# Odin — Poetry character guide

> Odin in Poetry by Matthew Arnold.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Lidskialf Odin

**First appearance:** 0135-balder-dead

## Snapshot

The all-father of the Norse gods, who sends his son Hermod riding to Hel to beg Balder back from death.

## Who they are

Odin is the grieving father at the head of a heaven that has lost its brightest god, and his response is not lamentation but action: he loans Sleipner and sends Hermod down the nine-night ride to Hela's realm. His grief is the poem's engine, and the poem's tension is that even the All-Father cannot command death to give back what it holds — Hela's reply is a cold reminder that the gods have taken more from her race than they have given. He matters because his mourning sets the whole descent in motion and gives the Norse poem its human center.

## Relationships

### [Balder](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_16_se/characters/balder)

_family_

Odin is Balder's father, a god who deeply loves his son but is unable to prevent his prophesied death.

### [Hermod](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_16_se/characters/hermod)

_family_

Hermod is Odin's son, serving as his messenger and undertaking dangerous quests at his father's command.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_16_se/characters/odin
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_16_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_16_se/characters