# Prophetess — Poetry character guide

> Prophetess in Poetry by Thomas Gray.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Odin, Odin Prophetess

**First appearance:** 0008-the-descent-of-odin

## Snapshot

A seeress whose vision reaches across time to name the doom awaiting Odin, speaking truths no one around her wants to hear.

## Who they are

The Prophetess stands apart from the Norse poem's heroic action, a figure whose authority comes from what she has seen rather than what she has done. She desires to be heard, yet the fate she describes is fixed and her listeners are powerless to change it, which makes her both essential and ignored. She matters because her prophecy frames the poem's early movement, setting Odin's doom in motion before he has done anything to deserve it.

## In the story

### [The Descent of Odin](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_23_se/chapters/the-descent-of-odin)

The dead seeress awakened by Odin; she reluctantly reveals Balder's doom and the coming apocalypse.

### [Endnotes](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_23_se/chapters/endnotes)

Odin is mentioned in the context of Gothic mythology and the Valkyriur.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_23_se/characters/prophetess_odin
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_23_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_23_se/characters