Ancient Viking treasure has oldest-known reference to Norse god OdinBy Patrick Reilly
March 8, 2023
Researchers have discovered that an ancient gold disc found in southern Denmark includes the earliest written reference to the Norse god Odin, revealing that he was worshiped up to 150 years earlier than previously thought, according to a report.
The piece of jewelry — which dates to the 400s AD — was uncovered in Vindelev in central Denmark in 2020 amidst a treasure trove that included Roman coins.
For years it was publicly displayed at a museum near the site before academics had the opportunity to study it, according to NBC News.
A runic inscription with a reference to Odin, one of the primary gods in the Norse pantheon in the pre-Christian Germanic world, has upended academics’ understanding of the pagan religion.
“This is the smoking gun for Odin’s presence in Scandinavia as early as the 5th century,” Simon Nygaard, an assistant professor in pre-Christian Nordic religion at Aarhus University in Denmark, told NBC News on Wednesday. “In the proper sense of the word, it’s historic.”
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Source:
https://nypost.com/2023/03/08/ancient-viking-treasure-has-oldest-known-reference-to-norse-god-odin/
