Norse god Odin
was the main
Viking god. He is
also called All-
Father since he is
the father of all the gods and
actually goes by
some 36 different
names. The main
reason for that is
his tendency to disguise himself
on his travels among ordinary people. Wearing a mask, a
long hat and a green coat was his favorite
disguise. He is described as the king of the gods and the
other gods make up his court and serve him
even though they are powerful themselves. Odin is the wisest of the Viking gods and
seeks his knowledge far, even to his arch
enemies the giants. A lot of his knowledge
comes from the giant Mimir. According to the
story he went there to get a drink from the
fountain of Mimir in order to gain supreme knowledge. Mimir didn’t allow him that unless he sacrificed
one of his eyes. From then on Odin has been
with but one eye since the other one is still on
the bottom of Mimir’s fountain. He pulls his
hood over the missing eye and that is one way
of recognizing him when he is traveling among humans. From the giants Odin also got
the mead of poetry. Odin is first and foremost a powerful wizard.
When Mimir was killed by Vanir, Odin got his
head and he conjured it so that it told him
many secrets. He also used to ask the head for
advice in emergency situations. Wizardry was often conducted with runes and
Odin got his great knowledge of the runes
through an unusual experience. He hung
from a tree for nine nights without food or
drink and with a spear in his side. By suffering this way he gained all the
knowledge of the mysterious runes. Actually
the original meaning of the word rune is
mystery and very few people understood
them. Since the time he hung in the tree, he never
eats which is another way of recognizing him
in his disguise. The mysterious traveler who
does not eat while others do, might be the
Norse god Odin himself in disguise! Odin also used his wizardry to seduce women.
For example he seduced a woman called
Gunnlada to get the mead of poetry. Odin had
her give birth to two boys Vali and Vidir that
were to become avengers of the gods. Vidar is
to avenge Odin and Vali is to avenge Baldur. Odin has two ravens, Huginn and Muninn, that
sit on his shoulders. He sends them each day
to all corners of the world to seek news and
they whisper in his ears everything that they
see and hear. If Odin wants to see things for
himself he often does so by sitting in his throne, Hlidarskialf. From there he can see
every world. Odin’s home is called Valhalla (Hall of battle
slain). It is a magnificent place and many live
there with him because everyone that has
been killed in battle from the beginning of
time gets to go there. These are Odin’s
favourites. Valhalla is a big place with 640 doors and in
armageddon 960 battle dead warriors will
pass through each door to fight the giants. Odin frequently meddled in the affairs of
humans in order to stir up violence and war.
By doing that he increased the number of
warriors in Valhalla that would fight with him
in the final battle. His fate will eventually be
that he’s eaten by the wolf Fenri in the final battle against the giants.
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