Odin the flying, eight-legged steed Sleipnir across the sky and into the underworld. Odin is the son of Bestla and Borr and has two brothers, Vili and Vé. Odin is attested as having many sons, most famously the gods Thor (with ) and (with ), and is known by hundreds of names. In these texts, he frequently seeks greater knowledge, at times in disguise (most famously by obtaining the Mead of Poetry), makes wagers with his wife Frigg over the outcome of exploits, and takes part in both the creation of the world by way of slaying the primordial being and
Odin peoples; some branches focus particularly on him. The Old Norse theonym "Óðinn" (popularly anglicised as "Odin") and its cognates, including Old English "Wōden", Old Saxon "Wōden", and Old High German "Wuotan", derive from the reconstructed Proto-Germanic theonym "*wōđanaz". The masculine noun "*wōđanaz" developed from the Proto-Germanic adjective "*wōđaz", related to Latin "vātēs" and Old Irish "fáith", both meaning 'seer, prophet'. Adjectives stemming from "*wōđaz" include Gothic "woþs" 'possessed', Old Norse "óðr", 'mad, frantic, furious', and Old English "wōd" 'mad'. The adjective "*wōđaz" (or "*wōđō") was further substantivised, leading to Old Norse "óðr" 'mind, wit, soul, sense', Old English "ellen-wōd" 'zeal',