World of Myth
OdinOdin Fast Facts
Odin (Wodan’s) Wild Hunt, Wägner, Wilhelm, 1882 (Creative Commons)
Domain: Odin’s domain is war, heroes, poetry, wisdom, and the sky.
Type of Being: Aesir (the race of the gods)
Powers: Magic. He is a master of the magic songs known as Galdrar and knows the secrets of the runes.
Place: Odin’s hall is in Asgard, Valaskjalf; his palace is in Valhalla.
Associated Animals: His ravens are Hugin and Munin (Thought and Memory). These ravens keep Odin informed of news of the nine realms. He has two wolves, Geri and Freki and he is also generally associated with eagles.
Appearance: He looks like a tall old man with a beard and one eye, he gave one eye in exchange for wisdom. He wears a sky-blue cape/cloak and a wide hat when he wanders the earth.
Significant Items: Gungnir, his spear, which he brings to Ragnorök; a ring Draupnir, and an eagle helmet. Norse warriors threw their spears at the start of battle to imitate Odin and his spear.
Odin Student Research
On two occasions, Odin sacrificed himself for knowledge and wisdom.
- He wounded himself with his spear and then hung himself on Yggdrasil to be able to read runes.
- He gouged out his missing eye and dropped it into Mimir’s well so Mimir would give him divine wisdom.
These stories demonstrate Odin’s insatiable desire for knowledge, and the lengths he’ll go in order to gain wisdom.
Odin's Alternative Names (selected)
Odin has more than 150 different names Wodan (Wednesday)
Alfodr—All-Father, Father of the Gods
Baleyg—Flaming-Eyed
Bileyg—Shifty-Eyed
Fjolnir—Wide in Wisdom
Grimnir—Hooded One
Valfodr—Father of the Slain
Ygg—Awful
–Norse Encyclopedia
Select Odin Myths
Odin and the Gallows
The myth of Odin and the gallows involves Odin’s self-sacrifice for wisdom. In this story, Odin hangs himself from the world tree, Yggdrasil, for nine nights, pierced by his own spear, to gain knowledge. This act of sacrifice, particularly the ordeal of hanging and the pain endured, symbolizes his relentless quest for wisdom, which includes gaining the secrets of runes and the knowledge that would help him understand and prepare for the inevitabilities of the world, including the events of Ragnarök. This story is a testament to Odin’s role as a seeker of wisdom and his willingness to endure suffering for greater knowledge.
Chief archaeologist, Bengt Nordqvist, has interpreted the scene on this 5th century buckle as Odin drinking from Mimir’s well, as he hung by his feet from Yggdrassil, (Hávamál 138-141, C. Larrington tr.). (Germanic Mythology)
How Odin Lost His Eye
Found in the Voluspa and Gylfaginning this story involves Odin’s pursuit for wisdom. According to the myth, Mimir was the guardian of a sacred well, known as Mimir’s Well, which bestowed knowledge upon those who drank from it. Desiring this wisdom in the lead-up to Ragnarok, Odin sacrificed one of his eyes to Mimir in exchange for the opportunity to drink from the well. Mimir then placed Odin’s eye in the well, where it shone as brightly as the Moon. No one knows what Odin learns from Mimir, but he confidently goes into Ragnarök after obtaining the knowledge.
Odin in the Historical Record
Historically, Odin is the principal god of pre-Christian Scandinavia. However much of his original presence and oral tales are lost and most of his depictions come from after the Christianization of these parts of Europe. Because of this, there is a lack of certainty of the limits of his domains and whether he was amalgamated with other gods at any point. He is one of the most recognizable of the Norse gods.
EXCERPT:
Although Odin appears as the primary deity in the written sources of Norse mythology, in comparison with the god Thor, relatively few indications exist of cultic veneration of Odin during the 130 years between the settlement and the spread of Christianity. There are neither place-names nor personal names that point to a cult of Odin, and the existence of relatively few myth.
–Imagining an Early Odin: Gold Bracteates as Visual Evidence?, Kathryn Starkey
Resources
Further Reading / Viewing
Starkey, Kathryn. “Imagining an Early Odin: Gold Bracteates as Visual Evidence?” Scandinavian Studies 71, no. 4 (1999): 373–92.
www.britannica.com/topic/Odin-Norse-deity
www.germanicmythology.com/works/EARLYART.html
Norse Sources
Lindow, John. Old Norse Mythology. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2021.
Snorri Sturluson, and Jesse L. Byock, eds. The Prose Edda: Tales from Norse Mythology. London: Penguin, 2005.
Pettit, Edward, ed. The Poetic Edda: A Dual-Language Edition. Cambridge, UK: Open Book Publishers, 2023.
General Sources
Daly, Kathleen N., and Marian Rengel. Norse Mythology A to Z. 3rd ed. Mythology A to Z. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 2010.
