Odin
Chief of the Æsir gods
NORSE MYTHOLOGY
CONTENT OVERVIEW
Introduction
Odin (Old Norse: Óðinn) is the eldest of the Norse gods. His status is that of chief, ruling a clan of gods called the Æsir. The surviving sources associate him with battle, war, victory, death, runes, poetry, sorcery and wisdom.
Of all the gods in Norse Mythology he is arguably the most complex and mysterious one. He not only regularly hides behind disguises but he also goes by various names when he travels.
It is safe to say that Odin was among the most influential gods in the Norse pantheon during the Viking age. In the surviving literary sources he is well presented and described as one of the main gods. Although the true extent of how much Odin was worshiped during the Viking age is difficult to measure, as there is little surviving evidence of the pagan religious practices.
The meaning of Odin's name
Odin or “Óðinn” in Old Norse translates to “The enraged one” or “The mad one”. The name can be broken down into two parts, “Óð-“ and “-inn”. The first part of the name is the adjective ”Óðr”, in English it can be translated as crazy, enraged, furious or mad. The “-inn” part is a suffix to “Óðr”. It plays a similar role as “the” in English. Only in Old Norse it is generally found at the end of words and has the added benefit of indicating the gender of the word as well. The reason why it has two “N” letters at the end is to indicate that this word is masculine. If it had an “in” ending it would be a feminine name in Old Norse.
On Odin's appearance and possessions
Odin is often portrayed as an enigmatic elderly man, with a missing eye and long gray beard.
There are two instances (Örvar-Odds saga and Bárðar saga Snæfellsáss) where he appears with a red beard. In those story he goes by the name Red-beard (Old Norse: Rauðgrani). It is unknown how old the two stories are, the oldest written sources of them are said to date back to the 13th and early 14th century.
In other sources that are considered even older he is painted with a gray beard. One could make the case that an older version is closer to the pagan depiction of the vikings. It is difficult to say how deeply set in stone his appearance was to people during the Viking age. Whether red bearded Odin was just as acceptable as a gray beard. After all, he was known to shapeshift.
When he wanders he does not seem to cloth himself to impress. He is often wearing a wide brimmed hat and a blue „hekla“, a hooded cloak/cape without sleeves.
Early in the Saga of the Volsungs Odin is described as he enters a wedding feast to gift a great sword and is described as follows:
„…He (Odin) was unknown to the men by sight. The man‘s dresscode was such that he wore a mottled cloak. The man had barefeet and had linen breeches tied around his legs. The man had a sword in hand, and walks to the barnstock, and wide brimmed hat on his head. He was very tall, old looking and sight on one eye…“ – The Saga of the Volsungs
When Odin appears later in the story to harvest Sigmund for his army we find his appearance described again, adding some detail to the previous description:
„Then a man (Odin) came to the battle wearing a brimmed hat and a blue cloak. He had one eye and a spear in hand.“-The saga of Volsungs
It‘s not only in The saga of the Völsungs we see him described. This is how he is described in the poem Grímnismál:
„He was wearing a blue cloak and was named Grimnir (Odin) and did not say more about himself though he was asked.“-Grimnismal
His disguises are good enough to fool even his close ones. In the poem Hárbarðarljóð he meets his son Thor who is walking homeward after fighting in the east. He doesn‘t seem to recognize his father sitting in a boat out on the water, disguised as an old ferryman who calls himself Harbard (Gray beard).
When Odin is not disguised on one of his travels his choice of attire seems to be different. In Gylfaginning Odin is described wearing a full war gear, riding out to battle on his steed Sleipnir wearing a golden helmet, beautiful armor and holding his spear Gungnir.
Odin also possesses a magical ring, called Draupnir. Forged by the dwarfs Eitri and Brokkr and given to the Allfather. Its name, “The dripper,” alludes to the wondrous ability of the ring to produce eight identical gold rings every ninth night.
Where does Odin live?
Odin lives in a realm called Asgard (Old Norse: Ásgarðr), the world of the gods. There he lives with his wife Frigg and the other Aesir gods.
Valhalla (Old Norse: Valhöll) is arguably his most well known hall. There is where the Einherjar, the battle slain warriors live out their afterlifes, feasting and fighting. Chosen out in the battlefield and brought to Asgard to join Odin’s every growing army.
Valaskjalf is another one of Odin‘s halls. Made by the gods themselves and covered with silver. Inside it sits Odin‘s throne Hlidskjalf (Old Norse: Hliðskjálf). When he sits on Hlidskjalf he can see far and wide, far enough to see what goes on in other worlds.
Hlidskjalf is not his only throne so to speak. He has another high seat at Gladsheim. The greatest house there is they say, built out of pure gold. It was the first place to be built in Asgard and sits in the center of it at Idavellir. Within Gladsheim is a high seat for Odin and other twelve seats. It‘s purpose – a place for Odin‘s council to gather, to judge the fate of men and discuss the construction of Asgard.
When Odin is not in Asgard he can regularly be found wandering in other corners of the world. Perhaps on one of his many quests for wisdom.
Odin's animal companions
It is not only in the realm of mankind that Odin seems to hold power in Norse myths. In Grímnismál Odin is revealed to king Geirröðr by the fact that no hound will attack him. Suggesting that he holds power over other animals alike.
Geri and Freki are Odin‘s two wolfs. Geri means „hungry“ and Freki means „greedy“. When Odin feasts at Valhalla he gives all his food to his wolfs. That does not mean he goes hungry himself. In Gylfaginning it is said that he has no need for food. Wine is both his drink and food.
Odin has two ravens called Huginn and Muninn. They fly around the world and gather news. At dawn each day they return, sit on his shoulders and tell him all they have seen and heared on the way. For this reason, Odin is also called Hrafnaguð (Raven God).
When Odin ventures outside of Asgard he has a choice of a magnificent steed with eight legs called Sleipnir. He is considered to be the greatest of all horses. The name Sleipnir means „The slippery one“, which may refer to his speed and agility. He is the offspring of the trickster Loki and the steed Svaðilfari.
Writing Odin's name in Viking runes.
During the Viking age a runic system of writing was in use, which is now commonly known as the Younger futhark. The system was not as standardized as for the widely used Roman alphabet. For our purposes it means that writing Odin in runes is perhaps not as simple is it may seem.
Let‘s take a look at two variations of how Odin was written during the viking age. One example dating to the early years of the viking age and the second to the later part of the era.
The Ribe skull fragment
A skull fragment with runic inscriptions was found in Denmark, dating back to the 8th century. The fragment is from a transitional period when the Elder futhark was developing into the Younger futhark. Which can be seen by the presence of the Elder futhark runes ᚺ (H) and ᛗ (M).
These are the runes carved into the skull fragment:
ᚢᛚᚠᚢᛦᚼᚢᚴᚢᚦᛁᚾᚼᚢᚴᚺᚢᛏᛁᚢᛦ
ᚺᛁᚼᛚᛒᛒᚢᚱᛁᛁᛋᚢᛁᚦᛦ
ᚦᚼᛁᛗᚼᚢᛁᚼᚱᚴᛁᚼᚢᚴᛏᚢᛁᚱᚴᚢᚾᛁᚾ ᛒᚢᚢᚱ
The inscription reads:
ulfuR-Auk-uþin-Auk-HutiuR-HiAlb-buri-is-uiþR-þAimA-uiArki-Auk-tuirk-unin-buur
In Old Norse it says:
Ulfr auk Ōðinn auk Hō-tiur. Hjalp buri es viðr þæima værki. Auk dverg unninn. Bōurr.
English translation:
Ulfr and Odin and High-tiur. Buri is help against this pain. And the dwarf (is) overcome. Bóurr
After breaking down the fragment word by word, this is how his name is found written in the early years of the viking age:
ᚢᚦᛁᚾ
Odendisa runestone
In Västmanland in Sweden there is a rune stone that was carved during the late Viking age. It is estimated to be from around the 11th century. On it we find Odin written out in Younger futhark runes. The stone doesn’t tell of Odin himself. It is rather a stone made in memory of a loved one. It tells of a woman named Odendisa (Odin’s godess).
The first sentence in runes reads:
“ᛒᚢᚬᚿᛏᛁ×ᚴᚢᚦᚱ×ᚼᚢᛚᛘᚴᚬᚽᛏᚱ×ᛚᛁᛏ×
ᚱᚽᛋᛆ×ᚢᚠᛏᚽᚱ×ᚬᚦᛁᚿᛏᛁᛋᚢ×ᚴᚢᚿᚢ×ᛋᚽᚿᚬ×…”
The inscription reads:
buonti × kuþr × hulmkoetr × lit × resa × ufteʀ × oþintisu × kunu × seno
In Old Norse it says:
Boandi góðr Hólmgautr let ræisa æftiʀ Óðindisu, kunu sina.
English translation:
“The good husbandman Hólmgautr had (the stone) raised in memory of Óðindísa, his wife.”
For our purposes we will separate Odendisa from the rest of the text on the runestone. This is how we find her name carved out:
ᚬᚦᛁᚿᛏᛁᛋᚢ
After removing the “disu” part from “Odendisu” we are left with the word Odin, which is written as follows:
ᚬᚦᛁᚿ
Some may wonder why his name isn’t written with two N’s at the end like how “Óðinn” is written in Old Norse. The reason why it is not spelled ᚬᚦᛁᚿᚿ is simply that it wasn’t the custom to do so. With Younger futhark (and Elder Futhark), a single rune is regularly used in instances where the Roman alphabet would use two letters to make a subtle distinction between sounds.
How to pronounce Odin like a Viking
The Vikings pronounced Odin in a different way than it is used in modern English. If we look at how it is spelled in Old Norse, the language of the Vikings – we see it spelled “Óðinn”.
Let’s dissect it letter by letter and use an English word to highlight the sound differences.
The “Ó” in Óðinn is pronounced like the “O” in the word “Boat”. So it’s quite similar.
The “ð” letter is where we begin to see a difference. Although it may look similar to a “d” letter it does not make the same sound. It makes a sound like “th” in the word “those”.
The letter “I” can sound differently between words in english. The “I” in “wise” does not sound the same as it does in “victory”. So there is a reason to highlight that here it does indeed sound like we hear it spoken in “victory”.
In Old Norse Odin is spelled with two “N” letters at the end, “Óðinn”. This indicates a subtle emphazis on the “N” sound. If it were written with a single “n”, “Óðin” – The “I” sound would hang in the air for a bit longer than with two at the back. A close english example would be the word “inner”.
That is how the vikings would have called the name of their god. Othin or Othinn would perhaps be a more correct way of spelling his name in English.