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3581: By чЙЛФПТ пМЕЧЙЮ [AC9785FC.ipt.aol.com] on Friday, November 30, 2001 - 07:51:

Norse god Odin was a real king, explorer says

By Alister Doyle


OSLO, Nov 29 (Reuters) - The Viking god Odin may have been a real king
who lived in what is now southern Russia 2,000 years ago, Norwegian
explorer Thor Heyerdahl said in a controversial new book on Thursday.

In "The Hunt for Odin," Heyerdahl says his archaeological digs by the
Sea of Azov in Russia backed evidence in 13th century sagas written by
Snorre Sturlason that Odin was more than a myth.

Heyerdahl, who won worldwide acclaim with his 1947 voyage across the
Pacific on the Kon-Tiki balsa raft, said Odin was a king who lived
around Azov before being driven out by the Romans and taking his
followers to Sweden.

Ancient metal belt holders, rings and armbands dating from 100-200 AD
found in excavations around the mouth of the Don River were almost
identical to Viking equivalents found in Gotland, Sweden, some 800
years later, he said.

"Snorre didn't sit down and dream this all up," Heyerdahl told a news
conference to launch his latest book with co-author Per Lillestrom.
"In ancient times, people treated Gods and Kings as one and the same
thing."

Snorre's stories about Odin, viewed as the king of the gods in Norse
mythology, portrayed him as fighting battles. By contrast, Snorre
treated Thor, the god of thunder, as a mythical hammer-wielding figure
riding through the air.

And he said that many of the place names in Snorre's sagas matched the
ancient Greek names for places around the Sea of Azov, such as Tanais.

Heyerdahl's digs with a team of Scandinavian and Russian
archaeologists uncovered skeletons and ancient metal objects.

"It's obvious that there was some link between the Nordic region and
where we dug," he said.

Some Norwegian historians have criticised Heyerdahl's findings as
based on insufficient evidence, saying that Odin's name originated
from the Germanic name Wotan.

One likened Heyerdahl's quest for Odin to digging for the Garden of
Eden.

Heyerdahl, who exploits also included risking his life on the Ra reed
vessels crossing the Atlantic to show that the ancient Egyptians could
have done so, said he doubted that the book would silence sceptics.

"I don't think so," he said.

08:52 11-29-01