Re: Aesir and Vanir.

Greetings!

There is an equally valid hypothsis that the Vanir are not the
third branch of Dumezil's tripartite I-E structure, but that they are the
Finno-Uralic branch of the Norse pantheon. Thus, the Aesir are I-E, the
Vanir are not I-E. Support for this argument is that, while the Aesir
deities have Germanic cognates (Odhinn=Wotan, etc...), none of the Vanir
do. Furthermore, Freyja is specifically associated with seidr magic,
which is more associated with the Finnish and Lapp populations of
Scandinavia.
I must ask, though, what exactly is the linguistc comparison
between "Vanir" and "Venus" which you mentioned? I have never come
across this cognate before.

Cheers!
Stephanie