Odin, the Allfather - The one eyed God of the north
Odin is one of the most important gods in Norse mythology. He is called the Allfather, the ruler of the gods, but he is not a simple king. He is clever, restless, and often dangerous. He searches for wisdom wherever he can find it, even if it means giving up part of himself. Unlike Thor, who is strong and direct, Odin relies on cunning, knowledge, and secret magic. He is one-eyed, followed by his ravens and wolves, and he rules over Valhalla, the hall where the bravest warriors dwell after death.
Names and Identity
The very name Odin tells us much about his nature. It comes from the Old Norse Óðinn, which itself is rooted in the Proto-Germanic word Wōðanaz. This older word carries the sense of “fury,” “inspired mind,” or “possessed by ecstasy.” It is linked to the root wōð- meaning both poetic inspiration and wild frenzy. This double meaning (poetry on one side, madness on the other) sums up Odin’s character perfectly. He is the god of the skald, the inspired poet, and also the god of the berserker, the warrior overcome with battle rage.
In different Germanic languages, Odin’s name appears in various forms. Among the Anglo-Saxons of England he was Woden, while in Old High German he was Wuotan, and among the Lombards he was Godan. Despite the different spellings, the essence remains the same: a god tied to inspired fury, cunning, and leadership.
His memory still lingers in modern English in the day Wednesday, which means “Woden’s day,” just as “Thursday” is Thor’s day and “Friday” is Frigg’s day.
Odin is also a god of many names more than two hundred, according to medieval lists. Each name highlights a different side of his personality.
• He is Grímnir, “the masked one,” when he travels in disguise.
• He is Bölverkr, “evil-worker,” when he tricks the giant Suttungr to steal the mead of poetry.
• He is Gangleri, “the wanderer,” when he roams the world in search of knowledge.
The sheer number of names shows not only his shape shifting and disguise, but also how his worshippers saw him as many sided and changeable.
Odin Before the Norse Age
Odin, as the 'Viking Age' knew him, was not born overnight. His figure is the result of centuries of development, stretching back to the earliest Germanic peoples. In the Proto-Norse period (roughly 2nd–6th centuries CE), we find inscriptions and images that show his presence. Bracteates (small gold pendants worn as amulets) sometimes bear runes calling on Wōðanaz, and others show a one eyed spear bearer with animals, strongly linked to Odin.
Long before the 'Viking Age', people already honoured a god of fury, magic, and kingship.
Even earlier, in Proto-Germanic times (before the 1st century CE), the ancestors of Odin were worshipped by Germanic tribes across northern Europe. The Roman historian Tacitus, writing in the 1st century, tells us that the Germanic peoples worshipped Mercury above all other gods. This “Mercury” was not the Roman god himself, but rather Odin, seen through Roman eyes. The link makes perfect sense.. Mercury, like Odin, was a god of travellers, of cunning, of guiding the dead, and of secret wisdom.
If we look even deeper, scholars trace Odin back into the world of -
• Proto-Indo-European religion - Odin may belong to the type of the sovereign magician king, a figure found in many Indo-European mythologies.
• In the Roman pantheon, he resembles Mercury and sometimes Jupiter.
• In Celtic tradition, he is close to Lugh, a god of many skills, poetry, and leadership.
• The Indian god Varuna, keeper of oaths and hidden wisdom, also shares features with Odin, especially his darker, mysterious side.
This older picture suggests that Odin grew out of an ancient idea of a god who rules not by strength alone but by cunning, speech, magic, and hidden knowledge. While the Indo-European sky-god (like Zeus or Dyaus) ruled the heavens with open power, Odin represents a subtler force.. the ruler who sees what others cannot, who bends fate with words and wisdom, and who uses trickery as much as strength.
Odin’s countless names and ancient roots show us that he is not one thing but many. He is the inspired poet, the furious warrior, the hidden wanderer, the one-eyed seer, and the grim ruler of the slain. He is both noble and deceitful, both a giver of gifts and a taker of lives. His identity stretches back beyond the 'Viking Age', beyond the sagas, into the shared myths of the earliest Germanic and Indo-European peoples. This is why he is so hard to pin down. Odin is never still, never final. He is always in motion, always seeking.
Odin in the Old Stories
We meet Odin most clearly in the Poetic Edda, a collection of old poems written down in Iceland in the thirteenth century but containing much older material. These poems show him as both wise teacher and relentless seeker of knowledge. In Hávamál (“Sayings of the High One”), Odin speaks directly to the listener, offering advice on how to live wisely in a hard world.
He stresses caution, good manners, and the need to think ahead, but he also shares the story of his own trial on the world tree, Yggdrasil.
In stanzas 138–165, he tells how he hung there for nine nights, pierced by his own spear, without food or drink, until he won the secret of the runes. This tale shows how far he is willing to go in pursuit of wisdom, even if it means suffering and death-like ordeal. It also teaches that knowledge is never free; it must be earned through sacrifice.
Another poem, Völuspá (“The Prophecy of the Seeress”), presents Odin as a questioner. He summons a völva, a wise woman and seeress, from her grave to tell him of the past and the future. She describes the creation of the world, the shaping of humans, the great deeds of the gods, and finally the destruction of the cosmos at Ragnarök. Odin’s role here is that of the listener who seeks to know all things, even if the truth is grim. His questioning shows his hunger for knowledge, but also reveals that even he cannot escape fate, since the seeress foresees his death at the jaws of the wolf Fenrir.
In Grímnismál (“Sayings of Grímnir”), Odin appears under one of his many names, disguised as Grímnir. After making a wager with his wife Frigg, he visits King Geirröðr, who does not recognise him and has him tortured by placing him between two fires. While in this painful position, Odin speaks at length, describing the homes of the gods, the nature of the world, and the ways of fate. In the end, he reveals his true identity, terrifying the king, who then dies by accident. This story shows both Odin’s endurance under trial and the deadly power of his words when he chooses to speak the truth.
The Prose Edda, written by Snorri Sturluson, retells many of these myths in a systematic way. In the Gylfaginning section, Odin is described as the ruler of the gods, seated in Valhalla where the slain warriors dwell. Here we find details of his treasures, like the spear Gungnir and the ring Draupnir, and of his companions, including the valkyries who choose which warriors die in battle.
The Skáldskaparmál section describes how Odin stole the mead of poetry from the giants, bringing to gods and humans the gift of verse. These stories expand our picture of Odin, showing him as a collector of powers and a giver of skills, but also as a trickster who uses cunning and disguise to reach his goals.
The Ynglinga saga, part of Snorri’s Heimskringla, goes even further by presenting Odin not as a distant god but as a wandering leader who travelled from Asia into the north. There he became a king and a teacher, showing men how to practise magic, sacrifices, and battle arts. In this tale he is portrayed almost like a human ancestor who later came to be worshipped as divine. This approach is called “euhemerism,” where gods are explained as great humans from the distant past.
The Danish historian Saxo Grammaticus, writing around the same time, also described Odin in human terms in his Gesta Danorum. Here Odin is not always noble. Saxo paints him as a wanderer, a cunning man, and even as a figure who could be banished or overthrown. Though this may seem disrespectful compared to the myths, it reflects how Christian writers of the Middle Ages tried to explain or reduce the old gods to the level of mortals.
Even earlier, the Roman writer Tacitus, in his book Germania written in the first century CE, described the gods of the Germanic tribes. He said that the people worshipped Mercury above all, and that they even offered him human sacrifices. Scholars agree that this Mercury was in fact Odin, since the Romans often matched foreign gods to their own. The link makes sense: Mercury, like Odin, was a traveller, a guide of souls, and a god of wisdom and trickery. This record proves that worship of Odin reaches back long before the 'Viking Age' and was already central to Germanic religion nearly two thousand years ago.
Odin in Archaeology
The written sources we have about Odin, such as the Eddas and the sagas, were recorded in medieval Iceland, long after Christianity had spread through the north. Yet Odin’s worship stretches much further back, as shown by the objects unearthed by archaeologists. These finds take us into the Migration Period (around the 4th–6th centuries CE) and even earlier, proving that the followers of Odin was already well established centuries before the 'Vikings'.
One of the most important discoveries is a gold bracteate from Denmark, made in the fifth century. Bracteates are thin, stamped pendants worn as amulets, often decorated with strange, symbolic images.
On one bracteate, found in the Vindelev hoard, the runic inscription clearly names Odin. This is the oldest written reference to his name so far discovered. The design shows a human figure beside a horse, a common theme in these objects, and likely linked to Odin’s role as a shamanic rider between worlds. This proves that Odin was not only worshipped at this early time but was important enough to appear on protective jewellery carried close to the body.
Another powerful piece of evidence comes from Ribe in Denmark, an early trading town. Archaeologists found a fragment of a human skull carved with runes, dating to around the 8th century. The runes form a 'magical charm' that calls directly on Odin for help. This shows us that Odin was not only a distant figure of myth but a living god people invoked for healing and protection. It also connects him with magic and runes, themes that dominate the later written myths, confirming that his link to wisdom and sorcery was already central to his identity in the centuries before the 'Viking Age'.
The Torslunda plates, discovered on the Swedish island of Öland, add a visual layer to our understanding. These bronze dies were used to stamp thin foil images for helmets and armour in the 6th and 7th centuries. One famous plate shows a spear-bearing figure with only one visible eye, standing beside a warrior in a wolf mask. Many scholars see this as Odin with one of his berserkers or wolf-warriors, men who fought in a trance-like fury and were believed to channel the power of the god. The single eye strongly suggests Odin, and the connection with the wolf-warrior reflects his role as leader of the frenzied and the chosen dead.
There are other finds too (rune stones, amulets, and place-names) that hint at Odin’s wide following. Inscriptions from Norway and Sweden mention his name in charms and memorials. Later 'Viking Age' carvings, such as those at Gotland, show armed figures on horseback that many believe are linked to Odin and Sleipnir. These finds build a picture of a god who was both protector and destroyer, both giver of wisdom and taker of life, and who was already a focus of worship centuries before Christian scribes wrote down the myths.
Family and Companions
Odin does not stand alone. His power and character are shaped by the family he belongs to, the allies he keeps, and the magical beings and treasures that surround him. They form the world of the Allfather, a network of ties stretching from the creation of the cosmos to its end at Ragnarök.
At the dawn of time, Odin and his brothers Vili and Vé helped to bring order out of chaos. They slew the primeval giant Ymir, whose body was then shaped into the world itself. His flesh became the land, his blood the seas, his bones the mountains, and his skull the sky..From this act of violence, the world was born.
The three brothers also created the first humans, Ask and Embla, giving them breath, mind, and life. This shows Odin’s role as a 'creator', but also one who uses destruction to make something new - Death & rebirth, which is a common theme in norse mythology. His brothers fade from the stories after these early deeds leaving Odin as the chief god.
Odin’s wife is Frigg, the queen of the gods, known for her wisdom and for her power to see the future, though she rarely reveals what she knows. With her, Odin fathered sons such as Baldr, the shining god of beauty and innocence, and Höðr, the blind god whose tragic role in Baldr’s death would set events moving toward Ragnarök. Yet Odin’s family extends beyond Frigg. With the Earth goddess Jörð, he fathered Thor, the thunder god and champion of mankind.
Odin also fathered Víðarr, the silent god who is fated to avenge him at Ragnarök, and Váli, born to take vengeance for Baldr. Each child represents a different aspect of fate - beauty, tragedy, strength, vengeance, or endurance.
Not all of Odin’s ties are through blood alone. He swore a bond of blood-brotherhood with Loki, the trickster god. Loki is clever, shape-shifting, and often helpful, but also deceitful and dangerous. This friendship brought both gain and grief. Loki helps Odin with schemes, and even gave him Sleipnir, the greatest of horses, but he also brings about Baldr’s death and sides with the giants at Ragnarök. The bond between Odin and Loki symbolises how wisdom and trickery are never far apart. To gain knowledge and power, Odin accepts that you must befriend chaos to seek wisdom.
Odin is never without his faithful creatures. His two ravens, Huginn (“thought”) and Muninn (“memory”), fly across the nine worlds each morning and return at night to whisper news into his ears. Through them, Odin knows what happens everywhere. Yet in Hávamál, he admits his fear that Muninn, memory, may not return showing his concern that memory can fail, even for a god.
At his feet are his wolves, Geri and Freki, fed by Odin himself while he drinks only wine, a detail that underlines his otherworldly nature. These animals are not pets but extensions of Odin’s own powers: thought, memory, hunger, and ferocity.
Odin also holds treasures that embody his strength. His spear, Gungnir, crafted by the dwarves, is said never to miss its mark. In battles and sacrifices, it represents his right to claim the slain. His golden ring, Draupnir, drips new rings every ninth night, a sign of unending wealth and the power of giving. These objects are not simple tools but symbols of his rule.. victory through the spear, prosperity through the ring.
Most striking of all is Odin’s horse, Sleipnir. With eight legs, Sleipnir can travel faster than any other creature, carrying Odin across land, sea, and sky, and even into the realms of the dead. Sleipnir’s birth is strange.. he is the child of Loki, who once turned into a mare to distract a builder’s stallion. Yet despite this odd origin, Sleipnir becomes the greatest horse of all, perfectly fitting Odin, who is himself strange, shapeshifting, and never bound by the ordinary.
Beyond animals and treasures, Odin is surrounded by the valkyries, shining maidens who ride to battle to choose which warriors will die. Half of the slain go to Odin’s hall, Valhalla, where they feast and fight each day, training for the final war of Ragnarök. The other half go to Freyja in her hall, but Odin’s Einherjar (the “once-slain”) are his chosen army.
Valhalla itself is described as a hall with shields for tiles, spears for rafters, and benches filled with warriors.
Powers and Magic
Odin is not a god of raw muscle or thunder. That role belongs to his son Thor. Instead, Odin rules by knowledge, cunning, and magic. His strength lies in his hunger to know what others do not, and in his willingness to pay any price for it. This makes him different from many gods of other traditions, who gain wisdom simply by their birth. Odin earns his wisdom, often through suffering, and this is what sets him apart.
One of the most famous tales tells how Odin sought a drink from the well of Mímir, which lay beneath one of the roots of the world tree, Yggdrasil. This well contained deep wisdom .. the knowledge of fate, past and future, and the secrets of the cosmos. Mímir, the wise guardian of the well, demanded a high price. Odin agreed to give one of his eyes, and so he plucked it out and left it behind as payment.
From then on, he walked the world with only one eye, but with a gaze that saw far deeper than before. The story shows that wisdom always has a cost, and that true insight requires sacrifice.
Odin’s greatest act of sacrifice is told in Hávamál. He hung himself upon Yggdrasil, the world tree, for nine nights and days. He was pierced with his own spear, offered as a sacrifice to himself. He ate no food and drank no water, hanging between life and death. At the end of his ordeal, he looked down and saw the runes.. mystical signs that carry both magical power and the gift of writing.
With a great cry, he seized them, gaining their knowledge - This means Odin was the first rune master and teacher of runic magic. More deeply.. it tells us that wisdom and power are not given freely, but must be won through suffering, endurance, and a willingness to risk everything.
Odin also learned seiðr, a form of magic closely tied to prophecy, weaving of fate, and controlling outcomes. According to the sagas, it was the goddess Freyja of the Vanir who first taught this art to Odin. Seiðr often involved trance, visions, and changing of shape. Among humans, it was mainly practised by women, and when men did it, they risked mockery and shame. Loki even mocks Odin for using this “unmanly” magic. Yet Odin embraced it because for him, no price was too high for wisdom.
Odin is also often described as able to send out his spirit, leaving his body to travel across the worlds in the form of animals. He can take on many disguises, appearing as an old man in a cloak and wide brimmed hat, or as other figures entirely. His names like Grímnir, “the masked one” reflect this.
In myths, he tricks giants, mortals, and even other gods with his words and forms. His mastery of disguise makes him the ultimate wanderer, always seeking, always testing.
Giver of Poetry
Odin is also the god of poetry and inspiration - this gift came from his theft of the mead of poetry, a magical drink created from the blood of the wise being Kvasir. The mead was kept by the giant Suttungr, but Odin tricked his way into its keeping by disguising himself as a labourer named Bölverkr, “evil-worker.”
He seduced Suttungr’s daughter, drank all the mead, and flew away in the shape of an eagle to bring it back to the gods. Some drops of the mead fell to earth, giving poetry to humankind.
All of these powers - wisdom through sacrifice, mastery of runes, command of seiðr, shapeshifting, and the gift of poetry show Odin as a trickster king of sorts. He does not simply issue commands he bends the world to his will by words, wit, and secret knowledge.
This is why going back to what is said before he is often compared to Mercury by the Romans.. both are travellers, magicians, and guides of the dead.
Odin in Worship
Odin was not just a character in stories; he was a living presence in the religious life of the Germanic peoples. His worship was spread across Scandinavia, Germany, and Anglo-Saxon England, and echoes of it survive in place names. The Danish city of Odense means “Odin’s sanctuary,” showing that it was once a centre of his followers.
In England, names like Wednesbury (“Woden’s fort”) and Wednesday (“Woden’s day”) preserve his memory in everyday speech.
Odin’s following was most strongly tied to warriors and kings. Chieftains swore oaths in his name, and rulers traced their family lines back to him to claim legitimacy. Warriors prayed to him for victory in battle, while kings looked to him for the wisdom needed to rule. Unlike Thor, who protected ordinary folk, Odin’s gifts were directed to leaders, poets, and those who sought power.
Sacrifices were made to Odin to win his favour. These could be animals, weapons, or treasures, but sometimes they were human lives. Victims were often hanged or pierced with a spear, echoing Odin’s own sacrifice on Yggdrasil.
The most famous account comes from the historian Adam of Bremen in the 11th century, who described sacrifices to Odin at the great temple of Uppsala in Sweden. There, humans and animals alike were offered to him, their bodies hung in a sacred grove. Such rites underline Odin’s fearsome nature.. he was not only a giver of victory but also a god who demanded high payment.
Odin was both feared and honoured. He could bring triumph in battle, but he could also lead men to their doom, claiming their souls for Valhalla. To worship Odin was to seek greatness, but it also meant risking destruction.
When we compare Odin with gods of other cultures, we find striking similarities. The Romans, encountering the Germanic tribes, identified Odin with their god Mercury. At first glance this may seem odd.. Mercury is not a war god, but a messenger. Yet the match is fitting. Both are wanderers, both guide the souls of the dead, both use cunning and trickery, and both are tied to speech and knowledge.
This is why Tacitus, writing in the 1st century CE, reported that the Germans worshipped Mercury above all.
In Celtic tradition, Odin has parallels with Lugh (or Lugus), a god of many skills who was master of crafts, poetry, and leadership. Like Odin, Lugh was not limited to one domain but embodied the idea of many sided excellence.
Looking further back, scholars of Indo-European religion place Odin within the ancient pattern of the three functions. In this scheme, societies imagined their gods and rulers in three roles - the sacred ruler, the warrior, and the provider of fertility and wealth. Odin fits the first role as the mystical, magical sovereign.
His counterpart, Týr, represents the lawful and just side of rule, while Thor embodies the raw warrior strength.
Lessons from Odin
The myths of Odin are not only tales of gods but also lessons for humans. Above all, they teach that wisdom has a price.
• Odin gave up one of his eyes to drink from Mímir’s well.
• He sacrificed himself on the world tree to gain the runes.
• He risked shame by learning seiðr, the magic usually practised by women.
In each case, knowledge was won only through loss, pain, or courage. His example warns us that every gift comes with a COST.
At the same time, Odin’s words in Hávamál offer practical wisdom. He counsels moderation in food and drink, careful choice of friends, and the need to be watchful. He values memory and thought, symbolised by his ravens, Huginn and Muninn. Thought alone is not enough.. without memory, it is wasted. Memory alone is also not enough - without thought, it becomes stale.
The two must fly together.
Odin’s disguises and many names teach another lesson - problems can be solved by looking at them from different angles. The wanderer in the cloak, the masked one, the trickster, the poet.. all are Odin, and all are ways of seeing the world.
His myths encourage flexibility, creativity, and the courage to change one’s role when needed.
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Odin is not a simple hero to admire uncritically. He is both inspiring and frightening, generous and ruthless. He is a wanderer, a seeker, a ruler, and a trickster. He bends the world with his will, not by brute force but by knowledge and cunning.
Through the evidence of poetry, saga, archaeology, and history, his image has survived from the earliest Germanic tribes to the present day. More than a god of the 'Vikings', Odin is a timeless symbol of the restless human search for meaning, knowledge, and power.