Wotan

Wotan is the Germanic form of the chief god Odin, known in Norse myth as Óðinn. In Germanic languages and folklore, Wotan appears as a ruler of the gods and a figure associated with wisdom, war, magic, and the dead.

The name derives from Proto-Germanic *Wōđanaz*, with cognates including Old Norse Odin, Old English Woden, and Old High German Wodan. The term is linked in part to a root connected with inspiration or frenzy. The day of the week Wednesday is named after Woden's day, via Old English Wōdnesdæg.

In Norse mythology, Wotan/Odin is a central Aesir god. He travels the worlds in search of knowledge, often sacrificing something to gain understanding, and he is associated with the spear Gungnir, the ravens Huginn and Muninn, and the eight-legged horse Sleipnir. He is a god of war and death as well as poetry and magic, and he presides over Valhalla, where fallen warriors are welcomed.

In classical music, Wotan appears as the title character and central deity in Richard Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen. In the operas, Wotan helps shape events through acts of cunning and benevolence, but his decisions also set in motion the cycle's tragic consequences.

In modern usage, Wotan is used primarily as a literary or scholarly form of Odin in Germanic myth and in adaptations of the Ring cycle. The name persists in academic writing, fiction, and cultural references, where it often signals Odin or related mythic themes.