16
votes
Accepted
Why is the story of Odin hanging from Yggdrasil so similar to that of Jesus on the cross?
Taking a look at a few things here.
The word Yggdrasil itself firstly. "Ygg," means Death. "Drasil" is a Nordic term that has the dual meanings of both "gallows" and "horse." So Yggdrasil itself ...
- 427
11
votes
Why would Odin and Freyja send fallen men to Helheim?
When Ragnarök is described in Völuspá (stanza 34 and on) and Snorri's Edda (Gylfaginning, 55-56), there is very little said about those that are with Hel. The closest we get is that we are told that ...
- 5,996
10
votes
Is Odin Thor's father?
As you say Snorri Sturluson writes this cited text in the prologue to his Prose Edda, one of our chief sources of Norse mythology. The old Scandinavian worshipers did not have a written language ...
- 166
10
votes
Did Odin Have A Relationship With Freya?
This is a convoluted topic, and I will start from a somewhat different angle: we are told by Snorri (and find confirmation in Völuspá) that Freya was for a while married to a figure by the name of Od, ...
- 5,996
10
votes
Why is the story of Odin hanging from Yggdrasil so similar to that of Jesus on the cross?
It would be hard to know definitively if this was due Christian influence on Odin's narrative b/c we don't have pre-Christian textual sources for Odin's. (i.e. This material was first recorded about ...
- 14.1k
10
votes
Accepted
Did Frigg cheat on Odin?
Well, your telling is pretty distorted, but there is a story of Odin's brothers taking possession of his wife, Frigg. From the Ynglinga Saga, Chapter 3:
Odin had two brothers, the one called Ve, the ...
- 9,168
9
votes
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When did Odin and Loki became blood brothers?
According to an annotation by translator Henry Adams Bellows,
There exists no account of any incident in which Othin and Loki thus swore blood-brotherhood, but they were so often allied in ...
- 551
8
votes
Is Odin the only being who gained knowledge of the runes?
I think it's safe to say that at least the Norns knew the language of the runes from the Völuspá:
There stands an ash called Yggdrasil,
A mighty tree showered in white hail.
From there come ...
- 409
8
votes
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Hugin and Muninn in runes
Of course you can write their names in runes; runes is simply another alphabet (or rather: several alphabets). Here's what it would look like, using the Younger futhark:
ᚼᚢᚴᛁᚾ Hugin
ᛘᚢᚾᛁᚾ Munin
(...
- 5,996
8
votes
Accepted
Is there a specific term in Norse mythology for Odin's self-sacrifice?
Nope.
The story is known only through Hávamál, a piece of poetry from the poetic Edda, in which it takes up two stanzas. The relevant here is stanza 138:
Veit ek, at ek hekk
vindga meiði á
...
- 5,996
7
votes
Accepted
Fenrir vs Odin. Did he die?
The story of Odin's demise is recorded in the Völuspá. The relevant stanza is number 53. I found a translation here, which has some idiosyncrasies, but looks reliable:
Now comes to Hlin | yet ...
- 5,996
7
votes
Accepted
Meaning and usage of Grimnir?
Grím seems to be a variant of "Grímnir", which means "masked person". A very apt name for Odin. The closest English equivalent is "grimace", while "grim" (similar meaning in old Norse and modern ...
- 5,996
7
votes
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Why is Odin called the Allfather?
Snorri Sturluson comments on this in the Gylfaginning (emphasis mine):
9. Then said Ganglere: Much had been done, it seemed to me, when heaven and earth were made, when sun and moon were set in their ...
- 17k
6
votes
Did Odin Have A Relationship With Freya?
The problem with your question boils down to the chaotic nature of oral tradition, each region has their own stories and myths, some of which survived and others didn't. Much of what we know about ...
6
votes
Did Odin Have A Relationship With Freya?
The Eddic poem Hyndluljod, a dialogue between Freyja and a giantess, also mentions Od. The giantess Hyndla taunts Freyja for being over-sexed: You ran to Od,/ ever longing."
I've seen their ...
- 5,868
6
votes
What's The Best Source On Odin and Freya?
The best original sources for Norse Mythology are the Poetic Edda and the Prose Edda. You can also find skaldic poems on a website curated by the University of Aberdeen.
As far as academic work ...
- 3,539
6
votes
Is Odin the only being who gained knowledge of the runes?
There's also an interesting Eddic poem called Sigrdrífumál in which the valkyrie Sigrdrifa instructs the hero Sigurd in runic magic. (Sigrdrifa, Victory-Bringer, is often identified with Brynhild, so ...
- 5,868
5
votes
Accepted
How often were Odin and Loki allied?
There is their visit to Regin in Reginsmál; this is part of the background for the story of Sigurd, known from the story fo the Völsungs. Odin, Loki and Hœnir are on a journey. Loki kills what he ...
- 5,996
5
votes
Why does Odin favour Sigi at the beginning of the Saga of the Völsungs?
One has to remember that the northern mythology is not based on morality (like Abrahamic religion) and interactions between gods and men (like those in Greek myths) are rare; Odins interest in the ...
- 5,996
5
votes
Accepted
How is Hermes linked to Odin?
If we want to be exact, Hermes is not linked directly to Odin. His Roman equivalent Mercury is.
The first time such a link is made is in Tacitus' Germania, where he in the ninth book states that
...
- 5,996
5
votes
Accepted
Why is Odin called the Wanderer?
Odin is called "wanderer" already in some of the primary sources. Wikipedia has a very handy list of names of Odin, in which we can find at least three which has the meaning of "wanderer": Gangleri, ...
- 5,996
5
votes
Does Odin have fish to tell him what goes on in the seas?
No
First, note that the the only detail that we learn about the wolves, Gere and Freke, in Snorri's Edda is that they are being fed by Odin when he sits at his table; they are not in any way ...
- 5,996
4
votes
Did Yggdrassil exist before the world's creation
I recently read Neil Gaiman's Norse Mythology. Although he's probably not considered the top authority on Norse Mythology, he did study the important works of Sturluson.
Here's a quote right form ...
- 373
4
votes
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Books analysing Norse mythology (specifically Odin)?
Stephan Grundy's Odhinn the Cult of Death, and Diana Paxson's Odin: Ecstasy, Runes, and Norse Practical Magic are both pretty good, and available on Amazon. If you've already read the Prose and Poetic ...
- 5,868
4
votes
How is Hermes linked to Odin?
This link was made first time by Tacitus (Germania). They are similar in some aspects, which can lead to confusion, like in the question of the two relates to the figure of the hermit (wanderer, lord ...
- 415
4
votes
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Why did Odin forsake Sigmund?
I've always taken the answer to this to fall somewhere in between, on the one hand, the fact that Óðinn [Odin] is a trickster figure and, on the other hand, the apparent cultural expectation of the ...
- 9,702
4
votes
Why did Odin forsake Sigmund?
Chapter 3 of the Volsungs Saga:
The tale tells that great fires were made endlong the hall, and the great tree aforesaid stood midmost thereof, withal folk say that, whenas men sat by the fires in ...
- 427
3
votes
Is there a specific term in Norse mythology for Odin's self-sacrifice?
Not sure if this is what you're looking for, but it looked promising.
"Odinn and His Cosmic Cross" (pdf)
https://skemman.is/bitstream/1946/27093/1/Thesis%20Final%20Draft%20pdf.pdf
The term used ...
- 709
3
votes
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Are Harbard and Saga actually Odin and Frigg?
The identification of Harbard (grey-beard) with Odin is a very well-established one among modern scholars. It is based on the fact that both in the Poetic Edda (Grímnismál 47) and in the Prose Edda (...
- 1,669
3
votes
Is Odin brother of Loki?
The Marvel characters are not the real mythological characters and resemble the actual portrayals of the Norse gods in almost no ways beyond the superficial (name, vague powers).
So any and all ...
- 7,140
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