Alternative (IMO clearer) spelling of wood.
From Online Etymology Dictionary:
Conceptually I regard this as a word that collectively encompasses the concepts of inspiration, ecstasy, insanity, rage, madness, etc., without being a substitute for any one of these concepts individually.
It is the trance-state that Berserkers would have entered in during battle. The website "Norse Mythology for Smart People" quotes the Yngling Saga:
The Wikipedia article on Berserker lists this definition for a modern context (caveat: this paragraph has no citation):
The state of Wode, then, can be a reference to a state in which a person has extremely high levels of adrenaline.
But Wode need not necessarily involve "going berserk". Woden, after all, is as much a God of Poetry and Wisdom, as War and Ecstasy. It might also be present in those who are hyper-focused in a given task, whether short-term (working for hours, perhaps days, almost non-stop on a single project), or long-term (single-minded devotion to a goal). Wode is found in soldiers, scientists, academics, and artists who are devoted to their duties at levels that others would deem unhealthy.
I bring all this up because I hope this word can be reintroduced to Modern English, at least in the Heathen community. It serves as a beautiful term for something we don't really have a modern equivalent for.
From Online Etymology Dictionary:
wood (adj.)
"violently insane" (now obsolete), from Old English wod "mad, frenzied," from Proto-Germanic *woda- (cognates: Gothic woþs "possessed, mad," Old High German wuot "mad, madness," German wut "rage, fury"), from PIE *wet- (1) "to blow; inspire, spiritually arouse;" source of Latin vates "seer, poet," Old Irish faith "poet;" "with a common element of mental excitement" [Buck]. Compare Old English woþ "sound, melody, song," Old Norse oðr "poetry," and the god-name Odin.
Conceptually I regard this as a word that collectively encompasses the concepts of inspiration, ecstasy, insanity, rage, madness, etc., without being a substitute for any one of these concepts individually.
It is the trance-state that Berserkers would have entered in during battle. The website "Norse Mythology for Smart People" quotes the Yngling Saga:
The Wikipedia article on Berserker lists this definition for a modern context (caveat: this paragraph has no citation):
The state of Wode, then, can be a reference to a state in which a person has extremely high levels of adrenaline.
But Wode need not necessarily involve "going berserk". Woden, after all, is as much a God of Poetry and Wisdom, as War and Ecstasy. It might also be present in those who are hyper-focused in a given task, whether short-term (working for hours, perhaps days, almost non-stop on a single project), or long-term (single-minded devotion to a goal). Wode is found in soldiers, scientists, academics, and artists who are devoted to their duties at levels that others would deem unhealthy.
I bring all this up because I hope this word can be reintroduced to Modern English, at least in the Heathen community. It serves as a beautiful term for something we don't really have a modern equivalent for.
