Odin in popular culture
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Odin (or Woden, and in Swedish, Danish, Norwegian: Oden) appears frequently as a character in works of popular culture. Sometimes, the reference is oblique, and Odinic characters may exhibit attributes of Odin (such as lack of an eye), without the connection being made explicit.
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[edit] Depictions in modern popular culture
[edit] Comics
- Along with many other gods from the Norse pantheon, Odin makes an appearance in Marvel Comics' Thor comic book series, and makes occasional appearances in other comics set in the Marvel Universe.
- Odin is often in the forefront, or sometimes the hero along with Thor and Loki, in the Valhalla comic book or graphic novel series published in Denmark by Interpresse. Originally published in Danish, translations were made into Dutch, German, French, Swedish, Norwegian and Finnish. Several animated movies were also produced from the series.
- Neil Gaiman depicts Odin infrequently in The Sandman, where his actions indirectly influence the course of the story.
- Odin appears in the Japanese manga series (and subsequently anime version) "Matantei Loki Ragnarok" (which centers on Loki) as the antagonist of sorts. In the animated series, he's unabashedly malevolent and seeks to kill an apparently innocent Loki, after banishing him to human world in the form of a child (the reasons for his behavior are quite vague); in the original comic series, Odin was possessed by the spirit of Balder, who wanted to kill Loki. He was depicted either as a giant, red eye, or as a handsome man with long, white hair.
- In the webcomic series Sparkling Generation Valkyrie Yuuki, Odin appears in his classic guise as an old man when visiting Earth, accompanied by his ravens and wolves (which Yuuki has consequently fought).
[edit] Film
- The character Ron Burgundy in the movie Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy exclaims, "Great Odin's raven!"
- In the film The Mask, Stanley Ipkiss concluded that the mystical wooden mask capable of bringing your deepest desires to life was possible due to Odin's banishment of Loki (stated as the god of mischief) into the mask. To this, Ben Stein's character - Dr. Arthur Neuman - assures Stanley, "Mr. Ipkiss, this is a piece of wood!"
[edit] Games
- Odin appears in Epic Megagames' God of Thunder trilogy of computer games, in which he plays the role of mentor to Thor ("My son, I know it is fun to kill people, but...")
- Odin is a summoned creature in several of Squaresoft's Final Fantasy games. In a majority of these games, his attack is to charge the enemy party and cleave them apart with his sword as a fatal attack. It is usually called Zantetsuken(literally, Steel Bladed Sword, as shown in Final Fantasy VII)
- Odin appears in Final Fantasy Legends 2 as one of the "New Gods" inhabiting the worlds. Coincidentally, he happens to be the only "heroic" figure of them, offering to let the heroes pass through Valhalla if they could defeat him in battle. His ravens and Sleipnir also appear in the ensuing battle and you could earn Gungnir.
- Odin is a main character in the Sega Master System RPG, Phantasy Star.
- Odin is one of the main characters in Valkyrie Profile. He deviates from the typical Odin, as this one, he is portrayed as a god who doesn't want his throne to be taken over by others. He is also a half-elf here.
- Odin appears alongside both Thor and Loki in Microsoft's "Age of Mythology."
- Odin appears as the mysterious exposition character Alfred Woden in Max Payne.
- In Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne, Odin is a playable character that can be summoned to help the main protagonist
- Odin is the most powerful deity in the HackMaster role-playing game.
- In Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King for PS2, the character Angelo's most powerful bow is named Odin's Bow.
- There is a dungeon in the game Ragnarok Online that is named Odin Temple. Inside Odin Temple lies the boss monster Valkyrie Randgris.
[edit] Literature
- Aspects of the J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings characters Gandalf, Saruman and Sauron are drawn from Odin.
- Carl Jung wrote an essay entitled Wotan.
- Odin appears in K.A. Applegate's Everworld series.
- Odin appears as Mr. Wednesday in Neil Gaiman's novel, American Gods.
- Douglas Adams' The Long Dark Teatime of the Soul features cameos by Odin and Thor.
- Odin (as Woden) appears as a villain in the Wyrd Museum trilogy, which also features his ravens Thought and Memory and the Norns (Urd, Verdandi and Skuld) and many other Norse Myth references (e.g., The character Edie refers to Edda).
- Odin appears in the Star Trek: New Frontiers book series. In book 12, he appeared briefly, scaring two children on the Excalibur (Ship on which the series takes place).
- The character Matrim Cauthon is also based directly off of Odin, even to the hanging on the Tree of Life in Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time.
- The narrator in Gene Wolfe's Short Sun cycle has aspects of Odin: white hair, one eye, a raven, an eight-legged horse, kingship, a reputation for wisdom and even magical powers, and secret knowledge gained at great cost.
- Odin appears as Mr. Wedding in Diana Wynne Jones' fantasy Eight Days of Luke
- Odin appears towards the end of Robert A. Heinlein's book Job: A Comedy of Justice.
- In Maddox's book The Alphabet of Manliness, Odin is described as "The patron saint of rearranging your face."
[edit] Music
- The Viking metal band Einherjer's 1998 album is titled Odin Owns Ye All and contains songs based in Norse mythology.
- The Icelandic Rock band Sigur Rós's 2002 album Hrafnagaldr Óðins (Odin's Raven Magic) is based upon the Icelandic Poem of the same name in the Poetic Edda style. It mentions a number of figures in Norse mythology.
- Another Viking metal band Amon Amarth released an album in 2006 called With Oden on Our Side. All their music relates to Norse mythology, and several references to Odin are made in their previous releases.
- Power Metal band Manowar released their EP, "The Sons of Odin" in Germany on the 4th of October 2006. Several of their other songs, including "Swords in the Wind" and "The Crown and The Ring" contain references to Odin. They have also released an album, called Gods of War, a concept album about Odin.
- Black metal band Bathory released a song titled "Odin's Ride Over Nordland".
[edit] Television
- Odin appeared a few times in the Gargoyles animated series. In the first episode in which he appeared, he tried to get his missing eye (now a talisman called the Eye of Odin) back from the show's protagonists. However, the Eye granted great power to its wielder, and the character of Goliath had sworn never to let anyone use it again. Not realising that Odin was its true owner, he donned the Eye himself and became a powerful but corrupt tyrant, and defeated Odin in combat. Nevertheless, Goliath's friends convinced him to remove the Eye and Odin took it back, re-inserting it into his empty eye socket. It was later revealed that Odin (along with many other mythological beings) was a member of the species called "Oberon's children".
- Odin also appeared in the television series Xena: Warrior Princess, as lord of the Valkyries in the Season Six story arc The Rheingold, The Ring, and Return of the Valkyrie.
- A godly being (specifically stated to be Odin in DVD commentary) appears in the Samurai Jack episode The Birth of Evil. He rides an eight-legged horse, carries a spear, and appears to be missing an eye. This version of Odin fights alongside other gods to destroy an evil force, and later participates in the creation of Samurai Jack's enchanted katana.
