Odin
From RationalWiki
Odin, otherwise known as (among other names) Þekkr, is the highest God in Norse mythology. He did not invent mead; however, he did share it with the poets of the world. (He had to swallow it and then regurgitate it, when in the form of an eagle, to get away; some of it, however, went on through his system. It is said that bad poets did not received the Mead of Poetry, but instead the urine that Odin had to relieve.)
Odin's primary goal is preventing Ragnarok, when the gods themselves will die. To that end, he has done many crazy things to increase his wisdom, including gouging out his own eye and hanging himself from a tree for nine days. He also seduced and stole his way to the mead of inspiration, commanded a prophetess, and even learned the forbidden "female" magic of seid. It will all be for nothing, in the end, but at least he'll have tried.
Odin is also the father of Thor, and the blood-brother of Loki. Heidrun is his goat.
[edit] Likelihood of existence
Odin ranks somewhere between the Flying Spaghetti Monster and Cloacina, the Goddess of Rome's sewage, in his probability of being real.
[edit] Odin and Racism
Unfortunately, there are many racist groups both in the United States and Scandinavia who incorporate Odin-worship into their rituals and beliefs. Norse mythology is seen as an indigenous, and thus a nationalist-friendly, alternative to the "Semitic" Christianity. This ignores that fact that Odin created all of Midgard (Earth) and humanity. These cults used to be referred to as "Odinist," until the white-supremacist David Lane realized that Wotan, the German name for Odin, was an acronym for "Will Of The Aryan Nation," and advocated the use of Mormonism "Wotanism" instead.
