Odin’s Man

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In 2020, archaeologists uncovered a treasure trove in Vindelev, central Denmark, which included Roman coins that had been reworked into jewelry.

Among them was a fifth-century gold disc, known as bracteate, depicting some runic inscriptions and the image of a person.

Recently, academics closely studied the precious artifact and discovered that it contained the earliest mention of the Norse god Odin, NBC News reported.

“He is Odin’s man,” said linguist Krister Vasshus, who helped decipher the inscription on the gold disc. He added that the bracteate also features the name or nickname “Jaga” or “JagaR,” who might have been the king or ruler of the place where the disc was made.

Vasshus and other researchers noted Odin existed as a concept or deity long before the bracteate’s creation, but it was still an exciting find.

“(This) can tell us something about the relationship people had with their gods and possibly even how divine rulership was organized in Scandinavia at this time,” he said.

Odin appears in various pre-Christian belief systems across northern Europe in the centuries following the collapse of the Roman empire. He was known as Wōden to the Saxons, who colonized England in the fifth and sixth centuries.

Father of the god of thunder, Thor, some traditions consider Odin as the ruler of the Norse deities.

Before the discovery of the Vindelev hoard, the first mention of Odin was a brooch discovered in southern Germany dating from the latter half of the sixth century.

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