The Old Norse theonym Óðr derives from an identical noun meaning mind, wit, soul, or sense. It also carries the meaning of song and poetry within that same linguistic root. This word stems from Proto-Germanic wōðaz, a substantive form of an adjective describing someone possessed, inspired, delirious, or raging. Philologist Jan de Vries argued that the Old Norse deities Óðinn and Óðr were probably originally connected as a doublet similar to Ullr and Ullinn. He suggested that Óðr (wōđaz) was the elder form and the ultimate source of the name Óðinn (wōđa-naz). The adjective wōđaz ultimately traces back to a Pre-Germanic form uoh₂-tós related to the Proto-Celtic term for seer or sooth-sayer. Some scholars believe the Latin term vātēs meaning prophet is likely a Celtic loanword from the Gaulish language. This makes uoh₂-tós a shared religious term common to Germanic and Celtic rather than an inherited word of earlier Proto-Indo-European origin. If a borrowing scenario is excluded, a PIE etymon *(H)ueh₂-tis can be posited as the common ancestor of the attested forms.
Primary Mythological Attestations
Óðr appears in stanza 25 of the Poetic Edda poem Völuspá within a kenning for the major goddess Freyja. The phrase Óðs mey gefna translates to Óð's girl pointing to a relation with the goddess. Stanza 47 of the poem Hyndluljóð contains mention of a figure by the name of œdi where Hyndla taunts Freyja stating she had run to œdi always full of desire. Scholar Carolyne Larrington says that the identity of œdi is uncertain and it may simply be Óðr or another lover of Freyja's. In chapter 35 of the Prose Edda book Gylfaginning the enthroned figure of High states that the goddess Freyja was married to someone named Óðr. High details that the two produced a daughter Hnoss whose name derives from hnossir meaning treasures applied to whatever is beautiful and precious. High adds that Óðr would go off traveling for extended periods all while Freyja stayed behind weeping tears of red gold. In chapter 1 of the Heimskringla book Ynglinga saga Snorri Sturluson refers to the two in an euhemerized account stating they were so beautiful their names were used for our most precious possessions.Scholarly Identification With Odin