While there are several reasons Odin maintains this commerce with the dead, including his desire to learn what knowledge and wisdom they possess, the most significant reason is his dread-driven desire to have as many of the best warriors as possible on his side when he must face the wolf Fenrir during Ragnarok– even though he knows that he’s doomed to die in the battle. Depicting Odin, the “All-Father”, seated on his throne holding the fabled Gungnir, with his ravens Huginn and Muninn perched on his arm and shoulder, this special Viking figurine is ideal for your altar, home decoration or just to have Odin by your side! What can we discern in all of this regarding Odin’s identity? In the same way that Thor is the divine force whose presence the Vikings felt in the thunder, Odin is the divine force whose presence the Vikings felt in óðr. To them, this inspiration/fury/ecstasy was not a profane phenomenon, but a sacred and even divine one that lay at the heart of countless different undertakings, including many that were both especially rarefied and especially decisive in the Vikings’ lives. This is perhaps why Odin is the chieftain of the gods – the realms of life over which he presided were to the other aspects of life what a ruler is to common people. West, Martin L. (2007). Indo-European Poetry and Myth. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-928075-9. Mimir’s Head: According to one myth, Odin preserved Mimir’s head through herbs and magical spells. This kept the god’s head in a semi-living state and allowed Odin to often ask Mimir for wisdom and advice.

Williamson, Craig (2011). A Feast of Creatures: Anglo-Saxon Riddle-Songs. University of Pennsylvania Press. ISBN 978-0812211290 If you only know Odin from Anthony Hopkins’ portrayal in the MCU movies you may be confused by this. How can an old, wise, and white-bearded man be viewed as a master of ecstasy? The key difference is that what we understand as “wise” today and what the Norse viewed as “wise” a thousand years ago are two very different things. Recently another attempt to understand the enigmatic figurine was floated by Bettina Sommer and Morten Warmind. They have proposed that it may instead represent a pre-Christian prophetess, a völva and that the figurine – which is hollow – might originally have been fitted to the top of a staff of one of these Viking sorceresses.

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Dronke, Ursula (Trans.) (1997). The Poetic Edda: Volume II: Mythological Poems. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-811181-9 There the gods and their descendants lived and there took place as a result many developments both on earth and aloft. In the city there is a seat called Hlidskialf, and when Odin sat in that throne he saw over all worlds and every man's activity and understood everything he saw. His wife was called Frigg Fiorgvin's daughter, and from them is descended the family line that we call the Æsir race, who have resided in Old Asgard and the realms that belong to it, and that whole line of descent is of divine origin. And this is why he can be called All-father, that he is father of all gods and of men and of everything that has been brought into being by him and his power. The earth was his daughter and his wife. Out of her he begot the first of his ons, that is Asa-Thor. [60]

It’s said that when Odin threw Gungnir, it would fly across the sky with a brilliant flashing light, like a meteor. Odin used Gungnir in many of his important battles, including the Vanir-Aesir war and during Ragnarok. 2. Valknut

Krister Vasshus, an ancient language specialist, said that because runic inscriptions are rare, “every runic inscription [is] vital to how we understand the past”. Spirit they possessed not, sense they had not, blood nor motive powers, nor goodly colour. Spirit gave Odin, sense gave Hœnir, blood gave Lodur, and goodly colour. Benjamin Thorpe translation: [44] Thorpe records (1851) that in Sweden, "when a noise, like that of carriages and horses, is heard by night, the people say: 'Odin is passing by'". [68] In the 16th century and by the entire Vasa dynasty, Odin (Swedish: Oden) was officially considered the first king of Sweden by that country's government and historians. This was influenced by an embellished list of rulers invented by Johannes Magnus. [88] As a God-king of the Æsir (Asgardian) gods and an Allfather of the world, Odin was understandably worshipped as a patron of Norse and Germanic rulers. However, he was also viewed as a patron god of criminals and outlaws.