Odin: An Illustrated Guide to the Allfather, by L. Dean Lee with illustrations by The Saxon Storyteller
Red Wheel, 1590035755, 128 pages, April 2025

Odin: An Illustrated Guide to the Allfather is illustrated by The Saxon Storyteller and written by L. Dean Lee. This book is extremely beginner-friendly and very helpful for learning about Odin.

As I said in my other review on a book in this series, Loki, I absolutely loved and adored the illustrations by The Saxon Storyteller. This book is full of magnificent artwork ranging from Odin, to ravens and objects, as well as creatures representative of Odin, the rune-carver and chief of the Aesir. Every illustration in this book is just really too cool, especially all of the raven imagery; each chapter has a raven with the face of Odin drawn on their body. I just can’t get over how fitting The Saxton Storyteller’s artistic style is for these books. My favorite depiction of Odin has to be on page 94–he really, truly is giving cowboy vibes.

In chapter one, Lee gives us a solid introduction and a great description of who Odin is. The head of the gods is known by many names, but he is best known as Odin. The Norse people recognized Odin for war, leadership, wisdom, and honor. But he’s more than just that, and as you learn about him, you’ll recognize his other qualities more. Another part of Odin is the madman, and you will also come to find out more about this in the book too.

After the introduction, Lee teaches the purpose of folklore and mythology, which goes over the different sources of Norse mythology. Then we learn about how to define a “God” before diving into the Norse Cosmos and discussing the nine realms of the world tree Yggdrasil. Now that brings us to Valhalla and Asgard. Valhalla is Odin’s hall, located in the home of the gods, Asgard. Valhalla is where warriors who meet their fate in battle get carried off to by the valkyries. To end this chapter, Lee lists various Norse entities, explaining their significance.

Now this brings us to the nitty gritty of who exactly Odin is in chapter two. We first start by learning how he got the name he has along with his other known names and their meanings. We also learn more about Odin’s personality: curious, wise, fatherly, and duplicitous. These are most definitely very fitting for Odin. Lee also explains Odin’s characteristics, in which we learn he is a master of disguise and a wanderer. As for his appearance, Lee describes how Odin has two ravens as familiars known as Huginn and Muninn, which mean Thought and Memory, respectively. To note, there’s an awesome depiction of Odin hanging from Yggdrasil on page 27.

This chapter also covers Odin’s other associations. Yes, of course, ravens are one of the most popular and well-known associations, but some of my favorite associations of Odin are madness, magic, and poetry.

Next up on our knowledge quest of Odin, we now find ourselves at a marvelously illustrated depiction of Odin’s family tree. We get a brief description of each family member. Outside of the two ravens Odin has, thanks to this book, I now know that he has two wolves named Geri and Freiki, whose names mean “the greedy one” and “the ravenous one”.

Now we move on to chapter three, which is Odin in mythology and folklore. Lee dives into many stories: the Birth of Odin, the time Odin stole the Mead of Poetry, Odin sacrificing himself upon the World tree, and even the one time that Odin disguised himself as a ferryman to annoy his son Thor, all the way up to Ragnarok.

The next chapter brings us knowledge on Odin and his relationship to the world. First, Lee explores Odin during the Viking age. Then he moves into Odin in modern times, covering Europe and America specifically, along with his role in pop culture.

That now brings us to chapter five which talks about venerating Odin. Lee teaches how to establish a working relationship with Odin. He suggests building an altar for him and sharing Blót, or offerings. He even notes what Odin’s favorite offerings are.

Then we have a few pages that teach us about runes–Odin’s gift to humanity. There is a guide teaching you the meaning of each rune, which is awesome to have on hand, and it’s also accurate! Outside of the handy guide, you are also taught how to create a bind rune in this neat section as well. After this, we come to learn about Odin’s special days. Lastly, Lee teaches how to communicate with the Allfather via different methods of communication like divination, clairsenses, and through synchronicities.

For anyone seeking knowledge on the Norse gods and goddesses, Odin is definitely made for the beginner. To those who just want to brush up on their knowledge, this book is a quick and knowledgeable read. I recommend it for all of those looking to connect more with Odin, especially if you enjoy descriptive artwork and not just a bunch of text in a book.