Oh I definitely agree with you about the similarities... everyone is believing/worshipping the same concept, just with different names. I get that, but I was giving evidence to support why I thought Odin was a better father figure... loli dont think one is better then the other. if you look at it carefully, you will notice how across cultures these gods of the heavens and underworld, of the mountains , hills , you name it. are all the same . just different names. heres the clincher. these stories of supernatural beings have spread across entire regions, countries. even oceans. all the way from prehistory to todays bible. the stories are all there. i am not religous. therefore look at the stories in the bible as myth. taken from myth. take a look and see. how the things like the great flood and the creation of the universe is explained through out the world. orally then written. humans have told the tales of those that have watched over them. to feel at peace? to understand their place in all this? or to convey what they have seen? is myth just stories made up? or is there some truth in all of it?
First of all if you know the true meaning of "myth" then you would not say such a thing since myth is "based on truth, with the intention to be didactic in nature". If you follow the migrations of the "Germanic" races you will see that ALL of the people who descend from the Germanic races have similar stories about similar Gods and Goddesses and similar Heroes. That is because the come from the same "ONE" truth and have merely been spread across the earth by the migrations of our people. As the languages change over time, so do the names. That is why in true Asatru/Odinism we study all the stories from where all of our people have migrated because it is like putting the pieces together, from the Norse, to the Celts, to the Romans, To the Greeks, to the Saxons, etc...In an effort to reassemble the whole truth from many small truths. Where one group of people remembered certain things and practiced certain rituals and customs, another group remembered other things and practiced different rituals and customs. So instead of arguing over who is better, let us see what each can teach us, because even modern college courses lack so much in trully understanding "Myth".i dont think one is better then the other. if you look at it carefully, you will notice how across cultures these gods of the heavens and underworld, of the mountains , hills , you name it. are all the same . just different names. heres the clincher. these stories of supernatural beings have spread across entire regions, countries. even oceans. all the way from prehistory to todays bible. the stories are all there. i am not religous. therefore look at the stories in the bible as myth. taken from myth. take a look and see. how the things like the great flood and the creation of the universe is explained through out the world. orally then written. humans have told the tales of those that have watched over them. to feel at peace? to understand their place in all this? or to convey what they have seen? is myth just stories made up? or is there some truth in all of it?
The comparison of Gandalf to Odin is interesting. When Odin was not in heaven he did walk around the earth disguised. He wore a broad-brimed hat and a staff.I would have to agree that Odin was the better 'father god'. I did not know that Gandalf was based on Odin, but it makes complete sense. I love LOTR!!!
My impression of Odin is that he cared more for a specific type of human: royalty, nobility and warriors. The Valkyries were thought to be daughters of kings and Odin was obsessed with filling his hall Valhalla with the best warriors. He would be loyal to a certain warrior for awhile, then turn his back on him so that he would die on the battlefield and taken to Valhalla. According to Kevin Crossley-Holland, Odin was more feared than loved. Thor was actually more loved because he provided rain for all: especially the peasants who relied on it so much. He also was not above dining with peasants.I have to agree that Odin is the much better "father" God. As mentioned, he sacrifices himself for knowledge and has a strong sense of honor and valor. Zeus is just a high-on-himself player who thinks with his dick. As far as I know Odin was faithful to Frigg. Zeus was almost constantly cheating on Hera. Odin actually cared about humanity. Zeus didn't care. At all. Except for the human babe he was buggering at the time. Not the sort of guy you want to point out and say "That's my Daddy!!!!"