Odin's Secret – a 1500-year-old story - video

Religionsvidenskabeligt Tidsskrift

ABSTRACT: This article discusses archaeological evidence for the veneration of Odin in late pagan Denmark. According to place-name evidence Odin was totally dominant in public cult at this time, and was closely linked to warriors and kings. (Actual evidence for a relationship with the great cult centre at Lejre is uncertain.) However, a group of riders’ graves with weaponry from the tenth century represent a new burial custom for magnates, and it is argued that they relate to Odin and Valhalla. Female magicians, who have been convincingly identified in a series of Viking-Age graves, and miniature chairs, from which the once seated figure is usually missing, were probably also connected with Odin. Further, it has been suggested that miniature swords, spearheads and staves might have been Odinic symbols. Some figurative amulets, however, often featuring women in various guises and often interpreted as Valkyries, likely had an entirely different meaning. RESUME: Artiklen diskuterer de ...

SS Lxxi/4, 1999

Provides information on a study which refutes Karl Hauck's semiotic reading of the figure on the bracteates as Odin, the primary god in Norse mythology. Four basic groups of the bracteate artifacts established during the nineteenth century; Ambiguity of the identity of the figures and animals on the bracteates; Questions about the different locations where the bracteates have been found. AN: 2668334 ISSN: 0036-5637 Full Text Word Count: 5546 Database: Academic Search Premier IMAGINING AN EARLY ODIN Gold Bracteates as Visual Evidence?

Viking and Medieval Scandinavia (VMS), 2021

Two myths that describe Óðinn’s quest for the Sacred Mead are presented side by side in Hávamál – the myth of the self-sacrifice on the Tree and the journey to Suttungr’s hall. While their protagonist, the quest and the boon are their connecting points, their content is otherwise completely different and the myths are usually interpreted as two unconnected stories. Their difference could be expressed as a series of oppositions: simple-complex, static-dynamic, passive-active etc. Their contrast is so pronounced that it paradoxically seems to point to their deeper connection. This text presents an interpretation that connects both myths and explains their systematic contrast. It uses Snorri’s description of a trance state ascribed to Óðinn and shows how one of the myths corresponds to the situation of the symbolically dead body while the other myth corresponds to the active aspect of the person travelling to the Otherworld. The pattern applied on the two Odinic myths is then analysed and other applications are suggested.

Scandia Journal of Medieval Norse Studies, 2024

Man has always produced symbols, from prehistoric times to the times of space conquest. The world's most important religions have also always expressed strong artistic and cultural identities through symbols. The ancient scandinavians were no different. One might wonder tough: to what extent did Viking symbols – and their constant presence in movies, media, medieval festivals and even tattoos – really have the same meaning which is attributed to them in these media? This is the central issue that German archaeologist Alexandra Pesch investigates throughout her 130-page book.

Ódin: Mýtus, oběť a iniciace, 2017

"Odin: Myth, Sacrifice and Initiation" is first Czech monograph devoted solely to Old Norse Religion. It provides the reader on the one hand with an introductory overview of the cultural context, myths and rituals of pre-Christian Scandinavia of the Viking Age (as seen through the lens of post-christianization writing) and on the other hand an exposition focusing on the most prominent Norse deity - Odin. The author presents various myths, where Odin plays the role of the protagonist, and links various structural and motivic parallels into a network of meaningful connections. Apparently dissimilar myths - e.g. Odin's solitary self-sacrifice on the Cosmic Tree and his adventurous quest for the Mead of Poetry - are shown to revolve around common semantic and structural core, Monomyth, which is the common denominator of sacrificial and initiatory structure and of the "cosmogony by murder" pattern.

The spear is doubtlessly one of the most iconic weapons of the Viking Age. In addition to its numerous applications in armed conflict, where it was used by foot-and horseback warriors, the spear served as a potent emblem of power and social prominence. Furthermore, archaeological discoveries of spears in ritual contexts demonstrate unequivocally that these weapons played important roles in pre-Christian religious practice, in some instances perhaps echoing myths about Óðinn. This paper examines a group of rare Viking Age miniatures shaped like spears and spearheads. Made of a variety of materials, including iron, silver, copper alloys and wood, these intriguing artefacts were probably carried on the body singly or as part of elaborate sets of religious paraphernalia. By investigating the contexts of their discovery, as well as their materiality and different practical applications, new ideas will be offered about the miniature spears' social and symbolic significance. RESUME: Spyddet er utvivlsomt et af de mest ikoniske våben fra vikingetiden. I tillaeg til dets mange funktioner i vaebnede konflikter, hvor det blev brugt af krigere til fods og til hest, var spyddet også et staerkt symbol på magt og social status. Ydermere viser arkaeologiske fund af spyd i rituelle kontekster utvetydigt, at disse våben spillede en vigtig rolle i førkristen religiøs praksis, i nogle tilfaelde måske forbundet med myter om Odin. Denne artikel undersøger en gruppe af sjaeldne miniaturer fra vikingetid, der er formet som spyd og spydspidser. Disse spaendende genstande er fremstillet af forskellige materialer, såsom jern, sølv, kobberlegeringer og trae, og de blev sandsynligvis båret på kroppen som enkeltgenstande eller som del af mere omfattende saet af religiøst udstyr. Ved at undersøge den kontekst, hvori de findes, samt materialer og diverse praktiske anvendelser byder artiklen på nye idéer om miniaturespyddenes sociale og symbolske betydning(er).

The Elusive Face of the Viking God Thor, 2020

The two most popular gods in the Norse pantheon were Odin and Thor, and it's reasonable to expect that the Norse people would want to represent them in decorations on their jewelry and other items. Some artifacts decorated with images of human-like figures, the identities of some of which are unclear, provide a few clear markers for Odin. If the face has only one eye, and the other eye is unquestionably absent, then the object was presumably intended to provide an image of Odin, the Allfather. He was willing to give up one eye in exchange for wisdom. If the human-like image includes the figures of two birds, Odin again is indicated. He was provided with two ravens, Hugin and Munin, who traveled the world to get information about whatever interested Odin. As I suggested in another commentary, https://www.academia.edu/26753626/The_Odin_mount_revisited_the_converting_element this supernatural being may also have been represented wearing some sort of interlaced crown or head piece. Other artifacts featuring a realistic face of a Norse male with large round eyes have been identified as a representation of Odin, although one should take that attribution with at least a few grains of salt. Finding images intended to represent Thor is more complicated. Of course, Thor has his hammer, called Mjölnir, as a symbol. Many examples of hammer pendants have been found over the years-in gold, silver, bronze, bone, lead. In fact, some were probably made of wood, although long-term survival was always unlikely. However, exchanges with experienced metal detectorists, and by extension with UK Finds Liaison Officers, suggest that some artifacts found with more abstract faces were intended to represent Thor. These are in some cases clearly representative of the "hidden faces" inclinations of Norse craftsmen: https://www.academia.edu/11545419/The_hidden_face_motif_in_Viking_Age_artefacts

RHAC: Journal of Art History and Culture , 2021

This article analyzes the painting Nordisk offerscene fra den Odinske periode (Nordic sacrificial scene from the period of Odin), created by the Danish painter Johan Ludvig Gebhard Lund (1777-1867) in 1831 and which presents a theme regarding Old Norse religion and the Vikings. We have made use of Ernest Gombrich's schemata theory and the studies of reception by Margaret Clunies Ross. Our main perspective is that Lund's work was related to both Danish nationalist romanticism and to a perspective of history and art in which the ancient religious forms and idealized representations of the Vikings played a major role in shaping social and cultural identities of his time. Keywords: J. L. Lund, Norse myths in art, Vikings in romantic art, History of art, Nineteenth Century Art. Acknowledgements: I am grateful to Anna Schram Vejlby (Fuglsang Kunstmuseum) for reading the original text and sending her valuable suggestions; Lise Præstgaard Andersen (University of Southern Denmark), Rikke Lyngsø Christensen (Royal Danish Library), Thomas Lederballe (Statens Museum for Kunst), Camilla Cadell (Det Kongelige Akademi), Per Larsson (Kulturen Museum), Benedikte Brincker (University of Copenhagen), Rune Finseth (Statens Museum for Kunst); Karen Bek-Pedersen (University of Aarhus), William Robert Rix (University of Copenhagen), Nora Hansson (University of Uppsala) and Martin Brandt Djupdræt (Den Gamle By) for sending information and bibliographies; Vitor Menini, Victor Hugo Sampaio and Pablo Gomes de Miranda for revising the text.