title: Jackie Robinson

text: Beginning his major league career at the relatively advanced age of 28, he played only ten seasons from 1947 to 1956, all of them for the Brooklyn Dodgers. During his career, the Dodgers played in six World Series, and Robinson himself played in six All-Star Games. In 1999, he was posthumously named to the Major League Baseball All-Century Team.


title: Jackie Robinson

text: Robinson's career is generally considered to mark the beginning of the post–"long ball" era in baseball, in which a reliance on raw power-hitting gave way to balanced offensive strategies that used footspeed to create runs through aggressive baserunning. Robinson exhibited the combination of hitting ability and speed which exemplified the new era. He scored more than 100 runs in six of his ten seasons (averaging more than 110 runs from 1947 to 1953), had a .311 career batting average, a .409 career on-base percentage, a .474 slugging percentage, and substantially more walks than strikeouts (740 to 291). Robinson was one of only two players during the span of 1947–56 to accumulate at least 125 steals while registering a slugging percentage over .425 (Minnie Miñoso was the other). He accumulated 197 stolen bases in total, including 19 steals of home. None of the latter were double steals (in which a player stealing home is assisted by a player stealing another base at the same time). Robinson has been referred to by author David Falkner as "the father of modern base-stealing".


title: Jackie Robinson

text: Historical statistical analysis indicates Robinson was an outstanding fielder throughout his ten years in the major leagues and at virtually every position he played. After playing his rookie season at first base, Robinson spent most of his career as a second baseman. He led the league in fielding among second basemen in 1950 and 1951. Toward the end of his career, he played about 2,000 innings at third base and about 1,175 innings in the outfield, excelling at both.


title: Jackie Robinson

text: Assessing himself, Robinson said, "I'm not concerned with your liking or disliking me ... all I ask is that you respect me as a human being." Regarding Robinson's qualities on the field, Leo Durocher said, "Ya want a guy that comes to play. This guy didn't just come to play. He come to beat ya. He come to stuff the goddamn bat right up your ass."


title: Jackie Robinson

text: Robinson portrayed himself in the 1950 motion picture "The Jackie Robinson Story". Other portrayals include:


title: Jackie Robinson

text: Robinson was also the subject of a 2016 PBS documentary, "Jackie Robinson", which was directed by Ken Burns and features Jamie Foxx doing voice-over as Robinson.


title: Jackie Robinson

text: Robinson once told future Hall of Fame inductee Hank Aaron that "the game of baseball is great, but the greatest thing is what you do after your career is over." Robinson retired from baseball at age 37 on January 5, 1957. Later that year, after he complained of numerous physical ailments, he was diagnosed with diabetes, a disease that also afflicted his brothers. Although Robinson adopted an insulin injection regimen, the state of medicine at the time could not prevent the continued deterioration of Robinson's physical condition from the disease.


title: Jackie Robinson

text: In October 1959, Robinson entered the Greenville Municipal Airport's whites-only waiting room. Airport police asked Robinson to leave, but he refused. At a National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) speech in Greenville, South Carolina, Robinson urged "complete freedom" and encouraged black citizens to vote and to protest their second-class citizenship. The following January, approximately 1,000 people marched on New Year's Day to the airport, which was desegregated shortly thereafter.


title: Jackie Robinson

text: In his first year of eligibility for the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1962, Robinson encouraged voters to consider only his on-field qualifications, rather than his cultural impact on the game. He was elected on the first ballot, becoming the first black player inducted into the Cooperstown museum.


title: Jackie Robinson

text: In 1965, Robinson served as an analyst for ABC's "Major League Baseball Game of the Week" telecasts, the first black person to do so. In 1966, Robinson was hired as general manager for the short-lived Brooklyn Dodgers of the Continental Football League. In 1972, he served as a part-time commentator on Montreal Expos telecasts.


title: Jackie Robinson

text: On June 4, 1972, the Dodgers retired his uniform number, 42, alongside those of Roy Campanella (39) and Sandy Koufax (32). From 1957 to 1964, Robinson was the vice president for personnel at Chock full o'Nuts; he was the first black person to serve as vice president of a major American corporation. Robinson always considered his business career as advancing the cause of black people in commerce and industry. Robinson also chaired the NAACP's million-dollar Freedom Fund Drive in 1957, and served on the organization's board until 1967. In 1964, he helped found, with Harlem businessman Dunbar McLaurin, Freedom National Bank—a black-owned and operated commercial bank based in Harlem. He also served as the bank's first chairman of the board. In 1970, Robinson established the Jackie Robinson Construction Company to build housing for low-income families.


title: Jackie Robinson

text: Robinson was active in politics throughout his post-baseball life. He identified himself as a political independent, although he held conservative opinions on several issues, including the Vietnam War (he once wrote to Martin Luther King Jr. to defend the Johnson Administration's military policy). After supporting Richard Nixon in his 1960 presidential race against John F. Kennedy, Robinson later praised Kennedy effusively for his stance on civil rights. Robinson was angered by the 1964 presidential election candidacy of conservative Republican Senator Barry Goldwater of Arizona, who had opposed the Civil Rights Act of 1964. He became one of six national directors for Nelson Rockefeller's unsuccessful campaign to be nominated as the Republican candidate for the election. After the party nominated Goldwater instead, Robinson left the party's convention commenting that he now had "a better understanding of how it must have felt to be a Jew in Hitler's Germany". He later became special assistant for community affairs when Rockefeller was re-elected governor of New York in 1966 and in 1971 was appointed to the New York State Athletic Commission by Rockefeller. In 1968 he broke with the Republican party and supported Hubert Humphrey against Nixon in that year's presidential election.


title: Jackie Robinson

text: Robinson protested against the major leagues' ongoing lack of minority managers and central office personnel, and he turned down an invitation to appear in an old-timers' game at Yankee Stadium in 1969. He made his final public appearance on October 15, 1972, nine days before his death, throwing the ceremonial first pitch before Game 2 of the World Series at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati. He gratefully accepted a plaque honoring the twenty-fifth anniversary of his MLB debut, but also commented, "I'm going to be tremendously more pleased and more proud when I look at that third base coaching line one day and see a black face managing in baseball." This wish was only fulfilled after Robinson's death: following the 1974 season, the Cleveland Indians gave their managerial post to Frank Robinson (no relation to Jackie), a Hall of Fame-bound player who would go on to manage three other teams. Despite the success of these two Robinsons and other black players, the number of African-American players in Major League Baseball has declined since the 1970s.


title: Jackie Robinson

text: After Robinson's retirement from baseball, his wife Rachel Robinson pursued a career in academic nursing. She became an assistant professor at the Yale School of Nursing and director of nursing at the Connecticut Mental Health Center. She also served on the board of the Freedom National Bank until it closed in 1990. She and Jackie had three children: Jackie Robinson Jr. (1946–1971), Sharon Robinson (b. 1950), and David Robinson (b. 1952).


title: Jackie Robinson

text: Robinson's eldest son, Jackie Robinson Jr., had emotional trouble during his childhood and entered special education at an early age. He enlisted in the Army in search of a disciplined environment, served in the Vietnam War, and was wounded in action on November 19, 1965. After his discharge, he struggled with drug problems. Robinson Jr. eventually completed the treatment program at Daytop Village in Seymour, Connecticut, and became a counselor at the institution. On June 17, 1971, he was killed in an automobile accident at age 24. The experience with his son's drug addiction turned Robinson Sr. into an avid anti-drug crusader toward the end of his life.


title: Jackie Robinson

text: Robinson did not outlive his son by very long. In 1968, he suffered a heart attack. Complications from heart disease and diabetes weakened Robinson and made him almost blind by middle age. On October 24, 1972, Robinson died of a heart attack at his home on 95 Cascade Road in North Stamford, Connecticut; he was 53 years old. Robinson's funeral service on October 27, 1972, at Upper Manhattan's Riverside Church in Morningside Heights, attracted 2,500 mourners. Many of his former teammates, other famous baseball players, and basketball star Bill Russell served as pallbearers, and the Rev. Jesse Jackson gave the eulogy. Tens of thousands of people lined the subsequent procession route to Robinson's interment site at Cypress Hills Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York, where he was buried next to his son Jackie and mother-in-law Zellee Isum. Twenty-five years after Robinson's death, the Interboro Parkway was renamed the Jackie Robinson Parkway in his memory. This parkway bisects the cemetery in close proximity to Robinson's gravesite.


title: Jackie Robinson

text: After Robinson's death, his widow founded the Jackie Robinson Foundation, and she remains an officer as of 2021. On April 15, 2008, she announced that in 2010 the foundation would open a museum devoted to Jackie in Lower Manhattan. Robinson's daughter, Sharon, became a midwife, educator, director of educational programming for MLB, and the author of two books about her father. His youngest son, David, who has ten children, is a coffee grower and social activist in Tanzania.


title: Jackie Robinson

text: According to a poll conducted in 1947, Robinson was the second most popular man in the country, behind Bing Crosby. In 1999, he was named by "Time" on its list of the . Also in 1999, he ranked number 44 on the "Sporting News" list of Baseball's 100 Greatest Players and was elected to the Major League Baseball All-Century Team as the top vote-getter among second basemen. Baseball writer Bill James, in "The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract", ranked Robinson as the 32nd greatest player of all time strictly on the basis of his performance on the field, noting that he was one of the top players in the league throughout his career. Robinson was among the 25 charter members of UCLA's Athletics Hall of Fame in 1984. In 2002, Molefi Kete Asante included Robinson on his list of 100 Greatest African Americans. Robinson has also been honored by the United States Postal Service on three separate postage stamps, in 1982, 1999, and 2000.


title: Jackie Robinson

text: The City of Pasadena has recognized Robinson with a baseball diamond and stadium named Jackie Robinson Field in Brookside Park next to the Rose Bowl, and with the Jackie Robinson Center (a community outreach center providing health services). In 1997, a $325,000 bronze sculpture (equal to $ today) by artists Ralph Helmick, Stu Schecter, and John Outterbridge depicting oversized nine-foot busts of Robinson and his brother Mack was erected at Garfield Avenue, across from the main entrance of Pasadena City Hall; a granite footprint lists multiple donors to the commission project, which was organized by the Robinson Memorial Foundation and supported by members of the Robinson family.


title: Jackie Robinson

text: Major League Baseball has honored Robinson many times since his death. In 1987, both the National and American League Rookie of the Year Awards were renamed the "Jackie Robinson Award" in honor of the first recipient (Robinson's Major League Rookie of the Year Award in 1947 encompassed both leagues). On April 15, 1997, Robinson's jersey number, 42, was retired throughout Major League Baseball, the first time any jersey number had been retired throughout one of the four major American sports leagues. Under the terms of the retirement, a grandfather clause allowed the handful of players who wore number 42 to continue doing so in tribute to Robinson, until such time as they subsequently changed teams or jersey numbers. This affected players such as the Mets' Butch Huskey and Boston's Mo Vaughn. The Yankees' Mariano Rivera, who retired at the end of the 2013 season, was the last player in Major League Baseball to wear jersey number 42 on a regular basis. Since 1997, only Wayne Gretzky's number 99, retired by the NHL in 2000, and Bill Russell's number 6, retired by the NBA in 2022, have been retired league-wide in any of the four major sports. There have also been calls for MLB to retire number 21 league-wide in honor of Roberto Clemente, a sentiment opposed by the Robinson family.


title: Jackie Robinson

text: As an exception to the retired-number policy, MLB began honoring Robinson by allowing players to wear number 42 on April 15, Jackie Robinson Day, which is an annual observance that started in 2004. For the 60th anniversary of Robinson's major league debut, MLB invited players to wear the number 42 on Jackie Robinson Day in 2007. The gesture was originally the idea of outfielder Ken Griffey Jr., who sought Rachel Robinson's permission to wear the number. After Griffey received her permission, Commissioner Bud Selig not only allowed Griffey to wear the number, but also extended an invitation to all major league teams to do the same. Ultimately, more than 200 players wore number 42, including the entire rosters of the Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Mets, Houston Astros, Philadelphia Phillies, St. Louis Cardinals, Milwaukee Brewers, and Pittsburgh Pirates. The tribute was continued in 2008, when, during games on April 15, all members of the Mets, Cardinals, Washington Nationals, and Tampa Bay Rays wore Robinson's number 42. On June 25, 2008, MLB installed a new plaque for Robinson at the Baseball Hall of Fame commemorating his off-the-field impact on the game as well as his playing statistics. In 2009, all of MLB's uniformed personnel (including players) wore number 42 on April 15; this tradition has continued every year since on that date.


title: Jackie Robinson

text: At the November 2006 groundbreaking for Citi Field, the new ballpark for the New York Mets, it was announced that the main entrance, modeled on the one in Brooklyn's old Ebbets Field, would be called the Jackie Robinson Rotunda. The rotunda was dedicated at the opening of Citi Field on April 16, 2009. It honors Robinson with large quotations spanning the inner curve of the facade and features a large freestanding statue of his number, 42, which has become an attraction in itself. Mets owner Fred Wilpon announced that the Mets—in conjunction with Citigroup and the Jackie Robinson Foundation—will create a Jackie Robinson Museum and Learning Center, located at the headquarters of the Jackie Robinson Foundation at One Hudson Square, along Canal Street in lower Manhattan. Along with the museum, scholarships will be awarded to "young people who live by and embody Jackie's ideals." The museum hopes to open by 2020. At Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, a statue of Robinson was introduced in 2017. The New York Yankees honor Robinson with a plaque in Monument Park.


title: Jackie Robinson

text: Since 2004, the Aflac National High School Baseball Player of the Year has been presented the "Jackie Robinson Award".


title: Jackie Robinson

text: Robinson has also been recognized outside of baseball. In December 1956, the NAACP recognized him with the Spingarn Medal, which it awards annually for the highest achievement by an African-American. President Ronald Reagan posthumously awarded Robinson the Presidential Medal of Freedom on March 26, 1984, and on March 2, 2005, President George W. Bush gave Robinson's widow the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest civilian award bestowed by Congress; Robinson was only the second baseball player to receive the award, after Roberto Clemente. On August 20, 2007, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and his wife, Maria Shriver, announced that Robinson was inducted into the California Hall of Fame, located at The California Museum for History, Women and the Arts in Sacramento.


title: Jackie Robinson

text: A number of buildings have been named in Robinson's honor. The UCLA Bruins baseball team plays in Jackie Robinson Stadium, which, because of the efforts of Jackie's brother Mack, features a memorial statue of Robinson by sculptor Richard H. Ellis. The stadium also unveiled a new mural of Robinson by Mike Sullivan on April 14, 2013. City Island Ballpark in Daytona Beach, Florida was renamed Jackie Robinson Ballpark in 1990 and a statue of Robinson with two children stands in front of the ballpark. His wife Rachel was present for the dedication on September 15. 1990. A number of facilities at Pasadena City College (successor to PJC) are named in Robinson's honor, including Robinson Field, a football/soccer/track facility named jointly for Robinson and his brother Mack. The New York Public School system has named a middle school after Robinson, and Dorsey High School plays at a Los Angeles football stadium named after him. His home in Brooklyn, the Jackie Robinson House, was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1976, and Brooklyn residents sought to turn his home into a city landmark. In 1978, Colonial Park in Harlem was renamed after Robinson. Robinson also has an asteroid named after him, 4319 Jackierobinson. In 1997, the United States Mint issued a Jackie Robinson commemorative silver dollar, and five-dollar gold coin. That same year, New York City renamed the Interboro Parkway in his honor. A statue of Robinson at Journal Square Transportation Center in Jersey City, New Jersey, was dedicated in 1998.


title: Jackie Robinson

text: In 2011, the U.S. placed a plaque at Robinson's Montreal home to honor the ending of segregation in baseball. The house, at 8232 avenue de Gaspé near Jarry Park, was Robinson's residence when he played for the Montreal Royals during 1946. In a letter read during the ceremony, Rachel Robinson, Jackie's widow, wrote: "I remember Montreal and that house very well and have always had warm feeling for that great city. Before Jack and I moved to Montreal, we had just been through some very rough treatment in the racially biased South during spring training in Florida. In the end, Montreal was the perfect place for him to get his start. We never had a threatening or unpleasant experience there. The people were so welcoming and saw Jack as a player and as a man."


title: Jackie Robinson

text: On November 22, 2014, UCLA announced that it would officially retire the number 42 across all university sports, effective immediately. While Robinson wore several different numbers during his UCLA career, the school chose 42 because it had become indelibly identified with him. The only sport this did not affect was men's basketball, which had previously retired the number for Walt Hazzard (although Kevin Love was actually the last player in that sport to wear 42, with Hazzard's blessing). In a move paralleling that of MLB when it retired the number, UCLA allowed three athletes (in women's soccer, softball, and football) who were already wearing 42 to continue to do so for the remainder of their UCLA careers. The school also announced it would prominently display the number at all of its athletic venues.


title: Jackie Robinson

text: A jersey that Robinson brought home with him after his rookie season ended in 1947 was sold at an auction for $2.05 million on November 19, 2017. The price was the highest ever paid for a post-World War II jersey.


title: Sam Neill

text: Sir Nigel John Dermot "Sam" Neill (born 14 September 1947) is a New Zealand actor. Neill's near-50 year career has included leading roles in both dramas and blockbusters. Considered an "international leading man", he has been regarded as one of the most versatile actors of his generation.


title: Sam Neill

text: Born in Omagh, Northern Ireland, Neill moved to Christchurch with his family in 1954. He first achieved recognition with his appearance in the 1977 film "Sleeping Dogs", which he followed with leading roles in "My Brilliant Career" (1979), "", "Possession" (both 1981), "A Cry in the Dark" (1988), "Dead Calm" (1989), "The Hunt For Red October" (1990), and "The Piano" (1993). He came to international prominence as Dr. Alan Grant in "Jurassic Park" (1993), a role that he reprises in "Jurassic Park III" (2001) and "Jurassic World Dominion" (2022).


title: Sam Neill

text: Outside of film, Neill has appeared in numerous television series, including "Reilly, Ace of Spies" (1983), "The Simpsons" (1994), "Merlin" (1998), "The Tudors" (2007), "Crusoe" (2008–2010), "Happy Town" (2010), "Alcatraz" (2012), "Peaky Blinders" (2013–2014), and "Rick and Morty" (2019). He has presented and narrated several documentaries. In 2021, he had a one episode role on the Apple TV+ sci-fi series "Invasion".


title: Sam Neill

text: Neill is the recipient of the AACTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role, the Longford Lyell Award, the New Zealand Film Award and the Logie Award for Most Outstanding Actor. He also has three Golden Globe and two Primetime Emmy Award nominations.


title: Sam Neill

text: Neill was born on 14 September 1947 in Omagh, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, to Priscilla Beatrice ("née" Ingham) and Dermot Neill. His father, an army officer, was a second-generation New Zealander, while his mother was English. His great-grandfather Percy Neill left Belfast, in Ireland, for New Zealand in 1860, settling in Dunedin. He was the son of a wine merchant importing wine from France.


title: Sam Neill

text: At the time of Neill's birth, his father was stationed in Northern Ireland, serving with the Royal Irish Fusiliers. His father's family owned Neill and Co. (later part of the listed hospitality group Wilson Neill). Neill identifies primarily as a New Zealander.


title: Sam Neill

text: In 1954, Neill moved with his family to New Zealand, where he attended the Anglican boys' boarding school Christ's College, Christchurch. He went on to study English literature at the University of Canterbury, where he had his first exposure to acting. He moved to Wellington to continue his tertiary education at Victoria University, where he graduated with a BA in English literature.


title: Sam Neill

text: In 2004, on the Australian talk show "Enough Rope", interviewer Andrew Denton briefly touched on the topic of Neill's stuttering. He recalled how deeply it had affected him in his life, and as a result he often found himself "hoping that people wouldn't talk to [him]" so he would not have to answer. He also stated, "I kind of outgrew it. I can still ... you can still detect me as a stammerer."


title: Sam Neill

text: He first took to calling himself "Sam" at school because there were several other students named Nigel, and because he felt the name Nigel was "a little effete for ... a New Zealand playground".


title: Sam Neill

text: Neil's first film was a New Zealand television movie "The City of No" (1971). He followed it with a short, "The Water Cycle" (1972) and the TV movie "Hunt's Duffer" (1973). Neill wrote and directed a film for the New Zealand National Film Unit, "Telephone Etiquette" (1974). He also appeared in "Landfall" (1975).


title: Sam Neill

text: Neill's breakthrough performance in New Zealand was the film "Sleeping Dogs" (1977), the first local film to be widely screened abroad.


title: Sam Neill

text: Neill went to Australia where he had a guest role on the TV show "The Sullivans". He was the romantic male lead in "My Brilliant Career" (1979), opposite Judy Davis, which was a big international success.


title: Sam Neill

text: He made some Australian films that were less widely seen: "The Journalist" (1979), "Just Out of Reach" (1979) and "Attack Force Z" (1981), and appeared in television productions such as "Young Ramsay" and "Lucinda Brayford".


title: Sam Neill

text: In 1981, he won his first big international role, as Damien Thorn, son of the devil, in ""; also in that year, he played an outstanding main role in Andrzej Żuławski's cult film "Possession".


title: Sam Neill

text: He was one of the leading candidates to succeed Roger Moore in the role of James Bond, but lost out to Timothy Dalton. Among his many Australian roles is playing Michael Chamberlain in "Evil Angels" (1988) (released as "A Cry in the Dark" outside of Australia and New Zealand), a film about the case of Azaria Chamberlain.


title: Sam Neill

text: Neill has played heroes and occasionally villains in a succession of film and television dramas and comedies. In the UK, he won early fame and was Golden Globe nominated after portraying real-life spy, Sidney Reilly, in the mini-series "Reilly, Ace of Spies" (1983). An early American starring role was in 1987's "Amerika", playing a senior KGB officer leading the occupation and division of a defeated United States. His leading and co-starring roles in films include the thriller "Dead Calm" (1989), the two-part historical epic "La Révolution française" (1989) (as Marquis de Lafayette), "The Hunt for Red October" (1990), "Death in Brunswick" (1990), "Jurassic Park" (1993), "Sirens" (1994), "The Jungle Book" (1994), John Carpenter's "In the Mouth of Madness" (1995), "Event Horizon" (1997), "Bicentennial Man" (1999), the comedy "The Dish" (2000), and "Jurassic Park III" (2001).


title: Sam Neill

text: Neill has occasionally acted in New Zealand films, including "The Piano" (1993), "Perfect Strangers" (2003), "Under the Mountain" (2009), and "Hunt for the Wilderpeople" (2016). He returned to directing in 1995 with the documentary "" (1995) which he wrote and directed with Judy Rymer.


title: Sam Neill

text: In 1993, he co-starred with Anne Archer in "Question of Faith", an independent drama based on a true story about one woman's fight to beat cancer and have a baby. In 2000, he provided the voice of Sam Sawnoff in "The Magic Pudding". In 2001, he hosted and narrated a documentary series for the BBC entitled "Space" ("Hyperspace" in the United States).


title: Sam Neill

text: He portrayed the eponymous wizard in "Merlin" (1998), a miniseries based on the legends of King Arthur. He reprised his role in the sequel, "Merlin's Apprentice" (2006).


title: Sam Neill

text: Neill starred in the historical drama "The Tudors", playing Cardinal Thomas Wolsey. "I have to say I really enjoyed making "The Tudors"", he said, "It was six months with a character that I found immensely intriguing, with a cast that I liked very much and with a story I found very compelling. It has elements that are hard to beat: revenge and betrayal, lust and treason, all the things that make for good stories."


title: Sam Neill

text: He acted in the short-lived Fox TV series "Alcatraz" (2012) as Emerson Hauser. He played the role of Otto Luger in the fantasy adventure movie "" (2014). He had a role in the BBC series "Peaky Blinders", set in post-World War I Birmingham. He played the role of Chief Inspector Chester Campbell, a sadistic corrupt policeman, who came to clean up the town on Churchill's orders. In the 2015 BBC TV miniseries "And Then There Were None", based on Agatha Christie's thriller, he played the role of General MacArthur.


title: Sam Neill

text: In 2016, he starred in the New Zealand-made film, "Hunt for the Wilderpeople", directed by Taika Waititi, as well as the ITV miniseries "Tutankhamun". In 2017, Neill appeared in a scene in Waititi's fantasy sequel "", in which he portrays an actor playing Odin (as depicted by Anthony Hopkins), alongside Luke Hemsworth and Matt Damon as actors playing Thor and Loki, respectively. He portrays the same actor in "" in 2022.


title: Sam Neill

text: In 2018, he portrayed Mr. McGregor and also provided the voice of Tommy Brock, in "Peter Rabbit". In 2019, he was cast for the role of Denis Goldberg in "Escape from Pretoria"; however, the role was subsequently recast with Ian Hart. In late 2019, he was announced to reprise his character of Dr. Alan Grant in "Jurassic World Dominion", which released in July 2022.


title: Sam Neill

text: From about 1980 to 1989, Neill was in a relationship with actress Lisa Harrow. They have a son born in 1983. Neill subsequently married make-up artist Noriko Watanabe in 1989 and they have one daughter, Elena (born in 1991). Neill separated from Watanabe in 2017, and as of early 2018 was dating Australian political journalist Laura Tingle.


title: Sam Neill

text: He is stepfather to a daughter from Watanabe's first marriage. In his early 20s, he fathered a son who was adopted by someone else. In 2014, Neill said the two "went looking for [one another]" and that their reunion was "much more grown-up" than expected.


title: Sam Neill

text: Neill lives in Alexandra and owns a winery called Two Paddocks, consisting of a vineyard at Gibbston and two near Alexandra, all in the Central Otago wine region of New Zealand's South Island. His avocation is running Two Paddocks. "I'd like the vineyard to support me but I'm afraid it is the other way round. It is not a very economic business", said Neill, "It is a ridiculously time- and money-consuming business. I would not do it if it was not so satisfying and fun, and it gets me pissed once in a while." He enjoys sharing his exploits on the farm through social media. He names his farm animals after film-industry colleagues.


title: Sam Neill

text: He supports the New Zealand Labour Party and the Australian Labor Party. Neill has been a member of the Equity New Zealand trade union since 1979.


title: Sam Neill

text: Neill was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 1991 Queen's Birthday Honours, for services as an actor. In the 2007 New Year Honours, he was appointed a Distinguished Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit (DCNZM). When knighthoods were returned to the New Zealand royal honours system in 2009, those with DCNZM or higher honours were given the option of converting them into knighthoods. Neill chose not to do this, saying the title of Sir was "just far too grand, by far". However, in June 2022, he accepted redesignation as a Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, granting him the title "Sir".


title: Sam Neill

text: Neill was awarded an honorary Doctor of Letters degree by the University of Canterbury in 2002. Neill was awarded the 2019 Equity New Zealand Lifetime achievement award, celebrating his distinguished performance career, as well as his leadership and mentoring towards others in the acting industry. In 2020, he received an Arts Foundation of New Zealand Icon Award, limited to 20 living people.


title: A. R. Rahman

text: Allah Rakha Rahman (; born A. S. Dileep Kumar; 6 January 1967) is an Indian music composer, record producer, singer and songwriter, popular for his works in Indian cinema; predominantly in Tamil and Hindi films, with occasional forays in international cinema, as well as an arrangement of the 20th Century Studios fanfare for Star Studios. He is a winner of six National Film Awards, two Academy Awards, two Grammy Awards, a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe Award, fifteen Filmfare Awards and seventeen Filmfare Awards South. In 2010, the Indian government conferred him with the Padma Bhushan, the nation's third-highest civilian award.


title: A. R. Rahman

text: Rahman initially composed scores for different documentaries and jingles for advertisements and Indian television channels. With his in-house studio Panchathan Record Inn, Rahman's film-scoring career began during the early 1990s with the Tamil film "Roja". Following that, he went on to score several songs for Tamil language films, including Ratnam's politically charged "Bombay", the urban "Kadhalan", "Thiruda Thiruda", and S. Shankar's debut film "Gentleman". Rahman's score for his first Hollywood film, the comedy "Couples Retreat" (2009), won the BMI Award for Best Score. His music for "Slumdog Millionaire" (2008) earned him Best Original Score and Best Original Song at the 81st Academy Awards. He was also awarded Best Compilation Soundtrack Album and Best Song Written for Visual Media at the 2010 Grammy Awards. He is nicknamed "Isai Puyal" (musical storm) and "Mozart of Madras".


title: A. R. Rahman

text: Rahman has also become a humanitarian and philanthropist, donating and raising money for a number of causes and charities. In 2006, he was honoured by Stanford University for his contributions to global music. In 2008, he received Lifetime Achievement Award from the Rotary Club of Madras. In 2009, he was included on the "Time" list of the world's 100 most influential people. In 2013, he introduced 7.1 surround sound technology to South Indian films. In 2014, he was awarded an honorary doctorate from Berklee College of Music. He has also received honorary doctorate from Aligarh Muslim University. In 2017, he made his debut as a director and writer for the film "Le Musk".


title: A. R. Rahman

text: Allah Rakha Rahman was born as A. S. Dileep Kumar in Madras, Tamil Nadu, on 6 January 1967. His father, R. K. Shekhar from a Mudaliar family, was a film-score composer and conductor for Tamil and Malayalam films. Rahman began studying piano at age four. He assisted his father in the studio, playing the keyboard.


title: A. R. Rahman

text: After his father's death when Rahman was nine years old, the rental of his father's musical equipment provided his family's income. Raised by his mother, Kareema (born Kashturi), Rahman, who was studying in Padma Seshadri Bala Bhavan had to work to support his family. which led to him to routinely miss classes and fail exams. Therefore, the Principal Rajalakshmi Parthasarathy summoned Rahman and his mother and told them that Rahman should focus on academics irrespective of family circumstances. However, in an interview in 2012, Rahman said that his mother was summoned and was told to take him to the streets of Kodambakkam to beg and not to send him to the school anymore.


title: A. R. Rahman

text: Rahman attended another school called MCN for a year, and later joined the Madras Christian College Higher Secondary School, where he was admitted on his music talent and formed a band with his high school classmates. However, after discussing with his mother, he later dropped out of school to pursue a career as a full-time musician.


title: A. R. Rahman

text: Rahman was a keyboard player and arranger for bands such as Roots (with childhood friend and percussionist Sivamani, John Anthony, Suresh Peters, JoJo and Raja) and founded the Chennai-based rock group Nemesis Avenue. He mastered the keyboard, piano, synthesizer, harmonium and guitar, and was particularly interested in the synthesizer because it was the "ideal combination of music and technology".


title: A. R. Rahman

text: Rahman began his early musical training under Master Dhanraj, and at age 11 began playing in the orchestra of Malayalam composer (and close friend of his father) M. K. Arjunan. He soon began working with other composers, such as M. S. Viswanathan, Vijaya Bhaskar, Ilaiyaraaja, Ramesh Naidu, Vijay Anand, Hamsalekha and Raj–Koti, accompanied Zakir Hussain, Kunnakudi Vaidyanathan and L. Shankar on world tours and obtained a scholarship from Trinity College London to the Trinity College of Music. During his early career, Rahman had assisted many music directors to play keyboard and synthesizer. One of the notable works includes a Malayalam film, Ramji Rao Speaking released in 1989 where Rahman and Sivamani programmed a song called "Kalikalam" for the music director S.Balakrishnan.


title: A. R. Rahman

text: Studying in Madras, Rahman graduated with a diploma in Western classical music from the school. Rahman was introduced to Qadiri "tariqa" when his younger sister was seriously ill in 1984. His mother was a practising Hindu. At the age of 23, he converted to Islam with other members of his family in 1989, changing his name to Allah Rakha Rahman (A. R. Rahman).


title: A. R. Rahman

text: Rahman initially composed scores for different documentaries and jingles for advertisements and Indian television channels. In 1987 Rahman, then still known as Dileep, composed jingles for a line of watches introduced by Allwyn. He also arranged the jingles for some advertisements that went on to become very popular, including the popular jingle for Titan Watches, in which he used the theme from Mozart's Symphony no.25. In 1992, he was approached by director Mani Ratnam to compose the score and soundtrack for his Tamil film, "Roja".


title: A. R. Rahman

text: Rahman's film career began in 1992 when he started Panchathan Record Inn, a recording and mixing studio in his backyard. It would become the most-advanced recording studio in India, and arguably one of Asia's most sophisticated and high-tech studios. Cinematographer Santosh Sivan signed Rahman for his second film "Yoddha", a Malayalam film starring Mohanlal and directed by Sivan's brother Sangeeth Sivan that released in September 1992.


title: A. R. Rahman

text: The following year, Rahman received the National Film Awards (Silver Lotus) award for best music director at the National Film Awards for "Roja". The films' score was critically and commercially successful in its original and dubbed versions, led by the innovative theme "Chinna Chinna Aasai". Rahman followed this with successful scores and songs for Tamil–language films for the Chennai film industry, including Ratnam's politically charged "Bombay", "Thiruda Thiruda" and S. Shankar's debut film "Gentleman" (with its popular dance song, "Chikku Bukku Rayile"), the urban "Kadhalan". Rahman collaborated with director Bharathiraaja on "Kizhakku Cheemayile" and "Karuththamma", producing successful Tamil rural folk-inspired film songs; he also composed for K. Balachander's "Duet", which had some memorable Saxophone themes. The 1995 film "Indira" and romantic comedies "Mr. Romeo" and "Love Birds" also drew attention.


title: A. R. Rahman

text: Rahman attracted a Japanese audience with "Muthu"s success there. His soundtracks are known in the Tamil Nadu film industry and abroad for his versatility in combining Western classical music, Carnatic and Tamil traditional and folk-music traditions, jazz, reggae and rock music. The soundtrack for "Bombay" sold 15 million copies worldwide, and "Bombay Theme" would later reappear in his soundtrack for Deepa Mehta's "Fire" and a number of compilations and other media. It was featured in the 2002 Palestinian film "Divine Intervention" and the 2005 Nicolas Cage film, "Lord of War". "Rangeela", directed by Ram Gopal Varma, was Rahman's Bollywood debut. Successful scores and songs for "Dil Se.." and the percussive "Taal" followed. Sufi mysticism inspired "Chaiyya Chaiyya" from the former film and "Zikr" from his soundtrack album for "" (which featured elaborate orchestral and choral arrangements).


title: A. R. Rahman

text: Rahman's soundtrack album for the Chennai production "Minsaara Kanavu" won him his second National Film Award for Best Music Direction and a South FilmFare Award for Best Music Direction in a Tamil film in 1997, the latter setting a record of six consecutive wins; he later went on to win the award three consecutive additional times. The musical cues in the soundtrack albums for "Sangamam" and "Iruvar" used Carnatic vocals, the veena, rock guitar and jazz. During the 2000s, Rahman composed scores and popular songs for Rajiv Menon's "Kandukondain Kandukondain", "Alaipayuthey", Ashutosh Gowariker's "Swades", "Rang De Basanti" and songs with Hindustani motifs for 2005's "Water". Rahman has worked with Indian poets and lyricists such as Javed Akhtar, Gulzar, Vairamuthu and Vaali, and has produced commercially successful soundtracks with directors Mani Ratnam and S. Shankar ("Gentleman", "Kadhalan", "Indian", "Jeans", "Mudhalvan", "Nayak", "Boys", "Sivaji", "Enthiran", "I" and "2.0").


title: A. R. Rahman

text: In 2005 Rahman expanded his Panchathan Record Inn studio by establishing AM Studios in Kodambakkam, Chennai, creating the most cutting-edge studio in Asia. The following year he launched his own music label, KM Music, with his score for "Sillunu Oru Kaadhal". Rahman scored the Mandarin-language film "Warriors of Heaven and Earth" in 2003 after researching and using Chinese and Japanese classical music, and won the Just Plain Folks Music Organization|Just Plain Folks Music Award For Best Music Album for his score for 2006's "Varalaru (God Father)". He co-scored Shekhar Kapur's second British film, "", in 2007 and received a Best Composer Asian Film Award nomination at the Hong Kong International Film Festival for his "Jodhaa Akbar" score. Rahman's music has been sampled for other scores in India, appearing in "Inside Man", "Lord of War", "Divine Intervention" and "The Accidental Husband".


title: A. R. Rahman

text: His score for his first Hollywood film, the 2009 comedy "Couples Retreat", won the BMI London Award for Best Score. Rahman's music for 2008's "Slumdog Millionaire" won a Golden Globe and two Academy Awards (a first for an Asian), and the songs "Jai Ho" and "O... Saya" from its soundtrack were internationally successful. His music on 2008's Bollywood "Jaane Tu... Ya Jaane Na" was popular with Indian youth; that year, his score and songs for "Jodhaa Akbar" won critical acclaim, a Best Composer Asian Film Award nomination and IIFA awards for best music direction and score.


title: A. R. Rahman

text: In 2010, Rahman composed the original score and songs for the romantic "Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa", the sci-fi romance "Enthiran" and Danny Boyle's "", composing for the Imtiaz Ali musical "Rockstar"; the latter's soundtrack was a critical and commercial success. In 2012 Rahman composed for "Ekk Deewana Tha" and the American drama "People Like Us", and collaborated with director Yash Chopra on "Jab Tak Hai Jaan". all were positively received. By the end of the year his music for Mani Ratnam's "Kadal" topped the iTunes India chart for December. In 2013, Rahman had two releases: "Raanjhanaa" and "Maryan". Both were successful, with the former nominated for a number of awards and the latter the iTunes India Tamil Album of 2013.


title: A. R. Rahman

text: The year 2014 was one of the busiest years for Rahman, with him claiming to have worked in 12 films in various languages. While his first release for the year was the Imtiaz Ali's road movie "Highway" which garnered positive reviews, his very next release was the performance captured animation film "Kochadaiiyaan", a Rajinikanth starrer directed by Soundarya Rajinikanth. The film's soundtrack was long-listed at the forthcoming Academy Awards. His next were the scores for the two back to back Hollywood films, "Million Dollar Arm" and "The Hundred Foot Journey", both of which got into the contended list for the original score category nomination at the Oscars.


title: A. R. Rahman

text: Then he composed for the period drama "Kaaviya Thalaivan" teaming up with director Vasanthabalan for the first time. His next release was Shankar's thriller "I" and K. S. Ravikumar's period action film "Lingaa".


title: A. R. Rahman

text: His background scores are often characterised by the usage of subtle orchestration and ambient sounds. He often employs contemporary instruments such as Guitars, Cello, Flute, Strings, Keyboard, Finger board, Harpejji, Santoor and traditional Indian instruments such as Shehnai, Sitar, Mrudangam, Veenai & Tabla to create scores.


title: A. R. Rahman

text: Some of the films which fetched him appreciations for background scores include "Roja", "Bombay", "Iruvar", "Minsara Kanavu", "Dil Se..", "Taal", "Lagaan", "The Legend of Bhagat Singh", "Swades", "Rang De Basanti", "", "Guru", "Jodhaa Akbar", "Raavanan", "Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa", "Rockstar", "Enthiran", "Kadal", "Kochadaiiyaan" and "I". A. R. Rahman received two Academy Awards for "Slumdog Millionaire" and two Academy Award nominations for "127 Hours". Recently, his scores for "Kochadaiiyaan", "Million Dollar Arm" and "The Hundred-Foot Journey" have been nominated in the long list released by Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. In 2017 his "Mersal" music's background score has impressed one and all. In 2018, Rahman got national award for the background score of Mom.


title: A. R. Rahman

text: Qutub-E-Kripa an ensemble of young musicians of KM Music Conservatory, have been co-credited alongside A. R. Rahman for the background scores of films such as "24", "O Kadhal Kanmani", "Tamasha", "OK Jaanu", "Kaatru Veliyidai", "Mom", "Chekka Chivantha Vaanam", "Sarkar" and "2.0". They have also scored for the Netflix Show, "Daughters of Destiny".


title: A. R. Rahman

text: Rahman has also been involved in non-film projects. "Vande Mataram", an album of original compositions released for India's 50th anniversary of its independence in 1997, is one of India's best-selling non-film albums. He followed it with an album for the Bharat Bala–directed video "Jana Gana Mana", a collection of performances by leading exponents and artists of Indian classical music. Rahman has written advertising jingles and orchestrations for athletic events, television and Internet media, documentaries and short films, frequently using the Czech Film Orchestra and the Chennai Strings Orchestra.


title: A. R. Rahman

text: In 1999, Rahman partnered with choreographers Shobana and Prabhu Deva and a Tamil film-dancing troupe to perform with Michael Jackson in Munich, Germany at his Michael Jackson and Friends concert. In 2002 he composed the music for his first stage production, "Bombay Dreams", which was commissioned by Andrew Lloyd Webber. The Finnish folk-music band Värttinä collaborated with Rahman on the Toronto production of "The Lord of the Rings", and in 2004 he composed "Raga's Dance" for Vanessa-Mae's album "Choreography" (performed by Mae and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra).


title: A. R. Rahman

text: Since 2004 Rahman has performed three successful world tours before audiences in Singapore, Australia, Malaysia, Dubai, the United Kingdom, Canada, the United States and India, and has been collaborating with Karen David on her upcoming studio album. A two-disc CD, "Introducing A. R. Rahman" (featuring 25 of his Tamil film-score pieces), was released in May 2006 and his non-film album "Connections" was released on 12 December 2008. Rahman performed at a White House state dinner arranged by US President Barack Obama during an official visit by Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on 24 November 2009.


title: A. R. Rahman

text: He is one of over 70 artists on "We Are the World 25 for Haiti", a charity single to raise relief funds in the wake of the 2010 Haiti earthquake. In 2010, Rahman composed "Jai Jai Garvi Gujarat" in honour of the 50th anniversary of the formation of Gujarat State, "Semmozhiyaana Thamizh Mozhiyaam" as part of the World Classical Tamil Conference 2010, and the theme song for the 2010 Commonwealth Games, "Jiyo Utho Bado Jeeto". Rahman began his first world tour, () on 11 June 2010 at Nassau Coliseum in New York; 16 cities worldwide were scheduled.


title: A. R. Rahman

text: Some of Rahman's notable compositions were performed by the London Philharmonic Orchestra in April 2010. In February 2011 Rahman collaborated with Michael Bolton on Bolton's album, "Gems – The Duets Collection", reworking his "Sajna" from "Couples Retreat".


title: A. R. Rahman

text: On 20 May 2011 Mick Jagger announced the formation of a supergroup, SuperHeavy, with Dave Stewart, Joss Stone, Damian Marley and Rahman; its self-titled album was scheduled for release in September 2011. The album would have Jagger singing on Rahman's composition, "Satyameva Jayate" ("The Truth Alone Triumphs").


title: A. R. Rahman

text: In January 2012 the Deutsches Filmorchester Babelsberg announced that it would join KM Music Conservatory musicians for a 100-member concert tour of five Indian cities (Germany and India 2011–2012: Infinite Opportunities), performing Rahman's songs. The marked the centennial of Indian cinema and Babelsberg Studio, the world's oldest film studio.


title: A. R. Rahman

text: In Summer 2012 Rahman composed a Punjabi song for the London Olympics opening ceremony, directed by Danny Boyle, part of a medley showcasing Indian influence in the UK. Indian musician Ilaiyaraja's song from the 1981 Tamil-language film "Ram Lakshman" was also chosen for the medley.


title: A. R. Rahman

text: In December 2012 Rahman and Shekhar Kapoor launched Qyuki, a networking site which is a platform for story writers to exchange their thoughts. Cisco invested ₹270 million in the startup, giving it a 17-percent share. Qyuki uses Cisco's cloud infrastructure for the site. On 20 December he released the single "Infinite Love" in English and Hindi, commemorating the last day of the Mayan calendar to spread hope, peace and love. Rahman's 2013 tour, Rahmanishq, was announced on 29 July 2013 in Mumbai. Beginning in Sydney on 24 August, the tour moved to a number of cities in India.


title: A. R. Rahman

text: In January 2016, after a long break Rahman performed live in Chennai and for the first time in Coimbatore & Madurai, with a complete Tamil playlist. As the name suggests, "Nenje Yezhu" (which means rise up) began 2016 with a positive note and with music from the heart. The proceeds of this concert will be used for flood relief in Tamil Nadu and also for creating awareness against cancer, supporting VS Medical Trust outside Chennai.


title: A. R. Rahman

text: Rahman released a 19-minute orchestral composition "The Flying Lotus" in 2017 featuring the demonetisation. This musical piece is an open interpretation of this major stance against black money which also includes Narendra Modi's speech.


title: A. R. Rahman

text: On 15 August 2018, Rahman appeared as the host in the 5-episode series of Amazon Prime Video titled "Harmony".


title: A. R. Rahman

text: Rahman launched India's first YouTube Original, "ARRived", which aims to find the best singing talent from across country. The series has 13 episodes and the first episode was uploaded on 7 November 2018. Rahman is the main judge and he is accompanied by Shaan, Vidya Vox and Clinton Cerejo.


title: A. R. Rahman

text: On 16 January 2019, Maruti Suzuki India Limited launched NEXA Music, a platform where 24 artists will be picked and mentored by Rahman and Clinton Cerejo to create international music in India.


title: A. R. Rahman

text: Rahman also appeared as a judge on "The Voice". The show began airing on 3 February 2019 on StarPlus. Rahman partnered with Marvel to compose a promotional track titled "Marvel Anthem" in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu for "" (2019). Rahman has sung and composed the track spiced up with rap and heavy percussion. The lyrics are by Nirmika Singh, and MC Heam (rap). The film's team also walked the red carpet and also took a selfie with over 3,500 audience members.


title: A. R. Rahman

text: The Irish rock band U2 collaborated with Rahman to release a single, "Ahimsa", in December 2019. The song was named for the Sanskrit word for non-violence, and lyrically was intended to celebrate the ethnical and spiritual diversity in India. Rahman stated that ahimsa requires courage and strength, and that the song is a celebration of non-violence and peace.


title: A. R. Rahman

text: Skilled in Carnatic music, Western and Hindustani classical music and the Qawwali style of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Rahman is noted for film songs amalgamating elements of these and other genres, layering instruments from different musical idioms in an improvisational style. During the 1980s Rahman recorded monaural arrangements in common with his musical predecessors, K. V. Mahadevan and Vishwanathan–Ramamoorthy. He has also worked as a pianist in Ilaiyaraaja's troupe for hundreds of movies. In later years his methodology changed, as he experimented with the fusion of traditional instruments with new electronic sounds and technology.


title: A. R. Rahman

text: Rahman's musical interests and outlook originate in his love of experimentation. His compositions have an auteuristic use of counterpoint, orchestration and the human voice, melding Indian pop music with a unique timbre, form and instrumentation. With this syncretic style and wide-ranging lyrics, the appeal of Rahman's music crosses classes and cultures in Indian society.


title: A. R. Rahman

text: His first soundtrack, for "Roja", was listed on "Time's" all-time "10 Best Soundtracks" in 2005. Film critic Richard Corliss said that the composer's "astonishing debut work parades Rahman's gift for alchemizing outside influences until they are totally Tamil, totally Rahman", and his initial global success is attributed to the South Asian diaspora. Music producer Ron Fair considers Rahman "one of the world's great living composers in any medium".


title: A. R. Rahman

text: Rahman introduced 7.1 surround sound technology to South Indian films. Rahman is one of the best-selling music artists in India, with an estimated 150 million records sold worldwide. On 21 May 2014 Rahman announced that he has partnered with former Black Eyed Peas' Will.i.am to recreate an early popular track 'Urvashi Urvashi'. Track is 'Birthday'.


title: A. R. Rahman

text: Rahman is married to Saira Banu (not to be confused with actress Saira Banu), sister-in-law of actor Rahman; they have three children: Khatija, Rahima and Ameen. Ameen has sung "NaNa" from "Couples Retreat", and Khatija has sung "Pudhiya Manidha" from "Enthiran". Composer G. V. Prakash Kumar is the son of Rahman's elder sister, A. R. Reihana. Rahman's younger sister, Fathima, heads his music conservatory in Chennai. The youngest, Ishrath, has a music studio. A.R.Rahman is the co-brother of film actor Rahman.


title: A. R. Rahman

text: Born Hindu, Rahman converted to Islam when he was in his 20s. After the early death of his father, his family experienced difficult times; Sufism influenced his mother, who was a practising Hindu and, eventually, his family. During the 81st Academy Awards ceremony Rahman paid tribute to his mother: "There is a Hindi dialogue, "mere pass ma hai", which means 'even if I have got nothing I have my mother here'." He said, ""Ella pughazhum iraivanukke"" ("All praise to God" in Tamil, a translation from the Quran) before his speech. In February 2020, Rahman was critiqued for his liberal image after Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasreen raised a question about his daughter wearing a burka.


title: A. R. Rahman

text: Rahman is involved with a number of charitable causes. In 2004 he was appointed as the global ambassador of the Stop TB Partnership, a WHO project. Rahman has supported Save the Children India and worked with Yusuf Islam on "Indian Ocean", a song featuring a-ha keyboard player Magne Furuholmen and Travis drummer Neil Primrose. Proceeds from the song went to help orphans in Banda Aceh who were affected by the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami. He produced the single "We Can Make It Better" by Don Asian with Mukhtar Sahota. In 2008 Rahman opened the KM Music Conservatory with an audio-media education facility to train aspiring musicians in vocals, instruments, music technology and sound design. The conservatory (with prominent musicians on staff and a symphony orchestra) is located near his studio in Kodambakkam, Chennai and offers courses at several levels. Violinist L. Subramaniam is on its advisory board. Several of Rahman's proteges from the studio have scored feature films. In 2009, he founded Sunshine Orchestra with a vision to introduce India's first symphony orchestra where economically and socially deprived children get free music education by the KM Music Conservatory. He composed the theme music for a 2006 short film for The Banyan to aid poor women in Chennai.


title: A. R. Rahman

text: In 2008 Rahman and noted percussionist Sivamani created a song, "Jiya Se Jiya", inspired by the Free Hugs Campaign and promoted it with a video filmed in a number of Indian cities for a cause. In 2017, he announced one heart foundation which would support people from music industry. Rahman announced "Ta Futures", a collaborative culture project that would curate and celebrate the sounds of Tamil Nadu.


title: A. R. Rahman

text: In 2019, Rahman performed a Sufi Benefit Concert at the annual New York gala of Pratham, one of the largest non-governmental organisations in India, which focuses on the provision of quality education to India's underprivileged children. Rahman and his ensemble performed the full dinner concert on a pro-bono basis. Afterward, Rahmam wrote on Twitter that his "long time dream of performing #Sufimusic for human causes came true" and thanked attendees for their respect and generosity.


title: A. R. Rahman

text: A six-time National Film Award winner and recipient of six Tamil Nadu State Film Awards, he has fifteen Filmfare Awards and sixteen Filmfare Awards South for his music. Rahman has received a Kalaimamani from the Government of Tamil Nadu for excellence in the field of music, musical-achievement awards from the governments of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh and a Padma Shri from the Government of India.


title: A. R. Rahman

text: In 2006, he received an award from Stanford University for his contributions to global music. The following year, Rahman entered the "Limca Book of Records" as "Indian of the Year for Contribution to Popular Music". He received the 2008 Lifetime Achievement Award from the Rotary Club of Madras. In 2009, for his "Slumdog Millionaire" score, Rahman won the Broadcast Film Critics Association Award, the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score, the BAFTA Award for Best Film Music and two Academy Awards (Best Original Score and Best Original Song, the latter shared with Gulzar) at the 81st Academy Awards.


title: A. R. Rahman

text: He has received honorary doctorates from Middlesex University, Aligarh Muslim University, Anna University in Chennai and Miami University in Ohio. The composer has won two Grammy Awards: Best Compilation Soundtrack Album and Best Song Written for Visual Media. Rahman received the Padma Bhushan, India's third-highest civilian honour, in 2010.


title: A. R. Rahman

text: His work in "127 Hours" won him Golden Globe, BAFTA, and two Academy Award nominations (Best Original Music Score and Best Original Song) in 2011. Rahman is an Honorary Fellow of the Trinity College of Music.


title: A. R. Rahman

text: On 24 October 2014 Rahman was awarded an honorary doctorate from Berklee College of Music during a concert paying tribute to his music featuring an international cast of students. Upon receiving his award he commented that being honoured by Berklee illustrates how his life has come full circle, as at the start of his career, he had planned to study at Berklee before being offered the opportunity to score "Roja". During his 7 May 2012 acceptance speech of his honorary doctorate from Miami University in Ohio, Rahman mentioned that he received a Christmas card from the family of the President of the United States and an invitation to dinner at the White House. A street was named in his honour in Markham, Ontario, Canada in November 2013.


title: A. R. Rahman

text: On 4 October 2015, the government of Seychelles named A. R. Rahman "Cultural Ambassador for Seychelles" in appreciation of the "invaluable services contributed to enhance Seychelles' Arts and Culture development."


title: A. R. Rahman

text: In January 2018, He has been appointed as the Brand Ambassador of the Sikkim government. A.R. Rahman will promote and project the state's achievements nationally and globally. Rahman was honoured with the Pride of Indian Music award at the first Zee Cine Awards Tamil, held on 4 January 2020 in Chennai.


title: A. R. Rahman

text: The UK-based world-music magazine "Songlines" named him one of "Tomorrow's World Music Icons" in August 2011. For years, he has been regularly listed one among "The 500 Most Influential Muslims" in the world.


title: A. R. Rahman

text: Currently, he is also on the Board of Advisors of India's International Movement to Unite Nations (I.I.M.U.N.).


title: A. R. Rahman

text: 99 Songs is a musical romance film co-written and produced by A. R. Rahman, who thus makes his debut in both roles, apart from composing the original score and songs.


title: A. R. Rahman

text: "99 Songs" is the first Indian soundtrack album to use Dolby Atmos technology, and Rahman became the first Indian artist to create music album of the film in this technology. The film stars debutants Ehan Bhat and Edilsy Vargas, alongside Aditya Seal, Lisa Ray and Manisha Koirala among others portray supporting characters. The film is a sensual story about art and self-discovery of a struggling singer who wants to be a successful music composer.


title: A. R. Rahman

text: The full soundtrack was released by Sony Music India on 20 March 2020., which consist of 14 songs included "The Oracle (song)", "Humnawaa" & more, each in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu languages & The album received highly positive reviews from critics.


title: Odin

text: Odin (; from , ) is a widely revered god in Germanic paganism. Norse mythology, the source of most surviving information about him, associates him with wisdom, healing, death, royalty, the gallows, knowledge, war, battle, victory, sorcery, poetry, frenzy, and the runic alphabet, and depicts him as the husband to the goddess Frigg and king of the Norse gods. In wider Germanic mythology and paganism, the god was also known in Old English as , in Old Saxon as , in Old Dutch as "Wuodan", in Old Frisian as "Wêda", and in Old High German as , all ultimately stemming from the Proto-Germanic theonym *"Wōðanaz", meaning 'lord of frenzy', or 'leader of the possessed'.


title: Odin

text: Odin appears as a prominent god throughout the recorded history of Northern Europe, from the Roman occupation of regions of Germania (from BCE) through movement of peoples during the Migration Period (4th to 6th centuries CE) and the Viking Age (8th to 11th centuries CE). In the modern period, the rural folklore of Germanic Europe continued to acknowledge Odin. References to him appear in place names throughout regions historically inhabited by the ancient Germanic peoples, and the day of the week Wednesday bears his name in many Germanic languages, including in English.


title: Odin

text: In Old English texts, Odin holds a particular place as a euhemerized ancestral figure among royalty, and he is frequently referred to as a founding figure among various other Germanic peoples, such as the Lombards, while some Old Norse sources depict him as an enthroned ruler of the gods. Forms of his name appear frequently throughout the Germanic record, though narratives regarding Odin are mainly found in Old Norse works recorded in Iceland, primarily around the 13th century. These texts make up the bulk of modern understanding of Norse mythology.


title: Odin

text: Old Norse texts portray Odin as the son of Bestla and Borr along with two brothers, Vili and Vé, and he fathered many sons, most famously the gods Thor (with ) and (with ). He is known by hundreds of names. Odin is frequently portrayed as one-eyed and long-bearded, wielding a spear named Gungnir or appearing in disguise wearing a cloak and a broad hat. He is often accompanied by his animal familiars—the wolves Geri and Freki and the ravens Huginn and Muninn, who bring him information from all over —and he rides the flying, eight-legged steed Sleipnir across the sky and into the underworld. In these texts he frequently seeks greater knowledge, most famously by obtaining the Mead of Poetry, and makes wagers with his wife Frigg over his endeavors. He takes part both in the creation of the world by slaying the primordial being and in giving life to the first two humans Ask and Embla. He also provides mankind knowledge of runic writing and poetry, showing aspects of a culture hero. He has a particular association with the Yule holiday.


title: Odin

text: Odin is also associated with the divine battlefield maidens, the valkyries, and he oversees Valhalla, where he receives half of those who die in battle, the , sending the other half to the goddess 's . Odin consults the disembodied, herb-embalmed head of the wise , who foretells the doom of and urges Odin to lead the into battle before being consumed by the monstrous wolf . In later folklore, Odin sometimes appears as a leader of the Wild Hunt, a ghostly procession of the dead through the winter sky. He is associated with charms and other forms of magic, particularly in Old English and Old Norse texts.


title: Odin

text: The figure of Odin is a frequent subject of interest in Germanic studies, and scholars have advanced numerous theories regarding his development. Some of these focus on Odin's particular relation to other figures; for example, 's husband appears to be something of an etymological doublet of the god, while Odin's wife is in many ways similar to , and Odin has a particular relation to . Other approaches focus on Odin's place in the historical record, exploring whether Odin derives from Proto-Indo-European mythology or developed later in Germanic society. In the modern period, Odin has inspired numerous works of poetry, music, and other cultural expressions. He is venerated with other Germanic gods in most forms of the new religious movement Heathenry; some branches focus particularly on him.


title: Odin

text: The Old Norse theonym "Óðinn" (runic on the Ribe skull fragment) is a cognate (linguistic sibling of the same origin) of other medieval Germanic names, including Old English "Wōden", Old Saxon "Wōdan", Old Dutch "Wuodan", and Old High German "Wuotan" (Old Bavarian "Wûtan"). They all derive from the reconstructed Proto-Germanic masculine theonym "*Wōðanaz" (or "*Wōdunaz"). Translated as 'lord of frenzy', or as 'leader of the possessed', "*Wōðanaz" stems from the Proto-Germanic adjective "*wōðaz" ('possessed, inspired, delirious, raging') attached to the suffix "*-naz" ('master of'). Internal and comparative evidence all point to the ideas of a divine possession or inspiration, and an ecstatic divination. In his "Gesta Hammaburgensis ecclesiae pontificum" (1075–1080 AD), Adam of Bremen explicitly associates "Wotan" with the Latin term "furor", which can be translated as 'rage', 'fury', 'madness', or 'frenzy' ("Wotan id est furor" : "Odin, that is, "furor""). As of 2011, an attestation of Proto-Norse "Woðinz", on the Strängnäs stone, has been accepted as probably authentic, but the name may be used as a related adjective instead meaning "with a gift for (divine) possession" (ON: "øðinn").


title: Odin

text: Other Germanic cognates derived from "*wōðaz" include Gothic "woþs" ('possessed'), Old Norse "óðr" ('mad, frantic, furious'), Old English "wōd" ('insane, frenzied') or Dutch "woed" ('frantic, wild, crazy'), along with the substantivized forms Old Norse "óðr" ('mind, wit, sense; song, poetry'), Old English "wōþ" ('sound, noise; voice, song'), Old High German "wuot" ('thrill, violent agitation') and Middle Dutch "woet" ('rage, frenzy'), from the same root as the original adjective. The Proto-Germanic terms "*wōðīn" ('madness, fury') and "*wōðjanan" ('to rage') can also be reconstructed. Early epigraphic attestations of the adjective include "un-wōdz" ('calm one', i.e. 'not-furious'; 200 CE) and "wōdu-rīde" ('furious rider'; 400 CE).


title: Odin

text: Philologist Jan de Vries has argued that the Old Norse deities Óðinn and Óðr were probably originally connected (as in the doublet Ullr–Ullinn), with "Óðr" (*"wōðaz") being the elder form and the ultimate source of the name "Óðinn" ("*wōða-naz"). He further suggested that the god of rage Óðr–Óðinn stood in opposition to the god of glorious majesty Ullr–Ullinn in a similar manner to the Vedic contrast between Varuna and Mitra.


title: Odin

text: The adjective "*wōðaz" ultimately stems from a Pre-Germanic form "*uoh₂-tós", which is related to the Proto-Celtic terms "*wātis", meaning 'seer, sooth-sayer' (cf. Gaulish "wāteis", Old Irish "fáith" 'prophet') and *"wātus", meaning 'prophesy, poetic inspiration' (cf. Old Irish "fáth" 'prophesic wisdom, maxims', Old Welsh "guaut" 'prophetic verse, panegyric'). According to some scholars, the Latin term "vātēs" ('prophet, seer') is probably a Celtic loanword from the Gaulish language, making "*uoh₂-tós ~ *ueh₂-tus" ('god-inspired') a shared religious term common to Germanic and Celtic rather than an inherited word of earlier Proto-Indo-European (PIE) origin. In the case a borrowing scenario is excluded, a PIE etymon "*(H)ueh₂-tis" ('prophet, seer') can also be posited as the common ancestor of the attested Germanic, Celtic and Latin forms.


title: Odin

text: More than 170 names are recorded for Odin; the names are variously descriptive of attributes of the god, refer to myths involving him, or refer to religious practices associated with him. This multitude makes Odin the god with the most known names among the Germanic peoples. Professor Steve Martin has pointed out that the name Odinsberg (Ounesberry, Ounsberry, Othenburgh) in Cleveland Yorkshire, now corrupted to Roseberry (Topping), may derive from the time of the Anglian settlements, with nearby Newton under Roseberry and Great Ayton having Anglo Saxon suffixes. The very dramatic rocky peak was an obvious place for divine association, and may have replaced Bronze Age/Iron Age beliefs of divinity there, given that a hoard of bronze votive axes and other objects was buried by the summit. It could be a rare example, then, of Nordic-Germanic theology displacing earlier Celtic mythology in an imposing place of tribal prominence.


title: Odin

text: In his opera cycle "Der Ring des Nibelungen", Richard Wagner refers to the god as "Wotan", a spelling of his own invention which combines the Old High German "Wuotan" with the Low German "Wodan".


title: Odin

text: The modern English weekday name "Wednesday" derives from Old English "Wōdnesdæg", meaning 'day of Wōden'. Cognate terms are found in other Germanic languages, such as Middle Low German and Middle Dutch "Wōdensdach" (modern Dutch "woensdag"), Old Frisian "Wērnisdei" (≈ "Wērendei") and Old Norse "Óðinsdagr" (cf. Danish, Norwegian, Swedish "onsdag"). All of these terms derive from Late Proto-Germanic *"Wodanesdag" ('Day of Wōðanaz'), a calque of Latin "Mercurii dies" ('Day of Mercury'; cf. modern Italian "mercoledì", French "mercredi", Spanish "miércoles").


title: Odin

text: The earliest records of the Germanic peoples were recorded by the Romans, and in these works Odin is frequently referred to—via a process known as (where characteristics perceived to be similar by Romans result in identification of a non-Roman god as a Roman deity)—as the Roman god Mercury. The first clear example of this occurs in the Roman historian Tacitus's late 1st-century work , where, writing about the religion of the (a confederation of Germanic peoples), he comments that "among the gods Mercury is the one they principally worship. They regard it as a religious duty to offer to him, on fixed days, human as well as other sacrificial victims. Hercules and Mars they appease by animal offerings of the permitted kind" and adds that a portion of the also venerate "Isis". In this instance, Tacitus refers to the god Odin as "Mercury", Thor as "Hercules", and as "Mars". The "Isis" of the Suebi has been debated and may represent "Freyja".


title: Odin

text: Anthony Birley noted that Odin's apparent identification with Mercury has little to do with Mercury's classical role of being messenger of the gods, but appears to be due to Mercury's role of psychopomp. Other contemporary evidence may also have led to the equation of Odin with Mercury; Odin, like Mercury, may have at this time already been pictured with a staff and hat, may have been considered a trader god, and the two may have been seen as parallel in their roles as wandering deities. But their rankings in their respective religious spheres may have been very different. Also, Tacitus's "among the gods Mercury is the one they principally worship" is an exact quote from Julius Caesar's (1st century BCE) in which Caesar is referring to the Gauls and not the Germanic peoples. Regarding the Germanic peoples, Caesar states: "[T]hey consider the gods only the ones that they can see, the Sun, Fire and the Moon", which scholars reject as clearly mistaken, regardless of what may have led to the statement.


title: Odin

text: There is no direct, undisputed evidence for the worship of Odin/Mercury among the Goths, and the existence of a cult of Odin among them is debated. Richard North and Herwig Wolfram have both argued that the Goths did not worship Odin. Wolfram argued that the use of Greek names of the week in Gothic showed that they did not worship Odin. One possible reading of the Gothic Ring of Pietroassa is that the inscription "gutaniowi hailag" means "sacred to Wodan-Jove", but this is highly disputed.


title: Odin

text: Although the English kingdoms were converted to Christianity by the 7th century, Odin is frequently listed as a founding figure among the Old English royalty.


title: Odin

text: Odin is also either directly or indirectly mentioned a few times in the surviving Old English poetic corpus, including the "Nine Herbs Charm" and likely also the "Old English rune poem". Odin may also be referenced in the riddle "Solomon and Saturn". In the "Nine Herbs Charm", Odin is said to have slain a "wyrm" (serpent, European dragon) by way of nine "glory twigs". Preserved from an 11th-century manuscript, the poem is, according to Bill Griffiths, "one of the most enigmatic of Old English texts". The section that mentions Odin is as follows:


title: Odin

text: The emendation of to 'man' has been proposed. The next stanza comments on the creation of the herbs chervil and fennel while hanging in heaven by the 'wise lord' () and before sending them down among mankind. Regarding this, Griffith comments that "In a Christian context 'hanging in heaven' would refer to the crucifixion; but (remembering that Woden was mentioned a few lines previously) there is also a parallel, perhaps a better one, with Odin, as his crucifixion was associated with learning." The Old English gnomic poem "Maxims I" also mentions Odin by name in the (alliterative) phrase , ('Woden made idols'), in which he is contrasted with and denounced against the Christian God.


title: Odin

text: The Old English rune poem recounts the Old English runic alphabet, the futhorc. The stanza for the rune reads as follows:


title: Odin

text: The first word of this stanza, (Latin 'mouth') is a homophone for Old English , a particularly heathen word for 'god'. Due to this and the content of the stanzas, several scholars have posited that this poem is censored, having originally referred to Odin. Kathleen Herbert comments that " was cognate with in Norse, where it meant one of the , the chief family of gods. In Old English, it could be used as an element in first names: Osric, Oswald, Osmund, etc. but it was not used as a word to refer to the God of Christians. Woden was equated with Mercury, the god of eloquence (among other things). The tales about the Norse god Odin tell how he gave one of his eyes in return for wisdom; he also won the mead of poetic inspiration. Luckily for Christian rune-masters, the Latin word could be substituted without ruining the sense, to keep the outward form of the rune name without obviously referring to Woden."


title: Odin

text: In the prose narrative of "Solomon and Saturn", "Mercurius the Giant" () is referred to as an inventor of letters. This may also be a reference to Odin, who is in Norse mythology the founder of the runic alphabets, and the gloss a continuation of the practice of equating Odin with Mercury found as early as Tacitus. One of the "Solomon and Saturn" poems is additionally in the style of later Old Norse material featuring Odin, such as the Old Norse poem , featuring Odin and the engaging in a deadly game of wits.


title: Odin

text: The 7th-century , and Paul the Deacon's 8th-century derived from it, recount a founding myth of the Langobards (Lombards), a Germanic people who ruled a region of the Italian Peninsula. According to this legend, a "small people" known as the were ruled by a woman named Gambara who had two sons, Ybor and Aio. The Vandals, ruled by Ambri and Assi, came to the Winnili with their army and demanded that they pay them tribute or prepare for war. Ybor, Aio, and their mother Gambara rejected their demands for tribute. Ambri and Assi then asked the god Godan for victory over the Winnili, to which Godan responded (in the longer version in the ): "Whom I shall first see when at sunrise, to them will I give the victory."


title: Odin

text: Meanwhile, Ybor and Aio called upon Frea, Godan's wife. Frea counselled them that "at sunrise the Winnil[i] should come, and that their women, with their hair let down around the face in the likeness of a beard should also come with their husbands". At sunrise, Frea turned Godan's bed around to face east and woke him. Godan saw the Winnili and their whiskered women and asked, "who are those Long-beards?" Frea responded to Godan, "As you have given them a name, give them also the victory". Godan did so, "so that they should defend themselves according to his counsel and obtain the victory". Thenceforth the Winnili were known as the "Langobards" ('long-beards').


title: Odin

text: Writing in the mid-7th century, Jonas of Bobbio wrote that earlier that century the Irish missionary Columbanus disrupted an offering of beer to Odin ("vodano") "(whom others called Mercury)" in Swabia. A few centuries later, 9th-century document from what is now Mainz, Germany, known as the "Old Saxon Baptismal Vow" records the names of three Old Saxon gods, ('Woden'), , and ('Thor'), whom pagan converts were to renounce as demons.


title: Odin

text: A 10th-century manuscript found in Merseburg, Germany, features a heathen invocation known as the Second Merseburg Incantation, which calls upon Odin and other gods and goddesses from the continental Germanic pantheon to assist in healing a horse:


title: Odin

text: In the 11th century, chronicler Adam of Bremen recorded in a scholion of his that a statue of Thor, whom Adam describes as "mightiest", sat enthroned in the Temple at Uppsala (located in Gamla Uppsala, Sweden) flanked by Wodan (Odin) and "Fricco". Regarding Odin, Adam defines him as "frenzy" () and says that he "rules war and gives people strength against the enemy" and that the people of the temple depict him as wearing armour, "as our people depict Mars". According to Adam, the people of Uppsala had appointed priests (gothi) to each of the gods, who were to offer up sacrifices (blót), and in times of war sacrifices were made to images of Odin.


title: Odin

text: In the 12th century, centuries after Norway was "officially" Christianised, Odin was still being invoked by the population, as evidenced by a stick bearing a runic message found among the Bryggen inscriptions in Bergen, Norway. On the stick, both Thor and Odin are called upon for help; Thor is asked to "receive" the reader, and Odin to "own" them.


title: Odin

text: Odin is mentioned or appears in most poems of the "Poetic Edda", compiled in the 13th century from traditional source material reaching back to the pagan period.


title: Odin

text: The poem features Odin in a dialogue with an undead völva, who gives him wisdom from ages past and foretells the onset of , the destruction and rebirth of the world. Among the information the recounts is the story of the first human beings (Ask and Embla), found and given life by a trio of gods; Odin, , and :


title: Odin

text: In stanza 17 of the "Poetic Edda" poem , the reciting the poem states that , and Odin once found Ask and Embla on land. The says that the two were capable of very little, lacking in and says that they were given three gifts by the three gods:


title: Odin

text: The meaning of these gifts has been a matter of scholarly disagreement and translations therefore vary.


title: Odin

text: Later in the poem, the recounts the events of the War, the war between and the , two groups of gods. During this, the first war of the world, Odin flung his spear into the opposing forces of the . The tells Odin that she knows where he has hidden his eye; in the spring , and from it " drinks mead every morning". After Odin gives her necklaces, she continues to recount more information, including a list of valkyries, referred to as 'the ladies of War Lord'; in other words, the ladies of Odin. In foretelling the events of , the predicts the death of Odin; Odin will fight the monstrous wolf during the great battle at . Odin will be consumed by the wolf, yet Odin's son will avenge him by stabbing the wolf in the heart. After the world is burned and renewed, the surviving and returning gods will meet and recall Odin's deeds and "ancient runes".


title: Odin

text: The poem (Old Norse 'Sayings of the High One') consists entirely of wisdom verse attributed to Odin. This advice ranges from the practical ("A man shouldn't hold onto the cup but drink in moderation, it's necessary to speak or be silent; no man will blame you for impoliteness if you go early to bed"), to the mythological (such as Odin's recounting of his retrieval of , the vessel containing the mead of poetry), and to the mystical (the final section of the poem consists of Odin's recollection of eighteen charms). Among the various scenes that Odin recounts is his self-sacrifice:


title: Odin

text: While the name of the tree is not provided in the poem and other trees exist in Norse mythology, the tree is near universally accepted as the cosmic tree , and if the tree is , then the name (Old Norse 'Ygg's steed') directly relates to this story. Odin is associated with hanging and gallows; John Lindow comments that "the hanged 'ride' the gallows".


title: Odin

text: In the prose introduction to the poem , the hero Sigurd rides up to and heads south towards "the land of the Franks". On the mountain sees a great light, "as if fire were burning, which blazed up to the sky". approaches it, and there he sees a (a tactical formation of shield wall) with a banner flying overhead. enters the , and sees a warrior lying there—asleep and fully armed. removes the helmet of the warrior, and sees the face of a woman. The woman's corslet is so tight that it seems to have grown into the woman's body. uses his sword Gram to cut the corslet, starting from the neck of the corslet downwards, he continues cutting down her sleeves, and takes the corslet off her.


title: Odin

text: The woman wakes, sits up, looks at , and the two converse in two stanzas of verse. In the second stanza, the woman explains that Odin placed a sleeping spell on her which she could not break, and due to that spell she has been asleep a long time. asks for her name, and the woman gives a horn of mead to help him retain her words in his memory. The woman recites a heathen prayer in two stanzas. A prose narrative explains that the woman is named and that she is a valkyrie.


title: Odin

text: A narrative relates that explains to that there were two kings fighting one another. Odin had promised one of these——victory in battle, yet she had "brought down" in battle. Odin pricked her with a sleeping-thorn in consequence, told her that she would never again "fight victoriously in battle", and condemned her to marriage. In response, told Odin she had sworn a great oath that she would never wed a man who knew fear. asks to share with him her wisdom of all worlds. The poem continues in verse, where provides with knowledge in inscribing runes, mystic wisdom, and prophecy.


title: Odin

text: Odin is mentioned throughout the books of the "Prose Edda", composed in the 13th century and drawing from earlier traditional material. The god is introduced at length in chapter nine of the "Prose Edda" book "Gylfaginning", which explains that he is described as ruling over Asgard, the domain of the gods, on his throne, that he is the 'father of all', and that from him all the gods, all of humankind (by way of Ask and Embla), and everything else he has made or produced. According to "Gylfaginning", in Asgard:


title: Odin

text: In the "Prose Edda" book (chapter 38), the enthroned figure of High (Harr), tells (king in disguise) that two ravens named Huginn and Muninn sit on Odin's shoulders. The ravens tell Odin everything they see and hear. Odin sends Huginn and Muninn out at dawn, and the birds fly all over the world before returning at dinner-time. As a result, Odin is kept informed of many events. High adds that it is from this association that Odin is referred to as "raven-god". The above-mentioned stanza from is then quoted.


title: Odin

text: In the same chapter, the enthroned figure of High explains that Odin gives all of the food on his table to his wolves Geri and Freki and that Odin requires no food, for wine is to him both meat and drink.


title: Odin

text: Odin is mentioned several times in the sagas that make up . In the , the first section of , an euhemerised account of the origin of the gods is provided. Odin is introduced in chapter two, where he is said to have lived in "the land or home of the " (), the capital of which being . was ruled by Odin, a great chieftain, and was "a great place for sacrifices". It was the custom there that twelve temple priests were ranked highest; they administered sacrifices and held judgements over men. "Called or chiefs", the people were obliged to serve under them and respect them. Odin was a very successful warrior and travelled widely, conquering many lands. Odin was so successful that he never lost a battle. As a result, according to the saga, men came to believe that "it was granted to him" to win all battles. Before Odin sent his men to war or to perform tasks for him, he would place his hands upon their heads and give them a ('blessing', ultimately from Latin ) and the men would believe that they would also prevail. The men placed all of their faith in Odin, and wherever they called his name they would receive assistance from doing so. Odin was often gone for great spans of time.


title: Odin

text: Chapter 3 says that Odin had two brothers, Vé and Vili. While Odin was gone, his brothers governed his realm. Once Odin was gone for so long that the believed that he would not return, his brothers began to divvy up Odin's inheritance, "but his wife they shared between them. However, afterwards, [Odin] returned and took possession of his wife again". Chapter 4 describes the War. According to the chapter, Odin "made war on the ". The defended their land and the battle turned to a stalemate, both sides having devastated each other's lands. As part of a peace agreement, the two sides exchanged hostages. One of the exchanges went awry and resulted in the decapitating one of the hostages sent to them by the , . The sent 's head to the , whereupon Odin "took it and embalmed it with herbs so that it would not rot, and spoke charms [Old Norse ] over it", which imbued the head with the ability to answer Odin and "tell him many occult things".


title: Odin

text: In , the great king and his wife (unnamed) are unable to conceive a child; "that lack displeased them both, and they fervently implored the gods that they might have a child. It is said that heard their prayers and told Odin what they asked", and the two gods subsequently sent a Valkyrie to present an apple that falls onto his lap while he sits on a burial mound and 's wife subsequently becomes pregnant with the namesake of the family line.


title: Odin

text: Local folklore and folk practice recognised Odin as late as the 19th century in Scandinavia. In a work published in the mid-19th century, Benjamin Thorpe records that on Gotland, "many traditions and stories of Odin the Old still live in the mouths of the people". Thorpe notes that, in in Sweden, "it was formerly the custom to leave a sheaf on the field for Odin's horses", and cites other examples, such as in , , where a barrow was purported to have been opened in the 18th century, purportedly containing the body of Odin. After Christianization, the mound was known as (Swedish "Hell's Mound"). Local legend dictates that after it was opened, "there burst forth a wondrous fire, like a flash of lightning", and that a coffin full of flint and a lamp were excavated. Thorpe additionally relates that legend has it that a priest who dwelt around had once sowed some rye, and that when the rye sprang up, so came Odin riding from the hills each evening. Odin was so massive that he towered over the farm-yard buildings, spear in hand. Halting before the entry way, he kept all from entering or leaving all night, which occurred every night until the rye was cut.


title: Odin

text: Thorpe relates that "a story is also current of a golden ship, which is said to be sunk in , near the , in which, according to tradition, Odin fetched the slain from the battle of to ", and that , according to legend, derives its name from "one , who stole Odin's runic staves" () and then bound Odin's dogs, bull, and a mermaid who came to help Odin. Thorpe notes that numerous other traditions existed in Sweden at the time of his writing.


title: Odin

text: Thorpe records (1851) that in Sweden, "when a noise, like that of carriages and horses, is heard by night, the people say: 'Odin is passing by'".


title: Odin

text: Odin and the gods and help a farmer and a boy escape the wrath of a bet-winning in or , a Faroese ballad dating to the Late Middle Ages.


title: Odin

text: References to or depictions of Odin appear on numerous objects. Migration Period (5th and 6th century CE) gold bracteates (types A, B, and C) feature a depiction of a human figure above a horse, holding a spear and flanked by one or more often two birds. The presence of the birds has led to the iconographic identification of the human figure as the god Odin, flanked by and . Like the "Prose Edda" description of the ravens, a bird is sometimes depicted at the ear of the human, or at the ear of the horse. Bracteates have been found in Denmark, Sweden, Norway and, in smaller numbers, England and areas south of Denmark. Austrian Germanist Rudolf Simek states that these bracteates may depict Odin and his ravens healing a horse and may indicate that the birds were originally not simply his battlefield companions but also "Odin's helpers in his veterinary function."


title: Odin

text: Vendel Period helmet plates (from the 6th or 7th century) found in a grave in Sweden depict a helmeted figure holding a spear and a shield while riding a horse, flanked by two birds. The plate has been interpreted as Odin accompanied by two birds; his ravens.


title: Odin

text: Two of the 8th century picture stones from the island of Gotland, Sweden depict eight-legged horses, which are thought by most scholars to depict : the Tjängvide image stone and the Ardre VIII image stone. Both stones feature a rider sitting atop an eight-legged horse, which some scholars view as Odin. Above the rider on the image stone is a horizontal figure holding a spear, which may be a valkyrie, and a female figure greets the rider with a cup. The scene has been interpreted as a rider arriving at the world of the dead. The mid-7th century stone bearing the Odinic name (Old Norse 'army god') may be interpreted as depicting .


title: Odin

text: A pair of identical Germanic Iron Age bird-shaped brooches from in northern Denmark may be depictions of and . The back of each bird features a mask-motif, and the feet of the birds are shaped like the heads of animals. The feathers of the birds are also composed of animal-heads. Together, the animal-heads on the feathers form a mask on the back of the bird. The birds have powerful beaks and fan-shaped tails, indicating that they are ravens. The brooches were intended to be worn on each shoulder, after Germanic Iron Age fashion. Archaeologist comments that while the symbolism of the brooches is open to debate, the shape of the beaks and tail feathers confirms the brooch depictions are ravens. notes that "raven-shaped ornaments worn as a pair, after the fashion of the day, one on each shoulder, makes one's thoughts turn towards Odin's ravens and the cult of Odin in the Germanic Iron Age." says that Odin is associated with disguise, and that the masks on the ravens may be portraits of Odin.


title: Odin

text: The tapestry fragments, discovered within the Viking Age ship burial in Norway, features a scene containing two black birds hovering over a horse, possibly originally leading a wagon (as a part of a procession of horse-led wagons on the tapestry). In her examination of the tapestry, scholar interprets these birds as and flying over a covered cart containing an image of Odin, drawing comparison to the images of Nerthus attested by Tacitus in 1 CE.


title: Odin

text: Excavations in Ribe, Denmark have recovered a Viking Age lead metal-caster's mould and 11 identical casting-moulds. These objects depict a moustached man wearing a helmet that features two head-ornaments. Archaeologist Stig Jensen proposes these head-ornaments should be interpreted as Huginn and Muninn, and the wearer as Odin. He notes that "similar depictions occur everywhere the Vikings went—from eastern England to Russia and naturally also in the rest of Scandinavia."


title: Odin

text: A portion of (a partly surviving runestone erected at Kirk Andreas on the Isle of Man) depicts a bearded human holding a spear downward at a wolf, his right foot in its mouth, and a large bird on his shoulder. Andy Orchard comments that this bird may be either or . Rundata dates the cross to 940, while Pluskowski dates it to the 11th century. This depiction has been interpreted as Odin, with a raven or eagle at his shoulder, being consumed by the monstrous wolf during the events of .


title: Odin

text: The 11th century Ledberg stone in Sweden, similarly to Thorwald's Cross, features a figure with his foot at the mouth of a four-legged beast, and this may also be a depiction of Odin being devoured by at . Below the beast and the man is a depiction of a legless, helmeted man, with his arms in a prostrate position. The Younger Futhark inscription on the stone bears a commonly seen memorial dedication, but is followed by an encoded runic sequence that has been described as "mysterious," and "an interesting magic formula which is known from all over the ancient Norse world."


title: Odin

text: In November 2009, the Roskilde Museum announced the discovery and subsequent display of a niello-inlaid silver figurine found in , which they dubbed "Odin from Lejre". The silver object depicts a person sitting on a throne. The throne features the heads of animals and is flanked by two birds. The Roskilde Museum identifies the figure as Odin sitting on his throne , flanked by the ravens Huginn and Muninn.


title: Odin

text: Various interpretations have been offered for a symbol that appears on various archaeological finds known modernly as the . Due to the context of its placement on some objects, some scholars have interpreted this symbol as referring to Odin. For example, Hilda Ellis Davidson theorises a connection between the , the god Odin and "mental binds":


title: Odin

text: Davidson says that similar symbols are found beside figures of wolves and ravens on "certain cremation urns" from Anglo-Saxon cemeteries in East Anglia. According to Davidson, Odin's connection to cremation is known, and it does not seem unreasonable to connect with Odin in Anglo-Saxon England. Davidson proposes further connections between Odin's role as bringer of ecstasy by way of the etymology of the god's name.


title: Odin

text: Beginning with Henry Petersen's doctoral dissertation in 1876, which proposed that Thor was the indigenous god of Scandinavian farmers and Odin a later god proper to chieftains and poets, many scholars of Norse mythology in the past viewed Odin as having been imported from elsewhere. The idea was developed by Bernhard Salin on the basis of motifs in the petroglyphs and bracteates, and with reference to the Prologue of the "Prose Edda", which presents the Æsir as having migrated into Scandinavia. Salin proposed that both Odin and the runes were introduced from Southeastern Europe in the Iron Age. Other scholars placed his introduction at different times; Axel Olrik, during the Migration Age as a result of Gaulish influence.


title: Odin

text: More radically, both the archaeologist and comparative mythologist and the Germanicist Karl Helm argued that the as a group, which includes both Thor and Odin, were late introductions into Northern Europe and that the indigenous religion of the region had been .


title: Odin

text: In the 16th century and by the entire Vasa dynasty, Odin (as ) was officially considered the first King of Sweden by that country's government and historians. This was based on an embellished list of rulers invented by Johannes Magnus and officially adopted in the reign of King Carl IX, who, though numbered accordingly, actually was only the third Swedish king of that name.


title: Odin

text: Under the trifunctional hypothesis of Georges Dumézil, Odin is assigned one of the core functions in the Indo-European pantheon as a representative of the first function (sovereignty) corresponding to the Hindu (fury and magic) as opposed to , who corresponds to the Hindu (law and justice); while the represent the third function (fertility).


title: Odin

text: Another approach to Odin has been in terms of his function and attributes. Many early scholars interpreted him as a wind-god or especially as a death-god. He has also been interpreted in the light of his association with ecstatic practices, and Jan de Vries compared him to the Hindu god Rudra and the Greek Hermes.