What was Odin God of?

Odin the Allfather was one of the most important figures in Norse mythology. Although many claim that Odin was not that dominant in the original version of Norse myth, literal texts we have now say the different things. So, let’s assume that Odin was the most important god in Norse cosmos, what kind of god Odin actually was? This blog post is about the abilities of Odin the Allfather.

God of Wisdom

Odin was the god of wisdom, no doubt. Hardly any question in the cosmos that he could not answer. He went through numerous journeys only to gain more and more knowledge for himself.

In Asgard, Odin had a throne from where he would sit and watch the whole world below. He wanted to observe things in the cosmos below either to learn something new or to know what was happening out there.

Odin also had for himself a pair of ravens Huginn and Muninn. He would let the ravens fly out in the morning. They flew all around the Nine Worlds. And when the night came, they would come back to Odin whispering into his ears what they had seen within a day.

All that is to say, Odin would always welcome knowledge no matter what form it might take.

God of Desire

To gain the title God of Wisdom (in other words, to gain more knowledge), Odin turned himself into the God of Desire.

No matter what the price he had to pay for knowledge, he was always willing to trade.

In one time, Odin exchanged one eye for knowledge of Mimir. He came to the Mimir’s well asking Mimir to give him a drink from the magical well. Mimir rejected Odin and asked him to make a sacrifice to get more knowledge. The sacrifice that Odin made was that he gave out his eye. When Odin gave up his external source of knowledge (eye), he gained internal one (drink of Mimir).

In another time,  Odin made a sacrifice to himself in order to gain the ability to decipher runes. He hang himself on the Yggdrasil Tree of Life for nine days and nine nights. His Gungnir spear stabbed him in the chest. Neither food nor water was given to him. And after the sacrifice, he became the first god in Norse mythology to be able to read runes.  

God of War

Odin was god of war but he hardly entered a war. Odin was kind of military strategist, simply speaking. If Thor used physical strength to win the enemies right in the battle field, Odin used wisdom.

So the trio gods of war in Norse mythology included Odin, Thor, and Tyr. Odin used his wisdom to gain more advantage in battle, Tyr presented for justice and fairness in combat, and Thor was obviously the symbol of physical strength. These are the most important qualities in any combat, no matter in what era.