A god of the Anglo-Saxon /Early English tribes brought with them from continental Europe, around the 5th and 6th centuries until conversion to Christianity in the 8th and 9th centuries CE.
Woden is the carrier-off of the dead, but not necessarily with the attributes of his Norse equivalent Odin, the valkyries.
Woden is also the leader of the Wild Hunt, possibly through conflation of his character with that of the Germanic storm god Wode (“rage”).
Woden can be seen as a relection of how Odin would have been if the myth had been recorded at that time rather than in the Eddas of a few hundred years later.
The familial relationships are the same between Woden and the other Anglo-saxon gods as they are for the Norse ( see Odin)
Several of the Anglo-Saxon kings traced their lineage back to Woden.
Influence
Anglo-Saxon literature starts at about the time of the conversion from the old religion.
Although whatever stories recording his part in the lives of men and the gods are lost, Woden's name survived in many settlement names and geographical features.
- Wansdyke - Woden's embankment
- Grimsdyke - From Grim, "hooded" an description of his appearance
- Wednesbury - Woden's burgh
Wednesday ('Wodens daeg')is named for him, his link with the dead making him the appropiate match to the Roman Mercury. (Compare with the French 'mercredi' for Wednesday)
Further reading
- The Lost Gods of England, Brian Branston
- In search of the Dark Ages, Michael Wood
