In the 1st century BCE Julius Caesar writes about the tribes of Germania. He's struck by the apparent sparsity of the Germanic pantheon, saying the people worship only the Sun, Moon and the fire god Vulkan.
Vulkan is the German word for volcano, which comes into use from the Latin. Caesar notes the people of Germania have no druids or organized religion.
Nor, he continues, do they partake in ritual sacrifice with the same enthusiasm as the Romans. While Caesar's observation is limited it's also telling.
In the German animist tradition tribes do not create a complex religion and cosmology. Until Christianity they also take a dim view of the afterlife, having enough of the Undead to worry about in real time.
The German Undead develop from early perceptions of demonic spirits and are found in tales up through the 19th century. They include vampires, werewolves and the infernal Aufhocker, who jumps on a person's back.
Beyond the existence of a fire god, Caesar notes the pan-tribal recognition of a Mother Goddess or Earth Goddess. The German gods and goddesses are part of wild nature, with temples of trees, rocks and waters.
A fire god appears in the religious history of the Germanic people by the 6th century BCE. Vulkan is cognate with Roman Vulcan and shares traits with Greek Hephaestus, specific to metalworking rather than myth.
By the 1st century BCE Romans are marching all over Germania. They are repelled of course, but leave some mythological influence behind. No one is sure when Vulcan and Vulkan become one, or if they always were.
A strong, fiery, masculine god, connected to mysteries of the Earth and the forge of creation, Vulkan calls to the warrior spirit. He embodies the primal male principle and the supernatural chthonic world.
Vulcan interacts with both the powers of Earth and the realm of humans. His forge is deep underground, connecting him to the Underworld, fertility, rebirth and creation. With metals he works a complex magic.
In Rome, the earliest temple to Vulcan, the Vulcanal, dates to the 8th century BCE. The Vulcanal is erected on the site of the later Roman Forum. The Vulcanalia sacrifice is offered to Vulcan at the temple August 23.
Bonfires are lit and animals and fish sacrificed to the flames. The festival comes at the hottest time of year when fire is likely to break out in fields and buildings. Offerings beg the favor of the Fire God.
Vulcan dwells on the island of Vulcano, just north of Sicily. The island is named for him. The earliest mention of the Roman Vulcan is 217 BCE.
His forge is deep below the earth. Smoke and steam from his mighty fires rise up through thermal vents. Sometimes the ground shudders with force of his hammer blows.
The Roman Vulcan is often equated with Greek Hephaestus, smith of the Olympian Gods. Hephaestus is God of fire, volcanoes, metalworking, metallurgy, carpenters, forges, sculpting, and patron of blacksmiths.
A few hundred years later, the Norse bring the Fire elemental Loge or Logi into Scandinavian Germanic mythology. He's the son of a Jötunn who gives him dominion over fire, and his two brothers rule air and water.
Loge is not recorded until the 13th century AD Prose Edda, and has little effect on the people of Germania overall. He's sometimes confused with Loki, who gets his fire power from this misunderstanding ... not surprising for a god of mischief.
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READ: Lora Ley Adventures - Germanic Mythology Fiction Series
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