Commonly featuring narratives focused on Germanic deities and a large variety of other entities.
Cosmology
The beginning and end of the world is told in Völuspá, the first and best known poem in the Poetic Edda. As told by the seeress in Völuspá, the world began with a great magical nothingness called Ginnungagap. From the seaOdin and his two brothers emerged, and came across Ask and Embla, whom they created into the first human couple. The accounts of Völuspá are contrasted with those in Vafþrúðnismál and Grímnismál. These say that Odin created the world from the body of the giant Ymir. Odin and his brothers were in turn descended from Búri, who had been created by the primeval cow Auðumbla. Parallels to Auðumbla are found in Indo-Iranian religion, testifying to the ancient Indo-European origins of Germanic mythology. A central point in the Germanic cosmos is the tree Yggdrasil. Germanic mythology prophetizes the end of the world in a coming Ragnarök.
Deities
A number of Germanic gods are mentioned in Old Norse literature. These are divided into the Æsir and the Vanir. The Æsir are primarily gods of war and dominate the latter, who are gods of fertility and wealth. The chief god of the Æsir was Odin, who is the god of war and wisdom. He was probably worshiped primarily by kings and noblemen rather than the common people. Odin was the lord of Asgard, the abode of the gods. Asgard included the majestic hall Valhalla, where warriors who had died a heroic death in battle were admitted in order to prepare them to help Odin in the coming Ragnarök. Odin's son Thor by his wife Frigg, was the god of thunder. Wielding his hammer Mjölnir, Thor was engaged in conflict with the jötnar and the serpentJörmungandr. Thor has many parallels in Indo-European mythology. He appears to have been worshiped extensively by the Germanic peoples, particularly warriors and the common people. A notable brother of Thor is Baldr. Other significant Æsir include the trickster godLoki; Heimdallr, who is reported in Rígsþula to have fathered the three classes of men; and the god of war Týr, who appears to have preceded Odin as the chief deity in the Germanic pantheon. In Old Norse literature the Æsir and Vanir are described as being in conflict. Through this conflict, certain Vanir gods, such as Njörðr, Freyja, Freyr, are recorded as having joined the Æsir. Similarities have been pointed out between Njörðr and Nerthus, an Germanic fertility god mentioned by Tacitus in Germania in the 1st-century AD. Sources also mention numerous other entities, such as Hel, who oversees an underworld location of the same name.
Legendary creatures
Numerous legendary creatures are attested in Germanic mythology. These include the dís, fylgja, dwarfs and elves.
Legacy
During the Middle Ages, Germanic peoples were successively converted to Christianity. The study of Germanic mythology has remained an important element of Germanic philology since the development of the field and the topic is an integral component of Heathenry, the modern revival of Germanic paganism. Elements of Germanic mythology has survived into modern Germanic folklore.
