ODENSE 



4342 



ODOACER 



To a Waterfowl, Keats's Ode on a Grecian 

 I'm, for instance, belong to the regular odes, 

 while Dryden's Ode for Saint Cecilia's Day, 

 Wordsworth's Intimations of Immortality and 

 Tennyson's On the Death of the Duke of Wel- 

 lington are of the irregular order. The ode is 

 often closely allied to the elegy. 



ODENSE, o'thcnsah, the birthplace of Hans 

 Christian Andersen, is a seaport of Denmark, 

 situated on the island of Fiinen, four miles in- 

 land from the Fiord of Odense, with which it 

 is connected by a canal. The main part of the 

 town is on the north side of the Odense Aa 

 (river), but the manufacturing quarter, called 

 Albani, is on the opposite bank. Here are the 

 large iron foundries, tanneries, machine shops, 

 sugar refineries, glass, chemical and tobacco 

 factories and weaving mills, and here is carried 

 on a thriving trade in butter, bacon, cheese and 

 eggs. Odense is one of the oldest cities of Den- 

 mark, and in the sixteenth century several im- 

 portant parliaments were held there; during 

 the Middle Ages the shrine of Canute, the 

 patron Saint of Denmark, was visited by many 

 pilgrims. In 1911 the city had a population 

 of 42,237 ; it ranks third in size among the cities 

 of the kingdom, being smaller than Copenhagen 

 and Aarhuus. 



O'DER, one of the principal rivers of Ger- 

 many, rising in the southeastern part of that 

 country and flowing northwest, emptying into 

 the Baltic Sea. It is 550 miles long, and for 

 the greater part of its course it is navigable. 

 Some of the towns which lie on its banks are 

 Stettin, Posen and Breslau. The Kaiser Wil- 

 helm Canal, sixty-two miles in length, has been 

 built to connect the Oder River with one of 

 the tributaries of the Elbe, thus forming an 

 important link in the chain of waterways in 

 Germany. This canal, commonly known as the 

 Kiel Cahal, was built especially for military and 

 naval purposes, but was ordered open to all the 

 world by the peace conference in 1919. See 

 KAISER WILHELM CANAL. 



ODESSA, odes' a, one of the newest cities 

 of Russia, fourth in population among the cities 

 of the country, and the foremost seaport of 

 Southern Russia. It is located in the govern- 

 ment, or province, of Kherson, on the Black 

 Sea, thirty-two miles northeast of the mouth 

 of the Dniester River, ninety miles southwest 

 of Kherson, 938 miles southwest of Moscow, 

 and about 400 miles by water northeast of 

 Constantinople. This attractive, modern city, 

 with its broad, regular streets, beautiful squares 

 and imposing buildings, is justly regarded as 



the commercial and educational center of New 

 Russia. The great harbor, which is divided by 

 moles into six ports, can accommodate the 

 largest ocean ships, and in normal years it is 

 entered by over 700 vessels yearly. Odessa is 

 the chief port of export (chiefly grain and flour) 

 for Russia, and ranks next to Reval and Petro- 

 grad in value of imports. 



The University of New Russia, founded in 

 1865, is at the head of the city's educational 

 institutions, and there are in addition numerous 

 preparatory, commercial, industrial and art 

 schools. Theaters, a municipal library and 

 many handsome churches are other notable 

 features of this city, which is also the see of an 

 archbishop of the Greek Church, the head- 

 quarters of an army corps 'and the home of 

 several learned societies. Industrially, Odessa 

 is of importance as a manufacturing center, its 

 chief establishments including flour mills, sugar 

 refineries, breweries, tanneries, ironworks and 

 manufactories of matches, textiles, chemicals, 

 starch and soap. 



The city is built on the site of a Greek settle- 

 ment, Odessus, from which its name is derived, 

 but is the outgrowth of a fortress erected by 

 the Turks in the fifteenth century and captured 

 by the Russians in 1789. After 1817, when it 

 was declared a free port, the place enjoyed 

 rapid growth, and is continually expanding by 

 the addition of suburbs. Stubborn fighting for 

 possession of Odessa occurred in 1918. The Ger- 

 mans took it on March 13, but lost it again on 

 the 27th. Population, 1913, 631,040. 



O'DIN, the chief god of the ancient people 

 of Northern Europe, as Zeus was the chief god 

 of the Greeks. The Scandinavians called him 

 Odin; the Germans called the same god Wuo- 

 tan or Wodin. He was the father of all the 

 gods of Norse mythology, and was the per- 

 sonification of universal wisdom and victory. 

 His great son, Thor, was the god of war, thun- 

 der, and agriculture. Many legendary kings 

 and noble families, *as well as gods, were said 

 to be descended from Odin. His court was held 

 in Asgard, as Zeus held court in Olympus. 

 Valhalla, the hall of the chosen slain, was one 

 of the most important palaces in Asgard. The 

 earliest form of worship of both Odin and 

 Zeus was human sacrifice. In earliest times, 

 Odin was a god of the common people but 

 later was worshiped principally by warriors 

 and members of noble families. Wednesday 

 received its name from Odin. See MYTHOLOGY. 



ODOACER, odoha'ser (434-493), the first 

 barbarian ruler of Italy, was born in the district 



