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Odin, the All-Father of Nordic Gods

In Norse mythology, Odin is the king of the Æsir. He is a God of war and death, as well as a sky God and the God of wisdom and poetry. Along with being a God, he is the All-Father of all the Nordic Gods. He is also heavily associated with magic. Odin rides on an eight-legged horse called Sleipnir, and his famous spear is called Gungnir. He also has a precious arm ring called Draupnir, and two ravens named Hugin and Munin who tell him all the things happening around the world. Odin only has one eye, because he sacrificed one to drink from the fountain of wisdom. He threw his eye into a well of wisdom. He also impaled himself to a tree for many days, driving a spear through himself, and discovered runes. He got his wish, wisdom.

Half of the souls of heroes slain in battles will be guided by the Valkyries, battle maidens, to Odin's hall, Valhalla. The other half belongs to the Goddess Freyja.

His wives are Frigg and Jord, the Earth. His eldest son is Thor, God of thunder.

In German, Odin is named Wotan. In older English, Odin is named Woden. The name of the weekday Wednesday in English comes from "Wodens day". In old Norse he is named Oden, and Wednesday in modern Scandinavia is called, "Onsdag", from "Odens day".

Odin was one of the foremost practitioners, along with Freyja, of magic known as seidr. In traditional Germanic society a man engaging in seidr was an extremely emasculating act. But such was Odin's thirst for knowledge he was prepared to sacrifice his honor and was subject to ridicule thereafter.

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