Continental Germanic mythology
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Continental Germanic mythology is a subset of Germanic mythology, going back to Germanic polytheism of the Migration period as practiced in parts of Central Europe before gradual Christianization during the 6th to 8th centuries, and continued in the legends, and Middle High German epics during the Middle Ages, also continued although in a recharacterized and less sacred fashion in European folklore and fairy tales. It includes the mythology of many tribes of Germanic peoples:
- Lombards (source: Paulus Diaconus)
- Alamanni (see: Nordendorf fibula, Pforzen buckle)
- Franks and Thuringii (see: Frankish mythology, Donar's Oak)
- Saxons (see: Irminsul)
- Frisians (source: Life of Saint Willibrord)
Unlike North Germanic, and to a lesser extent Anglo-Saxon mythology, the attestation of Continental Germanic paganism is extremely fragmentary. Besides a handful of brief Elder Futhark inscriptions, the lone genuinely pagan Continental Germanic documents are the short Old High German Merseburg Incantations. Mythological elements were however preserved in later literature, notably in Middle High German epic poetry, but also in German, Swiss, and Dutch folklore.
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[edit] Texts
[edit] Old High German
[edit] Middle High German
[edit] See also
- Mannaz
- Common Germanic deities
- Germanic mythology
- Germanic king
- Norse deities
- Anglo-Saxon polytheism
- Urglaawe
- List of Germanic deities
[edit] References
[edit] Literature
- Jacob Grimm: Deutsche Mythologie. 1835.
- Wolfgang Golther: Handbuch der Germanischen Mythologie. Stuttgart 1908.
- Jan de Vries: Altgermanische Religionsgeschichte. Berlin 1956.
- Åke V. Ström: Germanische Religion. Stuttgart 1975.
- M. Axboe; U. Clavadetscher; K. Düwel; K. Hauck; L. v. Padberg: Die Goldbrakteaten der Völkerwanderungszeit. Ikonographischer Katalog. München 1985-1989.
- Rudolf Simek: Lexikon der germanischen Mythologie. Stuttgart 2. Aufl. 1995. ISBN 3-520-36802-1.
- Rudolf Simek: Religion und Mythologie der Germanen. Darmstadt 2003. ISBN 3-534-16910-7.
