Origin of the gods?

Something of a placemarker here. Just some ideas for further consideration when I have more time. I'm at work right now and can't really spend too much time daydreaming about our heathen ancestors and norse mythology.

I've just been considering the Voluspa, more specifically, the following passage:

6. Then sought the gods | their assembly-seats,
The holy ones, | and council held;
Names then gave they | to noon and twilight,
Morning they named, | and the waning moon,
Night and evening, | the years to number.

7. At Ithavoll met | the mighty gods,
Shrines and temples | they timbered high;
Forges they set, and | they smithied ore,
Tongs they wrought, | and tools they fashioned.


To me, this sounds like the establishment of civilisation. Establishing rules, constructing municipal buildings, creating tools - all things necessary when establishing a new culture or city-state. Could the gods have originally been ancestors who established the original proto-germanic culture?