Wodan Heilt Balders Pferd by Emil Doepler

Germanic paganism Germanic paganism or Germanic religion refers to the traditional, culturally significant religion of the Germanic peoples. With a chronological range of at least one thousand years in an area covering Scandinavia, the British Isles, modern Germ ...

, the

indigenous religion Indigenous religions is a category used in the study of religion to demarcate the religious belief systems of communities described as being " indigenous". This category is often juxtaposed against others such as the " world religions" and " ne ...

of the ancient

Germanic peoples The Germanic peoples were historical groups of people that once occupied Central Europe and Scandinavia during antiquity and into the early Middle Ages. Since the 19th century, they have traditionally been defined by the use of ancient and ear ...

who inhabited 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 A runic inscription is an inscription made in one of the various runic alphabets. They generally contained practical information or memorials instead of magic or mythic stories. The body of runic inscriptions falls into the three categories of ...

, personal names, place names, and other sources. This article contains a comprehensive list of Germanic deities outside the numerous Germanic

Matres and Matronae The Matres (Latin for "mothers") and Matronae (Latin for "matrons") were female deities venerated in Northwestern Europe, of whom relics are found dating from the first to the fifth century AD. They are depicted on votive offerings and altars th ...

inscriptions from the 1st to 5th century CE.

Gods

Goddesses

Pseudo-deities and purported deities

Astrild Astrild (from Old Norse: "Love-fire") is a relatively late Nordic name for Amor or Cupid. Astrild probably originated in the writings of the 17th-century Swedish poet Georg Stiernhielm, and has since been used in Nordic poetry, mainly during the B ...

, a synonym for the Roman deity Amor or

Cupid In classical mythology, Cupid (Latin Cupīdō , meaning "passionate desire") is the god of desire, lust, erotic love, attraction and affection. He is often portrayed as the son of the love goddess Venus (mythology), Venus and the god of war Mar ...

invented and used by Nordic Baroque and Rococo authors *

Frau Berchta ''Honorifics'' are words that connote esteem or respect when used in addressing or referring to a person. In the German language, honorifics distinguish people by age, sex, profession, academic achievement, and rank. In the past, a distinction was ...

, a purported deity and female equivalent of

Berchtold Berchtold (also Berthold, Bertold, Bertolt) is a Germanic name, from the Old High German ''beruht'' "bright" or "brightly" and ''waltan'' "rule over". The name comes into fashion in the German High Middle Ages, from about the 11th century. The cogn ...

proposed by Jacob Grimm * , a purported deity potentially stemming from a folk etymologyMeyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon, Band 2. Leipzig 1905, S. 832. *

Holda "Frau Holle" ( ; also known as "Mother Holle", "Mother Hulda" or "Old Mother Frost") is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm in ''Children's and Household Tales'' in 1812 (KHM 24). It is of Aarne-Thompson type 480. Frau Holle (al ...

, a purported deity proposed by Jacob Grimm * Jecha, a purported deity potentially stemming from a folk etymology *

Jofur Jofur (from Old Norse ''Jöfurr'': "wild boar") is a name used in Nordic literature for the thunder god, mainly as a synonym for Jupiter. Jofur probably originated in the writings of the 17th-century Swedish scientist and writer Olaus Rudbeckius, ...

, a synonym for the Roman deity

Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a mass more than two and a half times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined, but slightly less than one-thousand ...

invented and used by Nordic Baroque and Rococo authors * Lahra, a purported deity potentially stemming from a folk etymology * , a purported deity potentially stemming from a folk etymology *

Stuffo Stuffo is the name of a supposed Germanic god, who originates from various late medieval legends from Germany related to Saint Boniface. Origin Stuffo first appears in a few late medieval/early modern Bonifacian legends. A 1756 image of the god b ...

, a purported deity potentially stemming from a folk etymology

Related deities

List of Anglo-Saxon deities Anglo-Saxon deities are in general poorly attested, and much is inferred about the religion of the Anglo-Saxons from other Germanic peoples. The written record from the period between the Anglo-Saxon invasion of the British Isles to the Christian ...

Common Germanic deities Proto-Germanic folklore is the folklore of the speakers of Proto-Germanic and includes topics such as the Germanic mythology, legendry, and folk beliefs of early Germanic culture. By way of the comparative method, Germanic philologists, a variety ...

Notes

References

* Bellows, Henry Adams (Trans.) (1936). ''The Poetic Edda''.

Princeton University Press Princeton University Press is an independent publisher with close connections to Princeton University. Its mission is to disseminate scholarship within academia and society at large. The press was founded by Whitney Darrow, with the financial ...

. * Barnhart, Robert K (1995). ''The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology''.

HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News C ...

* 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 Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print book ...

. * ''

Nordisk Familjebok ''Nordisk familjebok'' (, "Nordic Family Book") is a Swedish encyclopedia that was published in print from between 1876 and 1993, and that is now fully available in digital form via Project Runeberg at Linköping University. Despite their co ...

'' (1916). Available online

* North, Richard (1997). ''Heathen Gods in Old English Literature''.

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press is the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it is the oldest university press in the world. It is also the King's Printer. Cambridge University Pr ...

* Orchard, Andy (1997). ''Dictionary of Norse Myth and Legend''.

Cassell Cassell may refer to: Companies * ''Cassell Military Paperbacks'', an imprint of Orion Publishing Group * ''Cassell's National Library'' * Cassell (publisher) (Cassell Illustrated or Cassell & Co.), a British book publisher now owned by the Orion ...

. * Simek, Rudolf (2007) translated by Angela Hall. ''Dictionary of Northern Mythology''. D.S. Brewer. {{DEFAULTSORT:List Of Germanic Deities Germanic paganism and mythology lists Germanic deities Germanic deities and heroes