The one-eyed God the wanderer the all-father Odin
Many Pantheon's of deities both fictional and from real-world mythologies
Feature a singular God that acts as a king or leader over many other gods in
Norse mythology this God is Odin the all-father a central figure in the mythology and Lord of many of the other deities in the pantheon
Odin was seemingly an important figure in the religions of certain Germanic peoples for centuries and divided between all of his different aspects and
Representations is known by over 200 different names
This video will focus on the various tales associated with Odin as
Described by different Icelandic texts from around the 1200s
The authenticity of these texts in regard to the actual beliefs of the North Germanic peoples is a subject for debate
Within Norse mythology Odin likely represents more attributes and concepts than any other deity
being associated with war death
royalty wisdom knowledge
sorcery and
poetry
At the beginning of time there were two realms
One filled with cold mist and the other with raging flames and a primordial void between the two
Eventually the two intermingling elements combined in the void and formed the first yotan Amir
Also known as a giant
along with Amir there was also a giant cow that he suckled on for nourishment and
From his sweat came more Giants the yotan are
The cow on the other hand licked the salt from the nearby ice and from this licking came the first icier
God known as burry
He had a son who in turn married a yotan who gave birth to three sons?
one of whom was odin
Odin and his brothers then slew Amir the primordial giant and
The great rushing of blood that flooded from his body drowned the great cow as well as the rest of the oten are
except for two
These two went on to repopulate the race of giants
Odin and his brothers then took the corpse of Amir and used it to help create the earth
Using his flesh to make the soil his bones to make mountains and his teeth to make boulders and stones
they used his skull to create the sky and
Sparks from the realm of fire to make the Sun Moon and stars
They created a race of light elves in a world for them as well as the Dark Elves deep under the earth
they made sprites spirits and animals to inhabit the earth and
Then they needed something to worship them so they created humans
they built a fence using Amir's eyebrows around the earth to protect the humans from the yotan are and
Finally they created the realm of Asgard high above the world so that they could watch over their creations
He also married Frigg who is said to know the fate of all but says nothing of it
Odin fathered a number of sons although exactly how many is unknown?
Among these he is the father of Thor god of thunder and Balder god of light
He also took note of a certain yotan that was capable of taking any shape he wished to a far greater extent than other giants
Known as Loki
Odin liked Loki's wit and charm and asked him to become a blood brother two which Loki agreed
The two swore to be true brothers to one another and Odin brought Loki into Asgard
Where he was accepted by the others
Loke however developed a great reputation as a spiteful trickster
Trusted by neither the gods nor the Giants, but always managed to talk his way back into their good graces
In these days Odin would often walk among the humans and the disguise of a wise old wanderer
testing the hospitality of those he visits
He also utilized two Ravens huginn and muninn
Who traveled the world daily to provide him with information giving him the name of Raven God?
Odin was a relentless pursuer of wisdom and knowledge and would sacrifice much in these pursuits on
one occasion odin went to the world tree uracil and
hung himself from its branches for nine days before finally learning the secrets of
runic letters
These runes contained great power and with their magic he became the wisest and mightiest being in the cosmos
This however was not enough for Odin, and he craved more knowledge
From his throne. He spied upon the realm of the savage yotan r and noticed one that was very wise
This giant controlled the well of wisdom where one of ignore cells roots ended and drank its waters every day to become ever wiser
Odin went to the sea oten asking for a single drink from the well
The giant agreed, but only if Odin's shared his all seen vision with him
Odin promptly plucked out one of his own eyes
Placing it in the well before having a drink
from then on he possessed only a single eye, but was truly the wisest of the wise as
Life continued on earth and the gods continued to battle against the yotan are
Odin's son Balder began to be troubled by ominous dreams that saw his life threatened
Due to the machinations of Loki Balder was eventually killed seemingly through an accident
although none suspected Loki of playing a part in his death his jealousy and spite
Eventually got the best of him, and he admitted openly to being responsible before fleeing
The gods demanded punishment of Loki from Odin who used his all scenes site to locate him
The icier captured Loki and tortured him bringing guilt to Odin for breaking his bond of kinship with Loki
This broken oath among others in Asgard
Led the gods to the events of Ragnarok meaning doom of the gods or twilight of the gods
rather than being an apocalyptic end of days
Ragnarok instead foretold the end of a cycle of time which would be followed by a rebirth and eventually
another Ragnarok
For the icier gods however they knew their days were limited Odin especially
big Drasil began to wilt and brother turned against brother in this time of imminent destruction
Odin and the icier gathered as many strong and brave warriors as possible in the halls of Valhalla and
The Yona were growing ever bolder in their attacks
It was a hard time in the world of men with death and depravity rampant an age of axe and sword
With a deadly winter and the world waiting to fall into ruin
finally Ragnarok had come
The greatest battle that history could muster took place and although Odin
Led a vast host of warriors into the war he himself was swallowed up by the dread wolf Fenrir in
the end the ice here lost the battle and the world was plunged into darkness as a Drasil broke and fell and
In time a new day dawned and the next cycle began, but people did not forget the deeds of the gods of
Course there are a number of smaller tales related to Odin beyond just these
Stories of his relentless pursuit of wisdom and his wanderings across the realms
these tales showcase Odin's imperfect and similarities to mortals his willingness to trick or deceive others and
His legendary wisdom
Odin is the patron of many from Kings to outlaws poets tubers or shamans to seers
Odin represents those who are willing to work and sacrifice to obtain that which they desire and
Welcomed only the most of worthy of warriors into his Hall of Valhalla
The Norseman were a hardy and capable people and it is likely that their belief in figures such as Odin
Pushed them to continue to pursue strength and wisdom
much like the all-father