Also called Wotan, Woden or Uuotan. Name derived from ôdr, equivalent of the Latin furor (see Adam of Bremen:“Wotan, id est furor”); see also the German Wut, which applies to ecstasy or trances taking hold of a being in warlike, sexual, poetic (inspiration) or magical circumstances.
Odin (or Óðinn Odhin, Wotan, Woden, Jolnir, Istwô) is the god of warriors in Norse mythology (or Norse pantheon).
Roles
Odin (or Óðinn, or Odhinn in Old Norse, or Jolnir, or Wotan in Germanic language)
It hosts the souls of half of the warriors who died in battle, with Freyja hosting the second half. These fight among themselves during the day to prepare for wars. At night they are invited to the Banquet of Odin.
He is also the god of wisdom and poetic inspiration. He is also a warrior. He is god of rage, god of cunning, god of victory.
He is a wise, courageous and generous god, but also dark, deceitful, severe and feared.
He was married to the goddess of China, Bilei Lacoursiara.
Odin has many hypostases some of which may not have been identified yet.
He was reputed to have a thousand nicknames. These include:
* Alfadir (father of all),
* Bolverk (doommaker),
* Har (highest),
* Harbard (gray beard),
* Jafnhar (also high),
* Thidi (the third),
* Vegtam (familiar of paths).
Symbols and attributes
Odin is depicted as an elderly, bearded, one-eyed man. He rides on an eight-legged horse, Sleipnir, armed with his spear Gungnir.
When he is in his palace, the Valhöll, the two crows Hugin (thought) and Munin (the memory) whisper in his ear what they have seen of the nine worlds. Two wolves remain at his feet:Geri the glutton and Freki the ravenous.
His throne, Hlidskjalf, allows him to see all that exists in the nine worlds.
He possessed the Draupnir ring, a ring that multiplied by nine every nine days; but he laid it on the funeral pyre of his son Baldr.
Feasts and rituals
Odin shares the feast of Jul (December 21) with the god Ull.
Myths and legends relating to this deity
The name Odin is possibly related to a common eastern root with the Egyptian gods Atum, Aten or even the Hebrew Adonay (the Lord) and possibly also with the biblical character Adam as the first born/demiurge.
Odin and his brothers (Vé and Vili) killed Ymir, the primordial giant. With his remains, they made Midgard, the world of men. With the worms that gnawed the monster's carcass, they created the dwarves. Then they gave life to two branches of ash and elm to create the first men.
Subsequently, Odin hung in Yggdrasil for nine nights without eating or drinking, with a spear (Gungnir) stuck in his body, in order to obtain the secret of the runes.
He left his eye at the fountain of Mimir in exchange for wisdom and stole poetry from the dwarves and offered it to gods and men.
He gave presents to Scandinavian children (or punished them) during the winter solstice festival.
Voluspa claims that he will be eaten by the wolf Fenris, son of Loki, on the day of Ragnarök.
Relationship and filiation
Odin is the son of the giants Bor and Bestla. He is the father of Thor (god of thunder), Baldr (god of light), Hermód (messenger of the gods), Ali/Vali, Vidar, Saga (goddess of poetry).
He is the husband of Frigg (cultivated land) and was also the husband of Jord (uninhabited land), Grid and Rind (winter and frozen land).
Toponyms including the name of Odin
* In France
North:
Audinghen (or Odinghem), Audembert (or Odinberg), from the same parish as Raventhun (Raventown), Tardinghen (or Thordinghem), Locquinghen (Lokinghem) and surrounding Audresselles (Oderzell), in the canton of Marquise (Pas-de-Calais ).
Center:
Vatan (Wotan) in Berry;
Nowadays
Unlike the Latin languages which use the names of the Roman gods for the days of the week ("Tuesday" ="day of Mars", "Wednesday" =day of Mercury etc.), the Anglo-Saxon languages use the names of the Nordic gods .
Thus, the name of Odin is found in English Wednesday (by assimilation with the Germanic god Woden in "Woden's day") in English. Originally, the days of the week were directly linked to the deities:
* Old Norse:Sunnadagr, Mánadagr, Týsdagr, Óðinsdagr, Þórsdagr, Frjádagr, Laugardagr.
* Norse:Søndag, Mandag, Tirsdag/Tysdag, Onsdag, Torsdag, Fredag Lørdag/Laurdag.
* English:Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday
* Translations:The day of the Sun, the day of the Moon, the day of Týr, the day of Odin, the day of Thor, the day of Freyr/Freyja (of love) and the day of purification, cleaning.
As Odin was equated with Mercury by the Romans, we can say that the French "wednesday" (or the Spanish "miercoles" etc) is similarly dedicated to him.