Christmas gift-bringer the leader of the Wild Hunt at the time of Yule. Santa Claus's reindeer has also been compared to Sleipnir, the eight-legged horse of Odin in Norse mythology. Jacob Grimm ("Deutsche Mythologie") traces the threatening or scary companions of Saint Nicholas (such as the Krampus of the Austro-Bavarian dialect region) to Christianized versions of house-spirits (kobolds, elves). After Christianization, the benign mid-winter gift-bringer was associated with the 4th-century Christian Saint Nicholas of Myra. This association took place mainly in the territories of the Holy Roman Empire, including German-speaking Europe, the Low Countries, the Czech lands, Hungary and Slovenia. The basis
Odin Township, Watonwan County, Minnesota Odin Township, Watonwan County, Minnesota Odin Township is a township in Watonwan County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 206 at the 2000 census. Odin Township was organized in 1872, and named after Odin, the chief god of the Norse pantheon. According to the United States Census Bureau, the township has a total area of 35.5 square miles (92.0 km²); 34.6 square miles (89.6 km²) of it is land and 0.9 square miles (2.3 km²) of it (2.53%) is water. As of the census of 2000, there were 206 people, 86 households, and 60 families residing in the township. The