ColossiansOne

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Odin vs Hermes

These two are identified with one another in the record, which is not the same as being the same figure. Tacitus identified the Germanic Wodan with Mercury, not with Jupiter — a Roman reading of the psychopomp and trickster role.

Deity · Norse · c. 1270 CE

Odin

also called Óðinn, Wodan, Allfather, Othin, Wodin

Hangs himself on the world tree for nine nights to win the runes — a sovereign god who is also a liar, a sorcerer and a chooser of the slain.

Alignment
Disputed
Rank
Allfather
First attested
Gesta Hammaburgensis Ecclesiae Pontificum · c. 1075
Named there as
Wodan
Texts naming it
4
Powers attributed
6
72attestedNorse

Deity · Greek · c. 700 BCE

Hermes

also called Mercury (Roman)

Herald, psychopomp, patron of boundaries and of thieves — the exact functional counterpart of Gabriel, plus everything Gabriel is not allowed to be.

Alignment
Disputed
Rank
Messenger of the Gods
First attested
The Iliad · c. 750 BCE
Named there as
Hermes
Texts naming it
3
Powers attributed
5
90attestedGreekRoman

Where do they actually overlap?

Texts naming both

None. The two never appear in the same text in this corpus, which is worth knowing before accepting any confident claim that they are one figure.

Powers credited to both

Conducts Souls

Common questions

Are Odin and Hermes the same figure?

These two are identified with one another in the record, which is not the same as being the same figure. Tacitus identified the Germanic Wodan with Mercury, not with Jupiter — a Roman reading of the psychopomp and trickster role. ColossiansOne records the link rather than asserting the identity: where texts disagree about whether two names denote one figure, the disagreement is what gets shown.

Which is older, Odin or Hermes?

Hermes is the older name: first attested around c. 700 BCE, against c. 1270 CE for Odin. Where the two dates are far apart, that gap is the whole reason the pair is worth comparing.

Do any texts name both Odin and Hermes?

No text in this corpus names both. That is not proof they were considered the same figure, but it is why the identification has to be traced through the scholarship rather than read off a page.
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