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WODEN

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Originally appearing in Volume V28, Page 768 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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WODEN , a deity of the Anglo-See also:

Saxons, the name being the Anglo-Saxon counterpart of the Scandinavian See also:Odin (q.v.). In See also:German the same See also:god was called Wodan or Wuotan. Owing to the very small amount of See also:information which has come down to us regarding the gods of See also:ancient See also:England and See also:Germany, it cannot be determined how far the See also:character and adventures attributed to Odin in Scandinavian See also:mythology were known to other See also:Teutonic peoples. It is clear, however, that the god was credited with See also:special skill in magic, both in England and Germany, while the See also:story of the Langobardic See also:migration (see See also:LOMBARDS) represents him as the dispenser of victory. From Woden also most of the anglo-Saxon royal families traced their descent. By the See also:Romans he was identified at an See also:early date with Mercurius, whence our name " Wednesday " (Woden's See also:day) as a See also:translation of See also:dies Mercurii. See also:Tacitus states that the ancient Germans worshipped Mercurius more than any other god, and that they offered him human sacrifices. Many scholars connect the origin of the deity with the popular German and See also:Swedish belief in a raging See also:host (in Germany called das wutende Heer or Wutes Heer, but in See also:Sweden Odens Jagt), which passes through the forests an stormy nights. There is See also:evidence, however, that deities similar to Woden were known to some of the ancient peoples of central See also:Europe, e.g. the Gauls and Thracians. See TEUTONIC PEOPLES, ad fin. (H. M.

End of Article: WODEN

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