Hanged nine nights on a windy tree, wounded by his own spear, to win the runes
Told in the Hávamál stanzas known as the Rúnatal — himself sacrificed to himself
Myth · Norse
Odin
Norse mythology — chief of the Æsir
Odin is the one-eyed All-father of Norse myth: god of poetry, wisdom, runes, frenzy and the slain, ruler of Asgard and lord of Valhalla, where he gathers half the battle-dead against the coming of Ragnarök. He is a wanderer and a schemer rather than a thunderer, willing to pay an eye or hang nine nights on a tree for knowledge, and he is fated to be swallowed by a wolf at the end of the world.
How to spot them
- ▸One eye, broad hat and blue cloak, a wanderer leaning on a spear
- ▸Two ravens on his shoulders and two wolves at his feet
- ▸An eight-legged grey horse; a spear that never misses; a gold ring that drips eight more every ninth night
- ▸Quiz clue: 'All-father', 'Grímnir', 'the hanged god', 'Wednesday', 'interpreted as Mercury'
Stories & episodes
Gave an eye to drink from the well under the world-tree
Mímir's well of wisdom; the eye is still hidden there in Völuspá
Stole the mead of poetry from the mountain of the giant Suttungr
He bored in as a snake, seduced Gunnlöð for three nights' drinking, then escaped as an eagle
Wagered with his wife over two foster-sons and was roasted between two fires
Grímnismál: bound and starved by King Geirröðr until he revealed his names and the king fell on his own sword
Rides an eight-legged grey horse, born of Loki and a giant's stallion
Sleipnir, the foal Loki bore as a mare after luring Svaðilfari away from the building of Asgard's wall
Swallowed whole by a wolf at the end of the world
His son Víðarr avenges him at once, tearing the wolf's jaws apart
Quick-fire facts
- •He is the son of Borr and the giantess Bestla; with his brothers Vili and Vé he killed Ymir and made the world from him
- •His ravens are Huginn (thought) and Muninn (memory); his wolves Geri and Freki; his spear Gungnir; his ring Draupnir
- •Wednesday is his day — Old English Wōdnesdæg, from Woden, translating Latin dies Mercurii
- •In Valhalla the slain (einherjar) fight all day and feast all night; Grímnismál gives the hall 540 doors, each wide enough for 800 warriors
- •He takes only half the battle-dead; Freyja takes the other half to Fólkvangr
- •His wife is Frigg; his sons include Thor, Baldr and Víðarr
- •He has scores of by-names — Alföðr (All-father), Grímnir (the masked one), Yggr (the terrible one), Bölverkr
- •Wagner's Ring cycle calls him Wotan; Tolkien said Gandalf was an 'Odinic wanderer'
Drill it — 9 cards
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Sources
- Sacred Texts Archive — The Poetic Edda (Bellows translation) Hávamál, Grímnismál and Völuspá for the hanging, the by-names and Valhalla
- Snorri Sturluson — The Prose Edda (Brodeur translation)
- World History Encyclopedia — Odin