99-698: Odin ( Old Norse Óðinn) is a widely attested god in Germanic mythology . The god is referred to by numerous names and kenningar , particularly in the Old Norse record. Hrafnagaldr Óðins (9) In Old English , Odin was known as Wōden ; in Old Saxon , as Wōdan ; and in Old High German , as Wuotan or Wōtan . Odin Odin ( / ˈ oʊ d ɪ n / ; from Old Norse : Óðinn )
198-576: A calque of Latin Mercurii dies ('Day of Mercury '; cf. modern Italian mercoledì , French mercredi , Spanish miércoles ). The earliest records of the Germanic peoples were recorded by the Romans, and in these works Odin is frequently referred to—via a process known as interpretatio romana (where characteristics perceived to be similar by Romans result in identification of a non-Roman god as
297-625: A sleeping spell on her which she could not break, and due to that spell she has been asleep a long time. Sigurd asks for her name, and the woman gives Sigurd a horn of mead to help him retain her words in his memory. The woman recites a heathen prayer in two stanzas. A prose narrative explains that the woman is named Sigrdrífa and that she is a valkyrie. A narrative relates that Sigrdrífa explains to Sigurd that there were two kings fighting one another. Odin had promised one of these— Hjalmgunnar —victory in battle, yet she had "brought down" Hjalmgunnar in battle. Odin pricked her with
396-407: A Christian context 'hanging in heaven' would refer to the crucifixion ; but (remembering that Woden was mentioned a few lines previously) there is also a parallel, perhaps a better one, with Odin, as his crucifixion was associated with learning." The Old English gnomic poem Maxims I also mentions Woden by name in the (alliterative) phrase Woden worhte weos , ('Woden made idols'), in which he
495-593: A Roman deity)—as the Roman god Mercury . The first clear example of this occurs in the Roman historian Tacitus 's late 1st-century work Germania , where, writing about the religion of the Suebi (a confederation of Germanic peoples ), he comments that "among the gods Mercury is the one they principally worship. They regard it as a religious duty to offer to him, on fixed days, human as well as other sacrificial victims. Hercules and Mars they appease by animal offerings of
594-518: A cloak and a broad hat. He is often accompanied by his animal familiars —the wolves Geri and Freki and the ravens Huginn and Muninn , who bring him information from all over Midgard —and he rides the flying, eight-legged steed Sleipnir across the sky and into the underworld. In these texts he frequently seeks greater knowledge, most famously by obtaining the Mead of Poetry , and makes wagers with his wife Frigg over his endeavors. He takes part both in
693-462: A connection to Ymir on both linguistic and mythographic grounds. By way of historical linguistics and comparative mythology, scholars have linked Ymir to other primordial, sometimes hermaphroditic or twin beings in other Indo-European mythologies and have reconstructed elements of a Proto-Indo-European cosmological dissection. Citing Ymir as a prime example, scholars D.Q. Adams and J.P. Mallory comment that "the [Proto-Indo-European] cosmogonic myth
792-467: A dialogue with an undead völva , who gives him wisdom from ages past and foretells the onset of Ragnarök , the destruction and rebirth of the world. Among the information the völva recounts is the story of the first human beings ( Ask and Embla ), found and given life by a trio of gods; Odin, Hœnir , and Lóðurr : In stanza 17 of the Poetic Edda poem Völuspá , the völva reciting
891-647: A heathen invocation known as the Second Merseburg Incantation , which calls upon Odin and other gods and goddesses from the continental Germanic pantheon to assist in healing a horse: Phol ende uuodan uuoran zi holza. du uuart demo balderes uolon sin uuoz birenkit. thu biguol en sinthgunt , sunna era suister, thu biguol en friia, uolla era suister thu biguol en uuodan, so he uuola conda: sose benrenki, sose bluotrenki, sose lidirenki: ben zi bena, bluot si bluoda, lid zi geliden, sose gelimida sin! Phol and Woden travelled to
990-410: A list of valkyries , referred to as nǫnnor Herians 'the ladies of War Lord'; in other words, the ladies of Odin. In foretelling the events of Ragnarök , the völva predicts the death of Odin; Odin will fight the monstrous wolf Fenrir during the great battle at Ragnarök . Odin will be consumed by the wolf, yet Odin's son Víðarr will avenge him by stabbing the wolf in the heart. After
1089-484: A list of jötnar in the Nafnaþulur section of Skáldskaparmál . As Gylfaginning presents a cohesive narrative that both quotes stanzas from various poems found in the Poetic Edda (as outlined above) as well as contains unique information without a provided source (such as Auðumbla ); scholars have debated to what extent Snorri had access to outside sources that no longer survive and to what extent he synthesized
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#17327917363471188-489: A narrative from the material he had access to. Regarding the situation, scholar Gabriel Turville-Petre comments (1964) that "at the beginning, according to Snorri's text of the poem, there was nothing but a void, although according to other texts, the giant Ymir existed already then. Considering how Ymir (Aurgelmir) was said to have taken shape, both Snorri and the Vafþrúðnismál , we may think that Snorri followed
1287-466: A primordial event but the entire act of sacrifice among the Indo-Europeans might be seen as a re-creation of the universe where elements were being continuously recycled. ... Sacrifice thus represents a creative re-enactment of the initial cosmic dismemberment of a victim and it helps return the material stuff to the world". Davidson further links accounts of the jötunn Þjazi 's eyes flung into
1386-456: A sleeping-thorn in consequence, told her that she would never again "fight victoriously in battle", and condemned her to marriage. In response, Sigrdrífa told Odin she had sworn a great oath that she would never wed a man who knew fear. Sigurd asks Sigrdrífa to share with him her wisdom of all worlds. The poem continues in verse, where Sigrdrífa provides Sigurd with knowledge in inscribing runes , mystic wisdom, and prophecy . Odin
1485-611: A stanza of Völuspá hin skamma (found in the poem Hyndluljóð ), Ymir receives one more mention. According to the stanza, völvas are descended from Viðòlfr, all seers from Vilmeiðr, all charm-workers from Svarthöfði, and all jötnar descend from Ymir. Ymir is mentioned in two books of the Prose Edda ; Gylfaginning and Skáldskaparmál . In the first mention, in chapter 5 of Gylfaginning , High, Just-As-High, and Third tell Gangleri (the disguised mythical king Gylfi ) about how all things came to be. The trio explain that
1584-417: A woman. The woman's corslet is so tight that it seems to have grown into the woman's body. Sigurd uses his sword Gram to cut the corslet, starting from the neck of the corslet downwards, he continues cutting down her sleeves, and takes the corslet off her. The woman wakes, sits up, looks at Sigurd , and the two converse in two stanzas of verse. In the second stanza, the woman explains that Odin placed
1683-500: A work by the 11th century skald Arnórr jarlaskáld is also provided, which refers to the sky as "Ymir's old skull". Later in Skáldskaparmál poetic terms for the earth are provided, including "Ymir's flesh", followed by a section for poetic terms for "sea", which provides a portion of a work by the skald Ormr Barreyjarskáld where the sea is referred to as "Ymir's blood". Both the names Aurgelmir and Ymir appear in
1782-509: Is a homophone for Old English os , a particularly heathen word for 'god'. Due to this and the content of the stanzas, several scholars have posited that this poem is censored, having originally referred to Odin. Kathleen Herbert comments that " Os was cognate with As in Norse, where it meant one of the Æsir , the chief family of gods. In Old English, it could be used as an element in first names: Osric, Oswald, Osmund, etc. but it
1881-765: Is a widely revered god in Germanic paganism . Norse mythology , the source of most surviving information about him, associates him with wisdom, healing, death, royalty, the gallows, knowledge, war, battle, victory, sorcery, poetry, frenzy, and the runic alphabet , and depicts him as the husband of the goddess Frigg . In wider Germanic mythology and paganism, the god was also known in Old English as Wōden , in Old Saxon as Uuôden , in Old Dutch as Wuodan , in Old Frisian as Wêda , and in Old High German as Wuotan , all ultimately stemming from
1980-627: Is both immense and made with great skill, and asks how the earth was arranged. High replies that the world is circular, and around it lies the depths of the sea. Along the shore the gods gave land to the jötnar. However, on the inner side on earth they made a fortification against the hostility of the jötnar out of Ymir's eyelashes. This fortification they called Midgard . Further, they took Ymir's brains and threw them skyward, and from them made clouds. Another two stanzas from Völuspá are cited in support. Later in Gylfaginning High explains
2079-680: Is centered on the dismemberment of a divine being – either anthropomorphic or bovine – and the creation of the universe out of its various elements". Further examples cited include the climactic ending of the Old Irish Táin Bó Cúailnge where a bull is dissected that makes up the Irish geography, and apparently Christianized forms of the myth found in the Old Russian Poem of the Dove Book ( Голубиная книга ),
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#17327917363472178-606: Is contrasted with and denounced against the Christian God . The Old English rune poem recounts the Old English runic alphabet, the futhorc . The stanza for the rune ós reads as follows: ōs byþ ordfruma ǣlcre sprǣce wīsdōmes wraþu and wītena frōfur and eorla gehwām ēadnys and tō hiht god is the origin of all language wisdom's foundation and wise man's comfort and to every hero blessing and hope The first word of this stanza, ōs (Latin 'mouth')
2277-516: Is frequently referred to as a founding figure among various other Germanic peoples, such as the Langobards , while some Old Norse sources depict him as an enthroned ruler of the gods. Forms of his name appear frequently throughout the Germanic record, although narratives regarding Odin are mainly found in Old Norse works recorded in Iceland , primarily around the 13th century. These texts make up
2376-462: Is from this association that Odin is referred to as "raven-god". The above-mentioned stanza from Grímnismál is then quoted. In the same chapter, the enthroned figure of High explains that Odin gives all of the food on his table to his wolves Geri and Freki and that Odin requires no food, for wine is to him both meat and drink. Ymir In Norse mythology , Ymir ( / ˈ iː m ɪər / ), also called Aurgelmir , Brimir , or Bláinn ,
2475-464: Is mentioned in four poems in the Poetic Edda ; Völuspá , Vafþrúðnismál , Grímnismál , and Hyndluljóð . In Völuspá , in which an undead völva imparts knowledge in the god Odin , references are twice made to Ymir. In the first instance, the third stanza of the poem, Ymir is mentioned by name: In the above translations the name of the location Ginnungagap is translated as "chaotic chasm" ( Thorpe , 1866) and "yawning gap" (Bellows). Later in
2574-637: Is mentioned throughout the books of the Prose Edda , composed in the 13th century and drawing from earlier traditional material. The god is introduced at length in chapter nine of the Prose Edda book Gylfaginning , which explains that he is described as ruling over Asgard , the domain of the gods, on his throne, that he is the 'father of all', and that from him all the gods, all of humankind (by way of Ask and Embla ), and everything else he has made or produced. According to Gylfaginning , in Asgard: In
2673-434: Is near universally accepted as the cosmic tree Yggdrasil , and if the tree is Yggdrasil , then the name Yggdrasil (Old Norse 'Ygg's steed') directly relates to this story. Odin is associated with hanging and gallows ; John Lindow comments that "the hanged 'ride' the gallows". In the prose introduction to the poem Sigrdrífumál , the hero Sigurd rides up to Hindarfell and heads south towards "the land of
2772-511: Is said to be the son of a god other than Yahweh. This lines up with the Lindsey genealogy which says that Frealaf was the son of Friothulf, son of Finn, son of Godulf, son of Geat, although Nennius seems to have replaced Godulf with Fodepald. Other genealogies of Odin include further ancestry beyond Geat, giving Geat's father as Tætwa son of Beaw son of Sceldi son of Heremod son of Itermon son of Hathra son of Guala son of Bedwig son of Sceaf, who
2871-578: Is said to have slain a wyrm (serpent, Germanic dragon ) by way of nine "glory twigs". Preserved from an 11th-century manuscript, the poem is, according to Bill Griffiths, "one of the most enigmatic of Old English texts". The section that mentions Woden is as follows: + wyrm com snican, toslat he nan, ða genam woden VIIII wuldortanas, sloh ða þa næddran þæt heo on VIIII tofleah Þær gaændade æppel and attor þæt heo næfre ne wolde on hus bugan. A serpent came crawling (but) it destroyed no one when Woden took nine twigs of glory, (and) then struck
2970-542: Is that the inscription "gutaniowi hailag" means "sacred to Wodan-Jove", but this is highly disputed. The earliest clear reference to Odin by name is found on a C- bracteate discovered in Denmark in 2020. Dated to as early as the 400s, the bracteate features a Proto-Norse Elder Futhark inscription reading "He is Odin’s man" ( iz Wōd[a]nas weraz ). Although the English kingdoms were nominally converted to Christianity by
3069-500: Is the ancestor of all jötnar . Ymir is attested in the Poetic Edda , compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional material, in the Prose Edda , written by Snorri Sturluson in the 13th century, and in the poetry of skalds . Taken together, several stanzas from four poems collected in the Poetic Edda refer to Ymir as a primeval being who was born from atter ( Old Norse : eitr ), yeasty venom that dripped from
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3168-448: Is the ancestor of all jötnar (specifically hrimthursar ) and that when Ymir slept, he sweated, and from his left and right arm grew a male and a female, and his left leg produced a son with his right leg, and from them came generations. Gangleri asks where Ymir lived and what sustained him. High explains that the drips next produced a cow named Auðumbla . From her teats flowed four rivers of milk, and from it fed Ymir. Gangleri asks what
3267-444: Is the eldest of "Ymir's kin", and Vafþrúðnir responds that long, long ago it was Bergelmir , who was Þrúðgelmir 's son and Aurgelmir's grandson. In the next stanza Odin asks where Aurgelmir came from so long ago, to which Vafþrúðnir responds that venom dropped from Élivágar , and that these drops grew until they became a jötunn, and from this being descends the jötnar. Finally, Odin asks how this being begat children, as he did not know
3366-646: Is the son of Noah from the Bible . In the 11th century, chronicler Adam of Bremen recorded in a scholion of his Gesta Hammaburgensis Ecclesiae Pontificum that a statue of Thor, whom Adam describes as "mightiest", sat enthroned in the Temple at Uppsala (located in Gamla Uppsala, Sweden) flanked by Wodan (Odin) and " Fricco ". Regarding Odin, Adam defines him as "frenzy" ( Wodan, id est furor ) and says that he "rules war and gives people strength against
3465-494: Is venerated with other Germanic gods in most forms of the new religious movement Heathenry ; some branches focus particularly on him. The Old Norse theonym Óðinn (runic ᚢᚦᛁᚾ on the Ribe skull fragment ) is a cognate of other medieval Germanic names, including Old English Wōden , Old Saxon Wōdan , Old Dutch Wuodan , and Old High German Wuotan ( Old Bavarian Wûtan ). They all derive from
3564-470: The einherjar , sending the other half to the goddess Freyja 's Fólkvangr . Odin consults the disembodied, herb-embalmed head of the wise Mímir , who foretells the doom of Ragnarök and urges Odin to lead the einherjar into battle before being consumed by the monstrous wolf Fenrir . In later folklore, Odin sometimes appears as a leader of the Wild Hunt , a ghostly procession of
3663-512: The Franks ". On the mountain Sigurd sees a great light, "as if fire were burning, which blazed up to the sky". Sigurd approaches it, and there he sees a skjaldborg (a tactical formation of shield wall ) with a banner flying overhead. Sigurd enters the skjaldborg , and sees a warrior lying there—asleep and fully armed. Sigurd removes the helmet of the warrior, and sees the face of
3762-506: The Latin term vātēs ('prophet, seer') is probably a Celtic loanword from the Gaulish language, making *uoh₂-tós ~ *ueh₂-tus ('god-inspired') a shared religious term common to Germanic and Celtic rather than an inherited word of earlier Proto-Indo-European (PIE) origin. In the case a borrowing scenario is excluded, a PIE etymon *(H)ueh₂-tis ('prophet, seer') can also be posited as
3861-441: The Prose Edda book Gylfaginning (chapter 38), the enthroned figure of High (Harr), tells Gangleri (king Gylfi in disguise) that two ravens named Huginn and Muninn sit on Odin's shoulders. The ravens tell Odin everything they see and hear. Odin sends Huginn and Muninn out at dawn, and the birds fly all over the world before returning at dinner-time. As a result, Odin is kept informed of many events. High adds that it
3960-414: The Prose Edda , after Ymir was formed from the elemental drops, so too was Auðumbla , a primeval cow, whose milk Ymir fed from. The Prose Edda also states that three gods killed Ymir; the brothers Odin , Vili and Vé , and details that, upon Ymir's death, his blood caused an immense flood. Scholars have debated as to what extent Snorri's account of Ymir is an attempt to synthesize a coherent narrative for
4059-588: The Proto-Germanic theonym * Wōðanaz , meaning 'lord of frenzy', or 'leader of the possessed'. Odin appears as a prominent god throughout the recorded history of Northern Europe , from the Roman occupation of regions of Germania (from c. 2 BCE) through movement of peoples during the Migration Period (4th to 6th centuries CE) and the Viking Age (8th to 11th centuries CE). In
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4158-563: The Solomon and Saturn poems is additionally in the style of later Old Norse material featuring Odin, such as the Old Norse poem Vafþrúðnismál , featuring Odin and the jötunn Vafþrúðnir engaging in a deadly game of wits. The 7th-century Origo Gentis Langobardorum , and Paul the Deacon 's 8th-century Historia Langobardorum derived from it, recount a founding myth of
4257-498: The creation of the world by slaying the primordial being Ymir and in giving life to the first two humans Ask and Embla . He also provides mankind knowledge of runic writing and poetry , showing aspects of a culture hero . He has a particular association with the Yule holiday. Odin is also associated with the divine battlefield maidens, the valkyries , and he oversees Valhalla , where he receives half of those who die in battle,
4356-624: The reconstructed Proto-Germanic masculine theonym *Wōðanaz (or *Wōdunaz ). Translated as 'lord of frenzy', or as 'leader of the possessed', *Wōðanaz stems from the Proto-Germanic adjective *wōðaz ('possessed, inspired, delirious, raging') attached to the suffix *-naz ('master of'). Internal and comparative evidence all point to the ideas of a divine possession or inspiration, and an ecstatic divination . In his Gesta Hammaburgensis ecclesiae pontificum (1075–1080 AD), Adam of Bremen explicitly associates Wotan with
4455-423: The substantivized forms Old Norse óðr ('mind, wit, sense; song, poetry'), Old English wōþ ('sound, noise; voice, song'), Old High German wuot ('thrill, violent agitation') and Middle Dutch woet ('rage, frenzy'), from the same root as the original adjective. The Proto-Germanic terms *wōðīn ('madness, fury') and *wōðjanan ('to rage') can also be reconstructed. Early epigraphic attestations of
4554-463: The Earth. Third says that the trio took his skull and placed it above the Earth and from it made the sky. They placed the sky above the earth, and, to hold up the sky, they placed four dwarfs – Norðri, Suðri, Austri and Vestri – at its four corners. The trio took the molten particles and sparks that flew from Muspell and "they fixed all the lights, some in the sky, some moved in a wandering course beneath
4653-476: The Egyptian goddess Hathor . H.R.E. Davidson (1964) comments that "the original form of the creation myth in the north is not easy to determine. Snorri knew of at least three separate accounts". In the 1st century CE, Roman historian Tacitus writes in his ethnography Germania that the Germanic peoples sang songs about a primeval god who was born of the Earth named Tuisto , and that he
4752-536: The Frisian Frisian Code of Emsig , and Irish manuscript BM MS 4783, folio 7a. Other examples given include Ovid 's 1st century BCE to 1st century BCE Latin Metamorphoses description of the god Atlas 's beard and hair becoming forests, his bones becoming stone, his hands mountain ridges, and so forth; the 9th century AD Middle Persian Škend Gumānīg Wizār , wherein
4851-657: The Irish missionary Columbanus disrupted an offering of beer to Odin ( vodano ) "(whom others called Mercury)" in Swabia . A few centuries later, 9th-century document from what is now Mainz , Germany, known as the Old Saxon Baptismal Vow records the names of three Old Saxon gods, UUôden ('Woden'), Saxnôte , and Thunaer ('Thor'), whom pagan converts were to renounce as demons . A 10th-century manuscript found in Merseburg , Germany, features
4950-704: The Langobards ( Lombards ), a Germanic people who ruled a region of the Italian Peninsula . According to this legend, a "small people" known as the Winnili were ruled by a woman named Gambara who had two sons, Ybor and Aio . The Vandals , ruled by Ambri and Assi , came to the Winnili with their army and demanded that they pay them tribute or prepare for war. Ybor, Aio, and their mother Gambara rejected their demands for tribute. Ambri and Assi then asked
5049-739: The Latin term furor , which can be translated as 'rage', 'fury', 'madness', or 'frenzy' ( Wotan id est furor : "Odin, that is, furor "). As of 2011, an attestation of Proto-Norse Woðinz , on the Strängnäs stone , has been accepted as probably authentic, but the name may be used as a related adjective instead meaning "with a gift for (divine) possession" (ON: øðinn ). Other Germanic cognates derived from *wōðaz include Gothic woþs ('possessed'), Old Norse óðr ('mad, frantic, furious'), Old English wōd ('insane, frenzied') and Dutch woed ('frantic, wild, crazy'), along with
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#17327917363475148-423: The Winnili and their whiskered women and asked, "who are those Long-beards?" Frea responded to Godan, "As you have given them a name, give them also the victory". Godan did so, "so that they should defend themselves according to his counsel and obtain the victory". Thenceforth the Winnili were known as the Langobards ('long-beards'). Writing in the mid-7th century, Jonas of Bobbio wrote that earlier that century
5247-409: The adder so that it flew into nine (pieces). There archived apple and poison that it never would re-enter the house. The emendation of nan to 'man' has been proposed. The next stanza comments on the creation of the herbs chervil and fennel while hanging in heaven by the 'wise lord' ( witig drihten ) and before sending them down among mankind. Regarding this, Griffith comments that "In
5346-400: The adjective include un-wōdz ('calm one', i.e. 'not-furious'; 200 CE) and wōdu-rīde ('furious rider'; 400 CE). Philologist Jan de Vries has argued that the Old Norse deities Óðinn and Óðr were probably originally connected (as in the doublet Ullr–Ullinn ), with Óðr (* wōðaz ) being the elder form and the ultimate source of the name Óðinn ( *wōða-naz ). He further suggested that
5445-445: The better version of Vǫluspá" and, regarding Snorri's account of the cosmogenesis in general, that "from these sketches of the poetic sources from which he chiefly drew it is obvious that Snorri described several incidents which cannot be traced to them, at least in their extant forms". Turville-Petre cites Snorri's account of Auðumbla as a prime example, noting Indo-European parallels ( Persian and Vedic ) and an Egyptian parallel in
5544-426: The bulk of modern understanding of Norse mythology. Old Norse texts portray Odin as the son of Bestla and Borr along with two brothers, Vili and Vé , and he fathered many sons , most famously the gods Thor (with Jörð ) and Baldr (with Frigg ). He is known by hundreds of names . Odin is frequently portrayed as one-eyed and long-bearded, wielding a spear named Gungnir or appearing in disguise wearing
5643-593: The common ancestor of the attested Germanic, Celtic and Latin forms. More than 170 names are recorded for Odin; the names are variously descriptive of attributes of the god, refer to myths involving him, or refer to religious practices associated with him. This multitude makes Odin the god with the most known names among the Germanic peoples. Steve Martin has pointed out that the name Odinsberg (Ounesberry, Ounsberry, Othenburgh) in Cleveland Yorkshire , now corrupted to Roseberry (Topping) , may derive from
5742-407: The company of a female jötunn, to which Vafþrúðnir responds that from beneath the ancient jötunn's armpits together a girl and a boy grew, and his feet together produced a six-headed jötunn. In the poem Grímnismál , the god Odin (disguised as "Grímnir") imparts in the young Agnarr cosmological knowledge. In one stanza, Odin mentions Ymir as he recalls the fashioning of the world from his body: In
5841-503: The cow fed from, and High responds that the cow licked salty rime-stones. The first day Auðumbla licked the rime stones it uncovered that evening the hair of a man. The second day it uncovered his head. The third day a man was uncovered from the ice. This man was named Búri , and was large, powerful, and beautiful to behold. Búri had a son, Borr , who married a jötunn, Bestla , the daughter of Bölþorn . The two had three sons: Odin, Vili, and Vé . High adds that "Odin and his brothers must be
5940-450: The dead through the winter sky. He is associated with charms and other forms of magic, particularly in Old English and Old Norse texts. The figure of Odin is a frequent subject of interest in Germanic studies , and scholars have advanced numerous theories regarding his development. Some of these focus on Odin's particular relation to other figures; for example, Freyja 's husband Óðr appears to be something of an etymological doublet of
6039-590: The end of the 7th century, Woden is frequently listed as a founding figure among the Old English royalty. Odin is also either directly or indirectly mentioned a few times in the surviving Old English poetic corpus, including the Nine Herbs Charm and likely also the Old English rune poem . Odin may also be referenced in the riddle Solomon and Saturn . In the Nine Herbs Charm , Woden
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#17327917363476138-410: The enemy" and that the people of the temple depict him as wearing armour, "as our people depict Mars". According to Adam, the people of Uppsala had appointed priests ( gothi ) to each of the gods, who were to offer up sacrifices ( blót ), and in times of war sacrifices were made to images of Odin. In the 12th century, centuries after Norway was "officially" Christianised, Odin was still being invoked by
6237-412: The first world to exist was Muspell , a glowing, fiery southern region consisting of flames, uninhabitable by non-natives. After "many ages" Niflheimr was made, and within it lies a spring, Hvergelmir , from which eleven rivers flow. Gangleri asks the three what things were like before mankind. High continues that these icy rivers, which are called Élivágar , ran so far from their spring source that
6336-400: The following: Flesh = Earth, Bone = Stone, Blood = Water (the sea, etc.), Eyes = Sun, Mind = Moon, Brain = Cloud, Head = Heaven, Breath = Wind". Adams and Mallory write that "In both cosmogonic myth and the foundation element of it, one of the central aspects is the notion of sacrifice (of a brother, giant, bovine, etc.). The relationship between sacrifice and cosmogony was not solely that of
6435-428: The forest. Then was for Baldur 's foal its foot wrenched. Then encharmed it Sindgund (and) Sunna her sister, then encharmed it Frija (and) Volla her sister, then encharmed it Woden , as he the best could, As the bone-wrench, so for the blood wrench, (and) so the limb-wrench bone to bone, blood to blood, limb to limb, so be glued. Old English royal genealogies record Woden as an ancestor of
6534-624: The god Godan for victory over the Winnili, to which Godan responded (in the longer version in the Origo ): "Whom I shall first see when at sunrise, to them will I give the victory." Meanwhile, Ybor and Aio called upon Frea, Godan's wife. Frea counselled them that "at sunrise the Winnil[i] should come, and that their women, with their hair let down around the face in the likeness of a beard should also come with their husbands". At sunrise, Frea turned Godan's bed around to face east and woke him. Godan saw
6633-716: The god as Wotan , a spelling of his own invention which combines the Old High German Wuotan with the Low German Wodan . The modern English weekday name Wednesday derives from Old English Wōdnesdæg , meaning 'day of Wōden'. 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'),
6732-690: The god of rage Óðr–Óðinn stood in opposition to the god of glorious majesty Ullr–Ullinn in a similar manner to the Vedic contrast between Varuna and Mitra . The adjective *wōðaz ultimately stems from a Pre-Germanic form *uoh₂-tós , which is related to the Proto-Celtic terms * wātis , meaning 'seer, sooth-sayer' (cf. Gaulish wāteis , Old Irish fáith 'prophet') and * wātus , meaning 'prophesy, poetic inspiration' (cf. Old Irish fáth 'prophetic wisdom, maxims', Old Welsh guaut 'prophetic verse, panegyric'). According to some scholars,
6831-405: The god, while Odin's wife Frigg is in many ways similar to Freyja , and Odin has a particular relation to Loki . Other approaches focus on Odin's place in the historical record, exploring whether Odin derives from Proto-Indo-European mythology or developed later in Germanic society . In the modern period, Odin has inspired numerous works of poetry, music, and other cultural expressions. He
6930-586: The gods Mercury is the one they principally worship" is an exact quote from Julius Caesar 's Commentarii de Bello Gallico (1st century BCE) in which Caesar is referring to the Gauls and not the Germanic peoples. Regarding the Germanic peoples, Caesar states: "[T]hey consider the gods only the ones that they can see, the Sun, Fire and the Moon", which scholars reject as clearly mistaken, regardless of what may have led to
7029-467: The gods, but appears to be due to Mercury's role of psychopomp . Other contemporary evidence may also have led to the equation of Odin with Mercury; Odin, like Mercury, may have at this time already been pictured with a staff and hat, may have been considered a trader god, and the two may have been seen as parallel in their roles as wandering deities. But their rankings in their respective religious spheres may have been very different. Also, Tacitus's "among
7128-407: The heavens by Odin and the frozen toe of Aurvandil tossed into the sky by the god Thor, the eyes in the prior case becoming stars and the toe in the latter case becoming a star known as "Aurvandil's Toe". Davidson comments that "these myths are evidently connected with names of constellations , but the strange reference to a frozen toe suggests that there is some connexion with the creation legend of
7227-402: The icy rivers called the Élivágar , and lived in the grassless void of Ginnungagap . Ymir gave birth to a male and female from his armpits, and his legs together begat a six-headed being. The grandsons of Búri , the gods Odin , Vili and Vé , fashioned the Earth (elsewhere personified as a goddess , Jörð ) from his flesh, from his blood the ocean, from his bones the mountains, from his hair
7326-417: The jötnar. Gangleri asks what, if High, Just-As-High, and Third believe the trio to be gods, what the three did then. High says that the trio took the body into the middle of Ginnungagap and from his flesh fashioned the Earth, from his blood the sea and lakes, from his bones rocks, scree and stones his teeth, molars, and bones. Just-As-High adds that from his gushing wounds they created the sea that surrounds
7425-561: The kings of Lindsey , Mercia , Deira and Bernicia (which eventually became Northumbria , Wessex , and East Anglia accounting for in 7 of the 8 genealogies, and all but Essex, who instead traced their ancestry to Saxnot . Some of these genealogies expand on ancestry beyond Woden, giving his father as Frealaf beginning in the 8th century. The Welsh 9th centurry Historia Brittonum also includes Woden in its pedigree of Hengist, and shows Woden's ancestry as "VVoden, filii Frealaf, filii Fredulf, filii Finn, filii Fodepald, filii Geta", who
7524-568: The malevolent being Kūnī's skin becomes the sky, from his flesh comes the earth, his bones the mountains, and from his hair comes plants; and the 10th century BCE Old Indic Purusha sukta from the Rig Veda , which describes how the primeval man Purusha was dissected; from his eye comes the sun, from his mouth fire, from his breath wind, from his feet the earth, and so on. Among surviving sources, Adams and Mallory summarize that "the most frequent correlations, or better, derivations, are
7623-415: The modern period, the rural folklore of Germanic Europe continued to acknowledge Odin. References to him appear in place names throughout regions historically inhabited by the ancient Germanic peoples, and the day of the week Wednesday bears his name in many Germanic languages, including in English. In Old English texts, Odin holds a particular place as a euhemerized ancestral figure among royalty, and he
7722-402: The mythological (such as Odin's recounting of his retrieval of Óðrœrir , the vessel containing the mead of poetry ), and to the mystical (the final section of the poem consists of Odin's recollection of eighteen charms). Among the various scenes that Odin recounts is his self-sacrifice: While the name of the tree is not provided in the poem and other trees exist in Norse mythology, the tree
7821-423: The origin of the dwarfs . High says that after Asgard had been built, the gods assembled on their thrones and held their things . There they "discussed where the dwarfs had been generated from in the soil and down in the earth like maggots in flesh. The dwarfs had taken shape first and acquired life in the flesh of Ymir and were then maggots, but by decision of the gods they became conscious with intelligence and had
7920-512: The permitted kind" and adds that a portion of the Suebi also venerate "Isis". In this instance, Tacitus refers to the god Odin as "Mercury", Thor as " Hercules ", and Týr as " Mars ". The "Isis" of the Suebi has been debated and may represent " Freyja ". Anthony Birley noted that Odin's apparent identification with Mercury has little to do with Mercury's classical role of being messenger of
8019-417: The poem states that Hœnir , Lóðurr and Odin once found Ask and Embla on land. The völva says that the two were capable of very little, lacking in ørlög and says that they were given three gifts by the three gods: The meaning of these gifts has been a matter of scholarly disagreement and translations therefore vary. Later in the poem, the völva recounts the events of the Æsir–Vanir War ,
8118-470: The poem, a few other references are apparently made to Ymir as Brimir and Bláinn (here anglicized as Blain ): In this stanza Thorpe has treated Brimir (Old Norse "the bloody moisture") and Blain (Old Norse, disputed) as common nouns. Brimir and Blain are usually held to be proper names that refer to Ymir, as in Bellows's translation. In the poem Vafþrúðnismál , the (disguised) god Odin engages
8217-462: The poisonous matter that flows with them became hard "like the clinker that comes from a furnace" – it turned to ice. And so, when this ice came to a halt and stopped flowing, the vapor that rose up from the poison went in the same direction and froze to rime . This rime increased, layer upon layer, across Ginnungagap. Just-As-High adds that the northern part of Ginnungagap was heavy with ice and rime, and vapor and blowing came inward from this. Yet
8316-560: The population, as evidenced by a stick bearing a runic message found among the Bryggen inscriptions in Bergen, Norway. On the stick, both Thor and Odin are called upon for help; Thor is asked to "receive" the reader, and Odin to "own" them. Odin is mentioned or appears in most poems of the Poetic Edda , compiled in the 13th century from traditional source material reaching back to the pagan period. The poem Völuspá features Odin in
8415-523: The purpose of the Prose Edda and to what extent Snorri drew from traditional material outside of the corpus that he cites. By way of historical linguistics and comparative mythology , scholars have linked Ymir to Tuisto , the Proto-Germanic being attested by Tacitus in his 1st century CE ethnography Germania and have identified Ymir as an echo of a primordial being reconstructed in Proto-Indo-European mythology . Ymir
8514-446: The rulers of heaven and earth; it is our opinion that this must be what he is called. This is the name of one who is the greatest and most glorious that we know, and you would well to agree to call him that too". High relates that Odin, Vili, and Vé killed Ymir, and his body produced so much blood from his wounds that within it drowned all the jötnar but two, Bergelmir , who, on a lúðr with his (unnamed) wife, survived and repopulated
8613-458: The rune name without obviously referring to Woden." In the prose narrative of Solomon and Saturn , "Mercurius the Giant" ( Mercurius se gygand ) is referred to as an inventor of letters. This may also be a reference to Odin, who is in Norse mythology the founder of the runic alphabets, and the gloss a continuation of the practice of equating Odin with Mercury found as early as Tacitus. One of
8712-448: The shape of a man, and so he was named Ymir and known among the jötnar as Aurgelmir , all of which descend from him. In support of these two names, Third quotes a stanza each from Völuspá hin skamma and Vafþrúðnismál . Gangleri asks how generations grew from Ymir, how other beings came into existence, and if Ymir was considered a god. High says that Ymir was no god, and "he was evil and all his descendants." High explains that Ymir
8811-514: The shape of men though they live in the earth and in rocks". Stanzas from Völuspá consisting of dwarf names are then provided to show the lineage of the dwarfs. In the book Skáldskaparmál poetic means of referring to the sky are provided, some of which relate to the narrative in Gylfaginning involving Ymir, including "Ymir's skull" and "jötunn's skull", or "burden of the dwarfs" or "helmet of Vestri and Austri, Sudri, Nordri". A portion of
8910-403: The sky, but they appointed them positions and ordained their courses". Third cites a stanza from Völuspá in support, stating that by ways of these sky lights days and years were reckoned and counted, and that the stanza reflects that the cosmological bodies did not know their places prior to the creation of earth. Gangleri comments that what he has just heard is remarkable, as the construction
9009-419: The southern part of Ginunngagap was clear on account of the sparks and molten flecks flying from Muspell. Third assesses that "just as from Niflheim there was coldness and all things grim, so what was facing close to Muspell was hot and bright, but Ginunngagap was as mild as a windless sky". Third adds that when the rime and hot air met, it thawed and dripped, and the liquid intensely dropped. This liquid fell into
9108-625: The statement. There is no direct, undisputed evidence for the worship of Odin/Mercury among the Goths , and the existence of a cult of Odin among them is debated. Richard North and Herwig Wolfram have both argued that the Goths did not worship Odin, Wolfram contending that the use of Greek names of the week in Gothic provides evidence of that. One possible reading of the Gothic Ring of Pietroassa
9207-621: The time of the Anglian settlements, with nearby Newton under Roseberry and Great Ayton having Anglo Saxon suffixes. The very dramatic rocky peak was an obvious place for divine association, and may have replaced Bronze Age/Iron Age beliefs of divinity there, given that a hoard of bronze votive axes and other objects was buried by the summit. It could be a rare example, then, of Nordic-Germanic theology displacing earlier Celtic mythology in an imposing place of tribal prominence. In his opera cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen , Richard Wagner refers to
9306-408: The trees, from his brains the clouds, from his skull the heavens, and from his eyebrows the middle realm in which mankind lives, Midgard . In addition, one stanza relates that the dwarfs were given life by the gods from Ymir's flesh and blood (or the Earth and sea). In the Prose Edda , a narrative is provided that draws from, adds to, and differs from the accounts in the Poetic Edda . According to
9405-457: The war between Vanir and the Æsir , two groups of gods. During this, the first war of the world, Odin flung his spear into the opposing forces of the Vanir . The völva tells Odin that she knows where he has hidden his eye; in the spring Mímisbrunnr , and from it " Mímir drinks mead every morning". After Odin gives her necklaces, she continues to recount more information, including
9504-443: The wise jötunn Vafþrúðnir in a game of wits. Odin asks Vafþrúðnir to tell him, if Vafþrúðnir's knowledge is sufficient, the answer to a variety of questions. In the first of which that refers to Ymir, Odin asks from where first came the Earth and the sky. The jötunn responds with a creation account involving Ymir: As the verbal battle continues, a few more exchanges directly refer to or may allude to Ymir. Odin asks what ancient jötun
9603-500: The world is burned and renewed, the surviving and returning gods will meet and recall Odin's deeds and "ancient runes". The poem Hávamál (Old Norse 'Sayings of the High One') consists entirely of wisdom verse attributed to Odin. This advice ranges from the practical ("A man shouldn't hold onto the cup but drink in moderation, it's necessary to speak or be silent; no man will blame you for impoliteness if you go early to bed"), to
9702-450: Was not used as a word to refer to the God of Christians. Woden was equated with Mercury, the god of eloquence (among other things). The tales about the Norse god Odin tell how he gave one of his eyes in return for wisdom; he also won the mead of poetic inspiration. Luckily for Christian rune-masters, the Latin word os could be substituted without ruining the sense, to keep the outward form of
9801-495: Was the progenitor of the Germanic peoples. Tuisto is the Latinized form of a Proto-Germanic theonym that is a matter of some debate. By way of historical linguistics some scholars have linked Tuisto to the Proto-Germanic theonym * Tiwaz , while other scholars argue that the name refers to a "two-fold" or hermaphroditic being (compare Old Swedish tvistra , meaning "separate"). The latter etymology has led scholars to
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