Archaeological remains such as petroglyphs in Scandinavia suggest continuity in Germanic mythology since at least the Nordic Bronze Age. As the Germanic languages developed from Proto-Indo-European language, Germanic mythology is ultimately a development of Proto-Indo-European mythology. This deep historical root connects modern beliefs to ancient practices stretching back thousands of years before written records existed. The physical evidence found on stone surfaces provides a tangible link between prehistoric communities and later mythological traditions.
Historical Written Sources
The earliest written sources on Germanic mythology include literature by Roman writers like Julius Caesar and his Commentaries on the Gallic War. Strabo wrote Geographica while Tacitus penned Germania during the 1st-century AD to describe these northern tribes. Later Latin-language sources emerged including Getica by Jordanes and History of the Lombards by Paul the Deacon. Ecclesiastical History of the English People by Bede and Vita Ansgari by Rimbert added further layers of documentation. Adam of Bremen contributed Gesta Hammaburgensis ecclesiae pontificum and Saxo Grammaticus wrote Gesta Danorum. Vernacular sources on Germanic mythology include the Merseburg Charms and the Nibelungenlied alongside various pieces of Old English literature particularly Beowulf. The most important sources are works of Old Norse literature mostly written down in the Icelandic Commonwealth during the Middle Ages with particular importance given to the Poetic Edda. Archaeological evidence Runic inscriptions and place-names also serve as useful sources on Germanic mythology.Cosmology And Creation Myths