Odin In The Volsunga Saga

Throughout the Old Norse texts, and especially the Volsunga Saga, the deity Odin often appears as an old wandering figure dispensing wisdom. Despite his status as the leader of the Æsir, the main body of Norse gods, Odin takes this form to interact with humans in his continual quest to interact with wisdom-related matters. J.R.R. Tolkien draws on this portrayal of Odin in building the character of the wizard Gandalf, who shares many physical characteristics and the aura of wisdom attributed to Odin.

Chapter thirteen of Volsunga Saga presents Odin as a guide for Sigurd’s development, bestowing him with the knowledge of the process of choosing a horse befitting his status as a future legendary warrior. Odin appears as “an old man with a long beard” in the forest at the same time as Sigurd searches for a horse at the behest of Regin (Volsunga Saga 13.56). Likewise, Gandalf’s first appearance in The Lord of the Rings mirrors this physical image, with Gandalf appearing alone as an old man with “a long white beard” (LOTR 1.1.37). Before Tolkien introduces Gandalf’s

Tolkien’s Gandalf does not disappear suddenly, like Odin, “The man disappeared then,” but rather follows a pattern of moving outside of any sort of convention (Volsunga Saga 13.56). Likewise, during the period before the quest of the Ring, Gandalf “had turned up fairly often, coming unexpectedly after dusk, and going off without warning before sunrise” (LOTR 1.2.59). Tolkien differs from the Old Norse inspiration of literal disappearance in describing Gandalf because, as a god, Odin could disappear without any justification, but Gandalf’s more mortal appearance does not allow for supernatural movement. Tolkien molds the Old Norse portrayal of Odin’s supernatural powers into a more human form to develop Gandalf as powerful, but not entirely different from the mortals with whom he