User:ImaginesTigers/sandbox#Mythology

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With over 170 names, Odin has the most of any deity. Rudolf Simek provides three general classifications: some were pseudonymously used by Odin in a story, like Grimnir; others were created by poets, such as Alfaðir; and several were inherited names used by ancient Germanic tribes for their chief gods.{{Sfn|Simek|1993|p=248}} Several of his names relate to his self-sacrifice.{{Sfn|Price|2019|p=58}}

Skaldic poetry...

{{Main article|Wednesday}}The practice of naming days of the week after the planets comes from Babylonia; the practice continued to the Greek language and then to Latin. The Latin name given to the modern weekday Wednesday was dies Mercurii—the day of Mercury. This was translated, known as a calque, in the North to óðinsdagr (Old English: wodnesdæg).{{Sfn|Lassen|2022|p=51–52}}{{sfn|de Vries|1962|p=416}}

Cognate terms are found in other Germanic languages, such as Middle Low German and Middle Dutch Wōdensdach (modern Dutch woensdag), Old Frisian Wērnisdei (≈ Wērendei) and Old Norse Óðinsdagr (cf. Danish, Norwegian, Swedish onsdag). All of these terms derive from Late Proto-Germanic *Wodanesdag ('Day of Wōðanaz').{{Sfn|Simek|1993|p=371}}

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| quote = Things, deities included, change of all the time and from place to place. This means that even when we speak of Óðinn as identical with Mercury or Woden, the identity is never complete, just as Óðinn himself was not the same across all over Scandinavia, and in some places and at certain times some functions of the god would be more accentuated than others, just as he would most likely have been blended with other gods ocassionally.{{Sfn|Schjødt|2020c|p=1124}}

| author = Jens Peter Schjødt

| source = "Óðinn", The Pre-Christian Religions of the North (2020)

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Scholars have suggested that Odin's cult arrived in Scandinavia in the late Roman Iron Age,{{Sfn|Kaliff|Sundqvist|2007|pp=14–16}} for example brought by the Heruli around {{Circa}} 500 CE. Schjødt concludes that "a god of the Óðinn type" was present from the beginning of the Common Era to the Viking Age.{{Sfn|Schjødt|2020c|pp=1124–1126}} While pagan Norsemen possessed the runic alphabet, which was used throughout the Germanic world, they only used it to inscribe stone, metal and wood, and did not use parchment like other ancient civilisations.{{Sfn|Turville-Petre|1964|p=2}} Consequently, very few narratives survive from the pagan period about Germanic paganism and its practices.{{Sfn|Lindow|2001|p=33}} The Nordendorf fibula, discovered in Bavaria, is an item of early Germanic evidence bearing the name Wodan.{{Sfn|Schjødt|2020c|p=1124|ps=: "An early Germanic piece of evidence is the so-called Nordendorf fibula, found near Augsburg in Bavaria and containing, apart from the name Wodan, also the names Logaþore (perhaps Loki) and Wigiþonar (Þórr)."}}{{Sfn|Liberman|2016|p=43|ps=: "Likewise, Wodan on the Nordendorf fibula is said to have a deliberately

distorted form (with -an) because it contains a recantation formula.}} Scholarship on Odin typically begins with the account of the Roman historian Tacitus's (56–120 CE) in Germania (98 CE).{{Sfn|Liberman|2016|p=31|ps=: "All our reports of Wodan begin with Tacitus, who did not mention the deity's name, but since he identified the supreme god (deus maximus) of the Teutons with Mercury and since dies Mercurii was translated at Wodan's day (Engl. Wednesday), Tacitus, it appears, meant Wodan."}}{{Sfn|Lindow|2001|p=33|ps=: "Discussions of the ritual practices associated with Norse mythology usually begin with descriptions by Roman writers of the Germanic peoples."}}

Greeks and Romans equated foreign gods with their own if they shared similar characteristics. Describing a group he called the "Suebi", Tacitus identified Mercury as the god they primarily worshipped.{{Sfn|Davidson|1990|p=56}}{{Efn|Annette Lassen says that "most scholars" concur that the other gods represent Thor (Donar) and Týr.{{Sfn|Lassen|2022|p=51}}}} The first sentence of Tacitus account is a verbatim quotation of Julius Caesar (Latin: "deorum maxime Mercurium colunt{{-"}}; English: "Among the gods Mercury is the one they principally worship"), although Caesar was describing the Gauls.{{Sfn|Simek|1993|p=106}} According to Richard North, Caesar was probably quoting Herodotus's description of Thracian princes, who—like Caesar—claimed divine descent from Mercury, so this reinforced his status as the divine, rightful ruler of broad territories.{{Sfn|North|1997|p=79}} The Suebi described by Tacitus comprised multiple groups of people occupying a very broad geographic range,{{Efn|Birley describes the broad geographic range occupied by the Suebi: "the rest of the work is devoted to Germans beyond the Elbe as far as Scandinavia and the east coast of the Baltic, and down through Poland to Bohemia and Moravia. He classes these Germans collectively as ‘Suebians’, the same name as that of Ariovistus’ Germans whom Caesar had driven out of Gaul. The exact relationship of all these peoples to one another or their group identity is not entirely clear, and some of those included are in any case clearly non-Germanic."{{Sfn|Birley|Tacitus|1999|p=xxxi}}}} and some scholars contest the reliability of Tacitus' account.{{Sfnm|1a1=Davidson|1y=1990|1p=15|2a1=Schjødt|2y=2020c|2p=1129}} Anatoly Liberman notes that Tacitus did not provide a name for the god he compared to Mercury but it appears to have been Wodan, probably still *Wõðanaz.{{Sfn|Liberman|2016|p=31}}

The Germanic god Wodan is generally identified with Mercury in the interpretico romana.{{Sfn|Simek|1993|p=211}} Some scholars reject the equivalence.{{Sfn|Schjødt|2020c|p=1129}} Several hypothesis have been proposed regarding the connection,{{Efn|It may have related to Mercury's role as psychopomp—that is, leading souls of the dead.{{Sfn|Birley|Tacitus|p=107|5=1999}} Rudolf Simek suggests "external attributes", paralleling Mercury's hat, cloak and staff with Odin's hat, cloak and spear. This is complicated by the fact that these elements are only found in Middle-Ages depictions of Odin.{{Sfn|Simek|1993|pp=211–212}}}} but it is not possible to determine what characteristics they shared.{{Sfn|Simek|1993|pp=211–212}}{{Sfn|Schjødt|2020c|p=1129}} Schjødt suggests there must have been some "special reason" to equate the Germani's most powerful god with a relatively minor Roman one.{{Sfn|Schjødt|2020c|p=1130|ps=: "It is remarkable [...] that these writers chose to identify the allegedly most powerful god of the Germani with a relatively minor god among the Romans.

This indicates that it was not just a routine, as would arguably have been the case

had they identified the main god with Jupiter: our mightiest god is the same

as their mightiest god. There must have been some special reason."}} Annette Lassen notes similarities between Mercury and Odin of later Old Norse–Icelandic myth, like resourcefulness and rhetorical skill,{{Sfn|Lassen|2022|pp=51–52}} but concludes that the gods of this period likely do not resemble those worshipped during the Viking Age,{{Sfn|Lassen|2022|p=51}} and the connection with Mercury may have influenced how later writers characterised the Norse Odin.{{Sfn|Lassen|2022|pp=51–52}} Jens Peter Schjødt suggests more appropriate language for these figures is a god "of the Óðinn type" because their functions may have differed considerably.{{Sfn|Schjødt|2020c|p=1125}}

File:Del_av_hjälm_vendel_vendeltid_möjligen_oden.jpg Vendel era helmet featuring a figure riding a horse, accompanied by two ravens, holding a spear and shield, and confronted by a serpent]]

The Migration Period roughly constitutes 400—575 CE and receives its name from the "extensive movements of the Germanic tribes around Europe" at the period.{{Sfn|Lindow|2001|p=3}} Richard North suggests that the Germanic Odin's cult started as Mercury cults in Roman Gaul, spreading northward through Germania, across the North Sea into Scandinavia and England by the end of the 5th century.{{Sfn|North|1997|p=78–79}} Germanic paganism was practiced across a broad geographic range from Iceland to the Black Sea.{{Sfn|Simek|1993|p=ix}} According to Schjødt, various of Odin's name in several Germanic languages indicate worship of him by many Germanic tribes in the early Middle Ages.{{Sfn|Schjødt|2020c|p=1124}}

While the Goths converted to Christianity in the third and fourth centuries, Scandinavia remained pagan long beyond this point.{{Sfn|Simek|1993|p=ix}} There is some evidence to suggest similar traditional narratives between Scandinavian and Goth people before Goth Christianisation but limited evidence supporting the practice of Scandinavian religion by the Goths.{{Efn|The word Æsir and the Goth equivalent Anses directly share an etymological root.{{Sfn|Simek|1993|p=17}} Norse epic poetry directly associates elements of Goth folklore with Odin,{{Sfn|Wolfram|1988|p=27}} but there is reason to doubt this interpretation. Even towards the beginning of Scandinavia's Christian era, pagans were buried with weapons, in a clear contrast with the Goths.{{Sfn|Wolfram|1988|pp=110–111}} The Goth deity Gaut was almost certainly not connected to Odin,{{Sfn|Wolfram|1988|p=111}} and many scholars broadly reject any connection between Wodan and the Goths.}} An inscription found on a gold torque has been proposed to translate as "sacred to Wodan-Jupiter"; both the inscription and the translation are contested.{{Sfn|Dunn|2013|p=17}} The oldest find mentioning his name is a bracteate, dated to around 400 CE,{{Sfn|Imer|Vasshus|2023}} and discovered in 2023 in an 800-gram hoard of gold.{{Sfn|Imer|Vasshus|2023}}{{Sfn|Brooks|2023}} Skilfully inscribed with 34 runes, the final sequence reads, "[H]e who is Óðin's man", alongside an image suspected to depict an unknown king.{{Sfn|Imer|Vasshus|2023}}

There is iconographical evidence of Odin, much discovered in the Vendel Period. Named by Swedish archaeologists for the extensive wealth finds from this period in Sweden, it refers roughly to 600–800 CE.{{Sfn|Lindow|2001|pp=4–5}} Another Danish bracteate from this period depicts human sacrifice, although it is unclear to whom they were made;{{Sfn|Simek|1993|pp=165, 272}} the only depictions of human sacrifice survive from this era.{{Sfn|Simek|1993|p=272}}{{Sfn|North|1997|p=79}} Lindow writes that bracteates were initially based on Roman iconography but "developed characteristic Germanic forms", with some scholars arguing that these often depict Odin.{{Sfn|Lindow|2001|pp=85–86}} A large collection of gold bracteates, dating to the 5th or 6th century, may depict Odin in mythological scenes,{{Sfn|Sundqvist|2016|pp=418–419}} although these are also naturally disputed.{{Sfn|Schjødt|2020c|p=1136}} The Ribe skull fragment, dating to before 800 CE, bears Odin's name.{{Sfn|Lassen|2022|p=40}} Many other archaeological finds have been suggested to depict the god, including helmet plates found in a grave;{{Sfn|Simek|1993|p=164}} the 8th-century Tjångvide and Ardre VIII image stones;{{Sfn|Simek|1993|p=170}} and a pair of identical Germanic Iron Age bird-shaped brooches found in Denmark.{{Sfn|Petersen|1990|p=62}}

Placenames suggest his presence as a god in early 7th-century south England by Anglo-Saxons.{{Efn|Richard North's reference provides several footnotes for further reading. See {{harv|North|1997|loc=p. 80}}}} While belief in these Odin figures may have continued within Germanic tribes,{{Sfn|Dunn|2013|p=11}} English belief was fading by the 8th century.{{Sfn|North|1997|p=80}} The English Nine Herbs Charm, recorded in the 10th century but much older, mentions Odin in connection with the healing of healing of snake poisoning.{{Sfn|Schjødt|2020c|p=1141}}

Viking Age poems are an important source for understanding Odin. A collection of Old Norse heroic and mythological poems, known today as the Poetic Edda ("eddic poems"),{{Sfnm|1a1=Simek|1y=1993|1p=69|2a1=Lassen|2y=2022|2p=2}} an important source in understanding Odin's mythology because they are likely the least affected by Christian influence.{{Sfn|Lassen|2022|p=197}}{{Efn|Writing of Snorri Sturluson, for example, folklorist Hilda Ellis Davidson notes: "Much of Snorri’s material comes direct from poems, but many of his sources are lost; he is apt to put together scattered pieces of evidence to form a logical whole, and one of the main problems is how far, two hundred years after the conversion, he has deliberately shaped his material."{{Sfn|Davidson|1975|p=175}}}} They are some of the primary sources for his character in the pagan period.{{Sfn|Schjødt|2020c|p=1139}} Six eddic poems feature Odin as primary character or narrator, and he appears in several more.{{Efn|Kevin Wanner provides a list: "Those featuring Oðinn are Völuspá, Hávamál, Vafprudsimal, Grímnismál, and Hárabarðslióð—these five appearing in the Codex Regius, the main, mid-thirteenth century manuscript of the eddic poems—as well as Baldrs draumar.{{Sfn|Wanner|2007|p=321}}}} Although hard to date, they were broadly composed between the 9th and 13th centuries.{{Sfn|Wanner|2007|p=321}}

There are also the pagan skaldic poems, which were composed within the same tradition but for whom a named author—a poet or skald—survives.{{Sfn|Wanner|2007|pp=320–321}} The datings of these poems are contested. According to Lassen, Finnur Jónsson's edition of the skaldic poetry generally dates them in accordance with their surrounding prose;{{Sfn|Lassen|2022|p=111}} if they are accurate, the skaldic poems are the only surviving attestation to skaldic treatment of pre-Christian religion.{{Efn|Some of Jónsonn's datings are contested. Lassen also provides a list of explorations on the topic (1934).{{Sfn|Lassen|2022|p=111}}}} Odin's role is generally limited in the skaldic poems,{{Sfn|Lassen|2022|p=112}} usually featuring as part of kennings,{{Sfn|Wanner|2007|pp=320–321}} not interacting with humans,{{Sfn|Lassen|2022|p=112}} and is serves as the poems' protagonist or narrator. The skalds emphasised Odin's association with poetry.{{Sfn|Schjødt|2020c|p=1138}} Odin features in the skaldic poems Húsdrápa, Haustlǫng, Eiríksmál, and Hákonarmál.{{Sfn|Lassen|2022|p=112}} Lassen says that if the poems' authorial attributions are accurate, they were primarily composed by Norwegian poets.{{Sfn|Lassen|2022|p=112}}

He plays a supporting role in some heroic poems, chiefly those involving Sigurd, dispensing advice. The information related by these poems is largely corroborated by other sources.{{Sfn|Schjødt|2020c|p=1140}} In these he is frequently characterised as winning favour as a god of warriors and poets.{{Sfn|Simek|1993|p=241}}

According to Hilda Ellis Davidson, Odin was the pre-eminent pagan god by the end of pagan times.{{Sfn|Davidson|1990|p=57}}

The Church and scholars of 12th and 13th century Iceland believed the æsir, including Odin, were ancient mortal kings who knew sorcery, possessed magical items, and allowed themselves to be worshipped.{{Sfn|Simek|1993|p=241}}{{Sfn|Lassen|2022|p=212}} Odin was frequently the god of choice for Christian writers selecting a pagan god to represent demons or devils.{{Sfn|Schjødt|2020c|p=1123}}

Odin appears in eight of the first nine books of Saxo Grammaticus's Danish history, the Gesta Danorum.{{Sfn|Lassen|2022|p=126}} It is the only Scandinavian source in Latin and his name is provided as Othinius.{{Sfn|Lassen|2007|p=281}} The most prominent pagan god in the text, he functions as patron god of the Danish people,{{Sfn|Lassen|2024|p=107}} influencing their heroes through bringing victory and death in war and battle,{{Sfn|Lassen|2007|p=282}} and knows the future.{{Sfn|Lassen|2024|pp=108–109}} Saxo's sources included Icelandic works and informants.{{Sfn|Lassen|2007|p=282}} He is sometimes mentioned as old and one-eyed in this version.{{Sfn|Lassen|2007|p=281}} Lassen says it is not possible to provide a full list of Saxo's sources, but broadly they included classical Latin authors, medieval historiography, and Danish-language sources.{{Sfn|Lassen|2022|p=124}} Karsten Friis Johansen highlights Saxo's challenge of the Roman–Norse conversion by highlighting a discrepancy between in familial relations.{{Efn|Saxo highlights that Odin–Thor cannot be identical to Mercury–Jove because their relations are swapped—i.e., Jove is Mercury's father whereas Thor is Odin's son.{{Sfn|Friis-Jensen|2015|p=231–232}}}}

Many mythological narratives regarding the god were written by one Christian—the Icelandic historian and politician Snorri Sturluson.{{Efn|Shortly after the year 100, war approached Iceland over its practiced religion. John Lindow writes: "[I]t was agreed that a single arbiter should choose one religion for the entire land, and the lawspeaker Thorgeir, a pagan, was chosen. After spending a night under his cloak, he emerged and decreed that Iceland should be Christian. And so it was".{{Sfn|Lindow|2001|p=9}} While a devout Christian, Snorri was a scholar with a deep interest in his pagan ancestors. Educated, wealthy, and politically powerful, he is today renowned as one of the country's greatest writers.{{Sfn|Faulkes|1987|p=vi}} In 1241, Snorri was assassinated in his basement, perhaps on the orders of the Norwegian king Hakon Hakonarson, by his son-in-law.{{Sfn|Simek|1993|p=296}}{{Sfn|Lindow|2001|p=18}}}} According to Lindow, the general academic consensus is that Snorri composed the Prose Edda in the 1220s and the early surviving manuscript, from around 1300 CE, bears an attribution to him.{{Sfn|Lindow|2020w|p=77}} Lassen describes it as written by him to instruct and educate contemporary poets on Old Norse myths and poetic allusions,{{Sfn|Clunies Ross|1994|p=24}}{{Sfn|Davidson|1975|p=175}}{{Efn|Faulkes writes that there is no direct evidence that Snorri created a school of poetry, but "several parts of his Edda are in the style of formal school treatises".{{Sfn|Faulkes|1995|p=xiv}}}} and as closest surviving text to resemble an Icelandic–Old Norse mythography.{{Sfn|Lassen|2022|p=169}} Snorri wrote his Poetic Edda around the 1220s, "cutting and pasting orally-transmitted sources".{{Sfn|Clunies Ross|1994|p=24}} Snorri's use of sources from different traditions makes it hard to provide a simple overview of Odin's characterisation in his texts.{{Sfn|Lassen|2007|p=283}}{{Efn|Lassen writes: "[T]hroughout the Old Norse corpus we are often able to trace consistent elements in the descriptions of Óðinn. Óðinn thus appears primarily to be a god of war and intellect, visiting subjects, often kings, in different guises. However, the different texts emphasise these aspects to a different degree, and then there are many elements which only occur in certain contexts and are completely incompatible with what is said about the god in other contexts. There is no Óðinn outside the text."{{Sfn|Lassen|2007|pp=283–284}}}} Odin scholar Annette Lassen describes it as a "distortion" of the Christian God while still being identifiably pagan.{{Sfn|Lassen|2007|p=281}} The Ynglinga saga, the first part of Heimskringla, is the most detailed origin account for Odin and depicts him as a human hero from ancient Asia.{{Sfn|Lassen|2022|p=149}} Scholars generally assume that the saga was based on the earlier skaldic poem Ynglingatal.{{Sfn|Lassen|2022|p=150}} Snorri has been attributed as the author of Heimskringla since the 17th century, but his authorship of some elements has been disputed.{{Sfn|Lassen|2022|p=85}}

Placenames are an important area of research, but it is a fraught and complex topic.{{Sfn|Vikstrand|2020a|pp=115–163}} According to Schjødt, placenames suggest Odin had cult presence across Scandinavia and England.{{Sfn|Schjødt|2020c|p=1171}} While there are no Odinic placenames in Iceland, he nonetheless was known there, but probably not worshipped to the same extent.{{Sfn|Simek|1993|p=243}}{{Sfn|Schjødt|2020c|p=1171}} Several scholars highlight that inhabitants named the places in which they lived, not kings or chieftains, and stress Odin's function as a god of royalty.{{Sfn|Schjødt|2020c|p=1132}}{{Sfn|Vikstrand|2020a|p=123}} Turville-Petre highlights the lack of presence in Iceland as stemming from the country's lack of a king.{{Sfn|Schjødt|2020c|p=1171}} Price argues that it suggests something about the mindset of his elite followers that Odin was regarded as an appropriate patron despite his repeated characterisation as malicious.{{Sfn|Price|2019|p=59}}

Little information survives about early Germanic worship of Odin, but there are some suggestions of human sacrifice.{{Sfn|Schjødt|2020c|pp=1171–1172}} The 11th-century writer Adam of Bremen chronicled his visit to a temple of Wodan, possibly named Ubsola,{{Sfn|Orchard|1997|p=168}} in Uppsala, Sweden.{{Sfn|Schjødt|2020c|p=1138}}{{Efn|The temple is north of the modern city, and today features three large Migration Age burial mounds on the site of the pagan temple.{{Sfn|Simek|1993|p=340}}}} He describes a Spring equinox festival held every nine years wherein nine males were hanged in a grove alongside dogs and horses while participants sung "manifold and obscene" songs; afterwards, participants held a feast.{{Sfn|Simek|1993|p=340}} These lasted nine days, sacrificing a man each day,{{Sfn|Orchard|1997|p=169}} and he mentions images of Odin, Thor and Freyr displayed in the temple,{{Sfn|Simek|1993|p=340}} contradicting the much earlier accounts of Tacitus who said they did not worship images.{{Sfn|Lindow|2001|p=34}} Of Wodan, Adam writes: "The second is Wodan, that is, ‘frenzy’. He rules war and gives people strength against the enemy".{{Sfn|Orchard|1997|p=169}} Scholars have questioned the accuracy of Adam's account. The bishop of Merseburg provided a similar but less detailed account a century earlier than Adam{{Sfn|Orchard|1997|p=169}}—but placenames confirm that the gods were worshipped in the area.{{Sfn|Sundqvist|2016|pp=121–122}} Sundqvist indicates that Adam was "influenced by tendencies, clichés and stereotypes", and his account was influenced by the Danish king Sweyn II and "a certain Christian", perhaps Adalvard the Younger.{{Sfn|Sundqvist|2016|pp=120–121}} Snorri Sturluson links the sacrifices at Uppsala to Freyr, which which Rudolf Simek concurs, citing the equinox and songs as evidence of a fertility sacrifice.{{Sfn|Simek|1993|p=341}} In Hákonar saga Hákonarsonar, Snorri describes that the first toast at a festival should be made to Odin for victory, kingdom and king.{{Sfn|Lindow|2001|p=36}}

{{Main|Odin in Norse mythology}}

Literature is the primary source for Odin's mythos. While there are older, non-literary sources—for example, rune-stones and place names—these are of lesser value to understanding his place in mythology and more value to understanding the rituals and worship of his cult.{{Sfn|Wanner|2007|pp=320–321}}

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| quote = Odin is ... not very reassuring. His face hidden under his hood, in his somber blue cloak, he goes about the world, simultaneously master and spy. It happens that he betrays his believers and his protétés, and he sometimes seems to take pleasure in the sowing of fatal discord.

| author = Georges Dumézil, trans. by John Lindow

| source = Gods of the Ancient Northmen (1973){{Sfn|Dumézil|1973|p=30}}

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}}Odin is a central figure in ancient Scandinavian mythology. His attestations are frequently cryptic and contradictory. Generally, Odin is a king and a sorcerer, talented at poetry, with knowledge of the runes. He is a battle god associated with war and death.{{Sfn|Kaliff|Sundqvist|2007|p=212}} From the 13th century, Odin is somewhat consistently described as old, one-eyed, wearing a hat or hood and a cloak of blue or black. His weaponry usually includes a spear called Gungnir,{{Efn|Hilda Ellis Davidson writes that Odin probably inherited Gungnir from an earlier deity—the sky god Tiwaz—who is suggested to have evolved into the god Týr.{{Sfn|Davidson|1972|p=2}}}} and a shield.{{Sfn|Simek|1993|p=240}}{{Sfn|Dumézil|1973|p=30}}{{Sfn|Munch|1970|p=7}} He has many attested mistresses and is, according to Schjødt, "a great seducer of women".{{Sfn|Schjødt|2020c|p=1145}}

Historical artifacts begin depicting Odin with his ravens, Huginn and Muninn,{{Efn|Huginn may derive from hugr (roughly "mind"; "thought") and Muninn from muna ("to remember"). The ravens have become, in the popular imagination, personifications of the mind's resources.{{Sfn|Hermann|2020a|p=57}} According to Simek, the names are used in skaldic poems "as a general term for 'raven'".{{Sfn|Simek|1993|p=222}}}}{{Sfn|Simek|1993|p=164}} from the end of the Migration Age (c. 6th century). He partly owes his great knowledge of the world to these ravens because they travel the universe each day and return, telling him all they saw;{{Sfn|Munch|1970|p=8}} he was sometimes called hrafnagud (trans. "raven-god").{{Sfn|Simek|1993|p=164}}{{Efn|Simek argues that the ravens were unlikely to have originated as personifications of Odin's intellect because the sole evidence for this is their names, which probably came hundreds of years after they started appearing with him in depictions during the Migration era.{{Sfn|Simek|1993|p=164}} Earlier writers, such as Karl Hauck, suggested the ravens as bird-shaped valkyries.{{Sfn|Simek|1993|p=165}}}} An older element appears to be his ring, Draupnir,{{Sfn|Simek|1993|p=240}} which produces eight identically sized rings every nine nights,{{Sfn|Simek|1993|p=240}} perhaps as symbol of regeneration.{{Sfn|Schjødt|2020c|p=1145}}

Odin is not described as trustworthy. Odin frequently uses disguises to fool both mortals and other gods.{{Sfn|Schjødt|2020c|p=1145}} Turville-Petre regards him as insidious,{{Sfn|Turville-Petre|1964|p=51}} while Neil Price highlights his habit for manipulating events and people across the eddic poems and Snorri's work.{{Sfn|Price|2019|p=58}} Jens Peter Schjødt writes that the sagas depict Odin as "demonic" and "wise, but often unreliable", describing these as likely true pagan conceptions of the deity.{{Sfn|Schjødt|2020c|p=1142}} Ryan Johnson cites an instance in Harbarésljod where Odin fools Thor with a disguise and a false name then mocks Thor for being fooled.{{Sfn|Johnson|2022|p=95–96}}

A wanderer, his favoured method of travelling is his eight-legged horse Sleipnir,{{Sfn|Davidson|1990|p=141}} who is conceived by the union of Loki, who had transformed himself into a mare, and the stallion Svaðilfari.{{Sfn|Orchard|1997|p=151}} Schjødt suggests Sleipnir's unusual parentage explains why it can traverse different worlds.{{Sfn|Schjødt|2020c|p=1145}} According to Schjødt, Odin is the only æsir depicted as riding a horse.{{Sfn|Schjødt|2020c|p=1146}}{{Efn|According to Lindow, Snorri attests to the goddess Gná riding a horse in Gylfaginning; the goddess and her horse are attested in no other source.{{Sfn|Lindow|2001|p=146–147}}{{Sfn|Orchard|1997|p=58}}{{Sfn|Simek|1993|p=113}}}}

{{See also|Frigg|Sons of Odin}}File:Olaus_Magnus_-_On_the_three_Main_Gods_of_the_Geats.jpg's A Description of the Northern Peoples; from left to right, Frigg, Thor and Odin]]

Odin is described as the son of the giantess Bestla across the skaldic verses, the Poetic Edda, and Snorri Sturluson's Gylfaginning.{{Sfn|Orchard|1997|p=19}}{{Sfn|Lindow|2001|p=19}} In eddic poetry and Snorri's Gylfaginning, his father is named as Bur. John Lindow notes the coupling of Bestla and Bur as an example of a "very basic operational pattern" in Norse mythology wherein male Norse gods marry, or procreate with, giantesses.{{Sfn|Lindow|2001|p=247}} There are some attestations to his parents' ancestors. Hávamál—an Old Norse poem attributed to Odin—names Bestla's grandfather as Bölþorn.{{Sfn|Lindow|2001|p=77}} Snorri's Gylfaginning is the sole surviving reference to Odin's paternal grandfather, Búri, who was licked out of salt rimes by the primordial cow Auðumbla.{{Sfn|Lindow|2001|p=90}} Vili and Vé are attested by Snorri as helping him create the world and humanity, but do not appear prominently in any other surviving sources; Schjødt highlights that the trio's names would have been alliterative in older times.{{Sfn|Schjødt|2020c|p=1144}}

Odin's wife is the Vanir goddess Frigg. Peter A. Munch observes that her father's name, Fjörgynn, connects Frigg with Thor's mother, Jörð, for whom an alternate name is Fjörgyn.{{Sfn|Munch|1970|p=26}} Snorri describes her as foremost of the Ásynja.{{Sfn|Lindow|2001|p=128}}{{Efn|The Ásynja (singular ásynjur) are female goddesses.{{Sfn|Orchard|1997|p=8}} Freya was more widely celebrated than Frigg;{{Sfn|Orchard|1997|p=48}} some writers describe Frigg as second only to Freya.{{Sfn|Simek|1993|p=93}} Sturluson does not usually distinguish between the æsir and vanir groups, so asynja can mean either the female æsir or all female goddesses.{{Sfn|Simek|1993|p=3}}}} Like Odin, Frigg possessed foresight and knew the fates of all living things.{{Sfn|Davidson|1990|p=30}}{{Sfn|Lindow|2001|p=129}} The Old Norse poem Völuspá and Snorri's Prose Edda name Frigg's residence as Fensalir.{{Sfn|Simek|1993|p=81}} Odin and Frigg interfere in human matters, typically opposing each other,{{Sfn|Orchard|1997|p=48}} as in Grímnismál.{{Sfn|Johnson|2022|p=96}}{{Efn|Simek describes similarities between the events of Grímnismál, Skírnismál, and Vafþrúðnismál, comparing Odin and Frigg looking out over the world in Grímnismál to Freyr "illegally" looking from Odin's seat. He points the scholarship of Maria Elena Ruggerini as the first to note "[thematic], [structural] and [lexical]" similarities between the works, particularly the prologues.{{Sfn|Simek|2007|p=378}}}} Orchard compares their relationship to the squabbling marriage of Zeus and Hera.{{Sfn|Orchard|1997|pp=48–49}} Lindow describes two attested functions of the goddess: wife and mother. In Vafthrúdnismál, she fulfils a wifely function by warning Odin against waging a contest of wisdom with the wisest giant, Vafthrúdnir, but provides encouragement when he does.{{Sfn|Lindow|2001|p=128}} Snorri's Ynglinga saga tells that Odin's brothers share Frigg and divide his inheritance during a particularly long absence from Odin.{{Sfn|Lindow|2001|pp=129–130}} Lindow suggests that Odin's brothers receiving his inheritance implies the absence of an heir and therefore places the story early in his chronology.{{Sfn|Lindow|2001|p=30}} Saxo Grammaticus's Danish history includes a story where, according to Orchard, "Frigg, jealous of Odin's success, cuckolds him with a slave".{{Sfn|Orchard|1997|pp=48–49}}

In the skaldic tradition, Odin has three sons—Baldr, Thor, and Váli.{{Sfn|Orchard|1997|p=123}} Snorri adds Bragi, Heimdall, Höd, Týr and Víðarr,{{Sfn|Orchard|1997|p=123}} with the last also attested in several eddic poems.{{Sfn|Orchard|1997|p=174}} In Hárbarðsljóð, Thor is provided with the kenning "Meili's brother" twice;{{Sfn|Simek|1993|p=210}} Snorri explicitly describes Odin as the father of Meili.{{Sfn|Orchard|1997|p=111}} Týr is provided with the kenning "son of Odin" by Snorri's Skáldskaparmál, but is described elsewhere as son of the giant Hymir.{{Sfn|Lindow|2001|p=298}}{{Sfn|Orchard|1997|p=168}} Heimdall is described as a son of Odin by Snorri; his maternal parentage is covered by several sources but Odin's fatherhood has been contested by scholars.{{Efn|Several sources attest that Heimdall was the son of nine mother-sisters.{{Sfn|Clunies Ross|1994|p=174, 175}} Clunies Ross suggests that Sturluson draws from two poems in determing Odin's paternity.{{Sfn|Clunies Ross|1994|p=174}} The first is the lost poem Heimdalargaldr wherein Heimdall provides a list of his mothers, with these names identified in other places with giantesses.{{Sfn|Orchard|1997|p=78}} The second is Úlfr Uggason's poem Húsdrápa, which describes Heimdall's nine mothers as "maidens of the giants".{{Sfn|Clunies Ross|1994|p=174}} John Lindow connects this to "Odin's propensity for dallying with giantesses".{{Sfn|Lindow|2001|p=169}} Clunies Ross also highlights that Heimdall's placement among the æsir strongly indicates his father belongs to that group, given the æsir's "social dominance" over the giants, but provides evidence for paternal alternatives to Odin, chiefly Njörðr.{{Sfn|Clunies Ross|1994|p=175}}}} Only Snorri notes Nepr as a son of Odin and the father of Nanna in a part sometimes excised from Skáldskaparmál (þulur).{{Sfn|Simek|1993|p=229}} Andy Orchard writes that some of Snorri's judgements on Odin's sons were made "in the face of conflicting evidence".{{Sfn|Orchard|1997|p=123}}

Thor is widely described as the son of Odin by the giantess Jörð in skaldic poems,{{Sfn|Orchard|1997|p=98}} the eddic poems Lokasenna and Þrymskviða, and Snorri's Skáldskaparmál.{{Sfn|Lindow|2001|p=205}} In Snorri's telling, Thor's birth the product of incest, with Jörð being Odin's daughter, but there is no other surviving source that supports this.{{Sfn|Clunies Ross|1994|p=58}} Scholars have widely discussed the relationship between the two. Rudolf Simek describes rivalry as a focus of early scholars, originating with Odin's mockery of Thor—describing himself as a god of royalty and Thor as a god of farmer-warriors—in Hárbarðsljóð.{{Sfn|Simek|1993|p=320}} Veneration of Odin was mainly confined to the societal elite and those aligned with them, like skalds and rune-masters, with the former writing Hárbarðsljóð.{{Sfn|Simek|1993|pp=318–319}} John Lindow highlights the skald Þjóðólfr of Hvinir's poem Haustlöng as another example of rivalry between the two: Thor wins a duel against a giant Odin wronged, cleaning up his mess, "and in so doing [...] he put a star in place, thereby taking on a bit of the cosmogonic role usually held by Odin".{{Sfn|Lindow|2001|p=186}}{{Efn|Similarly, after Thor wins a duel with a giant in Snori's Skáldskaparmál, only Magni succeeds in lifting the fallen giant off the trapped Thor; celebrating his son's strength, Thor gives a horse to Magni and elicits Odin's scorn, who says the gift should have been his.{{Sfn|Lindow|2001|p=221}}{{Sfn|Orchard|1997|p=92}}}}

As Odin's son to his wife Frigg, Baldr is Odin's oldest legitimate son; he is one of the most important Germanic deities.{{Sfn|Simek|1993|pp=26–27}}{{Sfn|Clunies Ross|1994|p=58}} Snorri relates him as as Odin's second son; his mother is mentioned as Frigg in Gylfaginning and Skáldskaparmál.{{Sfn|Simek|1993|p=26–27}} Snorri describes Baldr as the wisest and kindest of the æsir; his death is among the most famous of the Norse myths.{{Sfn|Orchard|1997|p=12}} In Snorri's account of Baldr's funeral, Odin places his ring Draupnir on Baldr's pyre.{{Sfn|Simek|1993|p=27}}{{Efn|While some scholars have said this is depicted by a bracteate predating Snorri's account by 600 years,{{Sfn|Simek|1993|p=28}} this is a contested description.{{Sfn|Wicker|Williams|2012|pp=157–158}}}} Rudolf Simek attributes this myth's origin to a shamanistic Odin cult.{{Sfn|Simek|1993|p=28}}

Two of Odin's sons have associations with vengeance—Víðarr and Váli.{{Sfn|Lindow|2001|p=314}} Víðarr's mother is given as the giantess Grid by Snorri.{{Sfn|Orchard|1997|p=174}} At Ragnarök, he will avenge his father's death by killing the monstrous wolf Fenrir.{{Sfn|Lindow|2001|p=314}} Avenging the death of Baldr is Váli, called Bous by Saxo Grammaticus;{{Sfn|Simek|1993|p=348}} the eddic poem Hyndluljóð mentions a Váli as Baldr's avenger but has no other description.{{Sfn|Simek|1993|p=348}} Several sources describe Odin fathering Váli to avenge Baldr by conquering the giantess Rindr through sorcery, an act of which only he is capable.{{Sfn|Simek|1993|p=348}} Both are said by the Poetic Edda{{'s}} Vafthrúdnismál to survive Ragnarök.{{Sfn|Lindow|2001|p=313}}

Odin has grandchildren. Snorri attests to Forseti as the son of Baldr and Nanna.{{Sfn|Lindow|2001|p=66}} Thor and his wife Sif have two sons—Móði and Magni—and a daughter, Thrúd.{{Sfn|Lindow|2001|p=287}}{{Efn|While Thrúd does not feature in any Norse sources, "father of Thrúd" is used kenning for Thor in skaldic poems and by Sturluson.{{Sfn|Lindow|2001|p=291}}}}

File:Ask_and_Embla_by_Robert_Engels.jpg, the first humans (Robert Engels, 1919)]]

{{Main|Norse creation myth}}

There are two sources of the creation myth in Norse mythology: Snorri's Gylfaginning and the earlier Old Norse eddic poem Völuspá, from which he drew extensively.{{Sfn|Orchard|1997|p=123}} He quotes it extensively but changes language in some places.{{Sfn|Lindow|2001|p=318}}{{Efn|Scholars have proposed that he simply changed it for reasons we will never know, while others argue it suggests the existence of a third, lost version of Völuspá, one possibly orally transmitted.{{Sfn|Lindow|2001|p=318}}}} In Vafþrúðnismál, Odin quizzes a giant on how heaven and earth were formed; the giant answers that they came from the dismembered body of the primordial giant Ymir, but he does not mention how or by whom.{{Sfn|Clunies Ross|1994|pp=152–153}}{{Efn|Odin asks the giant Vafþrúðnir where the earth and heavens came from; Vafþrúðnir responds, "Out of Ymir's flesh the earth was formed / And out of his bones the mountains, / Heaven from the skull of the frost cold giant / And from his "sweat" (blood) the sea".{{Sfn|Lindow|2001|p=322}} The Grímnismál repeats and expands this account: "Mountains from bones, the trees from hair / And from his skull, heaven / And from his brows the blithe made / Midgard for the sons of men / And from his brain the tough-minded clouds were formed".{{Sfn|Lindow|2001|p=323}}}} The anonymous Old Norse poem Völuspá relates "the sons of Bur" as having raised the earth and shaped Midgard,{{Sfn|Lindow|2001|p=316}} who Snorri identifies as Odin and his brothers Vili and Vé.{{Sfn|Clunies Ross|1994|p=154}} Völuspá does not credit the sons of Bur with the creation from nothing of the sun, moon or stars and instead describes the sons named them and set their courses through the sky.{{Sfn|Clunies Ross|1994|p=154}} Snorri's contemporaries may have interpreted Odin's status as "All-father" as a heathen conception of the Christian God; the subsequent revelation that Odin was not alone before creation—he existed alongside with frost giants—would have complicated this interpretation.{{Sfn|Lassen|2022|p=171–172}} Snorri's description of the Norse cosmogony probably incorporates non-Germanic elements,{{Sfn|Simek|1993|p=53–54}} including the Old Testament.{{Sfn|Lassen|2022|p=171–172}}

Snorri depicts the creation of the first man and woman, Askr and Embla, differently than the earlier Völuspá.{{Sfn|Simek|1993|p=21}} Snorri attributes the act to Odin, Vili and Vé; the trio make mankind from two tree trunks with Odin bestowing breath and life; Vili providing intelligence and movement; and Vé granting them their appearances, sight, speech and hearing.{{Sfn|Simek|1993|p=21}} In Völuspá, the act is ascribed to Odin, Hœnir, and Lóðurr,{{Efn|Aside from this mention in Voluspá, Loðurr is only attested twice elsewhere—in kennings for Odin, "friend of Loðurr";{{Sfn|Hultgård|2007|p=58}} scholars have attempted to connect this name with various other figures, such as as a fertility god of the Vanir and Loki.{{Sfn|Hultgård|2007|p=62}}}} with Odin giving them "breath".{{Sfn|Simek|1993|p=320}}{{Sfn|Larrington|2014|p=6}}

{{Main article|Ragnarök}}

Ragnarök is the final fight of the gods against the forces of chaos.{{Efn|Simek notes that the original Germanic term was 'ragnarok' ("final destiny of the gods"). Snorri reinterrupted this as "ragnarokr" ("twilight of the gods").{{Sfn|Simek|1993|pp=259–260}}}} The procession of events are detailed in Snorri's Gylfaginning and the earlier eddic poem Völuspá.{{Sfn|Simek|1993|p=366}} The death of Odin's son, Baldr, initiates the process,{{Sfn|Simek|1993|p=366}} preceding a terrible winter. Then, the world is then destroyed with fire by Surtr and the Midgard Serpent causes the earth to sink into the ocean. Finally, then sun is swallowed by the monstrous wolf Fenrir.{{Sfn|Simek|1993|p=259}} Odin, who is the god responsible for the world,{{Sfn|Schjødt|2020c|p=1169–1170}} rides to Mimir's well for advice.{{Sfn|Lassen|2022|p=180}} Bearing chain mail, a golden helmet and his spear, Odin leads the einherjar into battle,{{Sfn|Lassen|2022|p=188}} and is killed by the wolf Fenrir. He is avenged by his son Viðarr.{{Sfn|Schjødt|2020c|p=1169–1170}} After the world is burned and renewed, the surviving gods meet and recall Odin's deeds and "ancient runes".{{Sfn|Dronke|2000|p=23}}

Some scholars characterise the events of each as Christian in origin.{{Sfn|Lassen|2022|p=205, 241}}{{Sfn|Simek|1993|p=259}} Lassen notes a possible allegory for the burning of Troy at the end of the Trojan War, with Odin as the king of Troy and Fenrir as Neoptolemus.{{Sfn|Lassen|2022|p=184}}

{{Further information|Mímisbrunnr}}

In Hávamál, Odin's sacrifice—of himself and to himself—is described. He hangs on a tree for nine nights without sustenance and pierced by a spear, finally "having a vision of the runes which he grasps howling".{{Sfn|Price|2019|p=59}} Liberman writes that no information on Hávamál{{'s}} poet or the place of origin survives, but describes it as a probably late addition.{{Sfn|Liberman|2016|pp=73–74|ps=: "[...] we have no information on Hávamál poet was and when he lived. [...] More probably, the tale of Oinn's hanging is late: both the linguistic evidence and the lack of a single mention of such a dramatic event in the life of the greatest god point in this direction. To be sure, it does not follow that the Hávamál poet invented the episode himself."}} According to Lindow, the tree is widely presumed to represent Yggdrasil,{{Sfn|Lindow|2001|p=321}} but Liberman contests this.{{Sfn|Liberman|2016|p=74|ps=: "Óðinn did not hang himself on the World Tree or a gallows. Meiõr can be understood as 'beam' or 'tree'. 'Tree' is more probable. Although not Yggdrasill, it must have been a mystic tree, for no one knew where its roots were (unless this phrase is a mere rhetorical flourish)."}} Lindow notes Ygg as a name for Odin (transl. "The Terrifying"{{Sfn|Lassen|2022|p=115}}; or "Terrible One"{{Sfn|Price|2019|p=65}}); with drasil meaning steed, and thus Odin "riding" the gallows.{{Sfn|Lindow|2001|pp=319, 321}} Other scholars associate the tree with Mímir; it is called Mimameiðr (transl. "Mimi's tree") in Svipdagsmál, with the spelling difference unexplained.{{Sfn|Price|2019|p=60}}

Scholars have interpreted this stanza in various ways. Gabriel Turville-Petre says the sacrifice can be explained in pagan terms: Odin is a god of the dead, especially of the hanged; his preferred weapon is a spear; and he is an attested recipient of human sacrifice.{{Sfn|Turville-Petre|1964|pp=43–45}}{{Efn|Turville-Petre notes several legendary figures sacrificed to Odin, primarily the elite of society; this contrasts with later accounts of criminals being thrown over cliffs.{{Sfn|Turville-Petre|1964|p=47–48}} There is little surviving information on law's intersection with religion in the society, so it is challenging to distinguish between human sacrifice and a death penalty.{{Sfn|Simek|1993|p=165}}}} Turville-Petre notes several stories where legendary figures are sacrificed to Odin, primarily the societal elite.{{Sfn|Turville-Petre|1964|p=47–48}} Odin's act may share traits with the sacrifice of Víkar,{{Sfn|Turville-Petre|1964|pp=43–45}} depicted in Gautreks saga and a retelling by Saxo.{{Sfn|Simek|1993|p=361}}

Another interpretations include the self-sacrifice as akin to shamanic trance,{{Sfn|Price|2019|p=45}} or the initiation ceremony of a cult leader,{{Sfn|Sundqvist|2009|pp=138–140}} with Odin as an initiate.{{Sfn|Liberman|2016|p=72|ps=: "The other approach, as noted, ties the initiation of Oinn to shamanism. Although in some works it is not said explicitly which initiation is meant, today hardly anyone seems to doubt that the scene preserved in Hávamál depicts Oỗ inn as initiate. This statement has been repeated so often that it has become dogma. The majority of researchers assume that Óðinn was a shaman. Above, I questioned this interpretation."}} Some scholars identify Christian influence; for example, as a pagan reflection of Jesus' crucifixion,{{Sfn|Turville-Petre|1964|p=42}} or a distortion or misunderstanding of the tale by a Christian poet.{{Sfn|Lassen|2022|p=215}} Lassen suggests that sacrifice of a god to himself resembles God the Son sacrificing himself to God the Father.{{Sfn|Lassen|2022|p=217}}

Odin is associated with knowledge by several mythological poems.{{Sfn|Schjødt|2020c|p=1140}} There is some evidence that providing counsel was one of his primary functions in the Middle Ages.{{Sfn|Lassen|2022|p=218}} Other associations include his wisdom contest with the wisest of the giants.{{Sfn|Schjødt|2020c|p=1140}} Neil Price writes that he is not personally omniscient, instead participating in dangerous rituals to acquire knowledge.{{Sfn|Price|2019|p=58}} In Snorri's Gylfaginning, Odin sacrifices an eye to drink from Mímisbrunnr ({{Translation|Mimir's well}}). Simek lists other mythical stories cofirming Odin's knowledge including the wisdom contest in Vafþrúðnismál; his reveal of mythical knowledge in Grímnismál; and a riddling contest in the Hervarar saga.{{Sfn|Simek|1993|p=240}} Several mythological elements loosely associated with memory are tied to Odin, like Mimir, Mimir's well, and Odin's ravens.{{Sfn|Hermann|2020a|p=57}}

Odin seeks knowledge from seers or the dead in several stories.{{Sfn|Schjødt|2020c|p=1140}} He seeks a complete understanding of the world as a means of control.{{Sfn|Price|2019|p=55}} Odin's sacrifice of himself to himself is the source of much of his knowledge,{{Sfn|Lindow|2001|p=41}} but it not clear what particular knowledge he sought to gain.{{Sfn|Turville-Petre|1964|p=45}} Price highlights that his other knowledge-seeking exploits often have clear goals—for example, investigating Ragnarök and the fate of Baldr—but it is unclear what he seeks to learn from dead humans.{{Sfn|Price|2019|p=58}} Odin also exchanges his eye for a drink from Mimir's well (lit. "mímisbrunnr") to acquire wisdom, with the story's details differing in the tellings of Ynglinga saga and Gylfaginning.{{Sfn|Price|2019|pp=60–61}}

File:Sacrificial_scene_on_Hammars_-_Valknut.png|144x144px]]

Odin is identified as the god of battle, war and death.{{Sfn|Davidson|1990|p=48}} One of his central functions was to grant victory to kings.{{Sfn|Schjødt|2020c|p=1169}} In Völuspá, Odin initiates the first war by using his spear as a weapon;{{Sfn|Davidson|1972|p=4}}{{Sfn|Simek|1993|p=240}} in Ynglinga saga and elsewhere, the start of battle is marked by throwing a spear into the enemy army as a dedication to him.{{Sfn|Simek|1993|p=242}} The first war—the Æsir–Vanir War—is attested by the eddic Völuspá and, according to Lindow, the "somewhat varying descriptions" provided by Snorri's Ynglinga saga and Edda.{{Sfn|Lindow|2001|p=49}} He characterises it primarily as a story of reconciliation rather than warfare.{{Sfn|Lindow|2001|p=53}} As part of this war, Odin receives the decapitated head of Mímir, who provides him with knowledge about "hidden things".{{Sfn|Lindow|2001|p=52}} The æsir's victory results in the merging of the two tribes of gods,{{Sfn|Lindow|2001|p=49}} and bans brother–sister incest among the vanir.{{Sfn|Lindow|2001|p=52}} Scholars have frequently discussed this myth as an analogy for historical or cultural changes.{{Sfnm|1a1=Clunies Ross|1y=1994|1pp=211–212|2a1=Lindow|2y=2001|2p=53}} Rudolf Simek writes that a symbol, called Hrungir's heart by Snorri and known today as the valknut, "consisting of three interwoven triangles"—is exclusively depicted on pictorial stones with Odin and carved into death gifts, and may have related to his deathly function;{{Sfn|Simek|1993|p=163}} Hilda Ellis Davidson connects it to his ability to suppress foes or empower allies in battle.{{Sfn|Davidson|1990|p=147}}

In Snorri's telling of Ynglinga saga, Odin claims all who die from a weapon.{{Sfn|Davidson|1972|p=6}} The Odin of that saga is a successful conqueror: he can blind, deafen and intimidate battle opponents. Although his warriors are not explicitly called berserkir, their combat style is called beserkgangr.{{Sfn|Lassen|2007|p=280}} After death, fallen warriors go to Odin in Valhalla, where they join his personal host, the einherjar;{{Sfn|Simek|1993|p=242}} the 10th-century skaldic poems Eiríksmál and Hákonarmál depict Odin as the ruler of Valhalla and god of the dead.{{Sfn|Simek|1993|p=243}} Lassen describes a 20th-century emphasis on Odin's role as the god of death, suggesting an influence from "two world wars and the international political climate";{{Sfn|Lassen|2022|p=34}} she connects his depiction as a god of war to "the notion that the culture of the Vikings was a martial one".{{Sfn|Lassen|2022|p=24}}

He is sometimes interpreted as lord of the Valkyries,{{Sfn|Lassen|2022|p=32}} who serve beer for Odin and the einherjar,{{Sfn|Lassen|2022|p=222, 224}} and—in Gylfaginning—decide the victors and victims of war.{{Sfn|Clunies Ross|1994|p=254}} He gives them instructions in the skaldic poem Hákonarmál and sends them into battle in Snorri's Edda.{{Sfn|Lassen|2022|p=112, 179}} Olof Sundqvist argues that fallen kings and warriors' joining with Odin in Valhalla may have functioned as a kind of deification for kings, connecting them to the mythical world.{{Sfn|Sundqvist|2016|pp=534–535}} Price notes Odin's collection of dead warriors as a kind of compliment because "it is always at his hands that his most favoured champions are finally killed".{{Sfn|Price|2019|p=59}}

Odin is of few men in Norse mythology to practice seiðr, a kind of sorcery.{{Sfn|DuBois|1999|p=136–137}}{{Efn|Snorri writes that male practicioners did not practice seiðr for fear of being dishonourable, so it was only taught to priestesses.{{Sfn|Orchard|1997|p=137}} Neil Price argues that the "sexual codes of seiðr" make sense "in the context of shamanic anthropology".{{Sfn|Price|2019|pp=56–67}} Lindow writes, and Schjødt finds it "very likely", that Snorri's characterisation of Odin in Ynglinga saga presents him as a Sámi shaman.{{Sfn|Schjødt|2020k|p=531}}}} Neil Price describes him as the æsir's supreme master of sorcery.{{Sfn|Price|2019|p=55}} Baldrs draumar titles him "father of the magic chant".{{Sfn|Simek|1993|p=242}} Scholars have frequently explored Odin as a shaman figure. Several authors characterise an element in Grímnismál—Odin sits between two fires for nine nights, listing of magic and mythic knowledge—as shamanic. This has been contested by others, including Price and Georges Dumézil.{{Sfn|Price|2019|p=59}}

Snorri ascribes various powers and abilities to him.{{Sfn|DuBois|1999|pp=136–137}}{{Sfn|Price|2019|p=55}} His descriptions of Odin's magic are contested by some scholars. Clunies Ross describes them as a "rationalisation of established social and religious custom",{{Sfn|Clunies Ross|1994|p=209}} while Price argues that we cannot know whether the depiction represents "any kind of Viking-Age reality".{{Sfn|Price|2019|p=56}} Price situates Odin's practice of seiðr within a wider catalogue of Norse mythological magic.{{Efn|Price describes two groups of magic outlined by Snorri, with the collective name fjǫlkyngi: galdrar and runic sorcery (e.g., shapeshifting; transportation magic, including astral projection in animal form; control over fire, water and wind; conversing with the dead or hanged) and seiðr (e.g., divining the future; killing; inducing sickness; inflicting misfortune; altering people's wits or strength; revealing hidden things). These classifications are contradicted by other old Norse sources, including other works by Snorri.{{Sfn|Price|2019|p=56}} According to Judy Quinn, several of these were specifically outlawed by Christian prohibitions.{{Sfn|Quinn|2020d|p=519}}}} This magic is connected to his knowledge of runes and acquisition of the mead of poetry.{{Sfn|Simek|1993|p=242}}

Odin is a god of poetry and poets.{{Sfn|Simek|1993|p=243}}{{Efn|Snorri also mentions Bragi as the god of poetry, describing him as the "best of poets" in Grímnismál (alongside Odin as "best of the æsir").{{Sfn|Lindow|2001|pp=86–87}}}} The source of this information are Snorri and, perhaps unsurprisingly, poets.{{Sfn|Simek|1993|p=243}}{{Sfn|Turville-Petre|1964|p=35}} At least one text, he is described as speaking only in verse.{{Sfn|Lassen|2022|p=212}} An Odin myth is given for the origin of poetry in the eddic Hávamál and Snorri's Skáldskaparmál. Another version was probably lost.{{Sfn|Hermann|2020a|pp=57, 60}}{{Sfn|Lassen|2022|pp=175–176}} In Snorri's telling, the æsir and vanir mix their spit after the end of their war, creating the wise Kvasir. Kvasir travels the world until he is killed by two dwarves. With his blood, the dwarves create the mead of poetry, which makes any who drink it wise and poetic; it is later acquired by the giants. Under a false name ("Bölverk", {{Translation|evil deed}}), Odin ventures to the giants' land and steals it for the æsir and humanity, fleeing in the shape of an eagle.{{Sfn|Lindow|2001|p=224–225}}{{Efn|Several scholars discuss this story's depiction of alcohol. Some stanzas warn against excessive drinking;{{Sfn|Lindow|2001|p=226}} Snorri's version of this myth, which is the most detailed,{{Sfn|Turville-Petre|1964|p=35}} also provides an origin for bad poetry: "When the gods saw Óöinn approaching they placed jars by the wall of Ásgar. Oöinn regurgitated the mead into these jars but, since Suttung was close on his tail, some of it spilt outside the wall. Anyone can drink this, and it is called 'the fool-poet's portion".{{Sfn|Turville-Petre|1964|p=36}}}}

Odin is widely described as a sovereign of the æsir, serving as their leader. Snorri describes him as "highest" and "oldest", "[ruling] over everything".{{Sfn|Simek|1993|p=240}} While some literary sources provide him the of title Alfoðr ({{Translation|Father of All}}), pagans likely did not see him as having such a "dominaint position" and this title may reflect Christian influence.{{Sfn|Simek|1993|p=241}} Snorri provides Odin's high seat as Hlidskjalf and locates it within the hall of Valaskjálf.{{Efn|Snorri writes: "There also is a great place called Valaskjalf. This place is Òðinn's. The gods built it and roofed it with pure silver, and it is there that in this hall that Hliðskálf is, the high-seat of that name. And when All-father sits on that seat he can see over all worlds".{{Sfn|Sundqvist|2016|p=239}}}} Some scholars contest the throne characterisation and characterise it as a watchtower.{{Sfn|Sundqvist|2016|p=240}}{{Efn|It is given as the seat of Freyr by an eddic source regarded by some scholars to be very old.{{Sfn|Sundqvist|2016|p=238}} Snorri tells that Freyr was punished for sitting there because it belonged solely to Odin in Gylfaginning.{{Sfn|Sundqvist|2016|p=239}}}} Snorri describes that sitting on Hlidskjalf makes Odin an omniscient and prescient god,{{Sfn|Sundqvist|2016|p=239}}{{Sfn|Lassen|2022|p=196}} which Lassen describes as paralleling Greek and Biblical mythology.{{Sfn|Lassen|2022|p=23}}

Odin is often presented as an ancestral figure for royalty.{{Sfn|Simek|1993|p=241}} The 10th-century skald Eyvindr Finnson and scholar Svante Nordin presented Odin as the ancestor of 10th-century Norwegian king Haakon the Good and the Swedish dynasty of Yngling.{{Sfn|Sundqvist|2016|pp=71–72, 80–81}} The Byzantine writer Jordanes provided the ancestor of the Amal dynasty in the 6th century using a name associated with Odin in the Grímnismál.{{Sfn|Schjødt|2020c|p=1130}} In the 8th century, Anglo-Saxon monk Bede inserted Odin's name ("Uoden") into his history of England a royal ancestor.{{Sfn|North|1997|p=80}}{{Sfn|Lassen|2022|p=40}} The Anglo-Saxon Chronicles name Woden as ancestor of the kings of Lindsey, Mercia, Deira and Bernicia.{{Sfn|Davis|1992|pp=23–36}} Some expand to Woden's ancestry, giving his father as Frealaf beginning in the 8th century, "the founder of all Anglian and Anglian-dominated tribes".{{Sfn|North|1997|pp=111–112}}{{Sfn|Davis|1992|pp=29–30}}

Paul the Deacon's 8th-century work History of the Lombards suggests that Woden, alongside "Frea", were majors god of the Lombards, a Germanic group from the Italian peninsula.{{Sfn|Dunn|2013|p=11}} Dunn describes the evidence for this as Paul's story of "Godan" giving the Lombards' their name. Paul suggests an association with victory and battle at this time, through the Lombards' forebearer, the Winnili.{{Sfn|Dunn|2013|p=11}} The 9th-century Old Saxon Baptismal Vow required a renouncement of Uoden.{{Sfn|Simek|1993|p=276}} Lassen highlights that the 10th-century ealdorman Æthelweard, in his Chronicon, mentions pagan sacrifice to "Vuoddan" (rex barbarorum, king of the Barbarians), for courage and victory.{{Sfn|Lassen|2022|p=40}} Snorri

Odin's representation across a diverse set of textual traditions has led to a variety of interpretative modes by scholars, creating a reputation for him as a peculiarly complex deity.{{Sfn|Lassen|2022|p=248}} Odin's complexity is a recurring feature of research.{{Sfn|Lassen|2022|pp=39–40}} Very little about him has gone undiscussed, and most hypotheses have been contested in some way by someone.{{Sfn|Lassen|2022|p=1}} The most important of the æsir and the most ambiguous,{{Sfn|Orchard|1997|p=122}} he is the subject of numerous studies,{{Sfn|Liberman|2016|p=23}} and has likely drawn more interest from scholars than any other Norse god.{{Sfn|Price|2019|p=55}}

The work of philologist Jan de Vries (1890—1964) has been among of the most widely consulted for over fifty years.{{Sfn|Schjødt|Lindow|Andrén|2020b|p=xxix}} His etymological dictionary is still considered the standard.{{Sfn|Schjødt|Lindow|Andrén|2020b|p=xxiv}} The descriptive parts of his analysis—such as his etymological dictionary{{Sfn|Lindow|2001|p=330}}—remain relevant but his interpretations are debated.{{Sfn|Schjødt|Lindow|Andrén|2020b|p=xxv}} De Vries was a strong proponent for Odin's association with the god Óðr,{{Sfn|Lindow|2001|p=247}} and argued that Óðr (*wōðaz) was the elder form and the ultimate source of the name Óðinn (*wōða-naz).{{Sfn|de Vries|1970b|p=104}} He emphasised Odin' role as god of the dead,{{Sfn|Lassen|2022|p=34}} and provided a famous interpretation of the myth of Baldr wherein Odin serves as a god of war initiating Baldr into the Odinic cult.{{Sfn|Lassen|2022|p=34}}{{Sfn|Lindow|2020j|p=113}} Some scholars of the Pre-Christian Religions of the North scholars cite de Vries' limited use of archaeological evidence as a weakness, especially in the later 1956–1957 edition of Altgermanische Religionsgeschichte.{{Sfn|Schjødt|Lindow|Andrén|2020b|p=xxiv}}

According to Annette Lassen, 20th-century scholarship diversified into a wide range of interpretative modes, including archaeology, philology, folklorists and literary theorists.{{Sfn|Lassen|2022|p=28}} She describes three important mythological scholars

Georges Dumézil (1898—1986) made significant contributions to the reconstruction of Norse mythology,{{Sfn|Schjødt|2020f|p=231}} and produced two important books on the subject.{{Sfn|Lindow|2001|p=338}} He proposed a background for Odin rooted in Indo-European religion and classified deities according to three functions: sovereignty, might or force, and fertility. Subdividing sovereignty into awe-inspiring leadership or contractual, he argued Odin as representing the awesome and Týr the contractual.{{Sfn|Lindow|2001|p=32}}{{Efn|Simek writes that Odin is "related to the Indian god Varuna, who has sorcery, the gift of shape-changing and the directing of the fortunes of battle in common with the Germanic god. Both are the gods of rulers and poets, both receive human sacrifice".{{Sfn|Simek|1993|p=245}} Lassen writes that Dumézil "argued that Odin was a first-function god originally in proto-Germanic times, but in the Germanic area he had also adopted the role of the warrior, which constitutes the second function in Dumézil’s tripartite scheme".{{Sfn|Lassen|2022|p=37}} }} According to Schjødt, many scholars of the Pre-Christian Religions of the North project have "severely criticized" Dumézil's theories.{{Sfn|Schjødt|2020t|p=27}} For example, Lindow disparages Dumézil's categorisation for equating deities from different cultures with no shared etymology.{{Sfn|Lindow|2001|p=32}} Other 20th-century critics who explore Odin's Indo-European background include a detailed account by Franz Rolf Schröder in 1965; Wolfgang Schultz who argued for a ritual perspective in 1929; and Samuel Singer, who proposed Arabic influence in 1931.{{Sfn|Lindow|2001|p=295}}

Since at least the 1930s, several 20th-century scholars have connected Odin to the largest mystery religion of Rome, Mithraism.{{Sfn|Kaliff|Sundqvist|2007|p=212}}{{Sfn|Philippson|1938|p=323}} Archaeologists Anders Kaliff and Olof Sundqvist suggest that both cults influenced the religious practices of the other.{{Sfn|Kaliff|Sundqvist|2007|p=212}} Folklorist Hilda Ellis Davidson highlights that the Romans compared both Mithras and Odin to Mercury and that the two shared symbolism through ravens and wolves.{{Sfn|Davidson|1978|p=99–104}} Likewise, Odin and Mithras were associated with rulers, military power, and death.{{Sfn|Kaliff|Sundqvist|2007|pp=214–215}}

Danish scholar Annette Lassen has produced several celebrated studies of Odin primarily using literary sources.{{Sfn|Schjødt|2020c|pp=1181–1182}}{{Sfn|Price|2019|p=55}} Other recent summaries of Odin scholarship __

The linguist Anatoly Liberman argues that Indo-European is "the trickiest term" in explorations of Odin,{{Sfn|Liberman|2016|p=30}} and suggests that primitive Indo-European gods may not have formed a conventional pantheon and were not anthropomorphised.{{Efn|In his response to Dumézil's theory, Liberman writes: "The question is whether 8000 years ago the Proto-Indo-Europeans had anything like a pantheon characterized by 'three functions' [...] As far as we can judge, the most primitive 'gods' were neither anthropomorphised nor individualised. They lived in people's fantasies as a multitude of invisible spirits, and their main 'function' was to send diseases and catastrophes".{{Sfn|Liberman|2016|p=31}}}} Liberman conceives of "Wodan's distant predecessor" as having no human shape and being not an "individual divinity, but rather a host of wild hunters".{{Sfn|Liberman|2016|p=32}}

{{Further information|Norse mythology in popular culture}}

Odin has an extraordinary cultural footprint. Many things have been inspired by or appropriated his name, from the city Odense in Denmark,{{Sfn|Lassen|2022|p=166}} and the archaeon Odinarchaeia,{{Sfn|Crocker|Geeraert|2022|p=1}} to the Finnish white-supremacist group Soldiers of Odin.{{Sfn|Faiola|2016}}

J. R. R. Tolkien drew from Norse mythology in building his legendarium.{{Sfn|Lee|2022|p=257}} The wizard Gandalf shares characteristics with Odin, including his appearance and use of magic;{{Sfn|Brunsdale|1983|p=49}}{{Sfn|Johnson|2022|pp=94}} Tolkien once described Gandalf as an "Odinic wanderer".{{Sfn|Lee|2022|p=256}} His horse has been compared to Odin's steed, Sleipnir,{{Sfn|Kilby|1967|p=49–50}} and the One Ring shares attributes with Odin's ring Draupnir.{{Sfn|Lee|2022|p=256}} British writer Neil Gaiman's American Gods (2001) features a modernised incarnation of Odin, portrayed by Ian McShane in the television adaptation.{{Sfn|Johnson|2022|pp=88–90}}{{Sfn|Chilton|2024}}

In the 1960s, Stan Lee and Jack Kirby incorporated Norse mythology into the Marvel Comics brand with the superhero Thor. Odin was introduced alongside other mythic characters like Heimdall and Hel. Odin is the wife of Frigg, father of Thor and, in a divergence from the mythology, the adoptive father of Loki.{{Sfn|Syam|Prakash|Pai|2019|p=163}} This family structure was adapted into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, with Odin portrayed by Anthony Hopkins across 3 Thor films: Thor (2011), Thor: The Dark World (2013) and Thor: Ragnarok (2017).{{Efn|Hopkins said of the role: "If you're sitting in front of a green screen, it's pointing acting it. They put me in armour; they shoved a beard on me. Sit on the throne, shout a bit."{{Sfn|BBC|2023}}}} Marvel's cinematic Odin diverges greatly from the version of Norse myth, scolding Thor for provoking war and eschewing his associations with magic and poetry.{{Sfn|Rogers|2021}}

{{notelist}}

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