A force to be reckoned with...

While watching O, an adaptation of Shakespeare's play Othello, i could not help but wonder what the significance of the name Odin was as intended by the director. For once I got to use my arcane knowledge, and assumed that Odin (as Othello) was meant to refer to the ancient god Odin, leader of the Norse pantheon.

I started researching this idea by comparing what i knew about Othello to what is known about the god Odin. The results were startlingly accurate.

Similar to Othello, Odin was a wanderer of the earth and would appear among men although they viewed him as a stranger and therefore as an outsider. Interestingly enough, the god Odin is associated with war, battle, wisdom and death (among other things) which Othello shares. Also, some stories say that Odin was tricked by Loki - god of deception - into killing someone he dearly loved. In addition it is said that Odin was deceived by his wife and her acts of infidelity, which led to his downfall. This is very much like the story of Othello in that someone versed in lies and manipulation (Iago) made him believe that Desdemona was betraying him and led Othello to kill Desdemona, even though he loved her very much.

And on the note of Desdemona, i found it interesting that "Desdemona" means "of the devil". This simultaneously points toward deception as the devil is associated with lies, and also to her love for Othello as devils are seen as dark creatures just as Othello is referred to as a Moor. As Shakespeares plays are filled with symbolism, I am led to believe that he chose this name knowing what it meant and found it very appropriate in lending depth and meaning to the character of Desdemona. 

Upon further research of Norse mythology, I found that the gods Odin and Loki were first seen as the same god - one of power and battle and of lies and deceit - lending support to the idea of Othello as the god Odin as Othello deceives himself through his doubts of Desdemona's fidelity. The idea of Othello as Odin is also supported by Odin's physical characteristics. It is said that the god Odin sacrificed one of his eyes to achieve the wisdom of the ages and therefore walks this earth with only one eye. This relates to our discussion over reputation and perception and equating that with the structure of an eye: how a person's impressions of you are not who you are but are colored by outside factors beyond your control. Similar to Odin, Othello does not have complete sight and is therefore not able to see everything that is going on around him and falls prey to Iago's lies.

Something that I found amusing was that Odin was accused of witchcraft even though witchcraft was considered to be a woman's work. Odin denied this accusation just as Othello was accused of witchcraft in the act of winning Desdemona's love and denied it vehemently. Also, Odin is associated with two ravens: Hugin (thought) and and Munin (memory) just as birds (both doves and hawk) are used for imagery within the movie O. Both are dark birds and lend support to the comparison of the two characters due to Othello's appearance and being referred to as a "Moor" within the play.

I began to wonder if Iago's adaptation within O also referred to the stories of the god Odin, as his name within the adaptation is "Hugo", very similar to Odin's raven. Perhaps - although this could be stretching the similarities a bit - he is named Hugo in reference to Hugin (thought) in the sense that it is his thoughts and actions that bring Odin down within the movie and Iago's actions that are the demise of Othello. Also, in decieving Othello, Iago simply opens the door for Othello's own insecurities to sow seeds of doubt and to take away all trust in his thoughts of Desdemona.

I have no way of speaking to the director and proving conclusively if this was the reason they chose the name Odin for Othello in their adaption of the play. However, upon taking everything into consideration, the facts seem to suggest great parallels between Shakespeares original character of Othello and the ancient Norse god Odin. Therefore, it seems safe to assume that the choice of names within O was indeed meant to suggest the great similarities between Odin and Othello. Perhaps - as I would like to believe - Shakespeare himself intended the similarities to be apparent and formed his character Othello around the stories of Odin. There is no knowing for certain if this was his intent, but I would certainly like to believe that Shakespeare was pulling from ancient gods in the formation of his characters and that the director of O noticed the parallels and brought them to the forefront.



websites used:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odin (used only points that were cited)
http://www.pantheon.org/articles/o/odin.html
http://www.astronomy.pomona.edu/archeo/scandanavia/vikings/norse05.htm
http://www.mythencyclopedia.com/Ni-Pa/Odin.html
http://www.behindthename.com