section_path: Religions and cultures/Indo-European/Germanic
section_name: Germanic
paragraph_text: Germanic
  
  In Germanic languages, the terms cognate with ' god ' such as Old English: god and Old Norse: guð were originally neuter but became masculine, as in modern Germanic languages, after Christianisation due their use in referring to the Christian god.
  
  In Norse mythology, Æsir (singular áss or ǫ́ss) are the principal group of gods, while the term ásynjur (singular ásynja) refers specifically to the female Æsir. These terms, states John Lindow, may be ultimately rooted in the Indo-European root for "breath" (as in "life giving force"), and are cognate with Old English: os (a heathen god) and Gothic: anses.
  
  Another group of deities found in Norse mythology are termed as Vanir, and are associated with fertility. The Æsir and the Vanir went to war, according to the Nordic sources. The account in Ynglinga saga describes the Æsir–Vanir War ending in truce and ultimate reconciliation of the two into a single group of gods, after both sides chose peace, exchanged ambassadors (hostages), and intermarried.
  
  The Norse mythology describes the cooperation after the war, as well as differences between the Æsir and the Vanir which were considered scandalous by the other side. The goddess Freyja of the Vanir taught magic to the Æsir, while the two sides discover that while Æsir forbid mating between siblings, Vanir accepted such mating.
  
  Temples hosting images of Germanic gods (such as Thor, Odin and Freyr), as well as pagan worship rituals, continued in Scandinavia into the 12th century, according to historical records. It has been proposed that over time, Christian equivalents were substituted for the Germanic deities to help suppress paganism as part of the Christianisation of the Germanic peoples. Worship of the Germanic gods has been revived in the modern period as part of the new religious movement of Heathenry.