Jeff, this is so fascinating! I'm eager to see where all of this might lead.
BTW, if you're on the hunt for more lore, one place I've found quite interesting is medieval Germanic folklore. Sure, these peoples were (not-so-thoroughly) Christianized by that time, but as I read through the folk tales, the Christian veneer seems quite thin as the Heathen themes and symbolism shine right through. This might be relevant as you've taken it upon yourself to try and reclaim portions of Christianized Germanic culture. After reading the tale "The Swan Knight" this idea became fairly apparent to me.
On the more magical end of things, I think it was Winifred Hodge who wrote an article (I can't seem to remember the link right now...ugh) in which she used the Merseburg charms as a template to unearth a number of Medieval "Christian" German spells; it then becomes quite clear where the Heathen divine names were etched out and replaced with Christian divine names.
Anyway, I think you're onto something quite promising with all of this work you are doing!
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BTW, if you're on the hunt for more lore, one place I've found quite interesting is medieval Germanic folklore. Sure, these peoples were (not-so-thoroughly) Christianized by that time, but as I read through the folk tales, the Christian veneer seems quite thin as the Heathen themes and symbolism shine right through. This might be relevant as you've taken it upon yourself to try and reclaim portions of Christianized Germanic culture. After reading the tale "The Swan Knight" this idea became fairly apparent to me.
On the more magical end of things, I think it was Winifred Hodge who wrote an article (I can't seem to remember the link right now...ugh) in which she used the Merseburg charms as a template to unearth a number of Medieval "Christian" German spells; it then becomes quite clear where the Heathen divine names were etched out and replaced with Christian divine names.
Anyway, I think you're onto something quite promising with all of this work you are doing!