Odin: The Trickster King

Thanks to Snorri Sturluson, Loki is often seen as the Norse Satan. But there is another Norse God who is also full of contradictions and is just as much of a trickster as Loki, if not even more so. And that is Odin, the Allfather, God of the Heavens, God of Magic, and King of the Gods. 

While the MCU Odin is presented as a masculine warrior-King who strives to be good despite his vices and flaws, the mythological Odin is not like that. 

Despite being the patriarch of the Norse pantheon, he's not like Zeus. While gods like Zeus and Thor uses masculine strength in battle, Odin uses guile, ferocity, and magic, like Loki. In the Old Norse culture, to use magic was to give up the traditional male gender role. Magic was associated with women and required the user to do feminine tasks like weaving. Odin is despised throughout the Norse myths for his abilities.

   Sound familiar? In the MCU, Loki's abilities as a sorcerer are ridiculed by most Asgardians because magic and trickery were not seen as compatible with Asgardian culture. I find that fascinating since the Queen of Asgard, Frigga, was also a practitioner of magic. And she's pretty good with a sword when the situation calls for it. Frigga vs Malekith in Thor: The Dark World, anybody? 

So because Odin uses magic, he is considered feminine, despite being the Allfather. 

Now, let's talk a little bit about mythological Odin as a father. Not as the Allfather, but just a father. 

In one myth, Thor's getting a little too proud for his own good, and unlike MCU Odin, who confronts an arrogant and belligerent Thor personally and banishes him in Thor 1, mythological Odin shapeshifts and confronts Thor disguised as a ferryman. Then, Odin gives Thor a dressing down mixed with some insults. And this is not the only myth in which Odin disguises himself and humiliates Thor in order to teach him a lesson. I find it amusing that mythical Odin disguises himself before humiliating Thor with a tongue-lashing rather and teaches him to improve how he behaves himself rather than confront Thor personally without any kind of pretense.  

Also, Odin brags about how good he is at wooing giantesses (He and Loki both hate the masculine culture they're in, but at the same time, constantly seek to place themselves at the top of it) while Thor is stuck with the pretty but dull Sif. 

So Odin is the outsider despite being King of the Gods. He is a god without honor and yet is tasked with upholding honor. He is anti-authority and yet the highest authority in the Nine Realms. He is hated by those under his care despite being bound to them. He is God of the Sky yet loves wandering around Midgard like a lowly commoner. 

No wonder he had such affection for Loki, who is also an outsider among the Aesir, and made him his blood brother, despite the fact that giants are not welcome in Asgard. No wonder Odin dressed up like an old poor man and wandered around Midgard. 

P.S. I think it's sloppy and nasty that Snorri turned Loki into the Norse Devil when Odin did a lot of the same things as Loki, with the exception of fighting against the Gods at Ragnorak. For this reason, I wish we had more pre-Christian Viking sources on the myths so we can see the pure, untouched versions of the myths. I would like to see how the pre-Christian Vikings characterized the Norse Gods.