Recently, I found myself thinking about The Lord of the Rings and was interested in how JRR Tolkien created the background world of his masterpiece. This began some time around 1917 when he started developing his elven languages, various drawings, and the first imaginings of a world history. Considering the Lord of the Rings was only finished around 1950, Tolkien spent over 30 years carefully developing his stories from these first ideas.
Naturally, several of Tolkien’s personal interests added their flavour to his work during this process. In his professional life, Tolkien was a professor of Germanic languages and was well-read in Anglo-Saxon and Germanic mythology. Two of his favourite pieces were the poem Beowulf and the Volsung epic. This interest shaped various elements of his stories. For example, a list of dwarf names found in a Norse saga provides the names of the dwarves in The Hobbit. In a letter, Tolkien referred to Gandalf as his “Odinic wanderer”, referring to Odin, the mythical ruler of the Germanic gods.
Gandalf the Wanderer
Indeed, at first glance one can see what Tolkien was going for. Gandalf was originally imagined as a “little old man”. He has a long white beard, long robe, staff, and a big wide-brimmed hat. The character is fond of travel, journeys, and quests. In the Lord of the Rings, he first appears in the Shire after spending time somewhere else and throughout the series leaves companions to do other things.
In Norse mythology, Odin does something similar. Even though he rules over the gods in Asgard, he has hundreds of names, and often takes on the disguise of a wizened old man to travel throughout Midgard (the land of men) and Jotunheim (the land of giants). However, in terms of his personality, Gandalf is much less like Odin. In another letter, Tolkien referred to him as an “angel”. In the Lord of the Rings, he serves as a guiding light for the other heroes and is unambiguously on the Good Side. Odin, however, is very different. In Germanic literature, Odin’s most significant characteristics mark him as a supreme badass that Gandalf was never intended to be.
Odin, the Granter (And Taker) of Victory
Odin is a strange figure. He serves as a king of the other gods, fights giants, and helped create the world and the first humans. Thus, he can be perceived as “good”. However, when reading the myths and legends, Odin instead seems to have his own fickle agenda.
For example, take one of the episodes within the Volsung epic. A king hosts a magnificent feast in his Great Hall for his followers. In the middle of the dinner, an old man (Odin) marches into the hall and jams a sword deep into the large tree trunk holding up the roof of the hall. He says whoever can pull the sword out can keep it as a gift and then departs.
Many years later, the new king – the prince who pulled out the sword – is fighting in the middle of a great battle. The old man (Odin) appears again. He ducks and dodges his way around the falling blades, charging warriors and general mayhem to reach the king. Once there, he gives the king’s sword with a stare. The blade shatters into many pieces and he disappears. The king, understanding that his role in Odin’s plan is over, is slaughtered by his enemies.
Odin plays the long game. He grants boons to heroes but is also just as likely to send them into harms way. In the Volsung epic, Odin’s actions influence multiple generations of heroes, and its not exactly clear why he favours who he does at different times. In other stories, Odin even makes wagers with his wife on the outcomes of battles and quests. And judging from his machinations with the Volsung family, he probably tries to tilt the scales in his favour to win these wagers.
Odin, Seeker and Keeper of Secrets
Another key characteristic of Odin is his unquenchable thirst for knowledge. This is not the kind of knowledge gained from books and scholarship. This is often secret arcane knowledge that is difficult to acquire.
In the Voluspa poem, Odin shows his skills as a necromancer and raises a woman from the dead. She tells him several things about the history of the world and prophesizes about his future. From her, Odin learns what awaits the gods at Ragnarok (the final battle at the end of the world) and that he will be devoured by the monstrous wolf Fenrir. This seeress is not the only undead creature Odin seeks information from either. After the wise Mimir is killed, Odin preserves his severed head to still consult Mimir for advice.
Odin often goes to great lengths to learn these things. In another story, there is a spring or well (called Mimisbrunnr or “Mimir’s Spring”) with water containing wisdom and intelligence. Odin comes here to take a single drink from it. However, this act requires a sacrifice: Odin must give up one of his eyes in exchange and throw it into the middle of the spring. Afterwards, he is blind in one eye.
While giving up an eye is certainly a gruesome sacrifice, it is not even the most significant one Odin makes. The Norse language used the runic alphabet and the letters were believed to have cosmic power (knowledge is power, right). To discover the runes, Odin hangs himself in a tree for nine days and nights, pierced with his own spear. It interesting to note that many Northern European people, including the Norse, practiced occasional human sacrifice. In this myth, Odin is sacrificing himself to himself. Slowly dying, at his last breath he does not see a bright light. Instead, the runes appear in front of him. Odin grabs them with a shriek and lives. Later, he deciphers the alphabet and passes it on to humankind.
Odin, Thief and Trickster
Odin will often stoop to outright deception to get what he desires. When the giant Suttung steals the Mead of Poetry from two dwarves and takes it back to his mountain stronghold, Odin organizes a complex heist to get it for himself. First, he heads to Jotunheim and tricks nine servants of the giant Baugi (Suttung’s brother) into killing each other. Then he spends the night at Baugi’s farm, in disguise and introducing himself as Bolverk (“Bale Worker” i.e. Mischief maker – which probably should have given Baugi a clue that something was afoot). Odin offers to do the work of the missing slaves in exchange for a single drop of Suttung’s mead. Odin works for Baugi as agreed but later Suttung refuses him.
Thus, Odin goes to Plan B. He gives Baugi a drill to bore into the mountain Suttung uses as a fortress. Baugi eventually realizes that his worker “Bolverk” is up to something and attempts to stop him. However, it is too late, Odin shapeshifts into a snake and slips down the hole Baugi made.
Inside the mountain, Odin finds Suttung’s daughter. Apparently, being stuck inside guarding dad’s liquor cabinet made her particularly amorous. Odin makes her a deal: for every night they sleep together Odin can have a drink of Suttung’s mead. Of course, three nights later, Odin has drunk all of it. Afterwards, he escapes from the mountain as an eagle and flies back to Asgard. Odin regurgitates the mead and gives it to human poets to stimulate their inspiration.
In this story, Odin does not communicate with the dead, learn spells, or sacrifice himself. Instead, he uses murder, lies and sex to steal the Mead of Poetry from Suttung. These are not the usual tools of a hero, but certainly justify the name of “Bale-Worker”.
Black, White, Grey
Odin’s grey nature reflects the old Norse view of the universe. It is not clearly divided into good and evil. Instead, the universe is a scary place of conflicting factions, with mortals largely at the mercy of higher powers – giants and gods alike. The gods’ actions normally favour human beings. They created them and throw them a bone once in a while. Thus, their faction serves as the good faction, compared to the giants who eventually usher in the end of the world!
One of the reasons Gandalf is a much more benevolent figure is probably due to Tolkien’s deep Christian background. Like Christianity, the Lord of the Rings world is sharply divided into good and evil. A mysterious troublemaker who works to prevent the end of the world is a poor fit. While Gandalf wears the clothes of Odin, under the folds of his robes is an entirely different old man.
Putting the “Odinic” in Odinic Wanderer
Unlike Gandalf, a true Odinic Wanderer character should go beyond being a mysterious old man with long robes, a staff or spear, and a big hat. They should also exhibit the other characteristics of Odin found in the Norse myths. In this way, such a character should be well-traveled and knowledgeable about the world around them. This may even stem from the travelling. To paraphrase a line from the book Baudilino, an Odin-esque Wanderer could ‘study liberal arts in Paris, jurisprudence in Bologna, medicine in Salerno, and sorcery in Toledo. Perhaps, this last one is more important, as Odin (and Gandalf) has access to “weird” abnormal powers.
However, in none of these places should the character learn good behaviour. Like Odin, they should be a schemer, powerful, and potentially dangerous to others around them. In a story, they should behave something like Machiavelli’s Prince in a ruthless pursuit of their own agenda. This would also make things interesting to a reader, as they would be constantly carried through the ups and downs as the Odinic Wanderer’s moves are made. The reader, like the other characters in the story, should wonder what the Odin Wanderer wants and whether their endgame justifies their way of getting there. Remember, whatever “bale work” Odin works in the Norse myths, his goal is to prepare for the end of the world and ensure humanity survives it. But how he does this is what makes Odin so interesting.
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