50 Fun Facts About Odin

Odin is usually described as having only one eye; what did he give the other one up for?

He left it in the spring Mímisbrunnr, where Mímir drinks mead every morning.

What are the names of the two ravens that bring Odin news of the world?

The wolves are Geri and Freki; Ask and Embla are the first humans; Vili and Vé are his brothers.

Roughly what do the names of Odin's two ravens mean?

In Grímnismál a disguised Odin admits he fears more for the second bird's return than the first's.

Odin's horse Sleipnir is remarkable for having how many legs?

It is called the best of all horses and is sometimes ridden all the way to Hel.

Which god gave birth to Odin's eight-legged horse, having taken the form of a mare?

The sire was the stallion Svaðilfari, which hauled stone for the giant who was building Asgard's wall.

Odin's wife is which goddess?

With her he fathered Baldr; Thor's mother was the earth-goddess Jörð.

Odin and his brothers created the world by slaying which primordial being?

They then gave life to the first two humans, Ask and Embla.

In which hall does Odin receive the warriors slain in battle?

Its name means Hall of the Slain; the other half of the battle-dead go to Freyja's Fólkvangr.

What are Odin's chosen slain warriors called?

They will march out of the hall's many doors at Ragnarök to fight beside Odin.

The hall of the slain is described as having a roof thatched with what?

Its rafters are spear-shafts, and coats of mail lie over the benches.

The warriors in Odin's hall feast every day on the flesh of Sæhrímnir, a beast that is what?

In the Prose Edda it is described as a boar.

Odin himself needs no food; what is the only thing he consumes?

He gives all the food on his table to his wolves Geri and Freki.

From which throne can Odin see over all worlds and every man's activity?

The silver Odin from Lejre figurine is thought to show him seated on it, flanked by his ravens.

At the end of the world, which monstrous wolf swallows Odin?

His son Víðarr avenges him by stabbing the wolf in the heart.

Which son of Odin avenges his father's death by stabbing the wolf in the heart?

The völva of Völuspá foretells the whole sequence to Odin himself.

Odin's name derives from a Proto-Germanic word meaning 'lord of' what?

Adam of Bremen put it bluntly in Latin: 'Wodan, id est furor'.

Which day of the week is named after Odin (Woden) in English?

It is a calque of the Latin 'day of Mercury', which is why French has mercredi.

Roman writers identified Odin with which of their own gods?

Thor was matched with Hercules and Týr with Mars; the link was probably Mercury's role as guide of the dead.

More than how many names are recorded for Odin, the most of any Germanic god?

The Prose Edda's Grímnismál alone reels off dozens; Wagner's 'Wotan' is a spelling of his own invention.

In Der Ring des Nibelungen, Richard Wagner calls the god by what name?

He blended Old High German Wuotan with Low German Wodan.

The earliest clear reference to Odin, on a Vindelev Hoard bracteate, dates to which century?

Its Proto-Norse runes read 'He is Odin's man'.

What did the Winnili become known as after the god saw their women with hair around their faces, per Lombard legend?

Frea had turned his bed to face east so he would see them first at sunrise and grant them victory.

Adam of Bremen described Odin's statue at Uppsala flanking which 'mightiest' god's throne?

The third figure was 'Fricco', and priests were assigned to each god to offer sacrifices.

Woden appears as an ancestor in how many of the eight Old English royal genealogies?

Only Essex traced its line to Saxnot instead; some pedigrees run Woden's ancestry back to Noah.

The 10th-century Second Merseburg Incantation calls on Odin and other gods to heal what?

Migration Period bracteates may likewise show Odin and his birds in a veterinary role.

Which Irish missionary reportedly disrupted an offering of beer to Odin in 7th-century Swabia?

Jonas of Bobbio recorded the episode, noting that others called the god Mercury.

The Poetic Edda poem Hávamál, 'Sayings of the High One', consists entirely of what?

It ranges from advice on drinking in moderation to Odin's memory of eighteen charms and his self-sacrifice on the tree.

Odin's self-sacrifice by hanging in Hávamál took place on which tree?

The name means 'Ygg's steed', Ygg being Odin, and the hanged were said to 'ride' the gallows.

In Völuspá, which three gods find Ask and Embla and give life to the first humans?

The Prose Edda instead credits Odin and his two brothers, Vili and Vé.

In the Æsir–Vanir War, Odin began the first war in the world by doing what?

The peace was sealed with an exchange of hostages that went badly wrong.

After the Vanir beheaded the hostage Mímir, what did Odin do with the head?

He smeared it with herbs and sang charms over it, and it told him 'many occult things'.

The mead of poetry was brewed from the blood of Kvasir, a being the gods had created from what?

The Æsir and Vanir sealed their truce by spitting in a vat; the dwarfs later said Kvasir 'suffocated in intelligence'.

After winning the mead from the giantess Gunnlöd, Odin escaped in what form?

Suttungr pursued in the same shape, and Odin spat the mead into vats the Æsir had set out.

Odin's spear Gungnir was obtained by Loki from the dwarves as part-payment for what misdeed?

The Sons of Ivaldi forged it under the master smith Dvalinn.

Odin's gold ring Draupnir does what every ninth night?

It came from the dwarves Brokkr and Eitri in the same wager that produced Thor's hammer.

In Ynglinga saga, what did Odin's brothers do when he was away so long they thought he would not return?

When he came back he simply 'took possession of his wife again'.

According to Ynglinga saga, Odin was so successful a warrior that he was believed to have what?

Before sending men to war he laid hands on their heads and gave them a bjannak, a blessing.

Odin punished the valkyrie Sigrdrífa for felling a king he favoured by pricking her with what?

She slept inside a wall of shields until Sigurd cut off her corslet.

In 19th-century Blekinge, Sweden, farmers customarily left what on the field for Odin's horses?

In Sweden a night noise of carriages and horses prompted the saying 'Odin is passing by'.

In later folklore Odin leads which ghostly nocturnal procession?

Odin was still being invoked on rune-sticks in Bergen in the 12th century, long after Norway was Christianised.

Thorwald's Cross on the Isle of Man is thought to show Odin, bird on shoulder, being devoured by what?

The bearded figure has his right foot in the beast's mouth and a spear pointed downward.

Which knot-like symbol near Odin on picture stones is linked to his power to bind and unbind the mind?

Hilda Ellis Davidson connected it to Odin's gifts of battle-madness and inspiration.

In Dumézil's trifunctional theory, Odin (sovereignty) corresponds to which Hindu god?

Týr, god of law, is matched with Mitra, and the Vanir with fertility.

In the 16th century the Swedish government officially regarded Odin as what?

The idea came from an embellished ruler-list invented by Johannes Magnus and was held by the whole Vasa dynasty.

Odin first appeared as a Marvel Comics character in which series in 1962?

Anthony Hopkins later played him in three Thor films.

Which actor played Odin in the Marvel Cinematic Universe's Thor films?

He appeared in Thor, The Dark World and Ragnarok.

In Neil Gaiman's American Gods, Odin appears as a con artist using which name?

Ian McShane played him in the television adaptation.

Odin is the primary antagonist of which 2022 video game?

He was an unseen presence in the 2018 God of War before finally appearing.

Which Roman historian's Germania records the Suebi worshipping Odin under a Roman name?

The line is lifted almost word for word from Julius Caesar's account of the Gauls.

According to Gylfaginning, when Odin's ravens are sent out at dawn, when do they return?

It is from the birds that he is called 'raven-god'.