Unlike Greek civilization, which was firmly rooted in Neolithic patterns of the Middle Eastern agriculturists, the Germanic Indo-Europeans mixed agriculture and pastoralism with the Paleolithic pattern of hunting and gathering. Perhaps these old elements of Paleolithic life kept alive old, shamanistic elements; in addition, Germanic culture came into contact with shamanistic cultures upon their arrival in their new Northern lands. Germanic myth shows a fascinating blend of Neolithic fertility practices and shamanistic journeyings to the Otherworld.

The Scandinavian texts that are the primary source of information were written after more than two centuries of Christianization. For a variety of reasons, Christianity did not immediately obliterate mythic traditions, but such a major cultural shift always has the potential for profound impact on mythic tradition.

While the multitudinous sources for Greek myth can be confusing, they provide a rich basis for comparison. In contrast, the Scandinavian sources are sparse. In most cases, a given mythic narrative occurs in a single source.