In the mythic corpus summarized in the Prose Edda and Poetic Edda, Odin and his brothers Vili and Vé slay the primordial being Ymir and fashion the world from his body; Odin and his brothers also give life to the first humans, Ask and Embla. Odin occupies a central, kingship-like position among the Æsir and is tied to cosmogonic acts of creation and to the eschatological cycle culminating in Ragnarök, where he leads the einherjar and is fated to be killed by the wolf Fenrir.
Odin is commonly depicted in the sources as long-bearded and sometimes as an old man; he is characteristically shown or described as having only one eye, having sacrificed the other for wisdom. Prose Edda material associates him with a spear and with the gold ring Draupnir (in the corpus of stories summarized by the sources). He is frequently accompanied by animal familiars—two ravens, Huginn and Muninn, and two wolves, Geri and Freki.
Odin is portrayed as a seeker and dispenser of wisdom (notably sacrificing an eye for greater knowledge), a source of poetic inspiration and ecstatic/frenzied prophetic states (the theonym derives from Proto-Germanic *wōðaz 'possessed, inspired'), and as lord of warfare and of certain dead warriors whom he receives into Valhöll. He commands or is associated with Valkyries who choose the slain, leads the einherjar in the mythic final battle of Ragnarök, and participates in mythic rulership and legitimizing genealogies in later euhemerized texts. Historical and traveller accounts record cultic practices directed to him, including reports of human sacrifice.
Weaknesses
- conditionFate at Ragnarök (killed by Fenrir)
- conditionNeed for costly sacrifice to gain wisdom (sacrificed an eye)
Wards
- otherNo specific wards attested in provided sources
Valkyrie
The valkyrie (Old Norse valkyrja, “chooser of the slain”) is a set of semi-divine female figures in Old Norse poetry and saga who choose warriors slain in battle, guide the chosen to Odin’s hall (Valhalla), and serve the einherjar there. Literary and archaeological sources depict them as armed riders, occasional lovers of men in swan‑maiden episodes, and in older imagery as fate‑weaving death spirits.
Fenrir
The monstrous wolf son of Loki, bound by the gods with a magical ribbon until Ragnarök — when he will break free and swallow Odin, and the world.
Abdiel
Abdiel (Hebrew עֲבְדִּיאֵל) is primarily a theophoric Hebrew personal name meaning "servant of El/servant of God," attested once in the Hebrew Bible (1 Chronicles 5:15). In later literature—most notably John Milton's Paradise Lost—Abdiel is reimagined as a faithful seraph who opposes Satan's revolt. The provided sources do not treat Abdiel as an autonomous folkloric spirit type or record rituals or wards associated with the name.
Abiel
Abiel is attested in the supplied sources only as a male given name — borne by several historical American individuals and listed as two minor biblical figures. The provided materials contain no evidence presenting Abiel as a supernatural, mythological, or folkloric entity.
Abigail
Abigail is a female figure in the Hebrew Bible portrayed in 1 Samuel 25 as the intelligent and beautiful wife of Nabal who intervenes to prevent David from committing violence; later tradition regards her as one of the Tanakh's seven female prophets and as a model of beauty and wisdom.
Abraun
Abraun is an attested name in German-language plant-legend scholarship (Der abraun, ein beitrag zur pflanzensagenkunde, 1916) and a short database entry (Wikidata) labels it as a spirit from German mythology. Surviving accessible documentation is extremely limited: the principal academic treatment is a 1916 contribution to pflanzensagenkunde (plant-saga studies), but the excerpts available here contain only bibliographic metadata and do not record tales, descriptions, or rituals.
Accolon
Accolon is a mortal knight of the Arthurian court, presented in the Post-Vulgate Merlin tradition and Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur as Morgan le Fay's paramour and instrument in a plot to supplant King Arthur; his tale centers on enchanted weapons (Excalibur and its scabbard), love-manipulation, and a tragic duel with Arthur.
Adils
Adils (Old Norse Aðils; also Eadgils, Adillus, Athisl, Adhel) is a semi‑legendary sixth‑century Swedish king attested in Old Norse saga material and later medieval traditions. He appears in saga episodes as a storied royal figure involved in warfare, court acts, and marriage suits rather than as a supernatural being.
Adsullata
Adsullata is attested as a Continental Celtic river goddess associated with the River Savus (modern Sava) in the Roman province of Noricum. Later traditions record her presence in Brittany as a goddess of hot springs and present her as an antecedent or origin-form of the Anglo‑Celtic sun goddess Sul.
Afaon fab Taliesin
Afaon fab Taliesin is a medieval Welsh warrior-counsellor, named as a son of the bard Taliesin and recorded among Arthur’s retinue in Welsh tradition. He appears in the Welsh Triads and in the tale Breuddwyd Rhonabwy (The Dream of Rhonabwy) as a notable martial figure and proverb-speaker rather than as a supernatural being.
Agilaz (Egil)
Agilaz (reconstructed Proto-Germanic) — commonly recorded in medieval sources as Egil or Ægil — is a legendary archer attested in Germanic heroic tradition. He appears as the brother of Völund (Wayland/Weland) in the Old Norse poem Völundarkviða and in the Thidreks saga, and his name is also inscribed on early medieval objects (Franks Casket, Pforzen buckle). The attested material presents him as a named heroic human archer within saga and inscriptional contexts rather than as a recurrent supernatural species.
Aglovale
Aglovale (also Agloval, Aglovan, Aglovaus, Acglavael) is a human knight of Arthurian romance, presented as the eldest legitimate son of King Pellinore and a Knight of the Round Table in the Vulgate/Post‑Vulgate cycles, Malory, and later adaptations. He brings his long‑lost brother Perceval to Camelot, takes part in military actions (including slaying Agrippa in one account), and his death is related in varying ways across traditions (accidental at Gawain's hand, deliberate murder by Orkney kin, or killed during Lancelot's rescue of Guinevere).
Agnarr Geirröðsson
Agnarr Geirröðsson is a mortal prince attested only in the Poetic Edda poem Grímnismál; he aids Odin (disguised as Grímnir) during Geirröðr's torture and, after Odin reveals himself and King Geirröðr dies, Agnarr succeeds as king.
Agne
Agne (also attested Agni, Hogne, Agni Skjálfarbondi) is a semi-legendary king of Sweden in Old Norse saga tradition, preserved in the Ynglingatal corpus and prose expansions such as Snorri Sturluson's Ynglinga saga. He is portrayed as a mighty and famous warrior-king whose campaign in Finland, marriage to Skjalf, and death by hanging form a remembered episode connected to local place-names and a burial mound.
Community Record
- [1]Odin. Wikipedia, 'Odin' (summary of Norse mythic and historical attestations, Prose/Poetic Edda material, etymology and cultural reception).wiki
- [2]Odin (Wikidata entry). Wikidata entry for Odin (basic identifier and cross-references).other
- [3]The Poetic Edda. Völuspá 22, translated by Andrew Cautheryliterary