Thanks for the shout out! As for books on the Vanir, hmmmm. One difficulty is that we're not totally sure how much the distinction between Aesir and Vanir was relevant to worship in pre-Christian times - we have the myths about the war, we know some Gods have "Van" in their kennings (like Freyja being "Vanadis"), and modern thinking and gnosis suggesting a common thread in what these Gods and Goddesses care about (intellectually likely traceable to Dumezil's tripartite hypothesis and its association of certain Gods with different functions, but as I said, also seemingly correlated by a lot of Heathens' gnosis). Further, as I was reminded by deketemoisant in a comment on my "List of Books on Germanish Belief" (https://jpowellrussell.com/#list_of_books_on_germanish_belief_with_thoughts), in myth, pretty much every Van we have is "acting as" an As - married in, traded as hostages, and so forth.
Anyway, that's all a way of saying that most discussion of the Gods that I know about doesn't get into the Vanir "as the Vanir" in a lot of detail, or as a stand-alone subject. With that caveat out of the way, on to some recommendations like you actually asked for:
1) Gods of the Ancient Northmen This is Dumezil's book about Norse mythology. I haven't read it yet, but from a quick skim, it looks like it might have the closest thing to an overview of the Vanir in the books I had handy/was familiar with: the first chapter is "The Gods: Aesir and Vanir". Throughout the rest of the book, he examines myth and cultic practice through the lens of his tripartite hypothesis, which again, is hugely influential in how most folks these days conceive of the Vanir.
2) Freyja, Lady, Vanadis I haven't read this yet, but some folks around here have spoken well of the author. Likely narrower than you're looking for, as it focuses on only Freyja, but since she's the best-attested and arguably most widely-worshipped of the Vanir, it might come in handy.
3) Northern Tradition for the Solitary Practitioner This more of a "How to Heathen" book, but it contains some discussion of the different "tribes" of the Gods, and in the back lists the Gods by which tribe they belong to along with suggestions for altar decorations, color symbolism, and suitable offerings. Includes information for the slightly-controversial worship of the "Rokkr" (Jotnar, Loki, and his offspring)
4) A Guide to Modern Heathenry This lacks a specific section that's something like "Overview of the Vanir", but its discussion of cosmology and of individual Gods and Goddesses does a pretty good job of highlighting which are Vanir and what things they have in common. Includes meditation suggestions for each God and Goddess, which is nice.
5) The Hidden History of Elves and Dwarfs So, this one is coming at things a bit sideways. The Elves and Dwarves are not *exactly* the same as the Vanir, but there are obviously at least sometimes overlaps with the Elves, so a discussion about them might shed some light on the Vanir. Briefly, the thesis of this book is that Elves are something to do with the "higher" spirits of dead ancestors, whereas Dwarves are something to do with the part(s) of ancestors that go in the ground. I've had the thought that comparing this with JMG's discussion of barrows and other tombs in Secret of the Temple, but I haven't looked into it at all or thought very hard about it.
6) The Goddess Idun in Myth and Poetry While not an overview of the Vanir, this includes a pretty thorough sampling of epithets for the "Matronae", Goddesses that were apparently worshipped by Germanish folks living in the late Roman Empire. Many link the Matronae with the Vanir, and with Nerthus specifically. Perhaps especially relevant is Kvilhaug's discussion about how the idea of a "fertility Goddess" is maybe overly narrow and more of a modern invention.
7) Essays on Germanic Religion This is a collection of essays by a comparative Indo-Europeanist who was firmly in Dumezil's camp for interpretation. I haven't read it yet, but skimming through, it looks like the final essay, "Germanic Religion: An Overview" might have some helpful bits.
no subject
Thanks for the shout out! As for books on the Vanir, hmmmm. One difficulty is that we're not totally sure how much the distinction between Aesir and Vanir was relevant to worship in pre-Christian times - we have the myths about the war, we know some Gods have "Van" in their kennings (like Freyja being "Vanadis"), and modern thinking and gnosis suggesting a common thread in what these Gods and Goddesses care about (intellectually likely traceable to Dumezil's tripartite hypothesis and its association of certain Gods with different functions, but as I said, also seemingly correlated by a lot of Heathens' gnosis). Further, as I was reminded by
Anyway, that's all a way of saying that most discussion of the Gods that I know about doesn't get into the Vanir "as the Vanir" in a lot of detail, or as a stand-alone subject. With that caveat out of the way, on to some recommendations like you actually asked for:
1) Gods of the Ancient Northmen This is Dumezil's book about Norse mythology. I haven't read it yet, but from a quick skim, it looks like it might have the closest thing to an overview of the Vanir in the books I had handy/was familiar with: the first chapter is "The Gods: Aesir and Vanir". Throughout the rest of the book, he examines myth and cultic practice through the lens of his tripartite hypothesis, which again, is hugely influential in how most folks these days conceive of the Vanir.
2) Freyja, Lady, Vanadis I haven't read this yet, but some folks around here have spoken well of the author. Likely narrower than you're looking for, as it focuses on only Freyja, but since she's the best-attested and arguably most widely-worshipped of the Vanir, it might come in handy.
3) Northern Tradition for the Solitary Practitioner This more of a "How to Heathen" book, but it contains some discussion of the different "tribes" of the Gods, and in the back lists the Gods by which tribe they belong to along with suggestions for altar decorations, color symbolism, and suitable offerings. Includes information for the slightly-controversial worship of the "Rokkr" (Jotnar, Loki, and his offspring)
4) A Guide to Modern Heathenry This lacks a specific section that's something like "Overview of the Vanir", but its discussion of cosmology and of individual Gods and Goddesses does a pretty good job of highlighting which are Vanir and what things they have in common. Includes meditation suggestions for each God and Goddess, which is nice.
5) The Hidden History of Elves and Dwarfs So, this one is coming at things a bit sideways. The Elves and Dwarves are not *exactly* the same as the Vanir, but there are obviously at least sometimes overlaps with the Elves, so a discussion about them might shed some light on the Vanir. Briefly, the thesis of this book is that Elves are something to do with the "higher" spirits of dead ancestors, whereas Dwarves are something to do with the part(s) of ancestors that go in the ground. I've had the thought that comparing this with JMG's discussion of barrows and other tombs in Secret of the Temple, but I haven't looked into it at all or thought very hard about it.
6) The Goddess Idun in Myth and Poetry While not an overview of the Vanir, this includes a pretty thorough sampling of epithets for the "Matronae", Goddesses that were apparently worshipped by Germanish folks living in the late Roman Empire. Many link the Matronae with the Vanir, and with Nerthus specifically. Perhaps especially relevant is Kvilhaug's discussion about how the idea of a "fertility Goddess" is maybe overly narrow and more of a modern invention.
7) Essays on Germanic Religion This is a collection of essays by a comparative Indo-Europeanist who was firmly in Dumezil's camp for interpretation. I haven't read it yet, but skimming through, it looks like the final essay, "Germanic Religion: An Overview" might have some helpful bits.
Hope some of these help!
Jeff