Beliefs
Germanic Neopaganism (as opposed to Neopaganism in general) is often defined as reconstructionist. Adherents are mostly polytheists, having faith in a number of gods and goddesses, but in practice a pantheistic or "soft polytheistic" outlook is common; the Icelandic Ásatrúarfélagið defines "Asatru" as "Nordic pantheism".
Most Germanic traditions share a worldview underlain by the concepts of Wyrd, Orlog, Rita and Yggdrasil (or Irminsul). According to this concept, the entire cosmos (the Nine Worlds), goes through a process of birth, death, and rebirth in the cycle of time. The cosmos is eternal, but at the same time it is perpetually changing. The Wyrd is the interconnectedness of all events and things, the wholeness of all nature.
The Wyrd is sometimes described somewhat narrowly as "Fate"; it is not fatalistic, since it is being transformed constantly by the ongoing action, but the future is always shaped to a certain degree by wires of the past. The Wyrd is the connexion of forces from the past, the present and the future, mythologically represented by the Norns (or Wyrdae, "Wyrds", the "Wyrd Sisters"), Urd (who is the Old Norse for "Wyrd" itself), Verdandi and Skuld.
The pantheon comprehends various gods divided traditionally into three "races", the Æsir, the Vanir, and the Giants or Jötuns. Every Germanic neopagan tradition uses different names for the gods based on the particular ethnic culture they are drawing from. The Aesir mostly pertain to the sphere of human society, they govern the arts, force, law, wisdom, et cetera; on the other hand the Vanir embody elements and forces of nature, such as fertility, water, beauty. The Jotuns are the gigantic, elemental, primordial chaotic forces which the gods interact with and sublimate in their creative action of shaping reality. The different divine races often overlap in domain and function.
Germanic Neopaganism has a strong leaning towards animism. This is most apparent in the worship of Álfar (or Elves), land-spirits, the various beings of folklore (Kobold, Huldufólk), and the belief that inanimate objects can have a fate of their own.
It is believed that Elves or land-spirits can inhabit natural objects such as trees or stones. These spirits can, and do, take sides in the affairs of the inhabitants of their land. This is in imitation of historical Norse paganism, which had strong animistic tendencies, as reflected in sagas such as that of a wizard who goes to Iceland in whale-shape to see if it can be invaded, who is attacked by land-spirits while going on shore, and is forced to flee.
It is believed by some Pagans that inanimate objects can have a soul of their own, or a fate, and therefore should be given a name, the most common cases being the naming of weapons like Gram. The objects are not “charged” before use, but have the fate or innate power within them a priori.
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—Jimmy Carter (James Earl Carter, Jr.)