Óðinn
nafnorðkarlkyn
, Óðni; [ Wodan; Wodan, in the Old High German song Phol ende Wodan vuoron zi holza; in the Norse the w is dropped, whence Odinn]:—Odin, Wodan, the name of the founder of the ancient Northern and Teutonic religion, who was afterwards worshipped as the supreme god, the fountain-head of wisdom, the founder of culture, writing, and poetry, the progenitor of kings, the lord of battle and victory; so that his name and that of Allföðr (Allfather, the father of gods and men) were blended together. For Odin as an historical person see , the first chapters of which were originally written by Ari the historian, who himself traced his pedigree back to Odin. For the various tales of Odin as a deity see the and the old poems; for the legends explaining how Odin came by his wisdom, how he was inspired, how he pawned his eye in the well of Mimir, see 22; how he hung in the world-tree Yggdrasil, 139 ; and the most popular account, how he carried away the poetical mead from the giant Suptung, , see 104–110. and 47–49; for his travelling in disguise in search of wisdom among giants and Norns, , , For Odin’s many names and attributes see (Gl.) The greatest families, the Ynglings in Sweden, Skjöldungs in Denmark, and the Háleygir in Norway, traced their pedigrees back to Odin, see the poems Ýt., , Langfeðgatal. In translations from the Latin, Odin was, strangely enough, taken to represent Mercury; thus, kölluðu þeir Pál Óðin, en Barnabas Þór, they called Paul Odin, but Barnabas they called Thor, is an ancient rendering of Acts xiv. 12, , , and passim. This seems to have originated with the Romans themselves; for Tacitus says, ‘deorum maxime Mercurium colunt,’ by which he can only mean Wodan; the Romans may have heard the German tales of Wodan’s wonderful travels, his many assumed names and disguises, his changes of shape, his eloquence, his magical power,—tales such as abound in the ,—and these might make the Romans think of the Greek legends of Hermes: accordingly, when the planetary week days were adopted from the , ‘dies Mercurii’ was rendered into by Wodansdäg, in Wednesday, in Onsdag, in Norse Óðins-dagr, 386, ix. 282: Óðins-nótt, Wednesday night, i. 17. Óðins-hani, a, a bird, tringa hyperborea, or the phalaropus cinereus, or the red phalarope, see Fjölnir viii, Faber, (Gl.)
II. Northern local names, Óðins-vé, the sanctuary of Odin = Odense in Fünen in Denmark, S.: Óðins-salr, in Norway. Munch’s Norg. Beskr. 79: Óðins-lundr, Odin’s grove. In a single instance Athens is rendered by Óðins-borg, and the Athenians by Óðins-borgar-menn, 645. 90; the name can only have been formed from the Greek name pronounced with the th sound, perhaps by the Northmen at Constantinople, who may have associated the name, thus sounded, with Odin’s supposed travels from the east to Sweden, and his halts at various places, which were afterwards called after him, as recorded in As a name, Othen villicus, (Thorkelin) i. 23; Oden Throndsson, iv. 756, 764; Ódin-dís, , , but very rare. It is noteworthy that the name of Odin is, in the old poets, hardly ever used as appellative in circumlocutions of a ‘man;’ málm-Óðinn is a = warrior.
Skammstafanir og tilvitnanir
- m.karlkyn (e. masculine)
- dat.þágufall (e. dative)
- A. S.Anglo-Saxon.
- O. H. G.Old High German.
- esp.especially.
- sqq.following.
- etc.et cetera.
- cp.compare.
- Lat.Latin.
- Engl.English.
- Dan.Danish.
- f.kvenkyn (e. feminine)
- n.hvorugkyn (e. neuter)
- pr.proper, properly.
- poët.poetically.
- απ. λεγ.απαξ. λεγόμενον.
- Yngl. S.Ynglinga saga. (C. II.)
- EddaEdda. (C. I.)
- Vsp.Völuspá. (A. I.)
- Hm.Hává-mál. (A. I.)
- Vþm.Vafþrúðnis-mál. (A. I.)
- Gm.Grímnis-mál. (A. I.)
- Ht.Hátta-tal. (C. I.)
- Clem.Clements saga. (F. III.)
- Bret.Breta sögur. (G. I.)
- Orkn.Orkneyinga saga. (E. II.)
- Fms.Fornmanna sögur. (E. I.)
- N. G. L.Norges Gamle Love. (B. II.)
- Knytl.Knytlinga saga. (E. I.)
- Post.Postula sögur. (F. III.)
- Dipl.Diplomatarium. (J. I.)
- Arna-Magn.Arna-Magnacanus.
- D. N.Diplomatarium Norvagicum. (J. II.)
- Baut.Bautil. (K. II.)