structural:scholar_edition
Divine images

Julius Caesar and Tacitus claimed that the Germani did not venerate their gods in human form; however, this is a topos of ancient ethnography when describing supposedly primitive people. Archaeologists have found Germanic statues that appear to depict gods, and Tacitus appears to contradict himself when discussing the cult of Nerthus (Germania chapter 40); the Eddic poem Hávamál also mentions wooden statues of gods, while Gregory of Tours (Historia Francorum II: 29) mentions wooden statues and ones made of stone and metal. Archaeologists have not found any divine statues dating from after the end of the migration period; it is likely that they were destroyed during Christianization, as is repeatedly depicted in the Norse sagas.

Roughly carved wooden male and female figures that may depict gods are frequent finds in bogs; these figures generally follow the natural form of a branch. It is unclear whether the figures themselves were sacrifices or if they were the beings to whom the sacrifice was given. Most date from the first several centuries CE. For the pre-Roman Iron Age, board-like statues that were set up in dangerous places encountered in everyday life are also attested. Most statues were made out of oak wood. Small animal figurines of cattle and horses are also found in bogs; some may have been worn as amulets while others seem to have been placed by hearths before they were sacrificed.

Holy sites from the migration period frequently contain gold bracteates and gold foil figures that depict obviously divine figures. The bracteates are originally based on motifs found on Roman gold medallions and coins of the era of Constantine the Great, but have become highly stylized. A few them have runic inscriptions that may be names of Odin. Others, such as Trollhätten-A, may display scenes known from later mythological texts.

The stone altars of the matronae and Nehalennia show women in Germanic dress, but otherwise follow Roman models, while images of Mercury, Hercules, or Mars do not show any difference from Roman models. Many bronze and silver statues of Roman gods have been found throughout Germania, some made by the Germani themselves, suggesting an appropriation of these figures by the Germani. Heiko Steuer suggests that these statues likely were reinterpreted as local, Germanic gods and used on home altars: a find from Odense dating c. 100-300 CE includes statues of Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, and Apollo. Imported Roman swords, found from Scandinavia to the Black Sea, frequently depicted the Roman god Mars Ultor ("Mars the Avenger").