Hidden Within the Norse Gods - Part I

There is a lot of meaning within one single name. For instance, the name of a Norse god tells a lot. I will examine some names and reveal their hidden messages. I can't do all of them on a single entry. This will be broken up into four parts.

Odin: First of all it starts as the letter "O" and finishes as "din". Din is also another name for "loud" and rooted in other Indo-European languages with "don". Don means lord. Like the Greek Adonis it also means "man" and "lord" or strong and handsome man!. The letter "O" at front, is also fronted by "W" for Woden or Wotan in different Germanic languages. The "Wo" and "O" front is wood. So Odin is "Wood Lord" and "Lord of the Woods". Taken with it's other letters to mean "din" and "Wednesday" (Woden's Day) means King of the Woods, King of the Forest, Lord of the Forest and Woods Man. His Greek counterpart is Hermes, and that is from the Mycenaean word for "Hermeneus", meaning interpreter of secret messages in stone! There is the myth of Odin understanding the secret of the runes. Wednesday is "Day of the Woods King" or "Day of the Forest King". The man of the wood. The lord and king of the forest. Strong Man (master) of the Wood. Handsome Lord of the Forest. Handsome Strong Man of the Woods . Master of the Forest = Odin.   

Ostara: Also the name begins "O" then "stara". O-stara. O is the au sound. Aus-tara and "Aus" means "to shine" and "star" to shine. Star and shine like the stars. Star shine, and the feminine sounding "Ostara" with Eostre. The name is linked to Easter. Ostara also has further messages in the name. The name doesn't just mean "shine" but also it says "Aura" and "East". Star of the East, but the word Star also means stellar, and celestial. Not just a star but sun and moon that appear from the east. It's like the Phoenician Goddess Astarte and the Assyrian Goddess Ishtar. Now the Greek sound "Aster" and Proto-Aryan or Proto-Indo European (PIE) is the word "ster" (later Star). Ster is linked to the word "Dyue" to mean "shining" and "starry" or star shine. The st and d were the same sounds in PIE languages. This is where the name dwi-yo is from, pronounced Div-yana. This is an earlier form of the sound Diana. Diana is the Roman Goddess of the moon and Her Greek counterpart is Artemis. So basically Ostara is "Star of the East", "Star shining", with female meaning "Star Maiden of the East", "Bright maiden" "Star Maiden", "Star Woman" "Lady of Stars" = Ostara.  

Idunn: The name Idunn or Idunna is pronounced this way because the English sound and alphabet creates the "d". Originally it is "th" sounding. It's pronounced i-thun-na or e-thu-na. Elsewhere in ancient Greece is a name of a goddess that sounds ai-thi-na, which is how Athena is pronounced. The Greek Goddess Athena is a Goddess of art and wisdom. She is also a guardian and protectress, as Idunn or Idunna is a protectress of golden apples. Apples of eternal youth and apples of knowledge or wisdom. Idunna is the Norse equivalent of Athena. Here we have Idunna whose name means the feminine "eternal", "female guard" and "woman who guards". She is the "woman who guards eternity", "woman who guards youth" and "woman who guards wisdom". Female guardian of eternity = Idunn.  
 
Skadi: It's easy to say that the name "Skadi" reminds us of ski for skiing. But the word ski comes from Skadi. It also links to the region "Scandinavia" in words. Skadi has been name related to the Gothic "scato" meaning shadow. The Old Norse word Skadi means "harmful". What about it's older and wider roots in PIE languages? Skadi is, in Norse mythology, an ice giantess of beauty. The name "Skadi" also relates to darkness and the underworld. Skadi is pronounced "Sh-ka-di" and related to the Eastern Indo-European and Hindu "Shakti". This is "prime feminine power" and "female force of energy". Shakti power is Sanskrit for "female ability" and "primordial". This name might be rooted to the Vedic "Sachi" who was a powerful queen. Shakti is possibly a variant and alternative to the powerful Goddess Kali. Both names Skadi and Kali are identical and both link to the Finnish Goddess Kalma. Now the giantess Skadi is not just an "ice giantess of beauty" but also a queen and feminine force, a goddess. She is "Goddess of the Cosmos", "Dark Goddess", "Queen of the Cosmos" = Skadi.   
 
Freya: There are different ways of spelling Freya in modern times but the earliest Old Norse version is "Freyja". It means "lady" and "woman" and related to the Low German "Fro" and "Frau". The Indo European languages spell the "f" as a ph. The ph sounds like "f" as in the ancient Etruscan "phro" to mean the lady. A-phro-dite is within the name Aphrodite, the Greek Goddess counterpart of Freya. The name Aphrodite broke up sounds like "Lady of Day" as "dite" is day. The breakdown of A-phro-dite relates to foam, shining, evening star and daylight. The meaning is drawn from different sources with various words added. "Freya" also relates to the Roman word "Veneres" meaning the Goddess of love and beauty Venus. The Avestan word Vanaiti, Sanskrit Vanis and Vanati mean "desire" and possibly modern English "vanity" linked to it also. The ancient Scandinavian name of Freya is "Vanadis" and this means "Van daughter" or "daughter of the Vanir". The Vanir are another race of gods. The word Vanir linked to the name Venus to mean "shining" "lady" and "desire". The PIE root word of Venus and Vanir is "Wen" and it means love. So does the Norse tales of the Vanir mean "the gods of love"? Or "gods of the day"? This word "Wen" gave birth to other Aryan words such as "wan", "wench", "win", "wish", "venari", "venus", "veria", "vanadis". Freya has the following suggestions in Her name, and that is "The Lady", "Lady of Day", "Lady of Evening Star", "Lady of Love and Beauty" and "Lovely Lady of Day" = Freya.

Frigg: This goddess is also known as Frigga. The queen and wife of Odin and a goddess of marriage and motherhood. Her name comes from PIE "fri" and "frijj" to mean wife. She's one of the Aesir, a race of gods different to the Vanir. Aesir means "god" and "life force". However, the word Aesir is masculine but the female equivalent is Asynjur. The goddesses like Frigg are one of the Asynjur. This all relates to the Ansuz rune. Asatru is "faith of the Aesir". Now Frigg is also like the Celtic Goddess of land and the home, called Brigit. The Goddess is also called Brighid, "The Exalted One". The English word "bride" comes from the name of the Goddess Brigit. In Welsh myth Her name is Fraid. The Greek counterpart of Brigit and Frigg is Hestia. Brigantia is another form of Brigit and a Goddess of the British Isles, otherwise called Britannia. Frigg is a hearth goddess like Brigit and Hestia. A domestic Goddess of the home as well as queenly duties of land and energy. Frigg is "Goddess of Women", "Goddess of the Home", "Goddess of Motherhood", "Mother Goddess of Women" and "Goddess of Hearth" = Frigg.  

Thor: Everyone knows that the name Thor is cognate to Thunar, Thurisaz, Thunraz and Thonoraz. The day of the week "Thursday" uses His name and Thor means Thunder. Thor is a thunder gods. Thor the thunderer. The other Indo-European thunder gods are Taran (Gaulish), Tuireann (Irish), Tunder (Persian) and Donar (German), Peron (Slavic), Indra (Hindu) and Verethragna (Zoroastrian). The name "Thor" is exactly what thunder is. Thunder is from an Indo European word to say "Tene" meaning to echo loud and resounding noise. The Sanskrit word Tanayitnuh is to thunder, or thundering. The earliest form of word for thunder had no "d" pronouncing letter. It was "Thunrian" and "Thunor". That means to be very loud. A branch of this name Thuner/Thunor and Thunder was a PIE root word Dyue to mean "lightening" and "sky" in the masculine form. Later on the earliest Greeks used the "d" and "t" letters to sound a "z" because "z" was pronounced like "ts" and "ds". That word Dyue then turned into "Zeus". The Roman counterpart of Thor and Zeus is Jupiter and this means "Sky" and "Father". Ju, Dyeu, Zeus and Thor all come to mean the same. Also the name means great conqueror and king. "The Thunderer", "Thunder bolt wielder", "Thundering King", "King of the sky", "King of thunder" and "King of Storms" = Thor.

Hel: She is the goddess of the underworld but is also referenced as a ghastly giantess. She lives and rules a region named Helheim. She is also called Hella. There is Another lighter form of her is Holda and Holle, who are motherly figures. It's a name linked to light and fire. Hell is described as a fiery domain. She's linked to the afterlife, fire and caves or underground places. The PIE root word where Hel is from Kel, to mean hidden. It's also where the name "Helen" comes from. Helen of Troy is the torch bearer, the bright one and fire. The Greek word "Hel" means fire. By contrast, Helen of Troy is beautiful while Hel the goddess of the underworld is frightening. This is because of language, vowel and letters interfering. The earlier Helen of Troy wasn't a mortal woman but a goddess, connected with torches, underground and fire. "Helen's Fire" was what is now called "St Elmo's Fire". She was once considered to be quite scary. In Norse myth, Hel is one of three children. She has two "brothers" Fenrir and Jormungand, who were in monstrous form. In Greek myth, Helen's two brothers are the handsome "Dioscouri". That isn't to say these brothers are counterparts. Just that She too has twin brothers as part of a trio. All are related to secret chambers, torches, underground fires and fire. "Lady of Fire", "Goddess of the underworld", "Fire Goddess", "Fire bearing sorceress" and "Shining woman" = Hel.        

(More in Part 2).
The image is "Idun and the apples" by J. Doyle Penrose