Summary:

When authors use the label Óðinn, what are they referring to? Do different authors use the label Óðinn to refer to the same 'thing'? I do not believe that. The label Óðinn is used for very different 'things'. That is what the title is saying: the label Óðinn at one place does not refer to the same 'thing' as the label Óðinn at other places.

According to scholars, the continental Woden is 'the same' deity as the Icelandic Óðinn. The Norwegian language has lost the letter 'V' or 'W' in front of many words. And Icelandic is derived from Norwegian. When you put a 'W' before Óðinn you get Woden. So it seems reasonable to assume, that the Icelandic Óðinn is similar to the continental Woden. But were the emotions, thoughts and feelings of the Icelandic authors around Óðinn similar to the emotions, thoughts and feelings of the continental tribal peoples around Woden?

The name Óðinn is derived from Woden. Scholars have tried to explain the etymological origin of the name Woden from words with the meaning of 'possessed, inspired, delirious, raging'. This is just a theory of linguists and nothing more. I believe that Woden refers to the origin of Woden: the woods. See: Woden woody as deity of the woods.

Tacitus wrote, that the Germanic peoples sacrifice humans to Mercury, and it is assumed that Mercury was the Roman name for Woden. According to Adam von Bremen and Thietmar of Merseburg the Germanic people held a festival every nine years with human sacrifices. In Icelandic writings Óðinn has become known as Hangatyr, the god of the hanged. In Hávamál 138 there is a reference to 'hanging on a tree'. Because of these writings it is often assumed, that Óðinn / Woden was worshipped with human sacrifices. I doubt this and I offer a different interpretation. I believe, that people were initiated by hanging them in a tree in a leather sack made of the hide of a horse. That is why the tree of worlds is called Yggdrasil (The horse of Yggr). After hanging for nine days in that sack, the ropes were cut and the initiated shaman fell down. That is why Óðinn is often called 'Valföðr' (Fall-father, Father of the fallen).

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