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Odin All-Father was the leader of the Norse pantheon of Asgard,[3][4] the most powerful of their number,[6] and the supposed father of Tyr, god of justice of the Faerûnian pantheon.[7]

Description[]

Odin typically appeared as an older man with a bald head and a long gray beard. He wore a patch over one eye and a gray tunic under a hooded cloak of blue. His avatar often was seen wearing a slouch hat.[3]

Abilities[]

Odin was an immensely powerful entity.[3] He could take any shape or form desired.[4] In combat, his presence instilled allied warriors with beserker rage.[3] If angry, Odin's gaze would paralyze his foes. He also shared the abilities of bards,[4] clerics,[4] druids,[4] rangers,[4] and mages.[3][4]

Odin also had two strange weaknesses. He could not directly raise the dead, and if he ever used his deific powers to heal, he fell into a deep sleep for several days.[3][4]

Personality[]

The All-Father was a proud god, stern, and brave. Two of the only acts that his worshipers could do that would truly anger him were to help a giant or to lose a battle.[3]

Odin's moral outlook was good, with a balance of law and liberality,[4] though he sometimes leaned more toward the side of chaos.[3]

Possessions[]

Odin2e

Odin All-Father riding into battle upon his steed Sleipnir, with his two wolves Freke and Gere at his side.

Odin wore a magic breastplate and helmet in battle and bore a great spear named Gungnir, which always pointed toward the most powerful opponent in any battle.[4] He also fought with a massive longbow[4] and utilized a golden magic wand covered in runes.[3][4]

Odin wore a magical ring, Draupnir. Every night, if he so desired, he could use the ring to create a duplicate. While not magical, these duplicates were valued between 3,000[3] and 30,000[4] gold pieces, and Odin offered them as rewards to servants who pleased him.[3][4]

Divine Realm[]

The All-Father ruled from Asgard, home of the Norse pantheon, on the plane of Ysgard. He claimed three separate halls there as his realm, Valaskialf, Valhalla, and Gladsheim.[4] Valaskialf was the seat of his all-seeing throne Hlidskialf,[3][4][6] from which he could observe anywhere in the multiverse.[3] Valhalla served as his council chambers,[4] while Gladsheim was his feasting hall.[6]

Activities[]

On occasion, Odin would disguise himself as an old man, riding upon a mangy horse, and visit the worlds of his followers to see how they fared in person.[4]

When he grew bored, Odin would sometimes travel to the Lower planes—sometimes accompanied by his son Thor and daughter-in-law Sif—with a horde of valkeries and einheriar to shake things up amongst the fiends involved in the Blood War.[8]

Worshipers[]

Odin holy symbol

The only known site of worship to Odin in Realmspace was on the worldlet of the Rock of Bral, among the Tears of Selûne orbiting Toril. By the end of the 14th century DR, Odin had about 100 worshipers there,[9] almost enough to elevate him to the level of demipower in that crystal sphere.[9][10] On other worlds, most of Odin's priests were tribal chieftains.[3]

Odin's holy symbol was a watching blue eye. His worshipers were never evil creatures.[4] They saw their god as ruling over battles, knowledge, poetry, and wisdom.[3]

Relationships[]

Odin was said by some religious scholars to be the father of Tyr by his wife Frigga,[7] and indeed, he was believed by his worshipers from other worlds to have fathered most of the gods of the Norse pantheon.[3]

Odin kept a pair of wolves, a pair of ravens, and an eight-legged horse as companions. His giant black wolves were named Freke and Gere, and they traveled the planes of existence to keep Odin informed. His ravens were sent as his messengers and spies and were named Hugin and Munin. Sleipnir was the name of his mighty steed, who carried him into battle.[3][4]

History[]

As a deity from another crystal sphere, the mythology and legends surrounding Odin's actions on the Material Plane have little bearing on the history of the worlds of Realmspace.[note 1] It was said, however, that his missing eye was traded for a drink from the Well of Knowledge.[3] Legends also told that Odin once hung himself for several days and nights upon the World Ash, Yggdrasil, until secret knowledge was revealed to him.[11]

Appendix[]

Appearances[]

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See Also[]

Notes[]

  1. Most of the lore provided for Odin is very focused on real-world Norse myths with references to Midgard and do not match with the cosmology presented by the Planescape Campaign Setting, much less that of the Forgotten Realms. As such, it would simply not be fitting to record it on this wiki.

References[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 Tim Beach and Bruce Heard (1999). Savage Coast Campaign Book. Edited by Cindi M. Rice. (TSR, Inc.), p. 69. ISBN 0-7869-0379-1.
  2. 2.0 2.1 Skip Williams, Rich Redman, James Wyatt (April 2002). Deities and Demigods. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 167–169. ISBN 0-7869-2654-6.
  3. 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 3.12 3.13 3.14 3.15 3.16 3.17 3.18 3.19 James M. Ward and Troy Denning (August 1990). Legends & Lore (2nd edition). (TSR, Inc), p. 175. ISBN 978-0880388443.
  4. 4.00 4.01 4.02 4.03 4.04 4.05 4.06 4.07 4.08 4.09 4.10 4.11 4.12 4.13 4.14 4.15 4.16 4.17 4.18 4.19 4.20 4.21 James Ward, Robert J. Kuntz (August 1980). Deities & Demigods. Edited by Lawrence Schick. (TSR, Inc.), pp. 98–99. ISBN 0-935696-22-9.
  5. Mike Mearls, Jeremy Crawford (2014). Player's Handbook 5th edition. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 59–60, 63, 299. ISBN 978-0-7869-6560-1.
  6. 6.0 6.1 6.2 Jeff Grubb (July 1987). Manual of the Planes 1st edition. (TSR), pp. 95–97. ISBN 0880383992.
  7. 7.0 7.1 Skip Williams, Rich Redman, James Wyatt (April 2002). Deities and Demigods. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 195. ISBN 0-7869-2654-6.
  8. Colin McComb, Monte Cook (July 1996). “The Dark of the War”. In Ray Vallese ed. Hellbound: The Blood War (TSR, Inc.), pp. 71–72. ISBN 0-7869-0407-0.
  9. 9.0 9.1 Richard Baker (1992). Rock of Bral. (TSR, Inc), p. 71. ISBN 1-56076-345-0.
  10. Eric L. Boyd, Erik Mona (May 2002). Faiths and Pantheons. Edited by Gwendolyn F.M. Kestrel, et al. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 6. ISBN 0-7869-2759-3.
  11. Wolfgang Baur and Lester Smith (1994-07-01). “The Travelogue”. In Michele Carter ed. Planes of Chaos (TSR, Inc), p. 42. ISBN 1560768746.

Connections[]

Powers of Asgard who have influenced the Forgotten Realms
Aesir: OdinFriggaTyrHeimdallBalderBragiIdun
Vanir: FreyFreya
Related Deities: LokiNornsSurturThrym
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