Odin

   In Nordic myth the elder son of Thor by the giantess Besla (though elsewhere Thor is his son). He was one of the slayers of Ymir and with his two brothers Vili and Ve participated in the Nordic Creation myth. As leader of the Aesir he gradually displaced Thor, who was the representative of the peasantry, while Odin was the hero of the warriors. His title of ‘Allfather’ was probably a move to confirm him in this position. Odin was a god of the dead, of cunning, of poetry, and, on occasion, of wisdom. He had originally been chief of a raven clan. He was not renowned for prowess in battle unless backed up by Thor and Tyr, but was the inventor of tactics. In Ragnarok he died in conflict with Fenrir. In some measure he resembled Thoth, the Egyptian god of learning; the story of his ‘catching up runes’ after having hung for nine days on a gallows-tree pierced with a spear, may relate to some form of initiation ceremony in the same way as his pledging one of his eyes to Mimir for a draught of wisdom from Odherir, the magic cauldron. His throne, Hlithskjalf; his two ravens, Huginn and Muninn; his horse, Sleipnir; his sword, Gungnir; his ring, Draupnir were favourite subjects of northern folklore. Like Haroun Al Rashid, Odin delighted to mix with his people in disguise. Snorri, in the Prose Edda and in Ynglingasaga, postulated the existence of Odin as an historical personage, an assumption which seems to have in it a distinct element of probability, although it should be observed that the various king-lists built up on this basis are probably wildly optimistic. It seems fairly certain that Odin was the chief of one of the most powerful groups of early Scandinavian settlers. He is the Woden of the Teutons.