The Germanic pantheon of Gods is often one of the most disregarded in society, with pop culture and historians having little to say on the subject. The Norse, Greek, Roman and, to an extent, Egyptian gods are very well known across the western world, with all having some basis in education and popular learning, with the Norse even having a place in Marvel’s superhero series “The Avengers”. But for the Angles, Jutes, Saxons and other groups north of the Rhine pre-Charlemagne, their culture has had little preservation, being largely disregarded in favor of more flashy and well known cultures (much the same as what has happened to ancient British culture). Indeed, even just typing in Woden on google brings up search results for Odin, leading it to be very hard to separate the two Gods, even though both are from two distinct and rich cultures. This lack of knowledge around the Anglo-Saxon gods can be attributed to many different reasons, such as a lack of sources and the fact that there has been no major or notable powers to emerge from northern Germany to popularize the culture. Even so, the figure we English speakers get a day of the week from (Wednesday comes from Woden’s-day) is vastly unknown to us. Those who do know him however, often picture him as a made up fantasy, a long forgotten pagan symbol. But is that all there is to the long lost head of Germanic paganism?
Most of what we know about Anglo-Saxon culture comes from writers (mainly monks in monasteries such as the most famous being St Bede) publishing events of the time in Chronicles. Often these people were writing centuries after the events took place, but they still can accurately tell us about many important things that happened during the so called “dark ages” between the roman exodus from Britain in 410, up to the Norman conquest of 1066. Much of our knowledge of these ages is based around their writings, such as the dates of the arrival of Hengist and Horsa at the start of the Saxon age being 449, and they are generally trusted as a good source for historical events. However, for all these accuracies, many historians still find issues within them. This is understandable: they are from over 1000 years ago, with many notable differences in scientific and wider knowledge over the world around them. But, when reading the family trees for the various kings and queens of this time, it can be found that they are traced back to Woden. This is no massive revelation: ancient kings would chuck anyone into their family trees to give them legitimacy over their domains, with even the modern day king Charles III claiming to be related to the prophet Muhammad. Not only this, but Edward VII claimed that he was related to Woden as late as 1903, with the papers of the time mocking him for it [Pictured below]. But, something interesting sticks out from Ethelwerds chronicle in particular, making me question weather this was an elaborate claim, or if there could be some fact to it.
In his Chronicle, Ethelwerd states “For Eise was the father of Hengist […] whose father was Wihtgils, his grandfather Witta, his great grandfather Wecta, his great grandfather’s father Woden, who also was king of many nations”. There is nothing remarkable there; the king of these many nations could have just been called Woden after the God, or have been confused with him. But Ethelwerd then goes on to say: “whom some of the pagans now worship still as a god”. This clearly shows us that Ethelwerd believes that Woden was in fact not a God, but a real warrior so terrifying that he became known as a God. This can also be seen more clearly earlier in his chronicle, when he writes “Woden, who was also the king of a multitude of barbarians […] For the unbelievers of the north are oppressed by such delusion that they worship him as a god even to this day, namely the Danes, the Northmen, and the Suevi”. Ethelwerd was writing this in the late 10th century, so he uses Woden in the sense of the God of the north Germans and Vikings, even possibly talking about pagans in the north of England, those of the former Danelaw. But he forgets (or completely disregards) that centuries before, Woden had been the chief God for all the Angles, Jutes and Saxons living in England, giving him much more relevance to England than Ethelwerd cares to admit, and therefore making this claim an even bigger one.
However, this idea of Woden’s true identity being grounded in reality is not a new one, but it is a school of thought that has existed since the ancient Greeks, called Euhemerism. This is the belief that all mythological stories and folklore develop from a grain of truth, a once existent person that was deified after their death, and their story lives on through oral history. But this story is changed and glorified, as all humans naturally do, until nothing true is left but the bare facts. Euhemerus used the example of the “tomb of zeus” that was supposedly on Crete, saying that zeus was a dead king who had been posthumously declared a God. This led to the belief that all people from the isle of crete were atheists, as they could see that zeus was not truly a god, but a mortal man who had died. Could this idea be applicable to Woden then? Was the ancient God of the Saxons merely a man whose great military feats led to him being worshiped as a god?
However, despite the ideas of Ethelwerd being relatively sound, there is little to no evidence to base them in. There is no set date for when Germanic paganism truly took hold of the barbarians of the north, so it is hard to see what time Woden could have existed in. We know it will have to have been before the 1st century BC, as that is when the Romans first documented the existence of the Germanic peoples. Interestingly, when Tacitus first observed the Germanic pagans, he noted that they worshiped Mercury mainly, not Woden. But the general consensus among historians is that he was just comparing the two pantheons, and possibly making it easier for Romans to understand. But apart from this roman documentation, there is nothing that could clearly give us any clues towards who Woden could be, so using the possible age Woden lived in is not leading us any closer to his persona.
How else therefore can we narrow it down? Well, another way we could classify Woden is through his perceived traits and stories, as these would have been central to the legend that developed out of the person he was. One of the main characteristics of Woden is that he was a fierce warrior, with his name literally translating to “Frenzy”, something revered and praised by the communities of northern Europe. The legend furthers by saying that Woden likes to disguise himself and visit/observe people. Both these traits lead to the theory of Edward Gibbons in his late 18th century book titled “The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire”, in which he discusses the possibility of Woden being a great Gothic king from around the area near the black sea. Then, once the Romans invaded during the 1st century BC, he fought them and won a great many victories. However, unable to keep them out indefinitely, Woden was defeated, and fled to north Germany, and then further to Sweden, bringing his legends and stories with him. This theory ticks both boxes of Woden being a distant traveler, and a great warrior, with his foreign tongue and strange culture probably furthering the belief he was “other-wordly”.
However, there is certainly an issue with a lack of evidence surrounding this theory. Gibbons uses no clear archaeological records, has no major textual proof, his theory is mainly a thought. 12 years after publishing his theory, Gibbons himself states “I take this opportunity of declaring that in the course of twelve years I have forgotten, or renounced, the flight of Odin from Azoph to Sweden, which I never very seriously believed. The Goths are apparently Germans…”, showing us that he throws considerable doubt onto his own thoughts, probably invalidating them. This is certainly a theory that makes logical sense, but is more akin to some epic ballad of romantic 18th century Europe than a modern, more concise and evidence-based history paper.
A more recent theory on who Woden’s true identity could have been is Thor Heyerdahl’s paper titled “The Search for Odin” or “Jakten Pa Odin” in his native language of Norwegian, published in 2001. Heyerdahl’s intention in his work was to prove the work of the Snorri Sturluson in the “Ynglinga saga”, a book published in the 13th century, where he claims that the Norse crown is directly descended from Odin. Sturluson takes a Euhemeristic view on mythology, and claims that the people who lived around the river Don (the same area Gibbons claims that Woden came from) migrated to Scandinavia due to the Roman occupation, and when arriving were worshiped as Gods. Sturluson then tried to trace the route that was taken by the migrants, starting at the black sea, up the river Tanais, through northern Germany, and into the Nordic countries. This could explain why both cultures have such similar Gods despite being so different in language and geographic location. There are still criticisms of Heyerdahl’s theories though, with many historians pointing out its reliance on psuedo-archaeology, with Heyerdahl using selective sources and unscientific methods, meaning that his findings and theories are generally rejected.
Furthermore, another criticism with using ancient chronicles as the sources for validating claims about Woden is the use of Euhemerism by the Catholic church. In order to try and discredit the pagan gods they were seeking to replace, the Catholic monks used Euhemerus’ ideas to tell the local populaces the “true” identity of their Gods. This was done because they believed by proving that their gods had died showed they were mortal, and not divine. This is backed up in the Bible however, with Wisdom 14:12-21 telling us that idols are important and powerful people who are now deceased, verse 15 using the example of a dead child: “For a father, consumed with grief at an untimely bereavement, made an image of his child, who had been suddenly taken from him; he now honored as a god what was once a dead human being, and handed on to his dependants secret rites and initiations”. To sum up the christian belief, Clement of Alexanderia states “”Those to whom you bow were once men like yourselves”. Is that the mystery summed up then? Was Ethelwerd simply lying to try and disprove the pagan beliefs, following the advice of the Bible?
We may never know if Woden was real, as there is simply not enough evidence or demand for research to allow it to be proven. The ideas of Euhemerus are certainly interesting ones, but there are only ideas until they are proven, and unproven Wodens remain thus far. If he did exist, Woden’s story would be that he won a great many victories in the land by the black see, migrated to Scandinavia, and on the way went to northern Germany. It was there that stories were told of him, and eventually after a few hundred years, he effectively became a God. Why do both historians agree he would’ve come from the black sea? It probably has to do with Gothic migration, as they originally come from Sweden it is thought, moving through north Germany and into the area known as Scythia (probably in modern day Ukraine/Romania), meaning all the cultures are essentially linked. So, to conclude, Woden could have existed; we know where this would have lived and how his life and travels could have influenced the cultures in northern Germany, and then by extension early Anglo-Saxon England. But with lack of records, archaeological evidence and dubious sources over him, we just can not know.