> [[t-gunnell]]. "Blótgyðjur, Goðar, Mimi, incest, and wagons oral Memories of the religion(s) of the Vanir". in [[p-hermann-j-schjodt-r-kristensen2007eds]]. [pdf](a/t-gunnell2017.pdf) ## Abstract This article focuses on the recurring motifs concerning the peculiarities of the religion of the gods referred to as the Vanir, dra􏰀ing on a range of Old Norse accounts fro􏰁 di􏰂erent ti􏰁es including Landnámabók, Gísla saga Súrssonar, Hrafnkels saga, Vatnsdæla saga, Ynglinga saga, Gunnars þáttr helmings, Gesta Danorum, and more. Many of the aforementioned motifs (commonly concerning ritual activities, religious centers, female religious leaders, and particular types of animal) tend to be unexplained in the texts. Their recurring patterns in the narratives nonetheless imply that in the oral tradi- tions of Norway and Iceland people seem to have viewed the religious activities connected with the “Vanir” (with their center in Sweden) as having been di􏰂erent in nature to those encountered else􏰀here. The􏰃 also seem to have envisaged closer connections between the Vanir and the landscape than existed between the Æsir and the natural environ- ment. This evidence lends weight to the argument that, in spite of recent arguments to the contrary, the religions associated with the 􏰄anir and the 􏰅sir gods had a di􏰂erent nature and origin.