon version of Boethius de Consolatione Philosophiae
- Frau Berchta, a purported deity and female equivalent of Berchtold proposed by Jacob Grimm
- Holda, a purported deity proposed by Jacob Grimm
- Jecha, a purported deity potentially stemming from a folk etymology
- Jofur, a synonym for the Roman deity Jupiter invented and used by Nordic Baroque and Rococo authors
- Lahra, a purported deity potentially stemming from a folk etymology
- Reto [de], a purported deity potentially stemming from a folk etymology
- Stuffo, a purported deity potentially stemming from a folk etymology
Related deities
Notes
- ^ Simek (2007:26).
- Simek (2007:43).
- Bellows (1936:75).
- Orchard (1997:32).
- Orchard (1997:46).
- Orchard (1997:47).
- Orchard (1997:78).
- Orchard (1997:83).
- Orchard (1997:88).
- Simek (2007:210).
- Orchard (1997:123).
- Orchard (1997:121).
- Simek (2007:322).
- Simek (2007:337).
- Lindow (2001:301).
- Orchard (1997:174—175).
- Orchard (1997:173).
- Simek (2007:363).
- Lindow (2001:78).
- August Fick, Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der Indogermanischen Sprachen Part 3 Wortschatz der Germanischen Spracheinheit, 4th ed. rev. Alf Torp, Hjalmar Falk, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1909, OCLC 491891019, "dîsî, dîsi," p. 206 Archived 18 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine.
- Lindow (2001:105).
- Orchard (1997:36).
- Barnhart (1995:229).
- Lindow (2001:126)
- Lindow (2001:129).
- Orchard (1997:49).
- North (1997:71).
- Simek (2007:106).
- Orchard (1997:54).
- Lindow (2001:147).
- ^ De Vries, Jan (20 April 2011). Die Götter – Vorstellungen über den Kosmos – Der Untergang des Heidentums (in German). Berlin: De Gruyter. p. 320. doi:10.1515/9783110855197. ISBN 978-3-11-085519-7.
- Simek (2007:131).
- ^ Lindow (2001:177).
- Hopkins, J.S., 2016–17. Goddesses Unknown III: On the Identity of the Old Norse Goddess Hlín. RMN Newsletter, 12–13, 30–36.
- Simek (2007:159).
- Grimm (1888:1374).
- Hopkins, J.S., 2014. Goddesses Unknown II: On the Apparent Old Norse Goddess Ilmr. RMN Newsletter, 8, pp.32-38.
- Lindow (2001:199).
- Simek (2007:176).
- Lindow (2001:213).
- Simek (2007:227).
- Lindow (2001:237–238)
- Finnur Jónsson (1913:110) suggests a Njörðr connection, Magnússon (1989:671) suggests Njörðr and Nerio.
- Hopkins, J.S., 2012. Goddesses Unknown I: Njǫrun and the Sister-Wife of Njǫrðr. The Retrospective Methods Network Newsletter, 5 (December 2012), 39-44.
- Simek (2007:260).
- Simek (2007:266).
- Lindow (2001:265).
- Nordisk Familjebok (1916:665).
- Lindow (2001:266).
- Orchard (1997:146).
- Lindow (2001:268).
- Simek (2007:287).
- Simek (2007:296).
- Orchard (1997:152).
- Orchard (1997:157).
- Orchard (1997:165).
- Simek (2007:326–327).
- Simek (2007:353).
- Schonfeld, M. (Moritz) (1911). Wörterbuch der altgermanischen personen-und völkernamen; nach der überlieferung des klassischen altertums. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill University Library. Heidelberg, C. Winter.
- Simek (2007:368).
- ^ Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon, Band 2. Leipzig 1905, S. 832.
References
- Bellows, Henry Adams (Trans.) (1936). The Poetic Edda. Princeton University Press.
- Barnhart, Robert K (1995). The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology. HarperCollins ISBN 0-06-270084-7
- Grimm, Jacob (James Steven Stallybrass Trans.) (1888). Teutonic Mythology: Translated from the Fourth Edition with Notes and Appendix by James Stallybrass. Volume IV. London: George Bell and Sons.
- Lindow, John (2001). Norse Mythology: A Guide to the Gods, Heroes, Rituals, and Beliefs. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-515382-0
- Nordisk Familjebok (1916). Available online:
- North, Richard (1997). Heathen Gods in Old English Literature. Cambridge University Press ISBN 0-521-55183-8
- Orchard, Andy (1997). Dictionary of Norse Myth and Legend. Cassell. ISBN 0-304-34520-2
- Simek, Rudolf (2007) translated by Angela Hall. Dictionary of Northern Mythology. D.S. Brewer. ISBN 0-85991-513-1
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