Woden (I) - "Of Woods, Wights, Wode & Wisdom"

There's a lot of interesting etymological insanity going on when it comes to the name of our beloved Anglo-Saxon father-deity, Woden.

First and foremost, we can easily see the parallels with continental figures such as Wotan, Wodanaz, Uuoden or Oðinn - magic, mystery, mythology, wisdom, kingship, war, wilderness and trickery, all of these are subsumed into the overarching nature of this pan-Germanic deity.  And yet, the English variant - for various reasons - has a few subtle connotations that are not present in later Norse forms, nor in earlier Gothic or low German forms.

I have a few ideas as to why this might be, not least of all that the eastern British "R1b-S21" tribes, along with their continental North Sea cousins (the Dutch and western Danes), probably constitute some of the oldest "Germanic" strains in Europe - not the youngest, as is so often assumed without reference to migratory patterns or dialectal development over the pre-Roman, Roman and sub-Roman periods.

We can look at the linguistics alone though for some pretty telling reasons as to why Woden comes across as quite a different figure to Norse Oðinn, German Wotan, Gothic Godan and so on. Predominantly, Woden is more strongly associated with woodlands than his northern and eastern counterparts. He has a calmer, less martial, less regal aspect.  He is, to put it one way, more "down to earth."  Clearly in Germany, this association with earthiness was also maintained much more strongly over time - but we can see through the historical record that Oðinn, to give one example, progressed from a God of wilderness and fury to one of martial cunning and kingship - quite a different character after some 1,000+ years of development!

It stands to reason that this pan-Germanic figure should develop differently in different places throughout northern Europe.  For example, because of the climate and topology of England (and of lowland Scotland, for that matter), we have a very clear sense of "woods" as being distinct from "forests." The former carry connotations both of wilderness and of safety - for while the woods may contain wolves, bears, big cats and the like, they also harbour healing herbs, sacred springs, ancient groves where ancestors prayed and so on. They're places of refuge as much as (or in fact, for the very reason that) they lie outside of civilisation. In contrast, "forests" are denser, thicker, further away from us and generally more unforgiving - at least, in my mind as a native English speaker, this is the distinction I've always felt instinctively. The woods might be just beyond one's back garden, but the forest is quite a way away, far away from any ham or village, in a foreboding wilderness that hasn't seen much of the footfall of men and women for aeons.

Scandinavia doesn't have "woods" in quite the same way as lowland Germany or Britain do. It's too cold for the kind of deciduous wonderland that we bask in over muggy Summers. Rather, Scandinavia seems to me to be characterised by pine forests - densely packed clusters of evergreens, strong and hardy against constant threat of wintry conditions.

Therefore, it stands to reason that the God of the Wilderness would at once become more ferocious in this harsher land, and then progressively shifted as society developed more and more. Thus we have the progression of the fury-possessed Oðr, flying on storm winds above ice-covered forests, becoming the model ruler, father, and martial leader in Oðinn over time.

In Britain, there seems never to have been this progression. Woden, though the father of Kings, remained an aloof, mysterious, magical figure, prone to inhabiting just those liminal places that are halfway between wilderness and civilisation - the woods and wealds, valleys and fens, the middle ground between civility and barbarism. He would but rarely be seen on the mountain conducting the storm - that function probably went to Þunor, his brother. He would ride the winds, but our winds are warm and forgiving; he was the collector of the dead, summoning up the lost spirits, wandering on earth through too early a death, and draw them into his pack, to spare those of good heart and bring terror upon the unwary and ill-meaning. Furthermore, he was the lord of all healing herbs, charms, spells and secrets. His runes are less for power over men and forces, more for the restoration of harmony and balance, both within individuals and between communities - whether those be earthly communities or spiritual communities.

If we look at the word "Woden" on its own terms, we see three things immediately: firstly, the association with Wode, the Anglo-Saxon version of a pan-Germanic term meaning "fury, wildness, uncontrolled nature," or, more prosaically, "madness." The way our ancestors flung themselves, naked, against the wall of Roman shields and spears, defying death and pain as they brought them against foes put to flight: this kind of nuts aggression, totally in tune with the living moment, natural but unbridled - this is the sense that is conveyed through the term "Wode." Woden is the one who "has Wode in him." Either he is the container of it, who dispenses it out amongst his warriors, or - more fittingly - he is the master of it, one who has controlled his own Wode, his own natural fury, to the point that it is his unwavering ally, ready to be called on at a moment's notice to propel him into unmitigated blitz against unsuspecting enemies.

This kind of controlled, awake, self-aware frenzy is archetypical of Indo-European war-bands. Rather than losing ourselves in a haze of red, we take command of martial madness in the moment, and direct it - consciously - against the oppressor, the in-ganger, the one who is threatening our lands, our people, and our way of life. This is the Wode that Woden both partakes of and gives out to his followers in times of need. It is not loose fury, driving willy-nilly about the field, hacking both friend and foe (the ill-conceived "berserker" ideal of later Norse mystique), but a controlled aggression, an intelligent destruction, drawn from deep wells of self-knowledge, wisdom, and instinct - the epitome of natural Man made divine in battle-ecstasy.  Principally the aspect of Wode must be associated with awareness and willpower: it is controlled, directed, not limp and random.

Secondly, we can draw on the etymology of "Wode" itself - this word is believed to come from some root like "*WehtaR," which immediately puts me in mind of "Wights."  "Wight" is the word we use in English to speak in a nondescript way about "spirits" in general, whether they be living human beings, animals, plants or natural forces, the spirits of the dead (again, in all categories), or those bizarre classes of being that fall somewhere in between the two - unseen but felt, unheard but known, stalkers of men, or their helpers, depending on character, cause, point of creation and so on. "Wight" is a catch-all term for that element in beings, of any kind, that is "spiritual" - energetic, magnetic, electric, immaterial, but not physical, without flesh. It was probably believed in the ancient times that access to Wode was maintained by proper relationship with the Wights - that is, when the situation called for it, one would be come upon by the Wights, presumably ancestors and nature spirits, who would drive one forward despite pain and wounding for success for the tribe in combat.

So we can consider that Woden is not only the one with Fury within him, but also the one in whom the Wights reside. Again, we can consider this to imply that he has control over the Wights - for it's clearly an aspect of old Anglo-Saxon magic that disease and good health can be affected very much by the presence or absence of Wights, whether they be one's own, one's ancestors, nasty malevolent beings, or animal and plant spirits and so on. Woden is the one who has control over the spirits of the world. In this way, he might remind us of Shiva - another wild god who exercises fury with control, commands a host of ghouls and demons (who nonetheless serve him to good ends, ultimately), and rides the winds, collecting the souls of the lost departed to ferry them through their transitional states to new life.

The third etymology, which only works in English - and this is far and away a "folk etymology," in that the name Woden almost certainly doesn't come from this root, but understanding this aspect goes a long way to informing us about the particularity of his English expression - the third etymology would literally be "Wood-in." He's the Man in the Wood. The Green Man, the Woodsman, the one who lives in the wilds, whose home is that wonderful in-between place fraught with both death and life, eternally balancing according to natural law. A God of Nature - Silvianus, whose cult was elevated above most amongst many European tribes according to earlier Roman sources (often speaking of Germanii or certain Britons, I might add).

Here we find the God who is the knowledge-holder, who knows the trees and the plants, the secrets of the soil, the mushrooms and their insect friends - he knows the secrets of the living world, and how the world of the dead interacts with and integrates with this living world. He is thus the master of healing, and of killing - he knows what plants will help and what will hurt, as well as the mystical sounds that will elevate or depreciate their powers for good or ill. In this mode, he is more of a nature spirit than an ancestral God - and yet, it stands to reason for many of us, that we were born out of the woods, out of the darkness under the canopy, where we can hide from the spears and arrows of incoming enemies.  The R1b Germanic is a woodland creature: we grew up tending our cows under the eves of oak, ash and elm.  Woden is thus the God of our homeland, our point of origin.  That which makes us distinctly Germanic (or "Western Germanic," if you want to be pedantic) is this woodiness, this propensity towards (and distinct love for) the wooded glade and its mixed safety and danger.

I'll end this by saying that the Green Man has long been a symbol of resistance in England, whether that be against Norman oppression or some other kind of insult or injustice. We find Green Men in many of our chapels and churches, surreptitiously undermining the Roman Catholic influence that sought to override our sovereignty through the imposition of foreign rulers and systems of governance. The Green Man grows up through the cracks, destroying foundations from below, crushing stone from without, slicing through rock to unleash ever fresh life wherever it will sprout. As such, Woden - as the Wood'un - can be seen as our Life-God, a God of Free Life, of unrestricted growth and total superiority of Nature over the temporary whims of men. This is not a superiority that has to be maintained through effort, but one which is inherent - in the end, the towers of men will fall and crumble, eaten up by weeds, grasses, vines and creepers. Then the woods will return, to return the land to its natural state of fecundity and fertility.

This is an inexorable truth: mankind is not eternal, but nature is. Therefore, we are subservient to that power. In this way, we can bring ourselves under Nature's guidance, under her Aegis, and there we will find that we are friends of Woden, the Wood-God - King of Kings, not for his brutality and criminality (such as have characterised the majority of so-called "kings" for ages), but for his knowledge, wisdom, and love for life. He is King by right, not just by might; as such, he is not just the one to listen to, but the one to emulate, the one to aspire to. He is the leader in the dark: he shows us the way through the forest to the beloved woodland beyond.

There are dark aspects to the old cult of Woden that I have not brought up here. There is no God in man's history that has not been tainted by lies and evil magic. Unfortunately, we must be as careful with Woden as we ought be with Isis, Krishna, Jehovah or Jupiter. But there is an inherently good aspect, which is present in us - as English people, especially - which we can call on and cultivate in ourselves, which will provide us with love for the woods, wisdom of healing, inspiration to defend and to lead our kin on to better times. Through this we can provide an example to others of balanced instinct and intelligence, compassion for the living and the dead, matched with the strength, will, and self-control to destroy those beings that have submitted their hearts to lies and deceit for personal greed.  Woden is not a person in the sky to whom we owe our obeisance; he is a father in our hearts, a deep ancestor, who lives through us - especially those of us who hear his wisdom from within, and live and act by it in our lives.