a defining feature of odin is his being one-eyed, a result of him having sacrificed an eye to drink from the well of urðr, which granted him an incomprehensible amount of knowledge of the universe. odin himself often receives counsel from the severed head of the being mímir, which recites secret knowledge to him. half of the souls of those slain in battle will be guided by the valkyries, battle maidens, to valhalla, odin's enormous and majestic hall: the other half go to fólkvangr, freyja's realm. odin was known in old english as wōden, in old saxon as wōdan, and in old high german as wuotan or wōtan, all of which stem from the reconstructed proto-germanic *"wōđanaz".