william of malmesbury describes odda as a kinsman of king edward the confessor. the writings of 16th century antiquarian john leland contain an annal, perhaps from pershore abbey, which gives odda's father's name as "elfer", that is ælfhere. on chronological grounds, this is unlikely to be ælfhere, ealdorman of mercia, who died in 983, although the pershore chronicler may have believed that they were the same person. williams proposes that odda was a descendant, perhaps a grandson, of one of the siblings of the chronicler ealdorman æthelweard and ælfgifu, wife of edward's great-uncle king eadwig.