How Odin Lost His Eye

While the version of Odin which instantly comes to mind for many will be either the Marvel Comics character or his Marvel Cinematic Universe incarnation, Neil Gaiman's American Gods also put its own spin on Odin.

Gaiman has previous with Odin, mind, for he introduced the character into his legendary Sandman title. In Sandman, Odin was largely similar to the incarnation seen in Norse mythology, bar for a slightly more mischievous side that saw him sharing a similar mindset to Loki at times.

In Gaiman's American Gods, however, he provided a version of Odin who was a little changed up from that Norse god. That version would be the Mr. Wednesday character, who has subsequently been portrayed by Ian McShane in Amazon's adaptation of American Gods. Where as the Sandman Odin had a mildly questionable edge, Mr. Wednesday was a full-on conman desperate to pit other all-mighty beings against one another.

The word Wednesday is "onsdag" in Swedish, with Old Norse language having "onsdag" as loosely translated to Odin's Day. In American Gods, it's never specified just how Mr. Wednesday has lost his eye, but we do know that he has replaced that lost eye with a glass replacement that's a slightly different shade to his other eye.