About this podcast
Was Odin only a god of Norse mythology — or does the legend preserve the memory of something older, stranger, and more historical? The Woden Files is a historical investigation into the origins of Odin, Woden, and the ancient traditions that remembered him not only as a god, but as an ancestor, ruler, war leader, wanderer, magician, and founder of royal bloodlines. Blending Norse mythology, Viking history, Germanic legend, ancient migration, archaeology, royal genealogies, steppe-world contact, Black Sea frontier history, and the turbulent world of the Migration Period, this series asks one dangerous question: Could part of the Odin tradition preserve the distorted memory of a real man, elite group, title, office, or migration-era power behind the myth? This is not fantasy. This is not blind belief. And it is not a claim of proof. It is a historical cold case. Each episode of The Woden Files follows the evidence trail through medieval sources, ancient maps, forgotten names, runes, royal bloodlines, Valhalla, the Æsir, the Black Sea, the Eurasian steppe, Germanic tribes, and the strange process by which men become legends — and legends become gods. For fans of Norse mythology, ancient mysteries, Viking history, alternative history, historical mysteries, mythology explained, lost civilizations, pagan gods, royal ancestry, and the real history behind myth. Welcome to The Woden Files.