146). Like genealogies of Anglo-Saxon kings tracing their ancestry to Wōden, euhemeristic tales describing the legendary history of Scandinavia claim Óðinn as the father of the medieval royal dynasties. In addition, some of his names suggest that various peoples who originally had some other chief god had come to identify that god with Óðinn. For example, Óðinn's name
Gautr originally may have been the name of the eponymous father of the people of Gautland. His name
Skilfingr may have been the name of the founding ancestor of the Ynglings of Sweden, whom the Old English poem
Beowulf instead calls the
Scylfingas.
From his high seat in the citadel Ásgarðr, Óðinn can look over the nine worlds of the Norse cosmos. His ravens, Huginn (Thought) and Muninn (Memory), bring him news every morning. Óðinn lacks an eye, and he often wears a hat and a cloak. His weapon is the dwarf-made spear Gungnir, and his gold arm-ring Draupnir drips eight equally heavy arm-rings every nine days. His horse is the eight-legged Sleipnir. Despite his power, Óðinn cannot prevent the death of his son Baldr, which leads to the destruction of the Æsir at Ragnarǫk by giants and other monsters (who are also destroyed in this final battle between these forces).
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