Category:Germanic and Nordic Deities

From Association of Independent Readers and Rootworkers

An artist's conception of the wooden Temple at Uppsala, Sweden, before its destruction at the hands of Christians

According to the sacred texts of the Germanic and Norse people, there are two tribes of deities, the Vanir and the Aesir. After the mutually destructive Aesir-Vanir War, they agreed to a truce, whereby some of the Vanir were adopted into the Aesir tribe and some of the Aesir went to live with the Vanir tribe. Although the truce did not work out well at first, eventually the two groups settled upon an agreement to live in peace.

Because of this tribal conflict and union, which may have had a human parallel in prehistoric times, there are parallel deities found among the two groups. Those who believe that the Vanir and Aesir are reflections of the same pantheon of deities, as venerated by two human tribes, tend to lump them together, for instance equating Odr with Odin and Freya with Frigga. Those who hold that each of the Vanir is essentially distinct from each of the Aesir tend to split them apart, for instance holding that the Vanir Odr is Freya's legitimate husband, while the Aesir Odin is her lover, and, conversely, that the Aesir Frigga is Odin's legitimate wife, while the Vanir Freya is his lover.

The veneration of ancient Germanic and Nordic deities, once believed to have ended with the coming of Christianity to northern Europe, has been partially retained and also deliberately revived as a Neo-Pagan tradition.

Popular Germanic and Nordic Deities

Baldr

Baldr whose name is also spelled Baldur, Balder, or Baldar, is a is a god of sunlight and day. (Read More ...)

Bragi

Bragi is the god of poetry, music, and bards...

Eir

Eir is the goddess of medical skill...

Eostre

Eostre is the goddess of spring, sun-rise, and fertility...

Forseti

Forseti is the god of justice and mercy...

Freya

Freya is the goddess of beauty, love, gold, war, and spell-casting. (Read More ...)

Freyr

Freyr is the god of fertility, good harvests, prosperity, pleasure, and weather magic. (Read More ...)

Frigga

Frigga is the goddess of motherhood, the home, marriage, and prophecy. (Read More ...)

Gefjon

Gefjon is the goddess of ploughs, harvest, and farmers...

Gna

Gna is the messenger goddess of Frigga...

Heimdall

Heimdall is the guardian of the rainbow bridge, bifrost, who watches for Ragnarok, the final battle of the gods. (Read More ...)

Hel

Hel is the ruler of the underworld and receives a portion of the dead...

Hod

Hod is the blind brother of Baldr who is tricked by Loki into slaying Baldr...

Krampus

Krampus is a Germanic woods-god associated with goats and birch trees. (Read More ...)

Loki

Loki is the son of giants and is a shape-shifting trickster deity. ...

Nanna

Nanna is the devoted wife of Baldr..

Njord

Njord is the god of the sea, fishing, and sailors...

Norns

The Norns are the weavers of the cosmic skein, fate, and destiny...

Odin

Odin is the All-father, god of war, wisdom, battle, and rune-reading. (Read More ...)

Sif

Sif is the goddess of the earth and fields of wheat...

Sigyn

Sigyn is the wife of Loki who faithfully protects him from the dripping venom of a serpent...

Skadi

Skadi is the goddess of hunting, skiing, and winter...

Sunna

Sunna is the sun personified ...

Thor

Thor is the god of thunder, lightning, and the defender of the gods...

Tyr

Tyr is the one-armed god of justice, battle, and courage...

In This Category

Pages in category "Germanic and Nordic Deities"

The following 8 pages are in this category, out of 8 total.