Odin

Odin Costume Design by Carl Emil Doepler

Etymology
The name “Odin,” rendered in the Old Norse as *Óðinn*, derived from two words: *óðr*, meaning “fury, rage, passion, ecstasy, or inspiration,” and the masculine definite article suffix *-inn*. The name has been translated to mean “the Fury." The German chronicler Adam of Hamburg proposed this as a literal translation in his eleventh-century work, the *History of the Archbishops of Hamburg-Bremen*.1 Other translations included “the furious,” “the passionate,” “the inspired,” and, more appropriately, “the inspiring.” Odin was thought to inspire fury, passion, and ecstasy even as he was defined by such traits.
The name fit Odin's character nicely, as a kind of inspired fury and passion permeated his many thoughts and actions. In all his personae—as warrior and king, shaman and seer, traveler and trickster—Odin channeled a focused intensity and single-mindedness of purpose. Such focus was a boon; knowledge, magic, and war—among other domains over which Odin held sway—all necessitated such intensity.
Odin was recognized and commonly referred to in other Germanic languages: he was known as *Wōden* in Old English, *Wōdan* in Old Saxon, and as *Wuotan* and *Wotan* in Old German. The god’s name also lent itself to the word “Wednesday,” meaning “*Wōden’s* day.”

Attributes
Odin’s chief attributes were his wit, wile, and wisdom. Having cultivated the magical arts of *seidr*, the set of rituals enabling foresight, Odin could see the future and commune with spirits and the dead. He was also a shapeshifter who could take the form of snakes, eagles, and other powerful creatures. Additionally, Odin spoke in poetic verse and had the power to bewitch humans into committing deeds outside their characters.
Odin was often depicted with a staff or spear, but otherwise wielded no specific weapons. On multiple occasions, he consulted with the decapitated and embalmed head of Mimir which revealed many secrets to him.
As the “all-father” and chief god of the diverse Norse pantheon, Odin figured prominently in all of the central mythological traditions—from the creation of the first humans and the Aesir-Vanir War that united the gods into a single pantheon, to the prophecies of Ragnarök marking the end of time.

Origins
Despite his importance in the mythic traditions of the Norse, the details of Odin’s origins were not well understood. He appeared in early Roman sources, such as Tacitus’ *Germania* of the first century CE, as Mercury—another deity known as a traveler, trickster, and transgressor of boundaries. Tacitus claimed that by the first century, Odin had been established as the central god among a variety of Germanic groups.
Only Sturluson’s thirteenth century *Ynglinga saga* attempted an early history, describing Odin as the king of Asgard, a ruler of great strength who blessed warriors and accepted many sacrifices. Most viewed this as a late attempt to impose order on the character of Odin, who seemed to emerge fully formed in the older mythic sources.
Some of the same ambiguities surrounded the Norse origin of humankind. Traditionally, the first humans were Ask and Embla, a male and female. Little was said about their actual creation, however, with different traditions holding that they were either formed by gods or dwarves. When a trio of gods—including Odin, Lodur, and Hoenir—found Ask and Embla, they were lifeless husks. Pitying the creatures, the three gods decided to endow Ask and Embla with the gifts of life and sense, each choosing a separate gift to bestow upon them. According to the *Völuspá*, the best known of the poems making up the *Poetic Edda*, Lodur granted the gift of blood, Hoenir gave sense, and Odin, befitting his status as god of passion and inspiration, offered soul and enlivening spirit.

From the Aesir-Vanir to Ragnarök: Odin in the *Völuspá*
Odin’s part in the Aesir-Vanir War and the ensuing settlement which unified the gods placed him at the center of another kind of creation story. A cataclysmic conflict believed by the Norse to be the first war in history, the Aesir-Vanir War marked a seminal moment in Norse thought, as the Trojan War did for the Greeks.
The Aesir and Vanir constituted two separate tribes of deities. Led by Odin, the Aesir of Asgard were a tribe of fearsome warriors whose members included Frigg, Thor, Baldur, and Vidarr. By contrast, the Vanir hailed from Vanaheimr (a separate region and one of the Nine Worlds in Norse thought) and were made up of fertility deities and magicians who cultivated *seidr*, such as Freya and Gullveig the thrice-born. The tribes represented the two halves of an archetypal dichotomy—the Aesir serving as masculine warriors, and the Vanir fulfilling a feminine role as magicians.
Some historians have proposed that the mythic Aesir-Vanir War reflected the actual historical conquest of Northern Europe. Beginning in the second and third centuries CE, the local fertility cults were displaced by the advances of the more warlike Germanic tribes.4 In this context, Odin’s popularity and importance became easier to understand. As both a warrior and a magician, Odin was a deity that uniquely straddled the divide between the two cultures. He was a conciliatory figure that may have helped to bridge the gap between the displaced and their displacers.

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