Given the importance of his role in Norse mythology, Odin has inspired depictions in paintings and sculpture for hundreds of years. Both historically and in modern sources, artists usually portray Odin as a tall, regal-looking man with a full head of shoulder-length hair and a thick beard. His hair and beard are most often colored grey, but brown, brownish-blond, and reddish-brown aren’t unknown.
When shown as a king, ruler of the Aesir, or god of war, Odin typically wears burnished chainmail, a golden eagle-winged helmet, and a blue cloak. A heavy gold arm-ring, Draupnir, adorns his upper right arm, and he holds his spear Gungnir. When he’s seated on his throne his ravens Hugin and Munin perch on his shoulders and his wolves Freki and Geri sit at his feet.
After Odin visits Mimir and sacrifices his left eye for a drink from the jotun’s well, he usually covers the empty socket with strands of his hair, but some depictions simply show it as a dark orbit. Modern illustrators often cover it with some sort of eyepatch or part of a helmet – such as Sir Anthony Hopkins wears when portraying Odin in the movies Thor and Thor: The Dark World.
In some Norse myths Odin travels to Midgard, Jotunheim, or other worlds in search of information or wisdom. As a “simple wanderer,” Odin looks like an elderly man wearing ordinary clothing and a dark blue cloak. His hair and beard are grey, with strands over the missing left eye. He covers his head either with the hood of his cloak or with a tall, wide-brimmed hat. In the place of his spear Gungnir he carries a traveler’s staff.
Odin is a multifaceted god who has several roles in Norse mythology and religion. As one scholar aptly put it, he is “complex and many-sided to an extreme degree.” First and foremost he’s the leader of the Aesir in both peace and war – their king or chief. This position comes to him not only because he is the eldest of the Norse gods (and the father of many of them), but because of his wisdom and power. Unlike Zeus in Greek mythology the Norse tales never explicitly describe Odin as more powerful than the other Aesir (either individually or collectively), but the implication exists. Between his magic, weapons, wisdom, insight, and awe-inspiring presence, few if any of the other gods would dare risk his wrath, much less stand against him.
Odin also serves the Aesir (and humanity) by acquiring valuable resources from the giants – the forces of chaos and nature unrestrained – so the gods can put them to better use. Through wit, deception, or power he takes what he needs from the giants, such as the magic mead of poetry, to enrich and empower the gods while weakening their foes. In the words of Margaret Clunies Ross, Odin is the “deity par excellence who embodies the questing spirit of the gods and the ruthless intelligence that allows them to exploit the natural resources of worlds beyond their direct control.”
Odin is a god of war and warriors, particularly of the kings and lords who lead men into battle. The Vikings were often a warlike and aggressive people, so it comes as no surprise that the greatest of their deities was a war god. The skalds described how Odin, accompanied by his Valkyries, rode his horse Sleipnir to a battlefield where two armies contended. After looking over both sides, he chose which side should win, then threw his spear Gungnir over the heads of the warriors destined to lose. Odin used his wisdom and foresight to select the most deserving fighters to win a battle, but the decision wasn’t always easy. Sometimes he favored weaker warriors so the stronger ones would die and come join him in Valhalla, or granted victory to a hero he favored despite the odds against that warrior.
Mortals could sometimes trick him, too. For example, Paul the Deacon’s Historia Langobardorum recounts how two great peoples clashed. Odin thought them both worthy to win and couldn’t make up his mind which should lose. At last he decided to favor whichever army took the field first the next morning. The women of one of the tribes prayed fervently to Frigg, who told them what to do. Following her advice the women arose early, put on armor, and took up weapons and shields. Finally each of them combed her hair to either side of her head and tied it under her chin so it looked like a beard. Then they assembled on the battlefield.
Odin riding with the Valkyries. (Ivy Close Images / Alamy)
“Who are those long-beards?” Odin asked when he saw them.
“The army first on the field, to whom you said you’d give victory,” Frigg replied. Odin threw Gungnir over the other army and the husbands of the disguised women won the battle – and earned the name Langobards, or Lombards (“Longbeards”).
But Odin isn’t just a god of warfare and slaughter. He also presides over wisdom, learning, and magic – a rare (if not unique) trait for the head of a pantheon in world mythology. In fact, some accounts (such as the Ynglinga Saga) emphasize his wisdom and skills over his military role. Many Norse myths focus on his efforts to gain wisdom or acquire new knowledge. He’s especially interested in learning about the future so he can best guide the Aesir and avoid Ragnarok, the doom of the gods. But since abiding by one’s own profound wisdom doesn’t usually make for entertaining stories, in the Norse myths he often acts unwisely. Last but not least, Odin also dispenses wisdom to mortals, though unraveling the true meaning of what he says isn’t always easy.
Odin possesses profound magical powers and lore. In addition to his knowledge of galdrar (magic incantations or “songs”), he discovered the enchanted runes, and at times consorted with witches, wizards, and necromancers. He also mastered seidr, a type of magic brought to the Aesir by Freya. The Norse regarded seidr, which they typically associated with women, as a compromising, humiliating, or “unmanly” practice. Working seidr magic didn’t bother the All-Father, though. To him it was another tool with which he could help the gods and defeat their enemies. Loki mocks Odin about this in the Poetic Edda, stating:
They say that with spells in Samsey once
Like witches with charms didst thou work;
And in witch’s guise among men didst thou go;
Unmanly thy soul must seem.
As a god of battle, Odin is associated with death. His powers to travel to Hel and to raise the dead from their graves reinforce this association, as does his connection to hanged men and the gallows. In that his valkyries take the spirits of dead warriors to Valhalla, he also functions as a sort of psychopomp. And as commander of the einherjar (see below) he leads a host of the dead into battle.
Odin and his wife, Frigg. (Ivy Close Images / Alamy)
In this sense one can view Odin as having aspects of the shaman, and certainly his self-sacrifice on Yggdrasil (see next chapter) has a strong shamanic feel to it. So do his ability to inspire “ecstatic” states in some worshippers so they go berserk in battle, his frequent attempts to foresee or learn about the future, his power to ride his horse to the underworld, and his ability to change shape. Similarly, his leaving Asgard to wander the Nine Worlds to help the gods presents a mirror image of the typical shaman’s role of traveling from the Mortal World to the Spirit World to help the mortal community. Sending Hugin and Munin, his ravens, out to observe the world each day may also reflect shamanic visions or travel.
On the other hand, archetypical shamanic tokens and powers such as dancing and healing have little or no connection to Odin, calling his standing as a shaman into doubt. (As one commentator puts it, “references to shamanistic practices... do not make [Odin] a shaman.”) Some scholars argue that the suffering he endures to gain wisdom has more in common with the general ascetic practices found in many religions than with shamanism in particular.
Odin is a god of poetry and eloquence. One reason he appears so often in the sagas is that he’s the patron god of the poets who composed them. He can speak with grace or in finely-composed verse whenever he likes and can grant similar abilities to mortals; he’s the source of the skalds’ inspiration and creativity. He also obtained the magic mead of poetry for gods and men. Many kennings refer to this, describing verse as “the prize of Odin,” “the gift of Grimnir,” or “the holy cup of the raven-god.”
Frigg spins the clouds. (Ivy Close Images / Alamy)
Because Odin’s eternal purpose is to prepare for, and ultimately fight, Ragnarok, he sometimes does things that seem treacherous or deceptive. E.O.G. Turville-Petrie goes so far as to refer to him as a “god of lawlessness.” He wants to acquire the best warriors for his army of einherjar, and if that means tricking or taking advantage of mortals, or inspiring them to states of reckless bravery or berserk fury so that they soon fall in battle, so be it.
Norse myth and saga often imply or state outright that many warriors distrust Odin, and for good reason. For example, in the Havamal Odin himself specifically points out that it’s unwise to rely on him, saying bluntly, “How can his word be trusted?” Later in the Poetic Edda, Loki accuses him:
Be silent, Odin! not justly thou settest
The fate of the fight among men;
Oft gavst thou to him who deserved not the gift,
To the baser, the battle’s prize.
Scholars of Old Norse have proposed several different translations for Odin’s name, such as “Spirit,” “The Intoxicated One,” “Frenzy,” or “The Enraged One.” All of these refer to his role as a source of inspiration (or possession) for poetry/eloquence/wisdom/magic, going berserk in battle, and similar ecstatic conditions.
But just one name isn’t enough for such a powerful god with so many important aspects. Odin has more names and titles than any other Norse god – over 150 in the eddas and other skaldic sources. Some refer to his appearance, others to specific events from mythology or to his worship by mortals. Besides the well-known Alfadir (“All-Father”), some of them include:
Arhofdi (“Eagle Head”)
Baleyg (“Flame-Eye”)
Farmantyr (“God of Cargoes”)
Fjolsvidr (“The Very Wise One”)
Geirtyr (“Spear God”)
Hangatyr (“The Hanging God”)
Hrafnagud (“God of Ravens”)
Runatyr (“God of Runes”)
Sigfadir (“Father of Victory”)
Ygg (“The Terrible One”)
Additionally, Odin often uses false names when traveling in disguise. These include:
Vegtam (“Wanderer”)
Gagnradr (“Giving Good Counsel”)
Grímnir (“The Masked One”).
And Odin admits it:
Though I gave to him who deserved not the gift,
To the baser, the battle’s prize.
He says much the same in the Harbarzljod, when he brags of fomenting wars and never making peace, and his conduct in Hrolfs saga kraka (see next chapter) also displays his Machiavellian nature. The hero Dag, who calls on Odin for help and receives it, nevertheless says, “Odin alone caused all the misfortune for he cast hostile runes between the kinsmen.”
Sonatorrek, the famed skald Egil Skallagrimsson’s lament about the death of his two sons, movingly addresses this darker side of Odin. It describes Egil’s personal relationship with, and thoughts about, Odin in a way that’s unique in Old Norse literature. Portraying the All-Father as a grim shadow looming over the lives of mortals, he says that he doesn’t worship Odin willingly, though he admits Odin has granted him wonderful gifts – his abilities as a skald, and the power to perceive enemies – in compensation. He considers the death of his son Gunnarr too harsh a price for Odin to take from a mortal who has served him loyally.
But while Odin’s conduct may seem malicious or treacherous to mortals, he doesn’t act without purpose. In the Eiriksmal, a fragmentary tenth-century skaldic poem, he provides an eloquent explanation for his conduct. When the hero Sigmund asks, “Why, then, didst rob [Eirik] of victory, since valiant thou thought’st him?” Odin responds, “Because a grey wolf glares at the dwellings of the gods.” In other words, Odin needs the best warriors to fight Fenris, regardless of how unfair or cruel it may seem when he arranges their deaths so they can join him in Valhalla.
Besides being the leader of the Aesir, Odin is also the patriarch of the largest family in the Norse pantheon.
Odin’s brothers, Vili and Ve, helped him slay Ymir and create the world. Beyond that Norse myth has nothing to say about them. Some sources list the names of Odin’s brothers as Hoenir and Lodur, though it’s not clear if these are two additional brothers, alternate names for Vili and Ve, or something else. Hoenir, who’s described as tall and handsome, makes a minor appearance in a few myths.
Odin’s wife is the goddess Frigg. Their children include Baldur the god of peace; Hermod, who rides to Hel to try to ransom the life of his brother Baldur; Hodur the blind god; and according to the Prose Edda, Tyr the god of war.
But Odin isn’t entirely faithful to Frigg; he’s had sons with several other goddesses. By the earth goddess Jord he’s the father of Thor. Vidar, who avenges his father’s death at Ragnarok by slaying Fenris, and Vali, who avenges Baldur’s death, are his sons by the giantesses Grid and Rind, respectively.
The sagas tell us that Odin fathered many mortal heroes. These include Sigi, first of the Volsungs; Skjold, ancestor of the kings of Denmark; Saemingr, ancestor of the Norwegian kings; and Yngvi, forefather of the kings of Sweden.
Like many gods throughout world mythology, Odin has some unique possessions that provide him with special powers and abilities.
The first and most important of these is Gungnir (“The Swaying One”), his enchanted spear. It never misses its target, and it automatically returns to his hand after he throws it.
Odin obtained Gungnir thanks to Loki’s mischief. One day Loki came upon Thor’s wife, Sif, while she slept. Seeing her long, golden hair, a wicked thought came into his head. Taking out his knife he cut all her hair off.
When Thor discovered what had happened to Sif, he knew instantly who was to blame. He wanted to kill Loki, but Odin wouldn’t permit it. “None of the Aesir may slay another,” he said. He decreed that Loki must restore Sif’s hair.
Odin rides to war in this work by Arthur Rackham. (PD)
Loki journeyed to Svartalfheim and visited some dwarves known to him, the sons of Ivaldi, who possessed wondrous skill with smithcraft. Using all his powers of flattery and persuasion Loki convinced them to make new, living hair for Sif out of purest gold. But he realized that alone wouldn’t allay the wrath of the Aesir; he needed more gifts. So he talked the sons of Ivaldi into giving him two other wonders they had made, the magic ship Skidbladnir and the spear Gungnir. He presented the ship to Frey and the spear to Odin.
Sometimes Odin lends Gungnir to mortal heroes. A tale in the Poetic Edda tells how Dag, son of Hogni, sought vengeance for his father’s death at Helgi’s hand. He sacrificed to Odin and beseeched the All-Father for help. Odin lent him his spear, and with it Dag slew Helgi.
After regaining the Aesir’s favor, Loki bragged about the unmatched skill of his “friends,” the sons of Ivaldi. A dwarf named Brokk heard him and claimed that his brother Sindri was a better smith than the sons of Ivaldi. Their argument became so heated that Loki bet his head that Brokk and his brother could not produce greater gifts.
Brokk hurried to Sindri’s forge, where despite Loki’s interference Sindri made three things. The first was the shining, flying golden boar Gullinbursti. The second was Draupnir (“The Dripper”), an arm-ring that drops from itself eight rings of the same shape and weight every ninth night. The third was the mighty thunderbolt hammer Mjolnir.
Brokk returned to Asgard. He gave Gullinbursti to Frey. Odin received Draupnir, and thus always had rich rewards to give to his followers – a particularly appropriate gift for the All-Father, since generosity was one of the qualities the Norse most valued in a leader. Mjolnir went to Thor, and the Aesir judged it a greater gift than all the others combined. With his typical cunning, Loki weaseled out of his bet by claiming he’d only wagered his head, so Brokk had no right to touch his neck. Brokk settled for sewing Loki’s lips together with a leather thong.
Odin also possesses a magic throne called the Hlidskjalf, which he keeps in the top room of the tallest tower in his hall Valaskjalf. Anyone who sits in it can see throughout the Nine Worlds, and Odin often sits there so he can learn what takes place in the realms beyond Asgard. Occasionally Frigg sits there too.
The Poetic Edda tells how Frey dared to sit on the Hlidskjalf one day and paid for his presumption. In Jotunheim he saw the beautiful giantess Gerd and fell instantly in love. He gave his servant Skirnir his magic sword and his horse to go win her for him, which Skirnir did. But without his sword, Frey was easy prey for Surtur at Ragnarok.
Odin has several animal companions.
Sleipnir (“Sliding One”) is Odin’s eight-legged steed with magic runes carved on his teeth. The swiftest of all horses, Sleipnir can run over the land or through the sky with equal ease.
Odin and his brothers battle the giant Ymir.
Sleipnir is another gift Odin received as a result of Loki’s trickery. After the Aesir–Vanir war the Aesir wanted to have a strong wall built around their realm. A smith (actually a giant in disguise) offered to do the job for a high price – Freya, the Sun, and the Moon. Loki convinced the Aesir to accept the offer under the condition that the smith had to complete the job in only three seasons. The smith agreed and immediately went to work. When the gods realized the smith would succeed, they forced Loki to take care of the problem. Realizing the giant’s true advantage was his intelligent horse, Svadilfari, Loki changed shape into a beautiful mare. He seductively lured Svadilfari away so the giant couldn’t finish building the wall in time. Some months later Loki returned to Asgard with an eight-legged foal at his side and made a present of him to Odin.
Some scholars believe Sleipnir’s eight legs represent four pallbearers, and thus emphasize Odin’s role as god of the dead. Others have suggested that depictions of eight-legged horses in art may simply represent a horse running swiftly, and that the myth grew out of this.
Odin has two ravens: Hugin (“Thought”) and Munin (“Memory”). Every morning they leave Asgard and “fly over all the world” to observe what occurs. In the evening they return, perch on Odin’s shoulders, and whisper what they’ve learned to him.
Odin also has two fierce wolves, Freki and Geri (both meaning “The Greedy One”). They lie at his feet when he sits on the Hlidskjalf and when he presides over the feast table in Valhalla.
In addition to Valaskjalf, Odin possesses another hall lauded in song and story – Valhalla, the “Hall of the Slain.” Located in a part of Asgard called Gladsheim (“Shining Home”) next to the golden-leafed forest Glasir, it’s enormous. It has 540 doors, each of them wide enough that 800 warriors can march through shoulder to shoulder. The tables inside are so long they always have room for more feasters. Spears hold up Valhalla’s roof, which is thatched with shields. Coats of mail cover the benches; weapons and helmets hang on the walls as decoration.
Two animals wait to greet those who come to Valhalla – a wolf who sits before the western doors, and an eagle who hovers above the hall. Two more live on top of it. One is the goat Heidrun, who grazes on the leaves of a tree named Laeradr (which is part of Yggdrasil). Mead drips from her udders in an endless stream so that those who dwell in Odin’s hall always have enough to drink. The other is a deer, Eikthyrnir, from whose antlers water drips down to Hvergelmir, the spring beneath Yggdrasil which is the source of all the rivers in the world.
Anglo-Saxon and Germanic myth features the god Woden (sometimes written Wodan, Wotan, Godan), from whom the day-name “Wednesday” (Woden’s Day”) and numerous English and European place-names derive. Historians know relatively little about him or his worship; what evidence exists mainly takes the form of brief mentions in medieval texts. Most modern scholars conflate him with Odin to a greater or lesser degree, though some argue that the two are distinct deities.
The Anglo-Saxons regarded Woden as a forefather of their kings. They also seem to have considered him a psychopomp, though it’s unclear whether their Woden had an equivalent of Valhalla or the valkyries. His name may derive from root words relating to fury, madness, inspiration, or possession, indicating a shamanic link or connection to warfare. Some researchers suspect he may have once been a less important god who gradually took over the functions of Tiwaz (Tyr), thus becoming chief of the gods. Later Christian writers, such as Bede, euhemerized him as a powerful king and royal ancestor. The Nine Herbs Charm, a spell to counteract poison written down in the tenth century, describes Woden “[taking] nine glory-twigs” and smiting a serpent into nine parts. This is reminiscent of Odin glimpsing the mystic runes as he hangs on Yggdrasil.
Medieval folklore described Woden as the leader of the Wild Hunt (sometimes known as Woden’s Hunt). Some authorities also see Woden as the root figure behind Father Christmas/Santa Claus.
But the warriors in Valhalla don’t subsist on mead alone. For food Odin’s “guests” eat the pork of the great boar Saehrímnir. Each day the cook Audhrímnir slaughters the boar and cooks his meat in a cauldron called Eldhrímnir. Odin doesn’t eat the pork; he feeds his share to Freki and Geri and subsists only on wine.
Valhalla is the home of the einherjar (“Those Who Fight Alone”), human heroes and warriors chosen to fight for the Aesir. Every day they form armies and battle one another to the death to keep themselves in fighting trim. At day’s end they come back to life, hale and whole, and return to Valhalla to drink mead and eat pork.
Serving Odin and his warriors in Valhalla are the Valkyries, the “Choosers of the Slain.” These bold, beautiful, lethally-skilled warrior-women follow Odin into battle and select the heroes who will serve the All-Father in the afterlife and fight for the gods at Ragnarok. They also wait upon those warriors in Valhalla, bringing them food and drink.
Some sources list 13 valkyries: Geirahod; Goll; Herfjotur; Hildr; Hlokk; Hrist; Mist; Radgríd; Randgríd; Reginleif; Skeggjold; Skogul; and Thrudr (Thor’s daughter). But other tales mention additional Valkyries by name, calling the exact number into question. These include Brynhildr (the fallen valkyrie who plays a prominent role in the story of Sigurd), Geirskogul, Gondul, Gunnr, and Skuld.
A Valkyrie, by aRU-MOR.