Odin

For other meanings of Odin, see Odin (disambiguation).

Wotan, Wodan, Woden, Oden or Odin (ON Óðinn) is usually considered the supreme god of Germanic and Norse mythology.\n

Table of contents

1 General information 2 A deity of many names 3 Odin as a shaman 4 Sacrifices to Odin 5 Odin and the Church 6 Named after Odin 7 Alternate viewpoints 8 Other spellings 9 Old Norse texts in which Odin appears in person 10 See also 11 Odin in modern literature, movies, and video games

General information

\nHis role, like many of the Norse pantheon, is complex: \nhe is god of both wisdom and war, roles not necessarily conceived of as being mutually sympathetic in contemporary society. His name, for the warlike Norsemen, was synonymous with battle and warfare, for it recurs throughout the myths as the bringer of victory. \nÓðinn was a shape-changer, able to change his skin and form in any way he liked. He was said to travel the world disguised as an old man with a staff, one-eyed, grey-bearded and wearing a wide-brimmed hat (called Gangleri ("the wanderer")). Odin sometimes traveled among mortals under aliases Vak and Valtam. He was married to the goddess Frigg, who appears in the myths mainly as a dutiful wife and loving mother of Bragi, Baldr (Beldegg?), Hǫðr, Hermóðr and Þórr (sometimes, Thor's mother was Jǫrð instead). \nWith Gríðr, he was the father of Víðarr. \nHe was a son of Bestla and Bor and brother of Vé and Vili, with whom he created humanity (see Ask and Embla). The three brothers are often mentioned together. "Wille" is the German word for "will"(English)\n"Weh" is the German word (Gothic wai) for "woe" (English: great sorrow, grief, misery) but is more likely related to the archaic German "Wei" meaning 'sacred' He possessed Sleipnir, an eight-legged horse, and the severed head of Mímir, which foretold the future. \nHe employed Valkyrjur to gather the souls of warriors fallen in battle (the Einherjar), as these would be needed to fight for him in the battle of Ragnarǫk. They took the souls of the warriors to Valhǫll (the hall of the fallen), Odin's residence in Ágarðr. One of the Valkyries, Brynhildr, was imprisoned in a ring of fire by Odin for daring to disobey him. She was rescued by Sigurðr. He was similarly harsh on Hǫðr, a blind god who had accidentally killed his brother, Baldr. Óðinn and Rind, a giantess, birthed a child named Váli for the specific purpose of killing Hod. Óðinn has a number of magical artifacts associated with him: the dwarven spear Gungnir, a magical gold ring (Draupnir), an eight-legged horse (Sleipnir), and two ravens Huginn and Muninn (Thought and Memory) who travel the world to acquire information at his behest. \nHe also commands a pair of wolves named Geri and Freki. \nFrom his throne, Hlidskjalf (located in Valaskjalf), Óðinn could see everything that occurred in the universe. Snorri Sturluson's Edda depicts Óðinn as welcoming into his hall, Valhǫll, the courageous battle-slain. \nThese fallen, the einherjar, will support Óðinn at the final battle of the end of the world, Ragnarǫk. The Roman historian Tacitus refers to Óðinn as Mercury for the reason that, like Mercury, Óðinn was regarded as Psychopompos, "the leader of souls". Viktor Rydberg, in his work on Teutonic Mythology, draws a number of other parallels between Óðinn and Mercury, such as the fact that they were both responsible for bringing poetry to mortal man. Some German sacred formulae, known as "Merseburger Zaubersprueche" were written down in c 800 AD and survived. One (this is the second) starts as follows:

Phol ende UUodan vuorun zi holza.\n:du uuart demo Balderes volon sin vuoz birenkit\n:thu biguel en Sinthgunt, Sunna era suister;\n:thu biguol en Friia, Volla era suister ....

English translation:\n:Phol and Wodan were riding in the forest\n:Balder's foal dislocated its foot\n:Sinthgunt and Sunna, her sister, tried to cure it by magic\n:Freya and Volla, her sister, tried to cure it by magic \nThe god is believed to be manifest in a noisy, bellowing movement across the sky, not unlike Vāta, Lord of Wind of the Hindu. \nIt is unsurprising therefore to find Odin deeply associated with the concept of the Wild Hunt, called in Norse beliefs Asgardareid. \nOdin and Frigg participated in this together.

A deity of many names

\nHis name has roots in the Old Norse word óðr, meaning "inspiration, madness, anger", and the god may have evolved from Odr. Odin (Óðinn) is also referred to as Vóden. \nOther variations are: Othinn; Old High German Wuotan; (German word Wut translates to anger, rage) Old Low German Wodan, Wotan; and Old English Woden, which appears to mean "furious", "wild", "mad". He is also called the Allfather (in Icelandic: aldaf&491;ðr/aldafaðir) meaning "father of the ages" or "father of the families". This word is used in Snorri Sturlusons Younger Edda.The German Allvater indicates the 'father of all'. The German word All as in Weltall and 'Vater' translates to English: universe father. The Norsemen gave Óðinn many nicknames; this was in the Norse bardic tradition of kennings, a poetic method where a person, a place or an object was referred to indirectly, almost like a riddle. \n
\nA list of these follows: Fimbul, Ginnregin, Grímr (or Grímnir) (Hooded), Gangleri (Wayweary), Herjan (Ruler), Hjálmberi (Helmet bearer), Þekkr (Much Loved), Þriði (Third), Þuðr (?), Uðr (?), Helblindi (Hel blinder), Hárr (High); Saðr (Truthful), Svipall (Changing), Sanngetall (Truthful), Herteitr (Host glad), Hnikarr (Overthrower), Bileygr (Shifty-eyed), Báleygr (Flaming-eyed), Bölverkr (Ill-doer), Fjölnir (Many-shaped), Grímnir (Hooded), Glapsviðr (Swift in deceit), Fjölsviðr (Wide in wisdom); Síðhöttr (Broad hat), Síðskeggr (Long beard), Sigföðr (Father of Victory), Hnikuðr (Overthrower), Alföðr (Allfather), Atríðr (Rider), Farmatýr (God of Cargoes); Óski (God of wishes), Ómi (Shouter), Jafnhárr (Even as high), Biflindi (?), Göndlir (Wand bearer), Hárbarðr (Greybeard); Sviðurr (Changing(?)), Sviðrir (Changing(?)), Jálkr (Gelding), Kjalarr (Keel), Viðurr (?), Þrór (?), Yggr (Terrible), Þundr (Thunderer), Vakr (Wakeful), Skilfingr (Shaker), Váfuðr (Wanderer), Hroptatýr (Crier of the gods), Gautr (Father), Veratýr (Lord of men); Lord of the gallows; Hanga (the hanged god).

Odin as a shaman

\nThe goddess Freya is seen as an adept of the mysteries of seid (shamanism), a völva, and it is said that it was she who initiated Odin into its mysteries. In Lokasenna Loki abuses Odin for practising seid, condemning it as a unmanly art. A justification for this may be found in the Ynglinga saga where Snorri opines that following the practice of seid, the practitioner was rendered weak and helpless. Odin was a compulsive seeker of wisdom, consumed by his passion for knowledge, to the extent that he sacrificed one eye and also hung himself from the tree Yggdrasil, whilst pierced by his own spear, to acquire knowledge. \nHe hung there for nine days and nights, a number deeply significant in Norse magical practice (there were, for example, 9 realms of existence), thereby learning nine magical songs and eighteen magical runes. \nThe purpose of this strange ritual, a god sacrificing himself to himself because there was nothing higher to sacrifice to, was to obtain mystical insight through mortification of the flesh; however, some scholars assert that the Norse believed that insight into the runes could only be truly attained in death. Odin's love for wisdom can also be seen in his work as a farmhand for a summer, for Baugi, in order to obtain the mead of poetry. \nSee Fjalar and Galar for more details. Some scholars would see this as a garbled version of the story of Christ's crucifixion, but perhaps it is more likely that the poem shows the influence of shamanism, where the symbolic climbing of a "world tree" by the shaman in search of mystic knowledge is a common religious pattern. \nWe know that sacrifices, human or otherwise, to the gods were commonly hung in or from trees, often transfixed by spears. (See also: Peijainen) Incidentally, one of Odin's alternative names is Ygg, and Yggdrasil therefore means "Ygg's (Odin's)horse". \nAnother of Odin's names is Hangatyr, the god of the hanged. The creation of the runes, the Norse alphabet that was also used for divination, is attributed to Odin and is described in the Havamal, part of the Poetic Edda.

Sacrifices to Odin

\nIt was common, particularly among the Cimbri, to sacrifice a prisoner to Odin prior to or after a battle. \nOne such prisoner, the "Tollund Man", was discovered hanged, naked along with many others, some of whom were wounded, in Central Jutland. \nThe victim singled out for such a sacrifice was usually the first prisoner captured in battle. \nThe rites particular to Odin were sacrifice by hanging, as in the case of Tollund Man; impalement upon a spear; and burning. \nThe Orkneyinga saga relates another (and uncommon) form of Odinic sacrifice, wherein the captured Ella is slaughtered by the carving out of a "blood-eagle" upon his back. More significantly, however, it has been argued that the killing of a combatant in battle was to give a sacrificial offering to Odin. Sacrifices were probably also made to Odin at the beginning of summer, since Ynglinga saga states one of the great festivities of the calendar is at sumri, þat var sigrblót "in summer, for victory"; Odin is consistently referred to throughout the Norse mythos as the bringer of victory. The fickleness of Odin in battle was also well-documented, and in Lokasenna, Loki taunts Odin for his inconsistency.

Odin and the Church

\nThe Catholic church turned all Germanic nature gods into anti-gods. Papal propaganda and the zeal of monks to eradicate "heathenism" turned the Germanic god Wotan into a wild warring beast, Freya or Frigg into a witch, the Prussian god Deiw into Deiwel-Teufel, or devil. The word 'devil' in English is not derived from the Prussian god 'Deiw', however. Despite persecutions by Catholic church, the memory of Wotan persisted in legends, fairytales and customs. In 1900 the concept of Woden was still current in Mecklenburg. For many Germans, St. Michael replaced Wotan, and many mountain chapels dedicated to St. Michael can be found.

Named after Odin

\n*Many places are named after him, especially in Scandinavia, such as Odense (Denmark) and Odensbacken (Sweden), but also places in other Germanic countries, such as Wednesbury (England), Wodensberg (Germany), and Woensdrecht (Netherlands).

• Almost all German Gaue (Latin, pagi) had mountains and other places named after him under such generic names as Wodenesberg, Wuodenesberg, Godesberg and Gudensberg, Wodensholt, etc.
• "Wotan's Day" or "Woden's Day", has become Wednesday in English (compare Norwegian, Danish and Swedish onsdag). Odin's son Thor gives his name to "Thor's Day" , Thursday (torsdag), and his wife Frigg to Friday (fredag).
• Asteroid 3989 has been named after Odin.
• Odin (and Loki) are main characters in a novel by Neil Gaiman called American Gods.

Alternate viewpoints

\n* The legend/myth of Odin might have been based on an ancient king. This was one of the last of Thor Heyerdahl's archeo-anthropological theories. See The search for Odin. \n* Some scholars believe that Snorri Sturlusson's version of Norse mythology is an attempt to shoehorn a somewhat more shamanistic tradition into a Greek mythological cast, although this view does a considerable disservice to Sturlusson's efforts to maintain in permanent form what was essentially an oral tradition. Sturlusson's writing (particularly in Heimskringla) tries to maintain an essentially scholastic neutrality, even though he was writing in what had by that time become an essentially Christian society. Odin is supposed to match Zeus in this scenario.

Other spellings

\n* Norwegian: Odin\n* Common Swedish form: Oden\n* Icelandic: Oðinn\n* German: Wotan, Der Allvater\n* Dutch: Wodan\n* Old English: Woden

Old Norse texts in which Odin appears in person

• Grimnismál\n*Hávamál\n*Lokasenna\n*Voluspa

See also

\n* Anglo-Saxons\n* Norse mythology

Odin in modern literature, movies, and video games

\n*Odin appears in Epic Megagames' God of Thunder trilogy, for the PC, in which he plays the role of mentor to Thor ("My son, I know it is fun to kill people, but...")\n*Odin is a summon in several of Squaresoft's Final Fantasy games. He appears, when summoned, wearing an antlered helmet and riding on a horse. The horse later appeared as a six-legged steed named Sneiplir.\n*Odin appears in K.A. Applegate's Everworld series. \n*Odin appears as Mr. Wednesday in Neil Gaiman's novel, American Gods. (Warning: plot spoilers.). Mr. Wednesday, in this book, hires the main character, Shadow. Wednesday, although he is a god, is reduced to the role of common conman in many cases. However, he rallys all the old gods against the new ones. At the end of the book, Shadow meets a different incarnation of Odin on a trip to Iceland. The Icelandic Odin wears a cloak, and is not referred to as Mr. Wednesday. \n* Along with many other gods from the Norse pantheon, Odin makes an appearance in Marvel Comics' Thor comic book series. Odin appears few times also in some other Marvel comic books and magazines.\n*Odin appeared once in the 'Gargoyles' animated TV series. In the episode in which he appeared, he tries to get his missing eye back from the Gargoyles in several ways. The eye of Odin seems to transform whoever uses it into a powerful tyrant, and Odin does battle with Goliath for the eye. Goliath wins the battle with the help of the eye, but the other Gargoyles convince him to remove the eye and Odin takes it back. \n*Aspects of the Lord of the Rings character Gandalf are drawn from Odin.\n*Douglas Adams' The Long Dark Teatime of the Soul features cameos by Odin and Thor. Category:Norse gods\nCategory:War gods\nCategory:Wisdom gods \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n