bout the German race. He is the god of the
South-Germans from the very first. His earliest character is that of
a storm-god. Whether his name is connected with the German _wuethen_,
rage (Scot. _wud_) or with the Vedic Vata, who is a god of storm, he
is from the first an impetuous being. The early myth of him is
scarcely dead at this day; the peasant hears him rushing through the
woods at night. That is the "wild hunt of Wodan," he says; the god is
out with his followers, and woe to him who gets in his way! The early
Germans thought of him as a kind being who fulfilled the wishes of
men, and it was probably this side of his character that caused him
to be identified with Mercury. In the Eddic theology he is a patron
of war, as becomes the chief god of a warlike people. He arranges
battle and dispenses victory; the heroes who fall in battle he
receives into his heavenly army; they live with him in Valhalla or
Valhoell, the hall of choice. Odin chooses those who are to go there;
he is assisted in this by the Valkyries or choice-maidens. Life in
Valhalla is a constant round of fighting, the wounds of which are
healed at once, and feasting, the materials for which are ever
renewed. Odin, like other great gods, bears traces of low
surroundings, as if he had once lived among savages. He can turn
himself into an eagle or other animal to gain his object, and he has
engaged in disreputable adventures. But he tends to improve, and the
Eddas show him at his best. Here he is called the All-father, the
Ruler of all, who gave man a soul that shall never perish; and we
hear that he needs no food and takes no share himself in the feasts
of the heroes. All the righteous shall be with him in Vingolf (the
same as Valhalla), but the wicked shall go to Hel, the kingdom of Hel
or Hela, the goddess of the under-world.

Thor or Donar, Thunder, is said to be the mightiest of the gods; he
is identified, as we saw, with Jove, but he is a rougher and more
primitive deity. He drives in a chariot drawn by two goats, and is
possessed of three things which have wonderful properties. The first
is the hammer Mjoelnir, which the Frost- and Mountain-giants cannot
resist when he throws it; the second is the belt of strength, which
makes him twice as strong when he puts it on; and the third a pair of
gauntlets with which he grasps his mallet. Many stories are told of
his prowess, of his conflicts with the giants, who, however, give him
a good deal of troub