![]() ![]() Though hero gods, such as the mighty Thor, fought with brute strength and bravado, the trickster god Odin dismissed these tools in favor of craft and cunning. He spoke in poetry and riddles and commanded beasts, even taking their forms upon occasion. He sought knowledge above all else-of his enemies and the future-and courted shamans, seers, and necromancers in order to attain it. While Odin kept his court in the hall of Valhalla located in Asgard-one of the Nine Realms in Norse mythology-he preferred to wander in the guise of a traveler. Wikimedia Commons Public Domainĭespite his military prowess, Odin defied many conventions of the warrior-king archetype so highly idealized by the Norse. ![]() Tolkien based the character of Gandalf on Odin. This image better captures Odin as he appeared in myth. This image appeared in an 1893 Swedish translation of the Poetic Edda (also known as the Elder Edda), a compilation of Norse mythic poetry that serves as the most important single source for the history of Norse mythology. Oden som vandringsman, or Odin as Wanderer by Georg von Rosen (1886). He would often be accompanied by his familiars-the wolves Geri and Freki, and ravens Huminn and Muninn-and rode an eight-legged horse named Sleipnir.īefitting his kingly stature, Odin was also a mighty warrior-it was said that he never lost a battle there were even some who believed he could not lose a battle. Known as “all-father,” among many other epithets, Odin was usually depicted with one eye and a long beard. Widely worshiped by the Germanic peoples of the Middle Ages, Odin, furious lord of ecstasy and inspiration, was the highest of deities and the chief of the Aesir tribe of gods and goddesses.
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