Of the Sagas

Óðinn / Odin

Óðinn

Odin is the Allfather — and the strangest god in any pantheon. Lord of the Æsir, he is the god of war and of poetry, of kingship and of magic, of the dead and of wisdom; but he wins none of it cheaply. He gave an eye at Mímir's well for a draught of understanding, and hanged himself nine nights on the windswept tree, pierced by his own spear, to seize the runes from death. He wanders the human world in a grey cloak and a broad hat, one-eyed, under a hundred false names, stirring up wars and testing men with riddles. He is no comforter: he gathers the bravest of the slain to Valhalla not to save them but to stand with him at Ragnarök, where he knows the wolf Fenrir will swallow him all the same. The seeker who trades pieces of himself for knowledge he cannot use to escape his doom — that is the god the whole North looked up to.

Kin

Þórr (Thor) Baldr / Balder Frigg

Feud

Loki Þórr (Thor) Böðvar Bjarki (Bjarke) Vafþrúðnir Geirröðr Fenrir

Appears with

Loki The Völva (the Seeress) Hadding (Haddingr) Gefjon Njörðr (Niord) Agnar

Where

Ásaland (Asia) Svíþjóð (Sweden) Hel (the realm of the dead)

Go deeper

12 key events 4 values 7 themes the saga’s own words

Walks through

The Sayings of the High Oneunlock Grímnismál — Odin Between the Firesunlock Vafþrúðnismál — Odin's Wisdom-Duelunlock The Wisdom and Adventures of the Godsunlock The Ynglinga Saga — Gods Made Kingsunlock The Beguiling of Gylfiunlock Hadding — the Hero of Odinunlock Hárbarðsljóð — Thor and the Ferrymanunlock Baldrs Draumar — Baldr's Dreamsunlock Balder and Hother — the Other Death of Baldrunlock Loki's Wrangling — the Feast at Ægir's Hallunlock Rolf Kraki and the Last Stand at Lejreunlock The Seeress's Prophecyunlock The Binding of Fenrir — and the Hand of Týrunlock

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