In the Norse Edda, Odin occurs on every level of life. On the highest plane of cosmic ideation it is the essence of creative universal consciousness, the Allfather. Each has elected to die as a personal, limited egoity and gained a transcendency of consciousness into the realm of the gods or, to put it another way, has overcome the lesser, human propensities and united with the cosmic purpose of life. They are therefore our protectors and tutors. Each barrier to the Hall of the Elect is symbolic of some human weakness that must be conquered.
Many scriptures use the same allegory.
All nature is said to rejoice when an aspirant gains his goal. This cryptic remark seems to suggest that, by giving Odin a bird's-eye view of the world's collective karma, they play a critical role. All weapons of offense and of defense must be relinquished and transformed into the constructive materials that form the sacred fane. The walls are built of the warriors' spears, the roof is of their shields. If these myths had originated among the warlike Vikings who, by one of their codes, were required to sleep on their shields with sword in hand, this would seem a good deal out of character.