List of places named after Odin

Many toponyms ("place names") contain the name of Odin (Norse Óðinn, Old English Wōden, proto-Germanic Wōdanaz).

Odensvi, meaning "Odin's shrine", is one of numerous toponyms named after Odin.

Scandinavia, Nordic and Baltic countries

Denmark

• Odense[1]
• Onsberg - formally Othensberg, "Odin's Berg".[2]
• Onsbjerg[1]
• Onsholt - "Odin's Holt",[1] located in Viby, Jutland. A marked hill now covered in corn fields that was, up until about the 18th century, covered in wetlands on all sides. It was covered by a wood (a "holt") during the Viking Age. Viby may mean "the settlement by the sacred site" and contains traces of sacrifices going back 2,500 years[note 1].[3]
• Onsild[1]
• Onsved[1]
• Othinshille[4]
• Vojens - from "Odin's Temple".[1][5]

Estonia

• Island of Osmussaar - "Odensholm" in Swedish,[6][7] literally "Odin's islet".

Finland

• Island of Odensö - also known as Udensö, literally "Odin's island". Probably a medieval transformation of an original Finnic name unrelated to Odin.[8]

Norway

• Óðinsøy ("Odin's island").[9][10]

Sweden

• Odensbacken - Odin's Slope
• Odensberg, Schonen - "Odin's Berg".[2]
• Odensvi - Odin's Sanctuary,[11] a place name appearing in Västmanland, Närke & Småland.
• Odinslund,[4] modern toponym
• Onsjö,[12] Odensjö & Odensjön - Odin Lake/The Odin Lake, several places in southern Sweden
• Onslunda[4] - Odin's Grove
• Odenplan - "Odin's Square" in Stockholm.[13]
  • Odengatan - "Odin Street"; running past Odenplan up to Valhallavägen "Valhalla Way" in Stockholm), modern toponyms
• Odensåker, Skaraborg[14][15][16] - Odin's Field
• Odenssala Odin's Hall or Odin's Sala, originally Odhins Harg meaning Odin's Shrine

Mainland Europe

France

• Northern France around Audresselles[17] (Oderzell) district of Marquise:
  • Audinghen - [18][19]

Germany

• Bad Godesberg - originally spelt Wuodenesberg, which is "Wotan's mountain".[20]
• Gudensberg - originally spelt Wodenesberg which means the same as above.[21]
• Godensholt - formerly Wodensholt, Wotan's wood.[2][21][22]
• Odisheim - in Low German: Godshem (perhaps English: Wotan's home or God's home, respectively)
• Wodensweg.[2][21]

Netherlands

• Woensdrecht.[23]
• Woensel[2]
• Wânswert

UK

England

• Odin Mine, Castleton, Derbyshire[24][25]
• Odin Sitch, Castleton, Derbyshire[26]
• Wambrook, Somerset - "Woden's Brook".[23][27][28][29][30]
• Wampool, Hampshire - "Woden's Pool".[23][27][28][29]
• Wanborough, Wiltshire - from Wôdnes-beorg, "Woden's Barrow".[2][27][28][29][31][32][33]
• Wanborough, Surrey.[23][27][34][35]
• Wansdyke - "Woden's dyke, embankment".[2][23][36][37][38][39]
• Wanstead, Essex - "Woden's Stead".[23][28][40][41][42][43]
• Wednesbury - "Woden's burgh".[2][38][44][45]
  • Woden Road in Wednesbury.
• Wednesfield - "Woden's field".[2][38][45][46]
• Wednesham, Cheshire - "Woden's Ham".[2][23]
• Wensley - "Woden's meadow".[38][47][48][49]
• Wembury, Devon - "Woden's Hill/Barrow" from the Old English "Wódnesbeorh".[23][28][39][50]
• Woden's Barrow - also Christianized as Adam's Grave or Walker's Hill, a barrow in Wiltshire. The Old English spelling was "Wodnes-beorh".[51][52][53]
• Woden Hill, Hampshire - a hill in Bagshot Heath.[23][39]
• A valley which the West Overton–Alton road runs through was called Wodnes-denu[37][54][55] which means "Woden's Valley".[37]
• Wonston, Hampshire - "Woden's Town".[23][27][39]
• Woodbridge, Suffolk - Wodenbrycge ("Woden's Bridge").[56][57][58][59]
• Woodnesborough- also translates as "Woden's burgh", the centre of the town was known as "Woden's hill".[23][27][37][38][60][61]
• Woodway House - from the house on Woden's Way.[62]
• Wormshill - also derived from "Woden's hill".[37][63][64]
• Grimsdyke - from "Grim", which means both "hooded" and "fierce",[65] another name used for Woden.[36]
  • Grim's Ditch - a 5–6 mile section on the Berkshire Downs, the chalk escarpment above the Oxfordshire villages of Ardington, Hendred and Chilton.
  • Grim's Ditch (Harrow) - also known as Grimsdyke. A section of Anglo-Saxon era trenches in Harrow. Frederick Goodall's house Grim's Dyke and a local school[66] are named after the area.
  • Grim's Ditch (Hampshire) - another set of earthworks.
  • Grim's Ditch (South Oxfordshire) - Iron Age/early Roman era earthworks in Oxfordshire.
• Grimes Graves[67][68][69][70]
• Grimsbury, Oxfordshire.[38][71][72]
• Grimsbury Castle, Berkshire - hillfort occupied at least between the 3rd and 2nd Centuries B.C. Named after Woden by the Saxons.[38][73]
• Grimley, Worcestershire - from the Old English "Grimanleage", which means "the wood or clearing of Grim (Woden)" [74][75]
• Grimspound - an Iron Age settlement on Dartmoor.[38][76][77]
• Grimscote - a village in Northamptonshire, "Grim's Cott"[78]
• Grimsthorpe - a village in Lincolnshire, "Grim's Thorpe"[79][80]
• Roseberry Topping - Óðins bjarg ("Odin's rock or crag", plus "topping" added later).[81][82]
• The ford on the River Irwell which Regent's Bridge, Ordsall, now crosses, was traditionally called "Woden's Ford" and a nearby cave (no longer extant) was known as "Woden's Den".[83][84]

Scotland

• Edin's Hall Broch, Berwickshire, sometimes Odin's Hall Broch and originally Wooden's (Woden's) Hall [85]
• Grim's Dyke - another term used for the Antonine Wall[86][87][88]
• Woden Law - "Woden Hill", an Iron Age hillfort in the Cheviots.[89][90][91]

New World

Australia

• Woden Valley, a district of Canberra.[92]

Canada

• Mount Odin, on Baffin Island Nunavut.[93][94]

United States

• Odin, Illinois
• Odin, Minnesota
• Odin, Pennsylvania, in Potter County, PA.
• Woden, Iowa
• Woden, Texas, an unincorporated community in Nacogdoches County.[95]

See also

• Toponymy
• Theophoric name
• Wednesday
• Names of Odin

Notes

1. The location contained other names such as Tyrseng ("Tyr's Meadow") which is itself located near Dødeå ("Stream of the dead" or "Dead Stream"). Religious practices associated with Odin and Tyr may have occurred in these places. Further, a spring dedicated to Holy Niels exists in the area that was likely a Christianization of prior indigenous pagan practice.

References

1. Christiansen, Eric.'The Norsemen in the Viking Age'. Wiley-Blackwell, 2002. ISBN 0-631-21677-4, ISBN 978-0-631-21677-3.Length: 378 pages. Page 264
2. Grimm, Jacob. Stallybrass, John Steven. 'Teutonic mythology, Volume 1'. Courier Dover Publications, 2004. ISBN 0-486-43546-6, ISBN 978-0-486-43546-6. Length: 448 pages. Pages 151-158
3. Damm, Annette. Editor. (2005) Viking Aros, pages 42-45. Moesgård Museum ISBN 87-87334-63-1
4. Brown, Arthur. Foote, Peter Godfrey. Smith, Albert Hugh. 'Early English and Norse studies: Presented to Hugh Smith in Honour of His Sixtieth Birthday'. Methuen, 1963. University of California. Length: 225 pages. Page 105
5. "Denmark - Vojens". Ngw.nl. Retrieved 2011-01-09.
6. http://www.wildtravel.ee/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=113&Itemid=292&lang=en%5B%5D
7. "ARCHIPELAGOES - Estonia - Osmussaar (Odensholm)". Archipelago.nu. Archived from the original on 2011-09-04. Retrieved 2011-01-09.
8. Naert, Aino: Finns det teofora ortnamn i Finland? Nordisk hedendom: et symposium (ed. Gro Steinsland et al, Odense). 1991
9. "Fredrikstad". Gonorway.com. 2009-08-28. Retrieved 2011-01-09.
10. Bull, Edvard. 'Nordmenn før Oss: Norgeshistorie for Den Videregående Skolen'. Tanum-Norli, 1976, Indiana University. ISBN 82-518-0344-6, ISBN 978-82-518-0344-1. Length: 368 pages. Page 26
11. The Dedicated Partnership - promoting tourism - http://www.dedicate.co.uk. "Odensvi Church in Köping - Sweden". A Sweden Attraction. Archived from the original on 2011-07-07. Retrieved 2011-01-09.
12. Sahlgren, Jöran. Grape, Anders. Lundberg, Oskar. 'Namn och bygd, Volume 82'. Lundequiska bokhandeln, 1994, Indiana University. Page 144
13. "MissU2 :: 3 September 2009". Blipfoto. 2009-09-03. Retrieved 2011-01-09.
14. 'Handlingar'. Kungl. Vitterhets, historie och antikvitets akademien 1850. Harvard University
15. Axboe, Morten. Heizman, Wilhelm.'Die Goldbrakteaten der Völkerwanderungszeit - Auswertung und NeufundeVolume 40 of Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde - Ergänzungsbände'. Walter de Gruyter, 2011. ISBN 3110224127, 9783110224122. Page 265
16. 'Da mosen var helligt sted: Samfundsliv og tro i Nordens forhistorieAuthors Svend Aage Bay, Sv Aage Bay'. C. A. Reitzel, 1952. the University of California
17. chris62120. "Audresselles ville de pecheur, située dans Pas-de-Calais au sud du cap Gris-Nez, la côte de fer". Pas-de-calais62.fr. Archived from the original on 2011-07-21. Retrieved 2011-01-09.
18. Daudruy, Pierre 'Familles anciennes du Boulonnais: Familles rurales et urbaines (Du Quesne à Vergne Collection Histoire Volume 2 of Familles anciennes du Boulonnais'. Westhoek-Editions, University of California 1983. ISBN 2-903077-73-8, ISBN 978-2-903077-73-0. Page 739
19. "Audinghen, 62179". Communes-francaises.com. Retrieved 2011-01-09.
20. Stiehl, Eckart. 'Die Stadt Bonn und ihr Umland: ein Geographischer Exkursionsführer:Issue 66 of Arbeiten zur rheinischen Landeskunde'. Ferd. Dümmlers Verlag, 1997. ISBN 3-427-71661-9, ISBN 978-3-427-71661-7. Length: 289 pages. Page 87
21. Willimson, George S. (July 2004). The Longing For Myth in Germany: Religion and Aesthetic Culture From Romanticism To Nietzsche. University of Chicago Press, 2004. ISBN 978-0-226-89945-9.
22. "Full text of "Richard Wagner's Poem the Ring of the Nibelung"". Retrieved 2011-01-09.
23. Taylor, Isaac. 'Words and Places: or, Etymological Illustrations of History, Ethnology, and Geography'. Macmillan, 1865, Harvard University. ISBN 1-4212-7015-3 Length: 561 pages. Pages 322 and 323
24. 'Encyclopædia Britannica; or A dictionary of arts, sciences, and miscellaneous literature, Volume 3Encyclopædia Britannica; Or A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, and Miscellaneous Literature'.Printed for Archibald Constable and Company, 1823
25. Gleig, George. MacFarguhar, Colin. 'Encyclopædia britannica: or, A dictionary of arts, sciences, and miscellaneous literature, Volume 3, Part 1Encyclopædia Britannica: Or, A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, and Miscellaneous Literature'. Edition 3. A. Bell and C. Macfarquhar, 1797
26. https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/uk/out-of-the-darkness-and-into-the-light-in-derbyshire-790166.html
27. Allen, Grant.'Early Britain' BiblioBazaar, LLC, 2007. ISBN 1-4346-0560-4, ISBN 978-1-4346-0560-3. Length: 172 pages. Page 63
28. Kemble, John Mitchell. de Gray Birch, John (editor). 'The Saxons in England V1: A History of the English Commonwealth Till the Period of the Norman Conquest'. Longman, Brown, Green & Longmans, 1849. ISBN 978-1-4326-3740-8. Length: 562 pages. Page 336, 343, 344
29. Johnston, James Brown.'The Place-names of England and Wales. E.P. Dutton and Co., 1916, Princeton University. ASIN: B00088PRX4. Length: 532 pages. Page 493
30. Pulman, George Philip Rigney, Local Nomenclature, A lecture on the Names of Places, Chiefly in the West of England. Oxford University 1857. Page 87
31. Jaques, Tony. 'Dictionary of Battles And Sieges: A Guide to 8,500 Battles from Antiquity Through the Twenty-first Century'. Greenwood Publishing Group, 2006. ISBN 0-313-33536-2, ISBN 978-0-313-33536-5. Length: 1432 page
32. Duignan, William Henry. 'Notes on Staffordshire Place Names'. H. Frowde, 1902. Length: 178 pages
33. Green, John Richard. 'A Short History of the English People'. Macmillan, London 1901. Digital: https://archive.org/details/shorthistoryofen01greeuoft
34. Murray, John. 'A Handbook For Travellers in Surrey, Hampshire, and The Isle of Wight. J. Murray, 1876. Original from the New York Public Library. Length: 465 pages 152
35. Malden, Henry Elliot. 'A History of Surrey: Volume 15 of Histories'. E. Stock, 1900. Length: 321 pages. Page 45
36. "Website Disabled". Englishheathenism.homestead.com. Retrieved 2011-01-09.
37. Buckland, Raymond.'Buckland's Book of Saxon Witchcraft'. Weiser, 2005. ISBN 1-57863-328-1, ISBN 978-1-57863-328-9. Length: 155 pages. Page 12
38. Wilson, David Raoul. 'Anglo-Saxon Paganism'. Taylor & Francis, 1992. ISBN 0-415-01897-8, ISBN 978-0-415-01897-5. Length: 197 pages. Page 11, page 20
39. Maclear, G.F. 'Conversion of the West'. BiblioBazaar, LLC, 2009. ISBN 1-110-54823-0, ISBN 978-1-110-54823-1. Length: 196 pages. Page 10. Link: https://archive.org/stream/conversionofwest00macluoft/conversionofwest00macluoft_djvu.txt
40. Scribbles. "Etymology Of British Place-names". Pbenyon1.plus.com. Archived from the original on 2013-09-09. Retrieved 2011-01-09.
41. Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Wanstead" . Encyclopædia Britannica. 28 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 304.
42. "Full text of "The skirts of the great city"". Retrieved 2011-01-09.
43. "Lambton County, Ontario Canada Names and Places -W". Canadiangenealogy.net. Retrieved 2011-01-09.
44. "Leisure and culture - Sandwell Council". Laws.sandwell.gov.uk. 2005-04-01. Retrieved 2011-01-09.
45. Gelling, Margaret (1992). The West Midlands in The Early Middle Ages: Studies in The Early History of Britain. Leicester University Press, 1992. pp. 92, 94. ISBN 978-0-7185-1170-8.
46. John L. Smallshire. "Wednesfield, the field of Woden". Open Library. Retrieved 2011-01-09.
47. "Wensley, Villages In The Peaks, Derbyshire". Peakdistrictonline.co.uk. 2010-12-17. Retrieved 2011-01-09.
48. "Wensley (Tom Bates Derbyshire Peak District Author, Writer, Poet)". Aboutderbyshire.co.uk. 2007-05-13. Retrieved 2011-01-09.
49. "Wensleydale Yorkshire History". Yorkshire-england.co.uk. Retrieved 2011-01-09.
50. 'Report and transactions, Volume 10'.Devonshire Association for the Advancement of Science 1878. Original from the University of California. Pages 285, 299
51. "Adam's Grave (Long Barrow) | UK". The Modern Antiquarian.com. Retrieved 2011-01-09.
52. "Website Disabled". Englishheathenism.homestead.com. Retrieved 2011-01-09.
53. Alex Whitaker. "Adam's Grave, England". Ancient-wisdom.co.uk. Retrieved 2011-01-09.
54. "Wansdyke west to east". Wansdyke21.org.uk. Retrieved 2011-01-09.
55. Stenton, Frank Merry. Stenton, Doris Mary. 'Preparatory to Anglo-Saxon England: Being The Collected Papers of Frank Merry Stenton. Oxford Scholarly Classics'. Oxford University Press, 1970. ISBN 0-19-822314-5, ISBN 978-0-19-822314-6 Length: 425 pages. Page 294
56. "Wombleton - Woodbury | British History Online". British-history.ac.uk. 2003-06-22. Retrieved 2011-01-09.
57. "Woodbridge Parish". Bigenealogy.com. Retrieved 2011-01-09.
58. "Framfield Surgery, Woodbridge. Suffolk - built with Bovingdon Bricks". Bovingdonbricks.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2012-02-27. Retrieved 2011-01-09.
59. Lewis, Samuel. 'A Topographical Dictionary of England'. S. Lewis & Co., 1840, Oxford University
60. "Woodnesborough Kent: Village near Sandwich". Open-sandwich.co.uk. Retrieved 2011-01-09.
61. EIS - Graham King (2007-09-01). "Kent Parish Councils - Woodnesborough Parish Council". Woodnesboroughpc.kentparishes.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 2011-10-09. Retrieved 2011-01-09.
62. Griffiths, G.D.& E.G.C. (1965). History Of Teignmouth. Brunswick Press. Teignmouth. P.68.
63. Cameron, Kenneth. 'Place-name evidence for the Anglo-Saxon Invasion and Scandinavian Settlements: Eight Studies'. English Place-Name Society, 1975.ISBN 0904889017, ISBN 978-0-904889-01-7. Length: 171 pages. Page 112
64. Owen-Crocker, Gale R. 'Rites and Religions of The Anglo-Saxons'. David & Charles, 1981, University of Michigan. ISBN 0-389-20128-6, ISBN 978-0-389-20128-1. Length: 216 pages. Page 8
65. "Online Etymology Dictionary". Etymonline.com. Retrieved 2011-01-09.
66. "Grim's Ditch (Harrow)". Retrieved October 7, 2009.
67. http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/upload/pdf/grimes_graves.pdf?1254035107
68. "Grimes Graves, Prehistoric Flint Mines, Norfolk". Destinations-uk.com. Retrieved 2011-01-09.
69. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2009-12-08. Retrieved 2009-10-18.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
70. Fanthorpe, R. Lionel. Fathorpe, Patricia. 'The World's Most Mysterious Places'. Dundurn Press Ltd., 1999. ISBN 0-88882-206-5, ISBN 978-0-88882-206-2. Length: 287 pages. Page 131
71. Oxford Architectural & Historical Society. 'Oxoniensia, Volume 65'. Oxfordshire. Page 347
72. "Banbury - Introduction | British History Online". British-history.ac.uk. Retrieved 2011-01-09.
73. "Grimsbury Castle (Hermitage)". Berkshire History. Retrieved 2011-01-09.
74. Hooke, Della. Sawyer, P. H. Worcestershire Anglo-Saxon Charter Bounds, Volume 2 of Studies in Anglo-Saxon History, Volume 2 of Suffolk Records Society. Boydell & Brewer, 1990. ISBN 0-85115-276-7, ISBN 978-0-85115-276-9. Length: 441 pages. Pages 118
75. Westwood, Jennifer. 'Albion: A Guide To Legendary Britain'. Granada, 1985. ISBN 0-246-11789-3, ISBN 978-0-246-11789-2. Length: 448 pages. Page 70
76. Driver, Leigh. 'Lost Villages of England'. New Holland Publishers, 2008. ISBN 1-84773-218-6, ISBN 978-1-84773-218-7. Length: 176 pages. Page 20
77. "2007 Dartmoor". Xhcinfo.co.uk. Retrieved 2011-01-09.
78. Gelling, Margaret. 'Signposts To The Past: Place-Names and The History of England'. Phillimore, 1988. ISBN 085033649X, 9780850336498. Length: 281 pages. Page 149
79. Société Rencesvals: IVe [Quatrième] Congrès international, Heidelberg, 28 août jusqu'à 2 septembre 1967: Actes et mémoires Volume 14 of Studia Romanica, Volume 1967 of Société Rencesvals: IVe [Quatrième] Congrès international, Heidelberg, 28 août jusqu'à 2 septembre 1967: Soc. Rencesvals. Actes et mémoires, Société Rencesvals. C. Winter, 1969. Length 266 pages
80. AA Britain's best guest houses, inns, farmhouses & other interesting places to stay, Edition 8, illustrated. AA, 2002. The University of Michigan. Length 352 pages
81. "Saltburn by the Sea, explore coast and countryside - Roseberry Topping". Saltburnbysea.com. Retrieved 2011-01-09.
82. Davidson, Hilda Ellis. 'The Lost Beliefs of Northern Europe'. Routledge, 1993. ISBN 0-203-40850-0, ISBN 978-0-203-40850-6. Page 57
83. Hibbert, Smauel. 'History of the foundations in Manchester of Christ's College, Chetham's Hospital, and the Free Grammar School, Volume 4 History of the foundations in Manchester of Christ's College, Chetham's Hospital, and the Free Grammar School'. Thomas Agnew and Joseph Zanetti, Repository of Arts., 1848. Original from Oxford University. Page 10
84. "Lancashire Gazetteer, Joseph Aston, 1808". GENUKI. Retrieved 2011-01-09.
85. Adams, Ian H. 'Descriptive List of Plans, Volume 2Descriptive List of Plans, Descriptive List of Plans'. Scottish Record Office. H.M. Stationery Office, 1970
86. Grigson, Geoffrey.'Geoffrey Grigson's Countryside: The Classic Companion to Rural Britain'. Ebury Press, 1982. ISBN 0-85223-223-3, ISBN 978-0-85223-223-1 Length: 263 pages
87. Earthwork of England: prehistoric, Roman, Saxon, Danish, Norman and mediæval - Page 496, by Arthur Hadrian Allcroft
88. 'Transactions of the Woolhope Naturalists' Field Club - Page 255, by Woolhope Naturalists' Field Club, Hereford, England, G. H. Jack, 1905
89. Robson, Eric.'The Border Line'. Frances Lincoln ltd, 2006. ISBN 0-7112-2589-3, ISBN 978-0-7112-2589-3. Length: 256 pages
90. "Surname Database: Vodden Last Name Origin". Surnamedb.com. Retrieved 2011-01-09.
91. Baker, Edward. 'Walking the Cheviots: Classic Circular Routes'. Sigma Leisure, 1996. ISBN 1-85058-488-5, ISBN 978-1-85058-488-9. Length: 190 pages. Page 187
92. "Woden Valley Community Council Inc". Wvcc.org.au. Archived from the original on 2011-02-18. Retrieved 2011-01-09.
93. "Mount Odin". Bivouac.com. Retrieved 2011-01-09.
94. "2004 - Mt. Odin Climbing Expedition". Climbmtwashington.com. Archived from the original on 2011-07-08. Retrieved 2011-01-09.
95. Long, Christopher. "Woden, TX". Handbook of Texas Online. Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved 14 November 2010.