Germanic Paganism
Germanic paganism refers to the theology and religious practices of the Germanic peoples from the Iron Age until their Christianization during the Medieval period. It has been described as being "a system of interlocking and closely interrelated religious worldviews and practices rather than as one indivisible religion" and as such consisted of "individual worshippers, family traditions and regional cults within a broadly consistent framework".
Germanic paganism took various forms in different areas of the Germanic world. The best documented version was that of 10th and 11th century Norse religion, although other information can be found from Anglo-Saxon and Continental Germanic sources. Scattered references are also found in the earliest writings of other Germanic peoples and Roman descriptions. The information can be supplemented with archaeological finds and remnants of pre-Christian beliefs in later folklore.
Germanic paganism was polytheistic, with similarities to other Indo-European religions. Many of the Germanic deities appeared under similar names across the Germanic peoples, most notably the god known to the Germans as Wodan or Wotan, to the Anglo-Saxons as Wōden, and to the Norse as Odin, as well as the god Thor – known to the Germans as Donar, to the Anglo-Saxons as Þunor and to the Norse as Þórr.
The Common Germanic period begins with the European Iron Age, contemporary to the Celtic La Tene culture to the south, growing out of earlier traditions of the Nordic Bronze Age. Early Germanic history remains in the prehistoric period until the earliest descriptions in Roman ethnography in the 1st century BC.
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