Exploring Norse Mythology: Odin

The one-eyed God the wanderer the all-father Odin Many Pantheon's of deities both fictional and from real-world mythologies Feature a singular God that acts as a king or leader over many other gods in Norse mythology this God is Odin the all-father a central figure in the mythology and Lord of many of the other deities in the pantheon Odin was seemingly an important figure in the religions of certain Germanic peoples for centuries and divided between all of his different aspects and Representations is known by over 200 different names This video will focus on the various tales associated with Odin as Described by different Icelandic texts from around the 1200s The authenticity of these texts in regard to the actual beliefs of the North Germanic peoples is a subject for debate Within Norse mythology Odin likely represents more attributes and concepts than any other deity being associated with war death royalty wisdom knowledge sorcery and poetry At the beginning of time there were two realms One filled with cold mist and the other with raging flames and a primordial void between the two Eventually the two intermingling elements combined in the void and formed the first yotan Amir Also known as a giant along with Amir there was also a giant cow that he suckled on for nourishment and From his sweat came more Giants the yotan are The cow on the other hand licked the salt from the nearby ice and from this licking came the first icier God known as burry He had a son who in turn married a yotan who gave birth to three sons? one of whom was odin Odin and his brothers then slew Amir the primordial giant and The great rushing of blood that flooded from his body drowned the great cow as well as the rest of the oten are except for two These two went on to repopulate the race of giants Odin and his brothers then took the corpse of Amir and used it to help create the earth Using his flesh to make the soil his bones to make mountains and his teeth to make boulders and stones they used his skull to create the sky and Sparks from the realm of fire to make the Sun Moon and stars They created a race of light elves in a world for them as well as the Dark Elves deep under the earth they made sprites spirits and animals to inhabit the earth and Then they needed something to worship them so they created humans they built a fence using Amir's eyebrows around the earth to protect the humans from the yotan are and Finally they created the realm of Asgard high above the world so that they could watch over their creations He also married Frigg who is said to know the fate of all but says nothing of it Odin fathered a number of sons although exactly how many is unknown? Among these he is the father of Thor god of thunder and Balder god of light He also took note of a certain yotan that was capable of taking any shape he wished to a far greater extent than other giants Known as Loki Odin liked Loki's wit and charm and asked him to become a blood brother two which Loki agreed The two swore to be true brothers to one another and Odin brought Loki into Asgard Where he was accepted by the others Loke however developed a great reputation as a spiteful trickster Trusted by neither the gods nor the Giants, but always managed to talk his way back into their good graces In these days Odin would often walk among the humans and the disguise of a wise old wanderer testing the hospitality of those he visits He also utilized two Ravens huginn and muninn Who traveled the world daily to provide him with information giving him the name of Raven God? Odin was a relentless pursuer of wisdom and knowledge and would sacrifice much in these pursuits on one occasion odin went to the world tree uracil and hung himself from its branches for nine days before finally learning the secrets of runic letters These runes contained great power and with their magic he became the wisest and mightiest being in the cosmos This however was not enough for Odin, and he craved more knowledge From his throne. He spied upon the realm of the savage yotan r and noticed one that was very wise This giant controlled the well of wisdom where one of ignore cells roots ended and drank its waters every day to become ever wiser Odin went to the sea oten asking for a single drink from the well The giant agreed, but only if Odin's shared his all seen vision with him Odin promptly plucked out one of his own eyes Placing it in the well before having a drink from then on he possessed only a single eye, but was truly the wisest of the wise as Life continued on earth and the gods continued to battle against the yotan are Odin's son Balder began to be troubled by ominous dreams that saw his life threatened Due to the machinations of Loki Balder was eventually killed seemingly through an accident although none suspected Loki of playing a part in his death his jealousy and spite Eventually got the best of him, and he admitted openly to being responsible before fleeing The gods demanded punishment of Loki from Odin who used his all scenes site to locate him The icier captured Loki and tortured him bringing guilt to Odin for breaking his bond of kinship with Loki This broken oath among others in Asgard Led the gods to the events of Ragnarok meaning doom of the gods or twilight of the gods rather than being an apocalyptic end of days Ragnarok instead foretold the end of a cycle of time which would be followed by a rebirth and eventually another Ragnarok For the icier gods however they knew their days were limited Odin especially big Drasil began to wilt and brother turned against brother in this time of imminent destruction Odin and the icier gathered as many strong and brave warriors as possible in the halls of Valhalla and The Yona were growing ever bolder in their attacks It was a hard time in the world of men with death and depravity rampant an age of axe and sword With a deadly winter and the world waiting to fall into ruin finally Ragnarok had come The greatest battle that history could muster took place and although Odin Led a vast host of warriors into the war he himself was swallowed up by the dread wolf Fenrir in the end the ice here lost the battle and the world was plunged into darkness as a Drasil broke and fell and In time a new day dawned and the next cycle began, but people did not forget the deeds of the gods of Course there are a number of smaller tales related to Odin beyond just these Stories of his relentless pursuit of wisdom and his wanderings across the realms these tales showcase Odin's imperfect and similarities to mortals his willingness to trick or deceive others and His legendary wisdom Odin is the patron of many from Kings to outlaws poets tubers or shamans to seers Odin represents those who are willing to work and sacrifice to obtain that which they desire and Welcomed only the most of worthy of warriors into his Hall of Valhalla The Norseman were a hardy and capable people and it is likely that their belief in figures such as Odin Pushed them to continue to pursue strength and wisdom much like the all-father

Channel: The Exploring Series

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Keywords: mythology, odin, norse, exploring, norse mythology, thor, norse gods, asgard, norse mythology (literature subject), aesir, loki, myth, viking gods, viking mythology, norse mythology explained, history, thor (deity), story, tyr, gods, vikings, journey through norse mythology, vanir, frigg, god, odin (film character), ymir, viking religion, norsemyth, ragnarok, education, nordic gods, cthulhu, cthulhu mythos, lore, explained, backstory, explored, explain, baldr, norse creation, norse lore, norse myths

Id: bHZVwmiWPNM

Length: 9min 30sec (570 seconds)

Published: Mon Feb 12 2018