Alpine Paganism

[Zivernach]

Hello! Does anyone knows books, arcticles, etc related to Alpine Paganism? i.e. Switzerland, Northern Italy, Austria.

Thank you.

[RN97]

No such thing exists.

[Zivernach]

No such thing exists.

Unfortunately. I was in hope that someone at least knew something. But I believe that it's very similar to the Germanic Pantheon.

[Sean-Jobst]

Hello! Does anyone knows books, arcticles, etc related to Alpine Paganism? i.e. Switzerland, Northern Italy, Austria.

I'm very interested in the same thing, given my own Suebi-Alemanni roots about what came before we were Christianized. Unfortunately, the Germanic resources I have found are foremost about the Norse/Vikings and to a lesser extent, the Anglo-Saxons. Not too many resources about our native South Germanic/Alpine Paganism.

The Norse/Viking Paganism is generally a reflection of what our Alpine Germanic ancestors also practiced, but there are many differences as well. But since our people were Christianized earlier and weren't able to leave many written accounts, what has survived is fragmentary. I have gathered what little I've found in a notebook, so if you're interested in learning more I can share what I have found. Here is a brief summary:

Tacitus' Germania describes many spiritual practices and traditions of the Alpine/South Germanic tribes. Worshipping at sacred groves; mention of the fertility goddess Nerthus, whom, as far as I know, the Vikings/Norse had no concept about; venerating nature and having no temples; and the interpretatio romana of comparing his own Roman deities with our South Germanic deities. Although he had never been outside the Roman territories and so there are some problems with his accounts, he did speak extensively with Germanic soldiers serving with the Romans, so I view his account as generally accurate.

When I visited the Landesmuseum in Stuttgart, I also saw many artifacts which give some knowledge about what our ancestors' paganism was like. I'm sure you can also find many such museums in Schweiz, Bayern, Osterreich and Northern Italy with various other aspects of Alpine Pagan practices and traditions. So definitely consult the archaeological evidence as well. Although not as developed as those in Scandinavia, there are also many Runic inscriptions found throughout the Alpine region, so we can figure that there was also a reverence about Wotan (Odin) and the sacred mysteries of the Runics among Alpine Pagans as well.

Another valuable source I would recommend about Alpine Paganism is Jakob Grimm, who wrote much about folklore and mythology. He traced many customs that have a "Catholic" veneer in the Alpine regions, back to pre-Christian Alpine paganism. For example, Perchta was known throughout the Germanic Alpine regions as a protector-goddess of agriculture. The linguist Erika Timm identifies this and other customs, which diverged from the Germanic paganism later developed in Northern German and Scandinavian regions, as the result of an amalgamation of early Germanic practices with the Celtic traditions existing there before the Germanic tribes migrated there.

Medieval accounts also refer to Swiss and Bavarian pagan beliefs in one Zizarim, whose sacred symbol was a pine cone (itself symbolizing fertility and Spring rites, as indeed it does among the Baltic Pagans). Jakob Grimm associated Zizarim or Zisa to Tyr/Tiwaz. And speaking of which, Tyr/Tiwaz was more revered in the Alpine than in other Germanic regions. In many cases, with all due respect to our Northern Germanic brethren, our Alpine Paganism had many of the earliest elements of Germanic Paganism generally before it evolved further. So some of the cognates of the words, the deities that were venerated over others, etc. reflect this earlier date. That and the way that our ancestors intermarried with and therefore absorbed from the Celtic and other (Ligurian in the case of Northern Italy) pre-Germanic Alpine peoples.

[garudamon]

Consider studying about Gaulish mythology

[Óttar]

I know there are resources on Austrian, Swiss, and northern Italian folkways.

This is all I can think of off the bat:

[Zivernach]

I'm very interested in the same thing, given my own Suebi-Alemanni roots about what came before we were Christianized. Unfortunately, the Germanic resources I have found are foremost about the Norse/Vikings and to a lesser extent, the Anglo-Saxons. Not too many resources about our native South Germanic/Alpine Paganism.

The Norse/Viking Paganism is generally a reflection of what our Alpine Germanic ancestors also practiced, but there are many differences as well. But since our people were Christianized earlier and weren't able to leave many written accounts, what has survived is fragmentary. I have gathered what little I've found in a notebook, so if you're interested in learning more I can share what I have found. Here is a brief summary:

Tacitus' Germania describes many spiritual practices and traditions of the Alpine/South Germanic tribes. Worshipping at sacred groves; mention of the fertility goddess Nerthus, whom, as far as I know, the Vikings/Norse had no concept about; venerating nature and having no temples; and the interpretatio romana of comparing his own Roman deities with our South Germanic deities. Although he had never been outside the Roman territories and so there are some problems with his accounts, he did speak extensively with Germanic soldiers serving with the Romans, so I view his account as generally accurate.

When I visited the Landesmuseum in Stuttgart, I also saw many artifacts which give some knowledge about what our ancestors' paganism was like. I'm sure you can also find many such museums in Schweiz, Bayern, Osterreich and Northern Italy with various other aspects of Alpine Pagan practices and traditions. So definitely consult the archaeological evidence as well. Although not as developed as those in Scandinavia, there are also many Runic inscriptions found throughout the Alpine region, so we can figure that there was also a reverence about Wotan (Odin) and the sacred mysteries of the Runics among Alpine Pagans as well.

Another valuable source I would recommend about Alpine Paganism is Jakob Grimm, who wrote much about folklore and mythology. He traced many customs that have a "Catholic" veneer in the Alpine regions, back to pre-Christian Alpine paganism. For example, Perchta was known throughout the Germanic Alpine regions as a protector-goddess of agriculture. The linguist Erika Timm identifies this and other customs, which diverged from the Germanic paganism later developed in Northern German and Scandinavian regions, as the result of an amalgamation of early Germanic practices with the Celtic traditions existing there before the Germanic tribes migrated there.

Medieval accounts also refer to Swiss and Bavarian pagan beliefs in one Zizarim, whose sacred symbol was a pine cone (itself symbolizing fertility and Spring rites, as indeed it does among the Baltic Pagans). Jakob Grimm associated Zizarim or Zisa to Tyr/Tiwaz. And speaking of which, Tyr/Tiwaz was more revered in the Alpine than in other Germanic regions. In many cases, with all due respect to our Northern Germanic brethren, our Alpine Paganism had many of the earliest elements of Germanic Paganism generally before it evolved further. So some of the cognates of the words, the deities that were venerated over others, etc. reflect this earlier date. That and the way that our ancestors intermarried with and therefore absorbed from the Celtic and other (Ligurian in the case of Northern Italy) pre-Germanic Alpine peoples.

Thank you for such information!