Norse God Odin
For other meanings of Odin, Woden or Wotan see Odin (disambiguation), Woden
(disambiguation), Wotan (disambiguation).
Odin (Old Norse Óđinn) is considered the chief god in Norse mythology and Norse
paganism, like the Anglo-Saxon Woden it is decended from Proto-Germanic *Wōđinaz
or *Wōđanaz.
His name is related to óđr, meaning "excitation," "fury" or "poetry," and his
role, like many of the Norse pantheon, is complex: he is god of wisdom, war,
battle, and death. He is also attested as being a god of magic, poetry,
prophecy, victory, and the hunt.
Characteristics
Odin is an ambivalent deity. Old Norse (Viking Age) connotations of Odin lie
with "poetry, inspiration" as well as with "fury, madness." Odin left one of his
eyes in the purifying waters of Mímir's spring in order to gain the wisdom of
the ages. Odin gives to worthy poets the mead of inspiration, made by the
dwarves, from the vessel Óđ-rśrir.
Odin is associated with the concept of the Wild Hunt, a noisy, bellowing
movement across the sky, leading a host of slain warriors.
An 1893 depiction of Odin taking the dead Sinfjötli to Valhalla by Fredrik
Sander.Consistent with this, Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda depicts Odin as
welcoming the great dead warriors who have died in battle into his hall,
Valhalla, which when literally interpreted, signifies the hall of the slain.
These fallen, the einherjar, are assembled and entertained by Odin in order that
they in return might fight for and support the gods in the final battle of the
end of Earth, Ragnarök.
He is also a god of war, appearing throughout Norse myth as the bringer of
victory. In the Norse sagas, Odin sometimes acts as the instigator of wars, and
is said to have been able to start wars by simply throwing down his javelin
Gungnir, and/or sending his valkyries, to influence the battle toward the end
that he desires. Valkyries are Odin's beautiful battle maidens that went out to
the fields of war to select and collect the worthy men who died in battle to
come and sit at Odin's table in Valhalla, feasting and battling until they had
to fight in the final battle, Ragnarök. Odin would also appear on the
battle-field, sitting upon the leader of the Norse as two ravens on each
shoulder and two wolves on each side.
Odin is also a shape-changer, able to alter his skin and form in any way he
liked. He is said to travel Earth as an old man with a staff, one-eyed,
grey-bearded, and wearing a wide-brimmed hat, with a blue traveling coat. Odin
is said to be a healer, hinting at shamanistic origins, as he is god of magic
and prophecy, common practices in cultures in which shamans are prominent.
Wodanaz Origins
7th century depiction of Odin on a Vendel helmet plate, found in Uppland.
The 7th century Tängelgarda stone shows Odin leading a troop of warriors all
bearing rings. Valknut symbols are drawn beneath his horse, which at this time
still has the normal number of legs.Worship of Odin dates to Proto-Germanic
paganism. The Roman historian Tacitus may refer to Odin when he talks of
Mercury. The reason is that, like Mercury, Odin was regarded as Psychopompos,
"the leader of souls".
Parallels between Odin and Celtic Lugus have often been pointed out: both are
intellectual gods, commanding magic and poetry. Both have ravens and a spear as
their attributes, and both are one-eyed. Julius Caesar (de bello Gallico,
6.17.1) mentions Mercury as the chief god of Celtic religion. A likely context
of the diffusion of elements of Celtic ritual into Germanic culture is that of
the Chatti, who lived at the Celtic-Germanic boundary in Hesse during the final
centuries before the Common Era. (It must be remembered that Odin in his
Proto-Germanic form was not the chief god, but that he only gradually replaced
Tyr during the Migration period.)
Scandinavian Óđinn emerged from Proto-Norse *Wōdin during the Migration period,
Vendel artwork (bracteates, image stones) depicting the earliest scenes that can
be aligned with the High Medieval Norse mythological texts. The context of the
new elites emerging in this period aligns with Snorri's tale of the indigenous
Vanir who were eventually replaced by the Aesir, intruders from the
Continent.[1]
Some scholars have linked Odin with the "Death God" template. A few of them,
such as Jan de Vries and Thor Templin, link Loki and Odin as being
one-in-the-same until the early Norse Period.
Blot
It is attested in primary sources that sacrifices were made to Odin during blóts.
Adam of Bremen relates that every ninth year, humans assembled from all over
Sweden to sacrifice at the Temple at Uppsala. Male slaves and males of each
species were sacrificed and hanged from the branches of the trees.
As the Swedes had the right not only to elect their king but also to depose him,
the sagas relate that both King Domalde and King Olof Trätälja were sacrificed
to Odin after years of famine. It has been argued that the killing of a
combatant in battle was to give a sacrificial offering to Odin. The fickleness
of Odin in battle was well-documented, and in Lokasenna, Loki taunts Odin for
his inconsistency.
Sometimes sacrifices were made to Odin to bring about changes in circumstance. A
notable example is the sacrifice of King Víkar that is detailed in Gautrek's
Saga and in Saxo Grammaticus' account of the same event. Sailors in a fleet
being blown off course drew lots to sacrifice to Odin that he might abate the
winds. The king himself drew the lot and was hung.
Sacrifices were probably also made to Odin at the beginning of summer (mid
April, actually--summer being reckoned essentially the same as did the Celt, at
Beltene, Calan Mai [Welsh], which is Mayday--hence as summer's "herald"), since
Ynglinga saga states one of the great festivals of the calendar is at sumri, ţat
var sigrblót "in summer, for victory"; Odin is consistently referred to
throughout the Norse mythos as the bringer of victory. The Ynglinga saga also
details the sacrifices made by the Swedish king Aun, who, it was revealed to
him, would lengthen his life by sacrificing one of his sons every ten years;
nine of his ten sons died this way. When he was about to sacrifice his last son
Egil, the Swedes stopped him.
Edda
A depiction of Odin riding Sleipnir from an eighteenth century Icelandic
manuscript.According to the Prose Edda, Odin, the first and most powerful of the
Aesir, was a son of Bestla and Borr and brother of Ve and Vili and together with
these brothers he cast down the frost giant Ymir and made Earth from Ymir's
body. The three brothers are often mentioned together. "Wille" is the German
word for "will" (English), "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'.
Odin had several wives with whom he fathered many children. With his first wife,
Frigg, he fathered his most gentle son Balder, who stood for happiness,
goodness, wisdom and beauty. He also fathered the blind god Hod, who was
representative of darkness (in contrast to Balder's light). Frigg is best known
for her love of her son Balder, as well as the story of how she travelled Earth
in order to protect him from fated death. By the Earth Goddess Jord (Fjorgin)
Odin was the father of his most famous son, Thor the Thunderer. By the giantess
Grid, Odin was the father of Vídar, and by Rinda he was father of Váli. Also,
many royal families claimed descent from Odin through other sons. For traditions
about Odin's offspring, see Sons of Odin.
According to the Hávamál Edda, Odin was also the creator of the Runic alphabet.
It is possible that the legends and genealogies mentioning Odin originated in a
real, prehistoric Germanic chieftain who was subsequently deified, but this is
impossible to prove or disprove.
Exploits
Odin with his ravens and weapons (MS SÁM 66, eighteenth century)Odin and his
brothers, Vili and Ve, are attributed with slaying Ymir, the Ancient Giant, to
form Midgard. From Ymir's flesh, the brothers made the earth, and from his
shattered bones and teeth they made the rocks and stones. From Ymir's blood,
they made the rivers and lakes. Ymir's skull was made into the sky, secured at
four points by four dwarfs named East, West, North, and South. And from Ymir's
brains, they shaped the clouds and Ymir's eye-brows became a barrier between
Jotunheim (giant's home) and Midgard, the place where men now dwell. Odin and
his brothers are also attributed with making humans.
After having made earth from Ymir's, the three brothers came across two logs (or
an ash and an elm tree). Odin gave them breath and life; Vili gave them brains
and feelings; and Ve gave them hearing and sight. The first man was Ask and the
first woman was Embla and from them all human families are descended. Many kings
and royal houses claim to trace their lineage back to Odin through Ask and Embla.
Odin ventured to Mímir's Well, near Jötunheim, the land of the giants, not as
Odin, but as Vegtam the Wanderer, clothed in a dark blue cloak and carrying a
traveller's staff. To drink from the Well of Wisdom Odin had to sacrifice his
left eye, symbolizing his willingness to gain the knowledge of the past, present
and future. As he drank, he saw all the sorrows and troubles that would fall
upon men and the gods. But he also saw why the sorrow and troubles had to come
to men.
Mímir accepted Odin's eye and it sits today at the bottom of the Well of Wisdom
as a sign that the father of the gods had paid the price for wisdom. Sacrifice
for the greater good is a recurring theme in Norse mythology. Tyr sacrificed his
hand to fetter Fenrisulfr, and similar to Odin, Heimdall sacrificed his hearing
to Mímir to gain wisdom.
Odin was said to have learned the mysteries of seid from the Vanic goddess and
völva Freyja, despite the unwarriorly connotations of using magic. In Lokasenna,
Loki derides Odin for practicing seid, implying it was woman's work. (Another
example of this may be found in the Ynglinga saga where Snorri opines that men
who used seid were ergi or unmanly.)
Odin's quest for wisdom can also be seen in his work as a farmhand for a summer,
for Baugi, and his seduction of Gunnlod in order to obtain the mead of poetry.
(See Fjalar and Galar for more details.)
In the Rúnatal, a section of the Hávamál, Odin is attributed with discovering
runes. He was hung from the tree called Yggdrasill while pierced by his own
javelin. He hung for nine days and nights, in order to learn the wisdom that
would give him power in the nine worlds. Nine is a significant number in Norse
magical practice (there were, for example, nine realms of existence), thereby
learning nine (later eighteen) magical songs and eightteen magical runes.
Some scholars see this scene as influenced by the story of Christ's crucifixion;
and others note the similarity to the story of Buddha's enlightenment. In
Shamanism, the traversal of the axis mundi by the shaman to bring back knowledge
is a common pattern. We know that sacrifices, human or otherwise, to the gods
were commonly hung in or from trees, often transfixed by spears. (See also:
Peijainen) Additionally, one of Odin's names is Ygg, and the Norse name for the
World Ash —Yggdrasill—therefore means "Ygg's (Odin's) horse". Another of Odin's
names is Hangatýr, the god of the hanged.