The Aspects of Óðinn Compared to the Irish Gods

The Aspects of Óðinn Compared to the Irish Gods

This article will be a summary of our previous conclusions regarding Óðinn. It relies on our previous articles, and these can be referenced to supply more thorough evidence for each point. As is natural with this sort of summary of a complex issue, each point will remain highly debatable and necessarily incomplete, and further refinement of the details of the question at hand should be encouraged. When comparing the Norse myths of Óðinn to the Irish mythology as a whole, one thing is difficult to ignore, and it is an enormous key to understanding Celtic myth in its relation to the Norse: Óðinn shares myths with several Irish deities. While other Irish gods can often have close to a one-to-one correspondence to Norse counterparts, in the case of Óðinn it takes in the range of 5-7 Irish deities to cover all the mythic roles found in that dominant Germanic god. 

We find that Óðinn seems to have, at least in part, the same root mythos as Dian Cecht, the Irish god of spoken word and healing who is keeper of the power which allows warriors to be restored to life (his well), as Óðinn also can make the dead rise and speak again and is the master of the spoken magic of the galdrs. 

Óðinn shares the mythos of Cian, son of Dian Cecht who infiltrates Balor's fortress to retrieve the wondrous (soma-)cow and sleep with Balor's daughter, in remarkably similar fashion to the way in which Óðinn infiltrates the mountain to steal the mead of poetry and sleep with its keeper's daughter. 

He shares the mythos of Manannan at several points, as lord of a specific kind of elite afterlife destination, as well as being a mischievous shapeshifter, magician, etc. Fuamnach is burned by Manannan while her parallel Gullveig is burned in Óðinn's hall. This fire priest Manannan conveys Cian to and from his infiltration mission at the fortress, as Óðinn himself turns into an eagle – and parallels the Vedic Fire god Agni in doing so – to convey the stolen mead away from the mountain fortress. Agni turns into the hawk Sheyna to steal the soma from the mountain and fly away with it. Furthermore, Manannan's Welsh counterpart Manawydan is the second husband of Etain, as Óðinn is the second husband to the Norse goddess in the parallel role, Skaði. One of Óðinn's names, after all, is Sviðurr, a contentious word that is debatably translated "the burner," from Proto-Germanic *swīþaną, "to burn."

As Georges Dumezil has argued, Óðinn also has the mythos of the Terrible Sovereign, Varuna (that is, Irish Nuada), Varuna being associated with a motif of one-eyedness, being a god of the night sky, of the magico-religious aspect of war generally, and of the destructive frenzy which forges kingdoms (or worlds). Varuna's role, as Dumezil explains in his Mitra-Varuna, is that of the "First King." This is the sovereign associated with the vitality of creation as opposed to the regulative power of the Mitraic sovereign who comes after. 

Kris Kershaw has argued admirably for Óðinn as the analog of Vedic Rudra as well, in his capacity as the representative and leader of the ecstatic warrior band that has its otherworldly reflection in the Wild Hunt, which Óðinn leads. This role, she argues, also matches perfectly the leader of the Irish warrior band and keeper of hounds Fionn, grandson of Nuada, who is also known for a myth about his sudden shamanic enlightenment, and matches as well Fionn's Welsh linguistic cognate Gwynn, son of Nudd, the leader of the Wild Hunt who also has his pack of hounds. 

Furthermore, William Reaves has argued in his book Odin's Wife that Óðinn is the "Sky Father" generally speaking, connecting him to the god known as Dyaus Pitr in the Vedas, considering among many other things Óðinn's having a consort whose name translates as "Earth" and his title "Allfather"; and at least in his role of giving Önd, life-breath, to the first humans, he also has probable connections to the higher, priestly aspects otherwise seen in the Vedic Vayu, Lord of Wind (who otherwise, in his brutish character traits, is paralleled by Thor, as we have seen). We do not have the scope in the present work to argue either of these claims, but if they are accurate, then Óðinn would have many, though not all, of the roles of Irish Dagda as well, who is equivalent to Dyaus-Vayu. Dagda is after all called Eochaidh Ollathair, Horseman Greatfather, while Óðinn is the Allfather. 

Thus we have suggested here that the traits seen in Vedic “Vayu” may be differently distributed between Thor and Óðinn, the "lower," brutish traits associated with this Vedic Vayu belonging to Thor, and the priestly roles usually seen as part of Vedic Vayu potentially being taken by the priestly Óðinn who dominates the majority of priestly roles. Dumezil has similarly argued that the roles attached to the Vedic Indra may likewise be distributed differently between Thor and Óðinn, Thor taking the thunder weapon and serpent-slaying mythos and Óðinn taking some of the “aristocratic” roles attached in Vedic myth to Indra, who is a great soma drinker among other things. Dumezil is very unclear which "aristocratic" Indraic roles he means in this context, and overall it becomes a fairly complex picture. And yet, if Óðinn was indeed seen as the Priest god par excellence, it would be an understandable theological difference between the Norse and Vedics for Óðinn to be seen to monopolize the priestly offices which are allowed to various different divinities in the Vedic conception. If at all accurate, and we leave it as unclear, this different distribution of “Vayu” and “Indra” traits in the Norse case would indicate an important theological difference between these two branches, the Norse favoring a division of roles much more along the lines of higher vs. lower, priestly vs. brutish warrior, instead of simply along the lines of “Wind” vs. “Thunder,” for example.

The Dian Cecht “well of rejuvenation” motif, the general theme of which Dumezil wrote an entire book discussing (The Plight of a Sorcerer), is that associated with Vedic Brihaspati, the high priest of the gods, whose son acquires the power of reviving the dead and uses it in the great war in the same way the well is used. Cian is Pushan, who finds the lost soma-cow just as Cian finds the wondrous cow Glas Gaibhnenn in a myth clearly paralleling Óðinn's theft of the mead. Manannan seems to be Agni, based on Manawydan's role in the lunar cycle of marriages to the sun/horse princess, and the multiple other connections we have pointed out in our "Great Lunar Cycle," part 9. As we have stated, Dagda, the Great Father of Being and lord of life-breath is Vedic Dyaus-Vayu. Thus we have Irish Dian Cecht, Cian, Nuada, Manannan, Nuada, Fionn, and possibly aspects of Dagda; or Vedic Brihaspati, Pushan, Varuna, Agni, Rudra, possibly aspects of Dyaus and Vayu, and possibly of Indra if we follow Dumezil. 

(Our interpretation explicitly opposes an identification of Óðinn with Vedic Soma. As our "Great Lunar Cycle" article has thoroughly demonstrated, there is a continuity between Irish Midir, Greek Dionysus, and Vedic Soma, and this Soma god is paralleled in the Norse case by Kvasir, and, perhaps surprisingly, by Njorðr, lord of wealth and waters, rather than Óðinn).

Not only are the majority of these the central priestly-magical deities, but in the Irish myth nearly every one of them (with the exception of Fionn) is a “paternalistic” predecessor of Lugh. Dian Cecht is Lugh's grandfather, Cian is his father, Nuada is the king who reigns immediately before him, and Manannan came to be seen as his foster father in later tales. Not only are all of these the immediate preceding paternalistic figures to Lugh, and not only are they all thematically related in their priestly-magical character, but we find a distinct absence of most of these deities as distinct individuals in the Norse pantheon. Indeed, where specifically has Brihaspati, has Rudra, has Pushan, has Varuna gone in the Norse mythology, if they are not seen as aspects Óðinn? Other options may be suggested of course, but each must be weighed against the connections of these deities to the mythoi of Óðinn. And predictably, and impossible to ignore, Óðinn is the father of Baldr, and in Snorri’s account of Tyr too, who we have shown to be, combined, equivalent to Lugh. Hence in the Norse version the fatherly, priestly aspects are seen as one in the god Óðinn, a possible sign of a theological centralization which occurred around him, or of an original mega-divinity that was elsewhere divided. Meanwhile in the Irish case a degree of parallel centralization seems to have occurred around Lugh, as he may have absorbed elements seen in Vedic as part of the Indra mythos and taken the preeminence within the "Mitra-Varuna" pairing for himself. Óðinn would then represent the “Varuna” half of the "Mitra-Varuna" pairing and has within him all adjacent priestly and paternalistic roles, while Lugh begins as the Mitraic god and, almost like a mirror image to the Norse situation, is centralized, taking leadership of the domains he finds all around him. In the end, Óðinn calls himself Fjölnir, "The One Who is Many."

The Spear of Mitra-Varuna

A significant question remains which can be answered with this context. If the spear-throwing scene is so central to the Lugh/Mitra mythos, then why is Óðinn the spear god and not Tyr or Baldr, who we have said are Lugh's parallels? Indeed, Irish Nuada has no spear, but only a sword, just as Norse Tyr does, one reason that this sword-wielding but Varunian Nuada and sword-wielding but Mitraic Tyr have been mistakenly identified many times. We should begin by saying that while the use of a certain weapon by a deity is a key piece of evidence, it should not be given undue power to decide questions of identity, and this is perhaps most important of all to keep in mind in the case of the Mitra-Varuna pairing. This is for the reason that Mitra and Varuna, as much as any two deities, share features, share roles, overlap and in the Vedas are often even treated as one composite deity, Mitra-Varuna. It seems clear that the spear as a weapon was the weapon of Mitra-Varuna generally, and in the case of Irish and Norse myth, ended up being wielded by the deity who rose to the leadership position, a sign of their ultimate sovereignty. More even than that, it was a sign of their role as what the Vedics called the “Dharmaraja,” god of Dharma, Order, Justice, this spear being the spear of Dharma. Varuna, for instance, is said to wield the bow whose string is Rta, or Cosmic Law. No less is the spear of Lugh/Óðinn the spear of Cosmic Law, and it may be that the bow of Varuna was seen as a weapon that could be sometimes alternated with the spear, in their similar capacities as projectile weapons. The spear of the Mitraic Yudhisthira (himself called Dharmaraja) and Mitraic Lleu Llaw Gyffes goes through stone like it was paper, just as Cosmic Law controls all and wins out no matter the opponent.  

To show that the spear was associated not with only one of the Mitra-Varuna pair, but with each one depending on the context, we need only look once more at the Iliad. Here we find the brothers Agamemnon and Menelaus, as we have shown incarnations of Varuna and Mitra respectively. Menelaus performs the myth matching uncannily to Lleu Llaw Gyffes' spear throwing sequence when he duels Paris to have revenge on him for stealing his wife, and throws his spear through Paris' shield just as Lleu throws his spear through the stone slab behind which Gronw hides. He then also kills Helen's second lover Deiphobus (double of Paris) with his spear at the end of the war. Even with this clear association and even prowess with the spear shown by the Mitraic Menelaus, enacting one of its quintessential mythic displays, his Varunian brother Agamemnon, paralleling Óðinn, is still considered the great spear warrior of the epic. So overwhelming with a spear is he and so famous is he for its mastery, when the spear-throwing contest comes up during Achilles' funeral games, the match is called off before it can even begin because it is said that no one could beat Agamemnon with a spear. He has already won before the match can begin, as is the constant trait of the Spear of Cosmic Law. Thus in this case, while the spear of retributive justice is already on display in association with Menelaus-Mitra, its wielding is still also known as the terrible forte of Agamemnon-Varuna. Ultimately we learn from all of these examples that the spear could be the signature weapon of either deity, in perhaps slightly different contexts -- the Varunian Óðinn’s spear beginning battles and the Mitraic God’s spear ending them or inflicting retributive justice, in line with their roles as sovereign of beginnings and sovereign of endings respectively, ie. First King and Second King -- whichever of the pair rose to preeminence in a given society and took the responsibility of leading the charge of Righteousness.

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Works Cited:

Georges Dumezil, Mitra-Varuna

Georges Dumezil, The Plight of a Sorcerer

Kris Kershaw, The One-Eyed God: Odin and the (Indo-)Germanic Mannerbunde

William Reaves, Odin's Wife

The Rig Veda

The Mabinogion

Cath Maige Tuired

The Wooing of Etain

The Poetic Edda

The Prose Edda