"He Is Odin's Man": New Rune Find is Oldest Known To Name Odin
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 9 มี.ค. 2023
- The name of the god Odin (Old Norse Óðinn, Proto-Norse *Wōðnaz/Wōðinaz/Wōðanaz) has been discovered on a piece of jewelry from Denmark dated to the 400s A.D., the earliest written mention yet known of this god. Images referred to in presentation: bit.ly/3YE6nuh and bit.ly/3T81WGX
Jackson Crawford, Ph.D.: Sharing real expertise in Norse language and myth with people hungry to learn, free of both ivory tower elitism and the agendas of self-appointed gurus. Visit jacksonwcrawford.com/ (includes bio and linked list of all videos).
Jackson Crawford’s Patreon page: / norsebysw
Visit Grimfrost at glnk.io/6q1z/jacksoncrawford
Latest FAQs: vimeo.com/375149287 (updated Nov. 2019).
Jackson Crawford’s translation of Hávamál, with complete Old Norse text: www.hackettpublishing.com/the... or www.amazon.com/Wanderers-Hava...
Jackson Crawford’s translation of The Poetic Edda: www.hackettpublishing.com/the... or www.amazon.com/Poetic-Edda-St...
Audiobook: www.audible.com/pd/The-Poetic...
Jackson Crawford’s translation of The Saga of the Volsungs: www.hackettpublishing.com/the... or www.amazon.com/Saga-Volsungs-...
Audiobook: www.audible.com/pd/The-Saga-o...
Music © I See Hawks in L.A., courtesy of the artist. Visit www.iseehawks.com/
Logos and channel artwork by Justin Baird. See more of his work at: justinbairddesign.com
Articles with high-quality images: bit.ly/3YE6nuh and bit.ly/3T81WGX
There might be even older sources, note Codanus sinus for the Kattegat and the Baltic Sea, and Codannovia for Scandinavia, from Pomponius Mela, and Pliny the older, who wrote at the beginning of the first century AD.
Apart from the more known forms of the name Odin/Wodan etc. then we know that the Langobards/Lombards had the form Godan for Odin, and something similar (Goen/Goden) exist for one of the Jutish versions of the wild hunters, i.e from folklore/folkbelief, apart from forms with front U etc. (front O and W/V are just the more common versions it seems), what also seems to follow dialect borders to some degree, within Jutland.
Garbled versions of Germanic tribe names etc., written down by Roman and Greek sources are not that uncommon either, as the information about these often likely came down over several inbetween persons, often as strange unfamiliar languages, with the errors that could make...
Add to it that Latin itself over time underwent a number of sound changes, ex. with the C from a hard near K sound, to softer sounds, and in that light Codan etc. is not that far of from Godan etc.
Regarding the sound values of C, K, and G sounds in Latin, then we also know that the Romans also seems to have perhaps mistranslated these sounds with people they lived next to, ex. the Etruscans - Note here ex. that the Romans wrote Tages for what was likely Tarchies in Etruscan etc. (a child looking god of divination central for their religion, since divination was the central pillar there)
As a side note regarding the different name forms of Odin, then note that Denmark apart from the folklore/folkbelief versions of the Name Odin/Woden, also show the same difference in terms of town names, ex. Odense vs. Vojens, where Vojens are mentioned first time in 1421 as Wodens (the -se/s are likely as shortning from Odins Vi, with a Vi being a holy place, shrine etc.), while Odense has been mentioned with front O, or W, depending on local dialects on the isle Funen, ex. in 1075 as Odansue (W sounds seems to be centered on the north-western part of the isle, likely due to Jutish influence).
In short, just with the O to W shift, then Denmark seems to be the splitzone between North Germanic and Northsea Germanic, with most of the eastern isles being North Germanic dialect(s) (To be fair, then further splits like western vs. eastern Nordic seems to have been an obsolete idea from the start, as ex. Rasmus Rask already noted in the 1800'ies that at least Jutland seemed to be more in the western branch, and likely older Germanic does not Exactly follow terms like North, West, and Eastern Germanic either, even if we add the more speculative Northsea Germanic to the mix..).
Regarding the attempts to translate the text, then I speculate that part of it might be misunderstood, but I'll admit I have only read about segments of it, and not seen the text it self.
The part that makes me wonder, is the part about what is now presumed to be a person called Jagaz, and a wordplay on hunter perhaps.
The reason I wonder is because one of the aspects of the Odins cult that have survived up til my grandparents childhood, is the one about the wild hunters, i,e. in Danish Jægerne (to Jage, one Jager, several Jægere etc.) - Ex. my fathers parents used still in the 70'ies to put a sheaf over the door in december for the "hunters horse" as they said, while those that was afraid of them put iron or steel over the door..
Folklore also states that one could devote one self to become a hunter after death, just as the fact that the king Valdemar Atterdag is believed to be one of the hunters, in parts of Denmark, what points to the idea that rulers etc. automatically was believed to perhaps become these, if they in particular degree has shown to have devoted themselves to the country?
As such Jagaz might not be a name, and the bracteate might be a token to ensure that the owner becomes one of the hunters after death?
At 14:30 you mention that weraz has the form weraR. Is there a possible connection to the term warrior?
Thank you! Great quality ones available in those links
Awesome, thank you for the info and breakdown🤘🏻⚔⚔🤘🏻
My Mom: "How do you know so much about all that Viking stuff?"
Me: "Oh, a highly educated Cowboy informs me, most of the time."
My Mom: "What?"
:)
😂😂😂
Don't forget to throw in Gun Jesus teaching you proper firearm influences lol
Eyup. When I'm talking about this to my husband, I just refer to him as the Viking Cowboy scholar.
@@anansisgirl attractive Viking cowboy scholar*
The best part about investigating and studying proto-Norse is that the written evidence exists and new finds are being made. How amazing would it be to have early examples of proto-Slavic or any language in central-eastern europe in the 1st century AD, an area so close to the Roman and Greek worlds yet just beyond our reach.
yeah, i agree, as a slav; we have so much history either going unknown or unnoticed, and hopefully well uncover it soon!
I think proto-Slavic would be younger than that.
I will be right back with a book recommendation
"The origins of Hunnish Runic Writing" from Varga Géza. A primordial being is mentioned several times...Jima (Imir?)
I love that book. Its full of truths.
@@ur-inannak9565
...same same, but different.
Origin is omnipresent...never younger nor older 🙏
It's always wild to realize how little info there is available to scholars. Their conclusions are usually very restrained, but always open to great shakeups as well.
Huh? Our Earth's history has long been denied us... by design. We are all enslaved by 👃's.
enslaved by noses… nice…
@@DerSchleier care to elaborate on what you mean by the nose emoji
That’s one way to characterize it but ok
Scholars are seldom open to shakeups. Egyptian Scholars being the worst of them. The issue is they are so entrenched in what they know, that anything new is seen as a discredit to their expertise; which it isn’t!
Thank you so much for informing us what it actually says in proto-norse. I have looked through several Danish articles about this, but none actually stated stated what the inscription sounded like. I tried looking at pictures of the bracteate myself, but the only word I could make out was Wodnas.
I love how close Dutch is in sound to Proto-Germanic. When you said Jaga, I immediately knew it was Jagen/Jager. So little change in 1600 years.
Hm. It is "Jeger", in contemporary Norwegian. What madness is this???
Jaga. Still used for ”hunt” in swedish.
It's "jæger" [yaigh-er] = hunter in Danish & "at jage" [yagh-e] = to hunt.
jagt [yAgt] = hunt ( noun)
So maybe these words existed all along in Scandinavia - and are not later influences from Low German?
Dutch? 🤔😉
@@Bjowolf2 That's not what I meant. I just meant that these are the same word in different eras and places and that Dutch has been very conservative in sound (standard Dutch that is).
(Only read this part if you are interested in linguistics and ethnicity in Holland)
Although actually in the native folk language along the coast it's also "jæger" (e.g. Katwijk). Supposedly these tongues have Ings influence. How that came to be, here's what I think.
Tacitus describes North of the Rhine (that's the old Rhine running through Katwijk) the Frisii lived. And in Karls time the Frisians also ruled over parts below the Rhine which are now Zeeland and the southern part of South Holland.
So you could say we are Frisians here. But also of course the Franks conquered the area already 1200 years ago. Maybe that's why there's such a significant difference between countryside language (Frisian?) and citiy language (Frankish?).
Thanks for your work, Dr. Crawford. Sorry to hear you haven't been well - wishing you the best. Take all the time you need for yourself.
The fact that this phrase appears on a gold pendant (certainly a high-status item for its time) shows how much older the worship of Odin must have been. So much history has been lost to time. It is impossible to know when the worship began, but it's roots probably go back for thousands of years before this pendant...to the ancient stories of the Bronze Age and the Stone Age before that. Culture runs deep.
One thing we do know is that most all of the "Norse" gods were not worshiped anywhere before the first millenium BC, because the "Norse" did not exist until around then. What we think of as "Norse" people were the result of a later Indo-European invasion from the east, who adapted their deities to accommodate the traditions of the people who lived there before their invasion. We know very little about the deities that were worshiped by Scandinavian cultures before this invasion, although we do know that their leader was likely the god who was renamed "Tyr", and has his hand cut off symbolically in Norse mythology symbolizing how he was kicked out as head of the pantheon. We also know that the goddess who got renamed and syncretized with Frey was extremely important to the culture, and ruled all things mysterious and magical. We know a decent amount about Indo-European deities from before the invasion, and there is no god equivalent or close to Odin.
So what seems most likely is that the patriarchal Indo-European invaders were very uncomfortable integrating such a powerful female deity into their religion, so they just made up a male version - Odin - who was really the best at magic and fortune telling and whatever.
@@Ballosopheraptor Thank you for your learned response. I would, however, disagree with ascribing modern sensibilities to ancient peoples. To suggest that Odin's roots are not derived from some ancient myth or cultural expression (which might remain unknown to us) but were simply made up at the whim of some all-powerful patriarchy is QUITE the stretch and smacks of a very modern lens applied to truths hidden in the mists of time.
@Ballosopheraptor I just watched a video about this religion. It was a common religion for germanic tripes all over Europe. The fact that everyone thinks of it as norse religion is that this was the last area that was christianized. Most of the old germanic tribes had no writen tradition and only the nors sagas have been writen down and then only several hundred years after it died out. The rune stones paint a very incomplete picture of the history.
@@dennistofvesson6351 Thanks for your input. Renewed interest in these old traditions should help understanding grow. I am fascinated by all the recent discoveries from all around the globe...from Gobekli Tepe to the "He Is Odin's Man" medallion.
@@grampsizzakilla7981 But we know Odin/Woden worship was secondary to Thor at an earlier phase because of the density of inscriptions and the writing of Romans like Tacitus. This makes sense since Thor as a storm/weather god was likely cognate with Zeus (though the Romans associated him with Hercules in their time so even by the beginning of the first millennium AD he was a giant/monster-slayer). So Woden/Odin as the primary “all-father” god was likely a tradition of the first millennium.
Wow~ this is incredible and huge discovery. Thank you for bringing this to my attention. Deeply appreciated!!
I was surprised to see you haven’t made any videos about the wild hunt. I think this would be a fantastic topic for you to address, as it’s an object of great fascination and great online misinformation.
Jagaz, he Is Odin's man
Vote Jagaz!
This is so cool, thank you for keeping us up to date on all of this awesome news. It's so exciting to know there is still new stuff being found and expanding our understanding.
Hol' up. This is crazy. We never had an inscription of the Proto-Germanic form of Wen? This is the first time? I love how insanely close it is to the reconstruction. Props to the linguists. Too bad they didn't get it exactly right though. I mean we didn't see the nominative form yet so who knows!
I know it's parasocial but as a Patreon supporter I always feel like Jackson's speaking directly to me. Silly, I know, but it's a nice feeling. So glad I watched to the end of the video.
thank you, when i heard the viking valhalla actor and maker, said that we did not have a written language it made me sad how little they know about the era and make a tv show
Really love how he always gives us those little hints and tips for new people seeing one of his videos for the first time like the ð or þ and what they sound like
I always wondered where the "were" in "werewolf" came from. Now I know :D Neat!
Rember: We are werewolves, not swearwolves!
@@lakrids-pibe
lol I need to go watch that again. Its been too long.
I'm sure you also wondered what the wor in world was. That one is kinda smushed though, like a peepo. Werold smushed is World. Man age.
The Latin word "vir" means man (male person, rather than human in general). David Miano's series about British archaeology pointed out that the Roman town Viroconium was "The town of the werewolf." "Uiroku" was apparently a Brythonic word for werewolf.
There's also the "weregeld/wergeld" or "man-gold/man-price".
I am relatively new to you, but so far, I am super impressed with how easy you make this to understand !!! Thank you very much greatly appreciated , all the way from Oklahoma !!!
I'm very sorry to hear you haven't been well, Dr Crawford. I hope the warmer weather comes quickly and brings you better health.
In Uppåkra in southern Sweden (Scania) a culthouse was found that stretch from 200 AD to 900 AD in continuity.
I always appreciate new information on Proto-Germanic!
This is a really exciting find! I really appreciate you sharing it, and your expertise, with us, and look forward to seeing more from you. I'm sorry you've felt bad lately, and hope you are fully recovered soon.
The excitement knocked the camera off the tripod!
This is an awesome channel. Glad to have found it.
I'd like to add, in relation to the "chaotic" alternation of right-to-left/left-to-right writing, it's referred to in ancient Greek as 'boustrophedon' which means 'as the Ox plows'. That may be a more memorable & meaningful way to think of it.
Keep up the Great Work! Philology is making a comeback! Huzzah!
Sad to know you're not doing well, Doctor. Hope you get better and everything works out!
Really clear breakdown, very informative! Thank you for sharing your knowledge with us!!
I have never known an appearance, voice, and name fit so perfectly together!
This is great stuff @JacksonCrawford - Wishing you the best as well. Take care. You have more help out there than you may realize, just be sure to ask for it friend. Be well.
I read about this in the news yesterday. Expected and hoped for a video from you. It arrived earlier than I had thought! :)
I was waiting so much for your coverage of this one
This is really cool. Thanks for sharing this information!
I want to be a patreon and I hope I will be able to, as soon as possible.
I highly appreciate your time, effort and passion put into your work Dr. Crawford.
Thank you for all your time and hard work
This was a really fascinating video; thank you for updating us and sharing your expertise on the subject. :D
thanks for the video! hope things get better so you can feel better soon, Dr. Crawford
Thank you Dr. Crawford for sharing this information- very refreshing.
It made me chuckle where in the context of Odin you wondered if the "I" was inserted later.
Fascinating, this is very exciting. I always appreciate these factual, critically thought out presentations. Thanks so much Dr. Crawford.
Just had this pop in my feed, hopefully you are feeling better.
I was so excited when I saw this lovely news! I hope we'll find more. Next time in Sweden, that's what I hope for :-)
And this was a very good summary, always a pleasure to watch your videos.
Thank you Dr. C, this was very accessible and interesting, really helps with being able to see the text variations and hear your pronunciations. Language isn't my natural talent but I've come a long way in understanding the complexity of interpretations and history you provide with your videos, so thank you and your Patreons for sharing so generously. As with many of your videos I'll let it soak in and watch again, but I'm pleasantly surprised with how much clicked for me. Very interesting the masculine form of man/human an archaic word related to werewolf, and the progression of what in English is the name Odin and how much depth and mystery it includes. I do hope you have everything you need to care for your health, I can relate and that comes first always but how could you resist diving into such a wealth of recent finds. May you be well and happy in 2023 and beyond!
Wonderful video! Thanks for sharing this information.
In modern lithuanian: Jis Vodino vyras!
Helemaal waar Albert, jonge vriend.
Nice to see you're doing well Dr, glad to see the channel has taken off properly. Always a pleasure
I saw an article on this on Wednesday and I just knew to wait for you to make a video on it!
Interesting, thank You Dr. Crawford!
IReally hope you're feeling better. I like your videos.
Hell yeah i just found your channel by accident. Absolutely fascinating channel. Keep it up
Thank Mr Crawford for these vids!
I watched a program on this a couple of days ago, where one of the leading researchers on this was participating.
The fact that the treasure found had such high value, also makes them suspect that it belonged to a local king/chieftain.
His name is inscribed on the plates as well.
I find it quite fascinating - especially when something like this is found so close to where I live.
And it's true that we long suspected that Óðinn was a god fairly early, but it's still awesome that they found proof of it.
Vindelev where they found the treasure isn't far from Jelling, where King Harald Blåtand, (Bluetooth), buried his parents King Gorm and Queen Thyra...
Thst is awesome ! I would love to see that area some day Harold Bluetooth Gormmson is my like 38th grandfather
@@indigomer6801
That’s really cool, would make Gorm and Thyra your 39th Grandparents or so.
You should definitely go if you become able to!
If you like Norse history of the late bronze, the iron, and what we call the Viking age, then Denmark is packed with places to visit.
Some of it doesn’t necessarily look like much, but has incredible history behind it.
Whether it’s hills with Bronze/Iron Age burial mounds, remains of old fortifications, or the museums.
Jelling where Gorm and Thera was buried is also the site of the Jelling rune stone, collegially called "the baptism certificate of Denmark"
And if you go there, the nearest airport, (Billund Airport), also happens to be in the town where the original Legoland, the LEGO-House, (and the LEGO factory), is!
It’s also only around an hours drive away from the Moesgaard Museum, (just south of Denmark second largest "city", Aarhus), which is one of the must see Museums, (they’re also currently safe keepers of a large portion of artefacts from Ukraine due to an exhibition that started before the war about Vikings in Ukraine - unfortunately Russia isn’t only trying to occupy and annex Ukraine, they’re also trying to eradicate Ukrainian culture and own history, so the museums the artefacts belong to has asked Moesgaard Museum to keep it until it can be safely returned).
The absolute best time for anyone with love for the Viking age to visit Moesgaard is during Viking Week, during the summer holiday, then there’s live reenactment.
But of course, this usually also means lot of people!
Around an hours drive north of Aarhus, you’ll find the Viking Fortification FYRKAT, near Hobro, and an hours drive away from that you’ll find Aggersborg.
Both are old ring-fortifications, "Trelleborge", most likely build on order by Harald Bluetoot, and we have five of them in Denmark. The oldest and largest is Aggersborg, but there’s not much to see there, so it’s more about the experience of being in a place with such historical significance! There’s more to see at Fyrkat where there during the summertime also are reenactment, so a good chance to meet "Viking warriors", and of course, merchants and craftsmen!
If you got time to spare, there’s also a place you can go visit, that may, or may not, have historical significance!
I’ve made a small video you can watch on my channel about the place!
It’s less than an hour north of Aarhus, on Amleth Heath - where there’s a burial mound named after Amleth. Now the burial mound is from before the time King Amleth allegedly lived, but it is mentioned that he died at a battle and was buried on Amleth heath!
Now there’s also the possibility that it happened in North Western part of Jutland - at least there is old stories saying so!
In the middle of Jutland, very close to Jelling, you’ll also find the Ox Road/Army Road - this is on the ridge of Jutland, and it has been used as a route of transport connecting north and south for several millennias!
It’s also close to this you’ll find one of the oldest known larger settlements that still exist as a town, Viborg, a very cozy "city", (by American standards you would probably call it a town, but it has a Cathedral so it’s technically a city)!
In the Western part of Jutland, you’ll find Bork Viking harbour!
And it’s also worth it taking a trip down to Northern Germany, to where Hedeby was, and of course, Dannewerk, an old fortification that was spanning across the country from the North Sea to the Baltic Sea!
Of course you will also have to go to Roskilde and see the old ships at Roskilde Viking Ship museum, and then there’s the best kept of all the Trelleborge, Trelleborg, where they also have a Viking week, and at the last part of the week, there’s the Battle about Trelleborg!
You will of course also have to go to Lejre, just north of Roskilde, where you’ll find both the Land of Legends and Lejre Museum!
Lehre is one of the very old settlements as well, and at the time of Harald Blåtand, it was the seat of a rivalling kingdom, which he conquered , and "United the Danes"….
Of course there’s also a lot to see if you go to Norway and Sweden as well!
But if your interest is seeing places where Harald Bluetooth played a role, it’s definitely Denmark!
I've been to the Jelling stone, the experience was quite moving, especially visiting the grave mound of the last of the Pagan queens. I wish I had the context for the bigger picture and depth of history I do now (for an American enthusiest) this was early 2000's, but I absorbed so much as I was fortunate to have Danish hosts who toured me around and it's become a life long passion.
@@gorillaguerillaDK Yes to all of this, not sure if I visited all you mentioned but seeing the ships in Roskilde and museum exhibits was phenominal, right up there with the National Museum. Really so much touched me, a surprising visit was to a Farm Museum in Jutland, with an exhibit of the Danish kitchen over the last 1000 years. I still think of that often, an absolute gem that many tourists may miss unless visiting friends in the area. Treasures everywhere, I hope to visit again.
@@achuvadia
Was it the Farm Museum at the Gammel Estrup Manor?
I have a video on my channel, recorded at "Amleth Heath", one of the possible sites where King Amlóði, (King Amleth), might have died.
This is maybe 10-15 minutes drive away from Gammel Estrup, the manor/castle where there's a farm museum, might very well be the one you visited!?
Yay more runes! I love archaeology!
I've heard in a number of places that the latin rendition of Odin was Othinus. I first heard it in a light novel series, then checked it a number of times. Of course I may be mistakes, likely am, but it would line up with what im hearing here with Wōthunaz splitting off into different itterations including Odin before merging back together into Othinus when it was brought over into Latin.
So glad I found this man's channel 🤘🏻
Thank you! This news is the most exciting news of the year for me.
I was looking forward to someone's putting out a webpage comment or a video with a reading of this bracteate text. As I had expected, you had come through. Thank you.
What an interesting discovery. You really give a brilliant breakdown of it, quite fascinating.
you're a real one Jackson Crawford!
Jaga is still in swedish, meaning hunt/chase.
It is in Swedish, but it is not "still" in Swedish. It's a low German loan word.
I’m curious if it is related to the English word “jog”
Fascinating :-) - love your content
Thanks Dr. C, I knew you'd provide your typical pedagogical clarity on this tantalizing inscription.
Fascinating, thank you!
Takk Dr. Crawford, god helse!
This was a pleasant discovery to hear about. I'm sharing this with my son.
As an Icelandic speaker I can easily understand how Óðnn could become Óðinn later but if it had been spelled Óðn with only one n it would not become Óðin (based on modern Icelandic). Similar to maðr becoming maður.
Hope you feel better soon!
Amazing stuff!
cool! keep the news coming!
We are so blessed to find new finds, and have a free, qualified educator dissect them :)
Nice video!
The algorithm might not always run you through my timeline but I love your channel, it doesn't seem to take much to have the algorithm go wonky and change everything you're wanting to see, keep up the good work brother 😁
Thank you!
Absolutely fantastic work. I also have your Great Course on Norse Mythology in DVD format too. I don't suppose, you'd consider doing on on the Proto-Norse and Old Norse languages?
Thanks!
Very informative video! I noticed that the rune used for 'n' in Wodnas appears to be uruz, which is usually a 'u' sound, rather than 'naudiz', which the usual 'n' sound. Would love to hear your commentary on the conditional uses of this rune!
Nice easy delivery of a knowledgable man.
great video.
In Afrikaans:
Woede(n) - Means rage or anger.
Woeden[aar] - Means someone who rages.
The word 'woedenaar' does not formally exist in Afrikaans (probably due to lack of necessity). But based on our language rules, 'woedenaar' would have this meaning.
There might be even older sources, note Codanus sinus for the Kattegat and the Baltic Sea, and Codannovia for Scandinavia, from Pomponius Mela, and Pliny the older, who wrote at the beginning of the first century AD.
Apart from the more known forms of the name Odin/Wodan etc. then we know that the Langobards/Lombards had the form Godan for Odin, and something similar (Goen/Goden) exist for one of the Jutish versions of the wild hunters, i.e from folklore/folkbelief, apart from forms with front U etc. (front O and W/V are just the more common versions it seems), what also seems to follow dialect borders to some degree, within Jutland.
Garbled versions of Germanic tribe names etc., written down by Roman and Greek sources are not that uncommon either, as the information about these often likely came down over several inbetween persons, often as strange unfamiliar languages, with the errors that could make...
Add to it that Latin itself over time underwent a number of sound changes, ex. with the C from a hard near K sound, to softer sounds, and in that light Codan etc. is not that far of from Godan etc.
Regarding the sound values of C, K, and G sounds in Latin, then we also know that the Romans also seems to have perhaps mistranslated these sounds with people they lived next to, ex. the Etruscans - Note here ex. that the Romans wrote Tages for what was likely Tarchies in Etruscan etc. (a child looking god of divination central for their religion, since divination was the central pillar there)
As a side note regarding the different name forms of Odin, then note that Denmark apart from the folklore/folkbelief versions of the Name Odin/Woden, also show the same difference in terms of town names, ex. Odense vs. Vojens, where Vojens are mentioned first time in 1421 as Wodens (the -se/s are likely as shortning from Odins Vi, with a Vi being a holy place, shrine etc.), while Odense has been mentioned with front O, or W, depending on local dialects on the isle Funen, ex. in 1075 as Odansue (W sounds seems to be centered on the north-western part of the isle, likely due to Jutish influence).
In short, just with the O to W shift, then Denmark seems to be the splitzone between North Germanic and Northsea Germanic, with most of the eastern isles being North Germanic dialect(s) (To be fair, then further splits like western vs. eastern Nordic seems to have been an obsolete idea from the start, as ex. Rasmus Rask already noted in the 1800'ies that at least Jutland seemed to be more in the western branch, and likely older Germanic does not Exactly follow terms like North, West, and Eastern Germanic either, even if we add the more speculative Northsea Germanic to the mix..).
Regarding the attempts to translate the text, then I speculate that part of it might be misunderstood, but I'll admit I have only read about segments of it, and not seen the text it self.
The part that makes me wonder, is the part about what is now presumed to be a person called Jagaz, and a wordplay on hunter perhaps.
The reason I wonder is because one of the aspects of the Odins cult that have survived up til my grandparents childhood, is the one about the wild hunters, i,e. in Danish Jægerne (to Jage, one Jager, several Jægere etc.) - Ex. my fathers parents used still in the 70'ies to put a sheaf over the door in december for the "hunters horse" as they said, while those that was afraid of them put iron or steel over the door..
Folklore also states that one could devote one self to become a hunter after death, just as the fact that the king Valdemar Atterdag is believed to be one of the hunters, in parts of Denmark, what points to the idea that rulers etc. automatically was believed to perhaps become these, if they in particular degree has shown to have devoted themselves to the country?
As such Jagaz might not be a name, and the bracteate might be a token to ensure that the owner becomes one of the hunters after death?
A really fascinating find!
Outstanding!
Frida/Freyja would be proud today!
A cowboy lecturing on languages in a snowstorm is good.
I was hoping you would address this! It was all over Norwegian media.
Fascinating!
Love the info! Liked and subbed from Newfoundland....where the Vikings settled long before Columbus "discovered" the New World!
I've been looking forward to this video a lot! :D is this the only inscription of Odin's name before the Viking Age? Or rather, when is the "next" known inscription after this?
Now I have to wonder if "mad god" was originally a kenning introduced in a lost story somewhere, where the name and the kenning eventually became two distinct gods....
Maybe that hunter reference is related to an even older identity? It doesn't seem like much to go on. Do any of the academic debates even cover that topic?
"i dont have any scandinavian descent my last name is crawford"
Literally has the anglo germanic word for fjord in surname
Scandinavian is not anglo germanic
Hail Odin
this was just in the news on Danish TV, coinciding with a new documentary starting on the DR2 channel about Odin....
What if Wōð is related to the later Old Norse "valr": meaning "the slain in battle", thus Wōðnaz means "ruler of the slain in battle"?
Wow, this is actually insanely cool. Thanks for sharing mister doctor crowman! o7
Some good philology for the day, thanks!
Thank you for your expertise Dr. Crawford. So fascinating to learn about these new discoveries
I am not an expert, but according to the Cleasby & Vigfusson Old Norse to English dictionary the word jaga is used in Málsháttakvæði in a slightly different meaning: heyrinkunn er frá hǫ́num saga, hvat þarf ek of slíkt at jaga.
Today I learned that Odin and Wodan are the same.
2023 promises to have great discoveries indeed!
I grew up in a place called Woden.
Is it correct to assume that weraz is related to the Latin word for a man (a male person), vir?
It says on the wiktionary Vir is a cognate with Weraz, Vir coming from proto italic *Wiros which comes from PIE *wiHrós which is the common ancestor of both Vir and Weraz.
Super exciting!!! I wonder if that bindrune does incorporate a runic nauðiz, but where it would normally have a strikethrough, maybe the writer put what would be the strikethrough at the top? Almost like a cursive thing.
Wow I just heard a new part of your intro song.
The Cowboy hat symbolizes sage wisdom, unapologetic truth, and inner strength.