Anglo-Saxon deities are in general poorly attested, and much is inferred about the religion of the Anglo-Saxons from other Germanic peoples. The written record from the period between the Anglo-Saxon invasion of the British Isles to the Christianisation of the Anglo-Saxons is very sparse, and most of what is known comes from later Christian writers such as Bede, whose descriptions can be compared to other Germanic mythologies as well as the extant archaeological evidence. The list below is incomplete but includes brief discussion of the attestation of the deities in question, and should be considered critically.

Major deities

Woden Odin (; from non, Óðinn, ) is a widely revered god in Germanic paganism. Norse mythology, the source of most surviving information about him, associates him with wisdom, healing, death, royalty, the gallows, knowledge, war, battle, victory ...

, king of the gods and god of wisdom. Cognate to Norse Odin. Source of the word 'Wednesday'. * Tiw, a war god and possibly a sky god. Cognate to Norse Tyr, as well as Greek Zeus, Roman Jupiter, Baltic Dievs/Dievas and Hindu Dyaus. Source of the word 'Tuesday'. *

Thunor Thor (; from non, Þórr ) is a prominent god in Germanic paganism. In Norse mythology, he is a hammer-wielding god associated with lightning, thunder, storms, sacred groves and trees, strength, the protection of humankind, hallowing, and ...

, god of thunder and cognate to Norse Thor and source of the word 'Thursday'. *

Frig Frig may refer to: * Frig (Anglo-Saxon goddess), a love goddess in Anglo-Saxon paganism * Frig (interjection), an English word * ''Frig'' (film), a French film * Len Frig (born 1950), Canadian ice hockey defenceman See also * Frigg (disambig ...

, the wife of Woden the goddess of marriage and childbirth and source of the word 'Friday'. *

Ing Ing, ING or ing may refer to: Art and media * '' ...ing'', a 2003 Korean film * i.n.g, a Taiwanese girl group * The Ing, a race of dark creatures in the 2004 video game '' Metroid Prime 2: Echoes'' * "Ing", the first song on The Roches' 1992 ...

, possibly another name for the Norse 'Freyr', god of fertility.

Poorly attested deities

Ēostre () is a West Germanic spring goddess. The name is reflected in ang, *Ēastre (; Northumbrian dialect: ', Mercian and West Saxon dialects: ' ),Sievers 1901 p. 98 Barnhart, Robert K. ''The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology'' (1995) . ...

, listed by Bede, and purported source of the word 'Easter'. * Erce/Folde/Eorðe, the 'Mother of Earth' cited in the

Æcerbot The Æcerbot (; Old English for "Field-Remedy") is an Anglo-Saxon metrical charm recorded in the 11th century, intended to remedy fields that yielded poorly.Grigsby (2005:96f, 246). Overview The charm consists of a partially Christianized prayer a ...

charm. * Rheda, also Hrethe or Hrēða, listed by Bede.

Putative deities inferred from other sources

Wyrd Wyrd is a concept in Anglo-Saxon culture roughly corresponding to fate or personal destiny. The word is ancestral to Modern English '' weird'', whose meaning has drifted towards an adjectival use with a more general sense of "supernatural" or ...

, the Anglo-Saxon concept of fate. *

Beowa Beowa, Beaw, Bēow , Beo or Bedwig is a figure in Anglo-Saxon paganism associated with barley and agriculture. The figure is attested in the Anglo-Saxon royal genealogies as they were extended in the age of Alfred, where Beowa is inserted as the s ...

, a figure associated with barley and possibly conflated with Beowulf. The following are cognate to deities known to have been worshipped by other Germanic peoples, and are also related to the sources of names of weekdays: * Siȝel - the Old English for 'sun', a goddess in related religions, and sister of the moon god. * Mone - the Old English for 'moon', a god in related religions, and brother of the sun goddess.

Putative deities mentioned in king lists

* Bældæġ, son of Woden, mentioned in the king-list of Bernicia, possibly identified with

Baldur Baldr (also Balder, Baldur) is a god in Germanic mythology. In Norse mythology, Baldr (Old Norse: ) is a son of the god Odin and the goddess Frigg, and has numerous brothers, such as Thor and Váli. In wider Germanic mythology, the god was k ...

Snorri Snorri (; ) is a masculine given name. People with the name include: * Snorri Þorbrandsson, a character in the Icelandic ''Eyrbyggja saga'' * Snorri Goði or Snorri Þorgrímsson (963–1031), a prominent chieftain in Western Iceland, featured i ...

. * Seaxnēat, patron deity of the Saxons. *

Wecta Wecta (Old English: ''Wægdæg'', Old Norse: ''Vegdagr'') is mentioned in the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' and the ''Historia Brittonum''. Wecta is considered mythological, though he shows up in the genealogies as a Saxon ancestor of Hengest and Hor ...

, mentioned in multiple king-lists, possible cognate of

Vegdeg A number of royal genealogies of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, collectively referred to as the Anglo-Saxon royal genealogies, have been preserved in a manuscript tradition based in the 8th to 10th centuries. The genealogies trace the succession of th ...

, a son of Woden.

Other supernatural figures

Modra Modra (german: Modern, hu, Modor, Latin: ''Modur'') is a city and municipality in the Bratislava Region in Slovakia. It has a population of 9,042 as of 2018. It nestles in the foothills of the Malé Karpaty (Little Carpathian mountains) and i ...

, the 'Mothers', whose festival 'Modraniht' is mentioned by Bede. Possibly connected to the

Matres and Matronae The Matres (Latin for "mothers") and Matronae (Latin for "matrons") were female deities venerated in Northwestern Europe, of whom relics are found dating from the first to the fifth century AD. They are depicted on votive offerings and altars th ...

, and the Norns. * Nicors, water spirits attested in Beowulf with apparent cognates in other Germanic languages as well as modern dialectal

knucker Knucker is a dialect word for a sort of water dragon, living in ''knuckerholes'' in Sussex, England. "The word comes from the Old English '' nicor'' which means "water monster" and is used in the poem ''Beowulf''. It may also be related to the w ...

. *

Wælcyrge In Norse mythology, a valkyrie ("chooser of the slain") is one of a host of female figures who guide souls of the dead to the god Odin's hall Valhalla. There, the deceased warriors become (Old Norse "single (or once) fighters"Orchard (1997:36) ...

, cognate with Norse

Valkyries In Norse mythology, a valkyrie ("chooser of the slain") is one of a host of female figures who guide souls of the dead to the god Odin's hall Valhalla. There, the deceased warriors become (Old Norse "single (or once) fighters"Orchard (1997:3 ...

, which may have been imported from Norse mythology.

References

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