Germanic Paganism

Germanic paganism or Germanic religion refers to the largely pre-Christian traditional religion of the Germanic peoples. For over a thousand years it dominated an area covering Scandinavia, the British Isles, modern Germany, and sometimes other parts of Europe. Although beliefs and practices of Germanic paganism varied, scholars acknowledge some degree of continuity between Roman-era beliefs, those found in Norse paganism, reconstructions of Indo-European religion, as well as post-Christianity folklore. The extent of this continuity is subject to debate. It is safe to say that Germanic religion was influenced by neighboring cultures, including that of the Celts, the Romans, and, later, by Christian culture. Few sources have survived that were written by pagans, so most descriptions of Germanic religion were written by outsiders. Multiple creation myths may have existed among Germanic peoples. Roman historian Tacitus describes the Germanic tribes' descent from the gods Tuisto (or Tuisco), which possibly means twin or double-being, and Mannus which suggests that Tuisto/Mannus was a hermaphroditic being capable of impregnating himself.[58][59][60] These gods are only attested in Germania. It is not possible to decide based on Tacitus's report whether the myth describes the origin of the gods or the origin of human beings. Tacitus also records a second myth. The Semnones (a Germanic group) believed that they originated in a sacred grove. He describes rituals associated with Semnones: "At a stated period, all the tribes of the same race assemble by their representatives in a grove consecrated by the auguries of their forefathers, and by immemorial associations of terror. Here, having publicly slaughtered a human victim, they celebrate the horrible beginning of their barbarous rite. Reverence also in other ways is paid to the grove. No one enters it except bound with a chain, as an inferior acknowledging the might of the local divinity." There is evidence of a myth of the end of the world in Germanic mythology, which can be reconstructed in very general terms. The best known is the myth of Ragnarök, attested from Old Norse sources, which involves a war between the gods and the beings of chaos which leads to the destruction of almost every god, giant, and living object in a cataclysm of fire. This annihilation is followed by the rebirth of the world. Some scholars discern Christian influences in this myth. Information about Germanic cosmology is only contained in Nordic sources, but there is evidence for the continuity of beliefs despite variation over time and locale. Midgard (dwelling place in the middle) is used to refer to the inhabited world, or to a barrier surrounding the inhabited world. The dwelling place of the gods is known as Asgard, while the giants dwell in lands sometimes referred to as Jötunheimar that are outside of Midgard. The ash tree Yggdrasill is at the center of the world and propped up the heavens. The world of the dead (Hel) seems to have been underground, and it is possible that the realm of the gods was also originally subterranean. In Norse myth, fate was created by supernatural female beings called Norns, who appear either individually or as a collective and who determine peoples' fate at birth and are also involved in their deaths. Early Germanic beliefs about the afterlife are not well attested but sources indicate a variety of beliefs, including belief in an underworld, continued life in the grave, a world of the dead in the sky, and reincarnation.