Today

Today is Wednesday, just a normal day of the week to you and me. Today is another work day, school day or hopefully a day off. These descriptions of Wednesday are mundane and routine but it once held greater meaning.

To the old pagan tribes of Europe the very land they lived on was created by the god Odin. Odin not only forged and shaped the Earth with his hands but he fathered many of the key gods that the different tribes worshiped. Because of this, he was known as the all father. Odin had many names: Wotan, Woden, Aldaföðr and Fimbultýr to name a few. Odin “was the personification of the air, the god of the universal wisdom and victory…and the eldest and chief among them he occupied the highest seat in Asgard” (16). Odin was feared and loved by all the ancient tribes. He was wise and a warrior. Those who worshiped Odin could look to him as an example. Odin possessed the traits that all Vikings wished to obtain. But Odin is also “supposed to have given his followers a code of laws where by to govern their conduct, in a poem called Havamal” (41).

“At home let a man be cheerful,
And toward a guest liberal;
Of wise conduct he should be,
Of good memory and ready speech;
If much knowledge he desires,
He must often talk on what is good.”

Because Odin provided his people with so much, they chose to honor him “The first toast at every festival was drunk in his honor” (41). Odin would be remembered and was believed to be present at parties and festivals. He would also be remembered during the week. In fact “one day in every week was held sacred to him, and from his Saxon name, Woden, was called Woden’s day, whence the English word Wednesday has been derived” (41). Happy Woden’s Day!

Guerber, Helene A. Myths Of The Norsemen. New York: Dover, 1992.