Odin, also known as Woden, is the Norse pagan god of wisdom (having given his eye in exchange for it), healing, death, royalty, the gallows, knowledge, war, battle, victory, sorcery, poetry, frenzy, and the runic alphabet. Odin was the great chieftain of Asgard, the son of Bestla and Borr, the husband of Frigg, and the father of several other Norse deities, including Thor, Loki, Tyr, Heimdall, and Baldr, and the one-eyed and long-bearded Odin was almost always accompanied by his spear Gungnir, his wolves Geri and Freki, the ravens Huginn and Muninn, and the eight-legged steed Sleipnir.
Odin was credited with creating the world by slaying the primordial being Ymir and fashioning the Earth from his flesh, the ocean from his blood, the mountains from his bones, the trees from his hair, the clouds from his brains, the heavens from his skull, and the human world (Midgard) from his eyebrows. He also gave the gift of life to the first two humans, Ask and Embla, and he oversaw Valhalla, where a half of Norse warriors went after dying in battle; the other half went to Freyja's Folkgvangr meadow. Odin is held to be the first legendary King of Sweden, with Njord succeeding him. Odin, constantly in search of wisdom, asked the embalmed head of Mimir for advice, and he was prophesied to be consumed by the monstrous wolf Fenrir during Ragnarok.
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