alright bros I'm dumb but I want to be less so. Do polytheists believe certain gods are the same? There's obvious overlap between Norse and Greek pantheons, for instance, but some of their stories/character arcs are different.

So, Odin and Zeus are the chief gods of their pantheons, they both wield powerful Spears, and are both tacticians, fuck lots of bitches, and sire quite a few demigod children.

Are these gods the same? I kind of understand that maybe at one point, they were, but something major happened, which changed their respective pantheons.
Do these gods exist elsewhere on another plane? Has the diaspora of the indo-european people caused a god to fragment into different entities?

Are they mental states, and nothing more? Or are they more like living entities that derive power from worship/reverence?
Why is Tyr dead? I know the story, he was protected from everything but mistletoe. But why is the god of justice dead? Surely that's a little alarming, right?
Is frigga/frigg/frig just Freya?

Pagans don't give a fuck about beliefs unlike christians. As a pagan, you can just make up anything as long as you feel inspired and it becomes acceptable truth within your pagan religion. It's not as strict as Christianity.

>>40754511 (OP)
The idea that the gods are the same isn't entirely accurate, as it pertains to their similarity in function, which is known as syncretism (which is also the blending of gods, such as Ba'al Hammon was blended with Iupitier). Zeus and Thor have different personalities according to where they come from, but both are wielders of lightning and are Heroes. Odin was syncretized with Mercury as he is a wise"man' and psychopomp. Similarly, the love goddesses are similar, but Aphrodite, Inanna, Ishtar, Aine, Freyja, etc, have differing personalities for each culture, and differing cultural attributes.

The gods are often the personalities behind the Natural, Supernatural, Paranormal and Societal activities; The 'Son behind the Sun' sort of thing. The god Baldr was "killed" by mistletoe, but he didn't die as humans do; he went to Helheim until Ragnorak ends. He is resurrected or reborn just like Baldr. Many gods entered the Underworld and couldn't leave until someone rescued them. Inanna/Ishtar made a journey to it and was judged by the Igigi. Enki's servitors released Her. Each god/dess makes the rules in their demense! The primal god of the Maya went to Xibalba, but he was an innocent, ignorant of the trials, glamour (magick), and deceptions of the Death Gods. So, they played him and he was hung on a calabash tree as a trophy. The Twins rescued him by being just as deceptive as the Death gods when they played Deathball, saving God 1 from them, and conquering Death its self!

Weirdly enough Odin is not Zeus, he's Hermes. Sounds strange but it actually has historical basis.