----- Original Message -----
From: "Steven T. Hatton" <hattons@...>

> > I found it hard to read and certianly hard to find specific names.
>
> http://members.bellatlantic.net/~hattons/asatru/odin-names.html
>
> Is that any better? I'll work on style after I get the content more
fleshed
> out.

Much better. Thank you.

> > I find some of Hollander's notes confusing. How he got from the literal
> > translation of the name to some of his own notations is baffling. I'm
sure
> > he had his reasons, I just wish he explained it somewhere.
> > EG: according to my dictionary:
> > Hár = lit. "high" but LH claims it means "One-Eyed"
>
> He actually argued it was some kin of homonym.

The only homonym I can find for this word is simultaneously meaning "Hair"
and "High". Adding "One-Eye" to it and "the color grey" is making the
homonym a little complicated without serious explanation. I cannot find any
dictionary that supports it, but I don't have every dictionary in the world.
If someone can show it to me or explain it to me, I'll feel much better
about it. Otherwise it seems like a mistake.

> > Hárbarð = lit. "high-beard" but LH claims it means "Grey-Beard" which
> > doesn't make a lot of literal sense because going by his own
translation
> > 'Hárbarð' should mean "One-Eyed-Beard"
>
> Greybeard is a common one for Hárbarð. I suspect Zoëga's dictionary is
> somewhat incomplete. I have used Gordon's _Introduction to Old Norse_ at
> times, and found words not in Zoëga.

Gordon's doesn't define "Hár" as meaning "Grey"either.

> One thing I have come to realize in all this is that these names can often
> mean very different things according to subtelties of connotation. For
> example "glad of war" can be taken to mean Óðin favors war. Glad in war
may
> simply mean victorious. I also find the connotations give to Óðin's names
> which make him sound 'evil' are probably inaccurate. That is, Óðin should
> not be though of as a worker of evil against his own. Nor should he be
seen
> as a representation of evil forces. This is a modern interpretation which
is
> way over emphasized, and probably a result of 'Christianized' thinking.

Not really. First, I will agree that 'Evil' is a specific concept that is
Christian, however, the concept of 'Ill' is very germanic.

Remember that the Viking world-view included beings of creation (Vanir) and
beings of destruction (Thurs). 'Ill' is the concept that something is being
destroyed. However, it is well attested that warfare was not seen as the
destruction of kingdoms that existed, but as the force of creating newer,
larger, bigger and better kingdoms. Odin is also referred to in many poems
and sagas as inspiring warfare and conflict. As a modern person, this may
seem a morally repugnant thing to do, but it is in fact this 'morality'
which is Christian. According to the lore, Odin requires half the slain in
battle to come serve in his army to fight for him against the coming
Ragnarok. Many heroes in the lore passionately desire this end and this
service with him. In that vein, Odin's inspiration for warfare is his manner
of forging heroes in the flames of battle and honing his warriors-to-be on
earthly fields. In Volsungasaga, Odin is treated as a mysterious figure who
looms over nearly every scene of Sigurd's development, as if he himself is
directing Sigurd's life to hone and polish him for his ultimate service in
Vahalla. Sigurd/Sigmund is regarded widely as the greatest hero in Germanic
literature (Volsungasaga is the Icelandic/Norse version of the
Nibelungenlied).

That warfare came to be thought of as 'Evil' is certainly a Christian
notion. That the negative connotation of it tranfserred to Odin was
inevitable. But he WAS legitimately seen as the 'stirrer of strife' and
'mixer of conflict' and those aspects of him were not seen, at least in the
lore of the Viking Age, as morally repugnant.

He was, after-all, the leader of the dead-host during the wild-hunt of the
yule nights. He has always been associated with the slaying of human beings.

His name, Odin, translates to 'The Passion' (meaning both 'lust' and 'rage')
and is related to Oddr 'a spear tip'. The tip of the spear is the first
thing that plunges into battle (or a human being), and Odin is the god of
the most extremes of life, good and ill, which defines Wyrd.

-Laz
(BTW - While I tried to make this stay within the confines of the language
this board is for, I realize it could easily turn away from that. I am
available offlist for discussions like this one. I am Troth Clergy, if that
helps explain my view and my research.)