Sons of Odin

Various gods and men appear as Sons of Odin or Sons of Woden in old Old Norse and Old English texts. (The only daughter anywhere ascribed to Odin is Jörd 'Earth' in a single passge of the Gylfaginning. See Jörd and Annar.)

Thor, Baldur, and Vali

Only three gods, Thor, Baldur, and Vali/Bous, are explicitly identified as sons of Odin in the Eddic poems, in the skaldic poems, in Saxo Grammaticus' Gesta Danorum, and in the Gylfaginning section of Snorri Sturluson's Edda. This does not indicate that other gods in these works whose parentage is not mentioned might not also be sons of Odin.

Thor's mother is Jörd 'Earth' according to all skaldic poems, eddic poems, and Snorri Sturluson's Edda.

Baldur is son of Odin by his wife Frigg according to the eddic poem Lokasenna in which Frigg says to Loki:

If I still had a son, sitting here,
As brave as Baldur was,
You would not escape unscathed from the hall,
Before you fought with him.

If any of the other gods present at the banquet are her sons, this would be a taunt to them, but that does not seem to be the case. Snorri also presents Baldur as a son of Odin by Frigg in his Edda. In the Gylfaginning section Snorri calls Baldur "Odin's second son" immediately after dealing with Thor.

In Saxo's Gesta Danorum (Book 3), however, Baldur is "a demigod, sprung secretly from celestial seed", that is, a son of Odin by a mortal woman (though Saxo considers all these gods to have been in reality human beings and he apologizes in this section for not carrying this through consistantly).

Vali, the avenger of Baldur in Norse tradition, is mentioned in several Norse texts as fathered by Odin on a certain Rind of whom Snorri says in the Gylfaginning: "Thor's mother Jörd and Vali's mother Rind are reckoned among the Ásyniur." In Saxo's account the corresponding figure is named Bous (sometimes Englished as Boe) and is fathered by Odin on Rinda daughter of the King of the Ruthenians.

Other gods called sons of Odin by Snorri Sturluson

In the Skáldskaparmál Snorri also presents Vidar as a son of Odin by the giantess Gríd. In various kennings Snorri provides for Norse deities Snorri also describes Heimdall, Bragi, Tyr, and Höd as sons of Odin, information that appears nowhere else in the Edda in passages universally considered part of Snorri's original work.

But for Heimdall and Vidar at least we have no alternate account of their father. The same may not be true for Bragi if Bragi is taken to be the skaldic poet Bragi Boddason made into a god. But Tyr, according to the Eddic poem Hymiskvida, was son of the giant Hymir rather than a son of Odin. As to Höd, it is odd that outside of the single statement in the kennings, Snorri makes no mention that Höd is Baldur's brother or Odin's son, something one might expect to be emphasized. In Saxo's version of the death of Baldur, Höd, whom Saxo calls Høtherus, is a mortal and in no way related to Saxo's demi-god Baldur.

Hermod appears in Snorri's Gylfaginning as the messenger sent by Odin to Hel to seek to bargain for Balder's release. He is called "son" of Odin in most manuscripts, but in the Codex Regius version—the Codex Regions is normally considered the best manuscript—Hermod is called sveinn Óðins 'Odin's boy', which might mean Odin's son but in the context is as likely to mean Odin's servant. To confuse matters other texts know of a mortal hero named Hermód or Heremod. However when Hermód arrives in Hel's hall, Snorri calls Baldur his bother.

An alternative list of Odin's sons

Some manuscripts of the Skáldskaparmál give, along with other material, a list of the sons of Odin, which does not altogether fit with what Snorri writes elsewhere and so is usually thought to be a later addition. As such it is omitted from some editions and translations, but it does appear in Anthony Faulkes' translation. If not by Snorri, the list is all the more valuable in that it represents an independant tradition. The text reads:

Sons of Odin       Baldur and Meili
Vidar and Nep       Vali, Ali
Thor and Hildolf       Hermod, Sigi
Skjöld, Yngvi-Frey       and Itreksjod
Heimdall, Sæming

Sigi (ancestor of the Volsungs), Skjöld (ancestory of the Skjölding dynasty in Denmark, Yngvi (ancestor of a legendary Swedish dynasty), and Sæming (ancestor of Norwegian kings) all appear in the the pseudo-historical Prologue to Snorri's Edda as sons of Odin and founders of these various lineages. They were probably thought to be sons of Odin begotten on mortal women. See Yngvi for discussions of this personage who may be in origin another name for Frey or may have been originally a separate figure later mostly identified with Frey. In almost all sources Frey (often called Yngvi-Frey) is the son of Njörd. But a Faroese ballad recorded in 1840 names Odin's son as Veraldur, this Veraldur being understood as a another name of Frö, that is of Frey. See Frey for details.

Hildolf and Itreksjod are otherwise unknown as sons of Odin. The name Hildolf appears in the eddic poem Hárbardsljód applied to the supposed master of the ferryman Harbard, Harbard actually being Odin in disguise. If there is a connection to a son of Odin, the connection is unclear. Both Hildolf and Itreksjod may have been legendary founders of families purportedly descended from Odin in traditions that have not survived.

Meili appears in the eddic poem Hárbardsljód where Thor calls himself Odin's son, Meili's brother and Magni's father. In Snorri's Gylfaginning Ali is only another name for Vali and Nep is the father of Baldur's wife Nanna. If this list is correct in giving Odin a son named Nep, and if that Nep is identical to the father of Nanna mentioned by Snorri, then Nanna would also be Baldur's niece. But marriage between uncle and niece, though common in many cultures, does not normally appear in old Scandinavian literature.

Tyr, Höd, and Bragi are conspicuously absent from this list which is one reason to believe it is not from Snorri's hand.

Some manuscripts have a variant version of the list which adds Höd and Bragi to the end and replaces Yngvi-Frey with an otherwise unknown Ölldner or Ölner. This may be an attempt to bring the list into accord with Snorri, though it still lacks Tyr. Some manuscripts add addtional names of sons of Odin which are otherwise unknown: "Ennelang, Eindride, Bior, Hlodide, Hardveor, Sönnöng, Vinthior, Rymur."

Founders of Dynasties

The prologue to Snorri's Edda and the alternative list discussed above both include the following:

• Sigi. He was the ancestor of the Volsung lineage (see Volsunga Saga) who were Frankish kings according to Snorri.
• Skjöld. In Snorri's Ynglinga Saga in the Heimskringla, Skjöld's mother is the goddess Gefjön and the same account occurs in most, but not all, manuscripts of the Edda. But Saxo makes Skjöld the son of Lother son of Dan. And in English tradition Skjöld (called Scyld or Sceldwa) is son of Sceaf or of Heremod when a father is named.
• Yngvi. A son of Odin in the prologue to the Edda but identified with Frey son of Njörd in the Ynglinga Saga. In both accounts this figure is ancestor of the Yngling dynasty in Sweden (from which later kings of Norway also traced their descent).
• Sæming. Snorri's Ynglinga Saga relates that after the giantess Skadi broke off her marriage with Njörd, she "married afterwards Odin, and had many sons by him, of whom one was called Sæming" from whom Jarl Hákon claimed descent. Snorri then quotes a relevant verse by the poet Eyvind Skaldaspiller. However in his preface to the Heimskringla Snorri says that Eyvind Skaldaspiller's "Haleygjatal" which reckoned up the ancestors of Jarl Hákon brought in Sæming as son of Yngvi-Frey. Snorri may have slipped here, thinking of the Ynglings. As to the many sons, it is possible that some of the otherwise unknown sons in the previous section may be sons purportedly born by Skadi.

According to the Herrauds saga:

• Gauti. Gauti's son Hring ruled Ostrogothia (East Götaland), so Gauti appears to be the eponym of the Gautar, with whom scholars usually identify the Geatas in Beowulf. Some versions of the English royal line of Wessex add names above that of Woden, purportedly giving Woden's ancestry, though the names are now usually thought be in fact another royal lineage that has been at some stage erroneously pasted onto the top of the standard genealogy. Some of these genealogies end in Geat, whom it is reasonable to think might be Gauti. The account in the Historia Britonum calls Geat a son of a god which fits. But Asser in his Life of Alfred writes instead that the pagans worshipped this Geat himself for a long time as a god. In Old Norse texts Gaut is itself a very common byname for Odin. Jordanes in Gardariki. His son Svafrlami succeed him. S vafrlami forced two dwarfs to forge him superb sword. They did so and cursed it. In version R Sigrlami take on the role of Svafrlami and his parentage is not given.

In the prologue to the Edda Snorri also mentions sons of Odin who ruled among the continental Angles and Saxons and provides information about their descendants that is identical or very close to traditions recorded in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. Snorri may here be dependant on English traditions. The sons mentioned by both Snorri and the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle are:

• Vegdeg/Wægdæg/Wecta. According to Snorri Vegdeg ruled East Saxony. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle does not make it clear that Wægdæg and Wecta are identical (unless perhaps it is Snorri or a source who has wrongly conflated Wecta with Wægdæg). In the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle the Wecta form of the name heads the lineage of the kings of Kent (of whom Hengest is traditionally the first) and the Wægdæg form of the name heads the lineage of the kings of Bernicia.
• Beldeg. According to Snorri Beldeg was identical to Baldur and ruled in Westphalia. Commentators tend to be skeptical about this identity. From Beldeg the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle traces the kings of Deira and Wessex.

Other Anglo-Saxon genealogies mention:

• Weothulgeot. He was ancestor to the royal house of Mercia according to the Anglian collection and the father of Whitlæg. But according to the Historia Brittonum, Weothulgeot was father of Weaga who was father of Whitlæg. The two Anglo-Saxon Chronicle versions of this genealogy include neither Weothulgeot nor Weaga but make Whitlæg himself the son of Woden. In all versions Whitlæg is father of Wermund father of Offa. According to the Old English poem Widsith Offa ruled over the continental Angels. Saxo, though not mentioning Whitlæg's parentage, introduces him as a Danish king named Wiglek who is the slayer of Amleth (Hamlet).
• Caser. He was ancestor to the royal house of East Anglia.
• Winta. He was ancestor to the royal house of Lindsey/Lindisfarne. This genealogy is found only in the Anglian collection, not in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle.

Froger

Saxo Grammaticus' Gesta Danorum (Book 4) speaks of Froger, the King of Norway, who was a great champion. Saxo relates:

According to some, he was the son of Odin, and when he begged the immortal gods to grant him a boon, received the privilege that no man should conquer him, save he who at the time of the conflict could catch up in his hand the dust lying beneath Froger's feet.

King Fródi the Active of Denmark, still a young man, learning of the charm, begged Froger to give him lessons in fighting. When the fighting court had been marked off, Fródi entered with glorious gold-hilted sword and clad in a golden breastplate and helmet. Fródi then begged a boon from Froger, that they might change positions and arms. Froger agreed. After the exchange, Fródi caught up some dust from where Froger had been standing and then quickly defeated Froger in battle and slew him.