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Mythos Atlas

Norse Pantheon

Odin

Óðinn(Odhinn)

Also known as Allfather, Woden, Wotan, The Wanderer

Illustration of Odin, a deity of the Norse Pantheon
Illustrative imageIllustration of Odin. Generated with an AI image model; not a historical artifact. About our images
  • wisdom
  • war
  • death
  • poetry
  • magic
  • knowledge

King of the Aesir and god of wisdom, war, and death. Odin sacrificed his eye at Mimir's well for wisdom and hung himself on Yggdrasil for nine days to learn the runes.

About Odin

The Allfather

Odin is the chief of the Aesir, a relentless seeker of wisdom. He sacrificed his eye to Mimir's Well for knowledge and hung himself from Yggdrasil for nine nights to discover the runes.

God of War and Poetry

Paradoxically, he grants both the frenzy of battle (berserkers) and the inspiration of poetry (mead of poetry). He rules Valhalla, gathering slain warriors to prepare for Ragnarok.

Origin story

Odin is the son of the primordial beings Borr and Bestla. Along with his brothers Vili and Ve, he slew the giant Ymir and created the world from his body.

Across traditions

Parallel figures

Figures who play a role like Odin's in other traditions.

Worship and cult

Temples, festivals, and practices recorded for Odin

Hanged god, poetry, and the war-dead. Wednesday keeps his name. Uppsala tradition put him with Thor and Freyr. Spear, ravens, and the high seat are the cult signs; evidence is later and Christian-filtered, and should be read that way.

Sacred sites

  • Temple at Uppsala (Adam of Bremen), with Thor and Freyr
  • No surviving named stave-church equivalent; mounds, trees, and halls

Festivals

  • Yule
  • Sacrifices for victory (sigurblót)

Family

with
Frigg
Odin
Children
ThorBaldurHöðr
Rivals
FenrirYmir

Relationship sources

  1. Prose Edda — Odin spouse of Frigg

    Snorri Sturluson · Arthur Gilchrist Brodeur, The Prose Edda (1916), American-Scandinavian Foundation; Internet Sacred Text Archive transcription · Gylfaginning XX (20)

  2. Prose Edda — Odin parent of Thor

    Snorri Sturluson · Arthur Gilchrist Brodeur, The Prose Edda (1916), American-Scandinavian Foundation; Internet Sacred Text Archive transcription · Gylfaginning IX (9)

  3. Prose Edda — Odin parent of Baldur

    Snorri Sturluson · Arthur Gilchrist Brodeur, The Prose Edda (1916), American-Scandinavian Foundation; Internet Sacred Text Archive transcription · Gylfaginning XXII (22)

Questions about Odin's family
Who are Odin's children?
Children of Odin recorded in the atlas: Thor, Baldur, and Höðr.
Who were Odin's spouses and consorts?
Spouses and consorts of Odin recorded in the atlas: Frigg.

In the atlas

Where Odin appears

Sources and further reading

Ancient sources

Quotations, paraphrases and verification notes. Each passage states what has been checked.

Direct quotation

“I know that I hung on a windy tree nine long nights, wounded with a spear, dedicated to Odin, myself to myself, on that tree of which no man knows from where its roots run.”

Havamal, Poetic Edda · Stanza 138

Translation: Carolyne Larrington

Carolyne Larrington, revised 2014

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Direct quotation

“O'er Mithgarth Hugin and Munin both Each day set forth to fly; For Hugin I fear lest he come not home, But for Munin my care is more.”

Grimnismol, Poetic Edda · Stanza 20

Translation: Henry Adams Bellows

1923; Sacred Texts transcription. Caesura bars omitted; verse whitespace normalized. English transcription checked 2026-09-23. Replaces prior unverified wording; no original-language text is supplied or certified.

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Appears in

Ancient and classical works featuring this figure.

  • Poetic EddaAnonymous

    appears throughout as wanderer, war-god, and seeker of wisdom (Havamal and the mythological poems)

  • Prose EddaSnorri Sturluson

    narrates or is described throughout the mythological framing (Gylfaginning)

Further reading

An editorial selection, not a full bibliography. Browse every text on the Sources page.

About this entry

By Elizabeth Stein for Mythos Atlas. . Editorial notes are grounded in the site's cited sources and can be challenged through the contact page.

Parallels are editorial comparisons across traditions: a shared role does not, by itself, establish a shared origin.

Family relationships come from the atlas's kinship records. Ancient sources often disagree on divine genealogy.

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Genealogy

Family tree

Odin's parents, consorts, children and rivals, as recorded in the atlas.

Open the full tree