Draupnir is a golden arm ring possessed by Odin, the ruling god of Norse mythology. The ring was a source of endless wealth, since each ninth morning it had spawned eight more gold rings just like itself (but apparently without the spawning ability). Draupnir was forged by the dwarven brothers Brokk and Sindri, sons of Ivaldi. Its name means The Dropper in English. The ring was placed by Odin on the funeral pyre of his son Baldur: Odin laid upon the pyre the gold ring called Draupnir; this quality attended it: that every ninth night there fell from it eight gold rings of eq ...

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Völuspá (The Prophecy of the Seeress) is one of the Eddic poems. It tells the story of the creation and coming Ragnarök of the world related by a völva or seeress in what could be described as a shamanic trance to Odin. It is considered a primary source for the study of Norse mythology. It is the first song in the collection known as the Elder Edda. The prophecy commences with an address to Odin, (who summoned her by use of seid), in which the seeress Heiðr explains how she came by her knowledge. She explains further that she understands the source of Odin's omnis ...

Including:

• Völuspá - Analysis

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In Norse mythology, Vafþrúðnismál (Vafþrúðnir's sayings) is the third poem in the Poetic Edda. It is a conversation in verse form conducted initially between the Æsir Odin and Frigg, and subsequently between Odin and the giant Vafþrúðnir. The poem goes into much detail about the Norse cosmogony and was evidently used extensively as a source document by Snorri Sturluson in the construction of the Prose Edda. The extant copy of the manuscript is not compl ...

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Vafþrúðnir was a giant in Norse mythology and both Odin's host and (defeated) opponent in a battle of wits in the poem Vafþrúðnismál, a part of the Poetic Edda. Norse mythology Category: Norse giants ...

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The 13th century eddaic account of Odin likely contains some Christian elements. The scene where Odin hangs from a tree as a sacrifice to himself has been suggested to reflect the crucifixion of Jesus, down to the detail of having his side pierced with a spear; however, archeological evidence, such as the above mentioned Tollund Man, clearly establish that this form of sacrifice existed before the time of Christ and thus is most likely developed independently. Other inconsistencies, such as that Odin was hung by a rope from a tree whereas Je ...

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Odin, Odin - Characteristics, Odin - Origins, Odin - Seid, Odin - Blót, Odin - Edda, Odin - Attributes, Odin - Names, Odin - Odin and Jesus, Odin - Persisting beliefs in Odin, Odin - Modern age, Odin - Modern popular culture, Odin - Germanic neopaganism, Odin - Notes, Odin - Literature

Read more here: » Odin: Encyclopedia II - Odin - Odin and Jesus

Snorri Sturluson's record of the Edda is striking evidence of the climate of religious tolerance in medieval Iceland, but even he feels compelled to give a rational account of the Aesir in his preface. In this scenario, Snorri speculates that Odin and his peers were originally refugees from Troy, etymologizing Aesir as derived from Asia. Some scholars believe that Snorri's version of Norse mythology is an attempt to mould a more shamanistic tradition into a Greek mythological cast. In any case, Snorri's writing (particularly in Heimsk ...

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Odin, Odin - Characteristics, Odin - Origins, Odin - Seid, Odin - Blót, Odin - Edda, Odin - Attributes, Odin - Names, Odin - Odin and Jesus, Odin - Persisting beliefs in Odin, Odin - Modern age, Odin - Modern popular culture, Odin - Germanic neopaganism, Odin - Notes, Odin - Literature

Read more here: » Odin: Encyclopedia II - Odin - Persisting beliefs in Odin

Odinism

A return to the religion of the ancient Vikings, Odin being the chief god, also known as Woden or Wotan.

Originally worshipped as the god of warriors or leaders, it is his responsibility to delay, as long as possible, Ragnarok, the day of doom. He gained use of the Runes and passed their knowledge on to men.

(See also: Odinism, New Age Spirituality, Body Mind and Soul)

ODINISM: A form of Norse Paganism that recognizes only the Aesir, the Sky Gods, including Odin, Frigga, Thor, Loki, Balder and others. Odinism does not acknowledge the Vanir, the Gods concerned with earth, agriculture, fertility and the cycle of death and rebirth.

(See also: ODINISM, Pagan Organisations, Paganism, Pagan Dictionary, Wicca, )

ODINISM: A form of Norse Paganism that recognizes only the Aesir, the Sky Gods, including Odin, Frigga, Thor, Loki, Balder and others. Odinism does not acknowledge the Vanir, the Gods concerned with earth, agriculture, fertility and the cycle of death and rebirth.

(See also: ODINISM, Magickal Traditions, Magickal Paths, Paganism, Pagan Dictionary)

Odin

In Norse mythology, the principal Aesir god, ruler of heaven and Earth, and the god of war, wisdom, agriculture and poetry. As god of the dead, he presided over banquets of those slain in battle. With his brothers Vili and Ve he had killed the primordial frost giant Ymir and used Ymir's body to make all the different realms of the world, as well as the sea and sky. The brothers also created the first human beings, Ask and Embla.

Odin was the supreme chief of the Aesir, a society of warrior gods, and though other gods were younger, more handsome, and even physically stronger, Odin's powers and wisdom were foremost. In war, Odin decided the fates of all warriors. He was master of magic and discovered the runes. He was also called All-Father Also called Othin, Wotan, Woden, Wuotan, Voden, or Votan.

(See also: Odin, New Age Spirituality, Body Mind and Soul)

Details of the Migration period of Germanic religion are sketchy, reconstructed from artefacts, sparse contemporary sources, and later the later testimonies of medieval legends and placenames. According to Jonas Bobiensis, the 6th century Irish missionary Saint Columbanus is reputed to have disrupted a Beer sacrifice to Wuodan (Deo suo Vodano nomine) in Bregenz, Alemannia. Wuodan was the chief god of the Alamanni, his name appears in the runic inscr ...

See also:

Odin, Odin - Etymology, Odin - General characteristics, Odin - Odin and Mercury, Odin - Celtic parallels, Odin - Eddaic Odin, Odin - Attributes, Odin - Names, Odin - Anglo-Saxon Woden, Odin - Worship, Odin - Sacrifices, Odin - Shamanic traits, Odin - Odin and Jesus, Odin - Medieval reception, Odin - Persisting beliefs in Odin, Odin - Modern age, Odin - Notes, Odin - Literature

Read more here: » Odin: Encyclopedia II - Odin - Worship

Odinism

A return to the religion of the ancient Vikings, Odin being the chief god, also known as Woden or Wotan.

Originally worshipped as the god of warriors or leaders, it is his responsibility to delay, as long as possible, Ragnarok, the day of doom. He gained use of the Runes and passed their knowledge on to men.

(See also: Odinism, New Age Spirituality, Body Mind and Soul)

ODIN

The Norse God, who, like Hermes and Thoth, is, amongst other things, God of Magic. He differs from Hermes and Thoth in also having been a God of self-sacrifice. He hanged himself voluntarily on the Cosmic Tree, and for a much more important purpose, long before Christ was supposed to have been crucified. For the sake of wisdom, he paid his right eye (everyday vision) which was never regained. He rules over Asgard and is called "the Allfather."

One of Odin's tricks was his ability to "knot" men's minds in battle so they could not fight or, by the same token, to untie them, in order to provide them with greater strength. He has two wolves called "Ravener" and "Greed" and two ravens Hugin and Munin.

(See also: ODIN, Magick, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul, )

Odin is an ambivalent deity; Old Norse (Viking Age) connotations of Odin lie with "poetry, inspiration" as well as with "fury, madness": Several myths do associate Odin with wisdom and poetry. Odin left his eye in the purifying waters of Mimir's spring for wisdom. Odin gives to worthy poets the mead of inspiration from the vessel Óð-rœrir.[1] Odin is associated with the concept of the Wild Hunt, a noisy, bellowing movement across the sky, leading a host of the sl ...

See also:

Odin, Odin - Characteristics, Odin - Origins, Odin - Seid, Odin - Blót, Odin - Edda, Odin - Attributes, Odin - Names, Odin - Odin and Jesus, Odin - Persisting beliefs in Odin, Odin - Modern age, Odin - Modern popular culture, Odin - Germanic neopaganism, Odin - Notes, Odin - Literature

Read more here: » Odin: Encyclopedia II - Odin - Characteristics

The attested forms of the theonym are traditionally derived from Proto-Germanic *Wōđanaz[1] (in Old Norse word-initial *w- was dropped before rounded vowels and so the name became Óðinn). Adam von Bremen etymologizes the god worshipped by the 11th century Scandinavian pagans as "Wodan id est furor" ("Wodan, which means 'fury'"). An obsolete alternate etymology, which has been adhered to by many early writers includi ...

See also:

Odin, Odin - Etymology, Odin - General characteristics, Odin - Odin and Mercury, Odin - Celtic parallels, Odin - Eddaic Odin, Odin - Attributes, Odin - Names, Odin - Anglo-Saxon Woden, Odin - Worship, Odin - Sacrifices, Odin - Shamanic traits, Odin - Odin and Jesus, Odin - Medieval reception, Odin - Persisting beliefs in Odin, Odin - Modern age, Odin - Notes, Odin - Literature

Read more here: » Odin: Encyclopedia II - Odin - Etymology

The goddess Freyja is described as an adept of the mysteries of seid (shamanism), a völva, and it is said that it was she who initiated Odin into its mysteries. In Lokasenna, Loki verbally abuses Odin for practising seid, condemning it as a unmanly art. A justification for this may be found in the Ynglinga saga where Snorri opines that in following the practice of seid, the practitioner was rendered unmanly. Another explanation is that its manipulative aspects ran counter to the male ideal o ...

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Odin, Odin - Characteristics, Odin - Origins, Odin - Seid, Odin - Blót, Odin - Edda, Odin - Attributes, Odin - Names, Odin - Odin and Jesus, Odin - Persisting beliefs in Odin, Odin - Modern age, Odin - Modern popular culture, Odin - Germanic neopaganism, Odin - Notes, Odin - Literature

Read more here: » Odin: Encyclopedia II - Odin - Seid

Odin (Icelandic, Scandinavian) [from Wodan from odr cosmic mind; cf Greek nous, Sanskrit mahat]

As a god, foremost of the aesir in Norse mythology; as a human being, the founder of the ancient Norse religion. Odin is the Great Sacrifice of our world system, hung or mounted on the Tree of Life throughout its duration, seeking runes of wisdom in the material worlds, "raising them with song" and at the end of time falling once more from the tree. He is said to have given one eye as forfeit to the matter-giant Mimer for the privilege of partaking of Mimer's well of wisdom: experience in material life. Thus matter receives a part of divine vision during the god's imbodiment.

As creative spirit Odin and his brother creators, Vili and Vi (will and awe), give rise to the worlds in manifestation. At the creation of humanity, Odin again participates with two creative energies on a lower level, Honer and Lodur (water and fire). Odin gives the breath of spirit, Honer mind, and Lodur vitality to the incipient humans.

In the myths Odin rides the eight-legged steed Sleipnir, wears a blue fur coat, and is the owner of a marvelous ring, Draupnir, from which eight more drip every ninth night, symbolizing proliferating cycles of every kind. His spear is named Gungnir (swaying), perhaps an allusion to the pendulum swing between life and death which is nature's eternal way. Odin has two wolf hounds (the animal nature), Gere (greedy) and Freke (gluttonous); he feeds them, but himself subsists on wine or mead (wisdom) alone. His two ravens, Hugin (mind) and Munin (memory), fly daily over the battlefield Vigridsslatten (plain of consecration, earth), and report back to Allfather by night.

Odin's hall is named Valhalla (hall of the chosen), where his heroes are brought by the Valkyries (crowners of the chosen) to feast with Yggjung (the ever-young, Odin).

As a planetary deity Odin is connected with Mercury, and his day is Wednesday (Woden's day). He has many names, each fitting the role he has to play. At the beginning of a life cycle he is named Ofner (opener), while at the end he is called Svafner (closer). Blavatsky refers to the human Odin as "one of these thirty-five Buddhas; one of the earliest, indeed, for the continent to which he and his race belonged, is also one of the earliest" (SD 2:423).

(See also: Odin, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary)

According to the Prose Edda, Odin was a son of Bestla and Borr and brother of Vé and Vili and together with these brothers he cast down the frost giant Ymir and created the world from Ymir's body. The three brothers are often mentioned together. "Wille" is the German word for "will" (English), "Weh" is the German word (Gothic wai) for "woe" (English: great sorrow, grief, misery) but is more likely related to the archaic G ...

See also:

Odin, Odin - Characteristics, Odin - Origins, Odin - Seid, Odin - Blót, Odin - Edda, Odin - Attributes, Odin - Names, Odin - Odin and Jesus, Odin - Persisting beliefs in Odin, Odin - Modern age, Odin - Modern popular culture, Odin - Germanic neopaganism, Odin - Notes, Odin - Literature

Read more here: » Odin: Encyclopedia II - Odin - Edda

For the Norse people, Odin's name was synonymous with battle and warfare, for he appears throughout their myths as the bringer of victory. Odin was a shape-changer, able to alter his skin and form in any way he liked. He was said to travel the world as an old man with a staff, one-eyed, grey-bearded, and wearing a wide-brimmed hat. Odin is associated with the concept of the Wild Hunt, a noisy, bellowing movement across the sky, leading a host o ...

See also:

Odin, Odin - Etymology, Odin - General characteristics, Odin - Odin and Mercury, Odin - Celtic parallels, Odin - Eddaic Odin, Odin - Attributes, Odin - Names, Odin - Anglo-Saxon Woden, Odin - Worship, Odin - Sacrifices, Odin - Shamanic traits, Odin - Odin and Jesus, Odin - Medieval reception, Odin - Persisting beliefs in Odin, Odin - Modern age, Odin - Notes, Odin - Literature

Read more here: » Odin: Encyclopedia II - Odin - General characteristics

Odin (Scandianvian Norse). The god of battles, the old German Sabbaoth, the same as the Scandinavian Wodan. He is the great hero in the Edda and one of the creators of man. Roman antiquity regarded him as one with Hermes or Mercury (Budha), and modern Orientalism (Sir W. Jones) accordingly confused him with Buddha. In the Pantheon of the Norse men, he is the "father of the gods" and divine wisdom, and as such he is of course Hermes or the creative wisdom. Odin or Wodan in creating the first man from trees - the Ask (ash) and Embla (the alder)_ endowed them with life and soul, Honir with intellect, and Lodur with form and colour.

(See also: Odin, Theosophy, Spirituality, Body mind and Soul, Spiritual Dictionary, )

With the Romantic Viking revival of the early-to-mid 19th century, Odin's popularity increased again. Wotan is a lead character in Richard Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen, written between 1848 and 1874. His name provides the root for 19th century conceptions of "Od", a hypothetical vital energy that permeates all living things. Odin, along with the other Norse Gods and Goddesses, is worshipped by Germanic pagan reconstructivists (see Odinism). Ásatrú, "faith in the Aesir", is an officially recognis ...

See also:

Odin, Odin - Etymology, Odin - General characteristics, Odin - Odin and Mercury, Odin - Celtic parallels, Odin - Eddaic Odin, Odin - Attributes, Odin - Names, Odin - Anglo-Saxon Woden, Odin - Worship, Odin - Sacrifices, Odin - Shamanic traits, Odin - Odin and Jesus, Odin - Medieval reception, Odin - Persisting beliefs in Odin, Odin - Modern age, Odin - Notes, Odin - Literature

Read more here: » Odin: Encyclopedia II - Odin - Modern age