In Poul Anderson's War Of The Gods,
Hadding meets a man. The description of the man should tell us who he
is: very tall, old, lean, wide-shouldered, wearing a wide-brimmed hat
and a long blue cloak that flaps in the wind, carrying a long spear,
one-eyed. He has been a ferryman and presents himself as a soothsayer
and healer. Two ravens fly past.
He now bears the name
Gangleri. In other words, that is not his original name. It meant
nothing to me but we are told that it means Wanderer. That means
something. In Wagner's Ring, the chief god, answering the same
description, is called Wotan in Valhalla and Wanderer when he does in
fact wander through Midgard.
The change of name implies
a difference in function or maybe the difference between a god (like
Vishnu) and one of his avatars or incarnations (like Rama or Krishna).
However, Odin does not incarnate. He simply descends bodily from Asgard
to Midgard. Religious concepts had not yet become very elaborate.
Gangleri
has presented himself as soothsayer and healer to a viking band. Given
his appearance and apparent knowledge of the future, why do the vikings
not recognise Odin? Can he cloud their minds to prevent recognition? His
purpose is to persuade them to accept Hadding, not to draw undue
attention to himself. The reader is in the privileged position of
recognising the god at work.
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