Germanic Mythology: Part 1

by Hermann Göll

Hermann Göll, a noted scholar of Germanic history and mythology, explores the religious beliefs and deities of the early Germanic tribes.

This is an excerpt from Hermann Göll, Illustrierte Geschichte der Mythologie (Illustrated History of Mythology), 1884.

Introduction

It can be assumed with great certainty that the ancestors of the Germanic peoples, after separating from the other Aryans and flooding the plains of central Europe and the high north of our continent in two streams, faithfully preserved the ancient religious views of their original homeland and primarily worshipped the bright powers of the heavens. This is already indicated by the names of the gods preserved among the ancient Scandinavians, such as Tiwaz, meaning the Celestials, and Vanir, meaning the Shining Ones. Accordingly, Tyr or Zio, the Sky Father, and Thunar, the Thunder God, would have held pre-eminence.