Odin

Odin (Old Norse: Óðinn) is considered the chief god in Norse mythology and Norse paganism. Like the Anglo-Saxon Woden, his name (and attributes) are thought to have descended from the Proto-Germanic *Wōđinaz or *Wōđanaz. His name is related to óðr, meaning "excitation," "fury" or "poetry," and his role, like many of the Norse pantheon, is complex: he is god of wisdom, death, and victory in battle. He is also attested as being a god of magic, poetry, prophecy, and the hunt. However, unlike many father/ruler gods, Odin is not described as a moral exemplar and he is often seen winning battles and out-maneuvering opponents using guile, trickery and outright deception. Further, as he is the lord over warriors who have fallen in combat, he is occasionally depicted inciting his human constituents into battle - once again, often using duplicitous means.

Though not as popular as Thor (at least among the common people), Odin was still the recipient of some veneration, especially from members of the upper classes. He was also one of the three deities found in the major "pagan" temple at Uppsala, Sweden, where animals were slaughtered and men were hung to death as consecrated sacrifices to the "Gallows God" (one of Odin's many sobriquets).

An 1886 depiction of Odin by Georg von Rosen.

Odin in a Norse Context

As mentioned above, Odin is a Norse deity, a designation that signifies his membership in a complex of religious, mythological and cosmological beliefs shared by the Scandinavian and Germanic peoples. This mythological tradition, of which the Scandinavian (and particularly Icelandic) sub-groups are best preserved, developed in the period from the first manifestations of religious and material culture in approximately 1000 B.C.E. until the Christianization of the area, a process that occurred primarily from 900-1200 C.E. The tales recorded within this mythological corpus tend to exemplify a unified cultural focus on physical prowess and military might.

Within this framework, Norse cosmology postulates three separate "clans" of deities: the Aesir, the Vanir, and the Jotun. The distinction between Aesir and Vanir is relative, for the two are said to have made peace, exchanged hostages, intermarried and reigned together after a prolonged war, which the Aesir had finally won. In fact, the most major divergence between the two groups is in their respective areas of influence, with the Aesir representing war and conquest, and the Vanir representing exploration, fertility and wealth. The Jotun, on the other hand, are seen as a generally malefic (though wise) race of giants who represented the primary adversaries of the Aesir and Vanir.

Odin is generally recognized (at least in the received sources) as the leader (or even the father) of the Aesir.

Characteristics

According to the Prose Edda of Snorri Sturluson, Odin is the first and most powerful of the Aesir. Despite this high status, he is an ambivalent deity, who is much more likely to arouse awe and fear than love, respect or veneration. His name, in the Old Norse language, connotes rage or frenzy, which was taken to refer to either “poetry and inspiration" or to "fury and madness" (leading many to assume that his name refers to the battle-rage of the famed Norse berserkers).

Odin is a God of wisdom (both worldly and arcane), visually symbolized by his one-eyed visage, as a popular myth describes him sacrificing his eye for a drink from Mimir’s fountain (which gave him knowledge of the end times (Ragnarok)). An oft-told story depicts his craftiness in stealing the "mead of poetry" from the giants, saving most of the skill for himself, but also making it available to fortunate human poets.

Odin is constantly attended on by his two ravens (Huginn and Muninn (literally, “thought” and “memory”)), whose constantly survey the mortal and divine realms and report their findings back to their master. He is also credited with the ability to use his magical runes to animate the dead (especially the hanged) in order to discover their secrets. Finally, and perhaps most significantly, Odin is described hanging himself from the world tree, being pierced by his own spear and literally dying in order to receive knowledge of runic magic:

I know that I hung

on the windswept tree

for nine full nights,

wounded with a spear

and given to Odin,

myself to myself; …

I peered downward,

I grasped the runes,

screeching I grasped them;

I fell back from there

…

I learned nine mighty songs.

This particular episode creates a reasonable parallel between the deity and the shamanistic practice of ritual death in service of magical initiation.

An 1893 depiction of Odin taking the dead Sinfjötli to Valhalla by Fredrik Sander.

Though not directly related to physical bravery or the art of combat (as were Thor and, to a lesser extent, Tyr), Odin was also understood in the context of war - specifically as a bringer of victory. By launching his dwarven-crafted javelin Gungnir over the enemy ranks, he was able to instill panic, blindness and numbness in the opposing troops, while simultaneously bolstering the courage and resolve of any army he favored. However, he was also associated with the dead of war - specifically, those who died honorably in combat. From their ranks, Odin (and his warrior-messengers, the valkyries (literally, "dead choosers")) recruited his troops of einherjar, who lived at his side in Valhalla and would fight alongside the Aesir in the war of the apocalypse (Ragnarök). Commenting on this martial role for the "father god", Dumézil notes that "in the ideology and in the practices of the Germanic peoples, war invaded all, colored everything."

Depiction

Odin is said to travel the world as an old man with a staff: one-eyed, grey-bearded, and wearing a wide-brimmed hat, with a blue traveling coat. However, he is also described as a shapechanger who is able to alter his skin and form at will.

Names

The Norsemen ascribed many sobriquets to Odin, in keeping with the Norse skaldic tradition of kennings, a poetic method of indirect reference. See List of names of Odin. The name Alföðr ("Allfather", "father of all") appears in Snorri Sturluson's Younger Edda. (It probably originally denoted Tiwaz, as it fits the pattern of referring to Sky Fathers as "father".)

Historical Origins

7th century depiction of Odin on a Vendel helmet plate, found in Uppland.

File:Tangelgarda Odin.jpg

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 most compelling evidence of this historical connection is found in the accounts of Tacitus and Caesar, who describe the Germanic pagans participating in a cult of "Mercury" dedicated to a figure matching Odin in both attributes and areas of patronage.

Thus, it is theorized that Scandinavian Óðinn emerged from Proto-Norse *Wōdin during the Migration period (especially 100 B.C.E. - 600 C.E.). This conjecture is bolstered by the archaeological record, as Vendel artwork (bracteates, image stones) depict scenes that can be aligned with the High Medieval Norse mythological texts. Further, the context of the new elites emerging in this period aligns with Snorri's (euhemeristic) tale of the indigenous Vanir who were eventually replaced by the Aesir, understood as intruders from the Continent.[1]

Additionally, 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. 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. However, 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.

Major Mythic Tales

A depiction of Odin riding Sleipnir from an 18th century Icelandic manuscript.

According to the Prose Edda, Odin, the first and most powerful of the Aesir, was a son of a giant (Bor) and a giantess (Bestla), who, along with his brothers Ve and Vili, cast down the terrible frost giant Ymir. From his corpse, the three created the cosmos, transmuting his various body parts into sky, seas, and land:

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 Nordi, Sudri, Austri, and Westri (North, South, East, and West). And from Ymir's brains, they shaped the clouds and Ymir's eyebrows became Midgard, the place where men now dwell.

In this account, Odin and his brothers are also attributed with creating mankind. 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 families of mankind are descended. Many kings and royal houses claim to trace their lineage back to Odin through Ask and Embla.

File:Manuscript Odinn.jpg

Odin with his ravens and weapons (MS SÁM 66, 18th century)

Odin had several wives with whom he fathered many children. With his first wife, Frigg, he had two sons: Balder, who stood for happiness, goodness, wisdom and beauty and the blind god Hod, who was representative of darkness (and presented a perfect contrast to Balder's light). By the Earth Goddess Jord, Odin sired his most famous son, Thor the Thunderer. In addition to these offspring, he is also described as the father of lesser deities (including Vidar and Vali) and of many royal lineages among humans.

Odin ventured to Mimir'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.

Mimir 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 Mimir to gain wisdom.

Odin was said to have learned the mysteries of seid from the Vanic goddess and völva Freyja, despite the un-warrior-like 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 the 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 eighteen 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 mystic 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.

Bibliography

• DuBois, Thomas A. Nordic Religions in the Viking Age. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1999. ISBN 0-8122-1714-4.
• Dumézil, Georges. Gods of the Ancient Northmen. Edited by Einar Haugen; Introduction by C. Scott Littleton and Udo Strutynski. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1973. ISBN 0-520-02044-8.
• Lindow, John. Handbook of Norse mythology. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2001. ISBN 1-57607-217-7.
• Munch, P. A. Norse Mythology: Legends of Gods and Heroes. In the revision of Magnus Olsen; translated from the Norwegian by Sigurd Bernhard Hustvedt. New York: The American-Scandinavian foundation; London: H. Milford, Oxford University Press, 1926.
• Orchard, Andy. Cassell's Dictionary of Norse Myth and Legend. London: Cassell; New York: Distributed in the United States by Sterling Pub. Co., 2002. ISBN 0-304-36385-5.
• Sturlson, Snorri. The Prose Edda of Snorri Sturluson: Tales from Norse Mythology. Introduced by Sigurdur Nordal; Selected and translated by Jean I. Young. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1954. ISBN 0-520-01231-3.
• Snorri Sturluson. The Prose Edda. Translated from the Icelandic and with an introduction by Arthur Gilchrist Brodeur. New York: American-Scandinavian foundation, 1916.
• Turville-Petre, Gabriel. Myth and Religion of the North: The Religion of Ancient Scandinavia. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1964.

External links

• Byronic Hero: The Official Odin Allfather Fanlisting
• Viktor Rydberg's "Teutonic Mythology: Gods and Goddesses of the Northland" e-book
• W. Wagner's "Asgard and the Home of the Gods" e-book
• H. A. Guerber's "Myths of Northern Lands" e-book
• Peter Andreas Munch's "Norse Mythology: Legends of Gods and Heroes" e-book

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