> > Not to mention that the Germanic form behind Odinn - *Watonaz -
is
> > clearly a divine name "Wild/Frenzied God", containing the -on-os
> > suffix common in many IE theonyms (especially in Celtic)
>
> I still think a god of anger sounds strange. It might have been
> reshaped from something non-Germanic. I mean, the Romans didn't
have
> a god named Ira, did they? ;-)
God, you just don't get it, do you??
Odinn was connected with occult knowledge - Germanic *wat- (from PIE
1.*wet- "to blow, inspire, spiritually arouse") had a semantic range
including "ragin", "mad", "inspired" and "spirit" (which all suit the
character of Odinn as is revealed in the stories concerning him) -
all connected with the inspired frenzy as engaged in by poet-priests
of the Indo Europeans (in fact, the same root is behind Gaulish
uatis, a name for a type of priest, Irish faith, a type of poet/seer,
and Latin vates - a prophet or poet). This identifies Odinn as a
first function diety connected with magic/the occult/poetic
inspiration. This "furious" aspect also helps to explain some of
Odinn's conenctions with warfare - notably with the frenzied
berserkers. This would connect Odinn strongly with Vedic Rudra -
though he also shares first function sovereign features with Varuna.
- Chris Gwinn