TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. - Centrostudirpinia.it

WODAN. 133
all-pervading creative and formative power, who bestows shape and
beauty on men and all things, from whom proceeds the gift of song
and the management of war and victory, on whom at the same
time depends the fertility of the soil, nay wishing, and all highest
gifts and blessings, Seem. 113 a>b
.
To the heathen fancy Wuotan is not only the world-ruling, wise,
ingenious god, he is above all the 1
arranger of wars and battles.
Adam of Bremen cap. 233, ed. 1595 says of the Norse god : Wodan,
id est fortior, bella gerit, hominique ministrat virtutem contra
inimicos . . . Wodanem sculpunt (Sveones) armatum, sicut nostri
Martem sculpere solent. To the fortior, fortis, would answer his
OK name of Svidr, i.e. the strong, masterful, swift : (OS. suith) but
fortior is, no doubt, a false reading, all the MSS. (conf. Pertz 3, 379)
read Wodan, id est furor, which agrees with the conclusion arrived
at above. To him, says the Edda, belong all the nobles who fall in
battle (Ssem. 77 b ). and to Thor the common folk, but this seems
added merely to depreciate the latter ; in another passage (Ssem.
42 a
), Freya shares the fallen with OSinn ; he is named vcdfa&ir and
herfa&ir (val, choice ; her, host). Odinn vildi )?iggja mann at hlut-
falli at hanga or herinom, Fornald. sog. 3, 31. Eidem prostratorum
manes muneris loco dedicaturum se pollicetur (Haraldus), Saxo p.
146. Othinus armipotens, p. 37, auctor aciei corniculatae, ordinandi
agminis disciplinae traditor et repertor, pp. 138-9, 146. When old,
he teaches arraying of battle, p. 17, the hamalt at fylkja, svinfylkja,
Fornald. sog. 1, 380 ; he teaches how to bring down with pebbles
those whom sword will not wound, ibid. p. 157 (see SuppL).
We need not be surprised then to find him confounded with
Ziu or Tyr, the special god of war, or Mercnrius coupled with Mars
(pp. 107, 111), or a gloss on Jonas of Bobbio, who had rightly
identified him with Mercury (p. 121), correcting him thus : Qui
apud eos (Alamannos) Vuotant (part. pres. of wuotan) vocatur,
Latini autem Martem ilium appellant. Are Adam s words also,
sicut nostri Martem sculpere solent/ to be so taken that nostri
1 Got waldes an der sige Mr ! Wh. 425, 24. sigehafte hende fiiege in got !
Dietr. 84 a . OSinn, when he sent the people forth to war, laid his hands on their
heads and blessed, ace. to Yngl. cap. 2, gaf ]?eim bianac ; Ir. beannact, beannugad,
beandacht, Gael, beannachd, Wei. bianoch (Villemarque, essai LIX) =
benedictio, prob. all from the Lat. word ? conf. Fr. benir, Ir. beannaigim.