[gothic-l] Re: Odin the man - medieval scholarship at its best

[Einar Gunnar Birgisson <einarbirg@yahoo.com>]

--- In gothic-l at yahoogroups.com, "vernonpeberty <vernonpeberty at y...>" 
<vernonpeberty at y...> wrote:
> "Vladimir in response to Troels: 
> > 
> > I'd like to join your opinion with a small addition. 
> > Odin/Wothan might have been a real person, a chieftain 
> > (of course, not obligatory of "asses"). 
> > Compare please also the roots "vodim" in Baltic languages 
> > (e.g. "vodimas" in Lithuanian meaning "ringleader") 
> > and "vod" in Slavic languages (e.g. "predvoditel'" 
> > also as "ringleader" and "voevode" in Russian).
> > 
> > 
> > Vladimir
> 
   # Hej. I would leave out the Nobel in this case. I have never 
heard that Odinn was especially a Wind God. That must be a great 
oversimplification or simply not right. Odin was associated with 
skaldship, war, magic, wisdom among other things. He was said to have 
55 names and control many things at his liking, probably the wind as 
well. So he was a multi-natured god.
Snorri's Odinn was a man, a leader of a southern tribe migrating to 
the Mälar Valley in the about 5-6th century (according to the 
Chronology). Odinn and the others were humans and died a human death. 
Snorri is describing a ancestor cult were humans later become gods or 
rather representatives of various things, like fire, the elements etc.
But all this could also be symbolism. So according to Snorri, the 
Asatru's (in the beginning an ancestor-cult)origin is in central East 
Sweden. I think that could more or less harmonize with the accepted 
view (and the chronology). I wonder about the etymology of Odinn in 
the light of what Vladimir said about the "ringleader". Interesting 
indeed.####

> The hypothesis that Odin was a person is medieval scholarship at 
its 
> best and reeks of Judeo-Christian bias against European natives. 
The 
> Slavic forms obviously show medial d. How would you then account 
for 
> the influence of Verner on the Germanic word? How would you account 
> for the â-to-ô shift? The linguistic evidence makes it painfully 
> clear which hypothesis is the correct one. The fact that the Asian 
> equivalent is also a wind god drives the final nail into the coffin 
> of this medieval church scholarship. They ought to award the Nobel 
> Prize to whomever it was who first discovered this derivation. He 
> may not have discovered a new law, but he did destroy centuries of 
> dark superstition. Vernon Peberty


You are a member of the Gothic-L list.  To unsubscribe, send a blank email to <gothic-l-unsubscribe at egroups.com>. 

Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/