1858.] Buddhism and Odinism. 69 



of bodhant. The hypothesis about the identity of the name of Odin 

 with Buddha or with some word derived from that root, is likewise 

 proved by the name of Wednesday, which, in Scandinavia bears the 

 name of Onsdag, a contraction for Odins-dag " the day of Odin," as 

 in Sanskrit Buddhav&ra "the day of Buddha," and in Hindustani, 

 hudh-bar. 



" It may perhaps be objected to this identification that, in the 

 annals of Norway, Odin is represented as a warrior and not as a 

 preacher, and that the warlike life of the worshippers of Odin little 

 accords with the mild and pacific doctrines of the Buddhists. But 

 we find from the fragments of swords in religious places that such 

 an alliance in the beginning of Buddhism was not very astonishing ; 

 and, on the other side, it must be remembered that the Buddhic 

 religion has its esoterics very different from its exoterics, and that, 

 according to the Chinese annals, the people of the North accepted 

 only the last, i. e., the morality and mythology, as they were the 

 most conformable to their nomadic habits and warlike propensities. # 

 The circumstance, lastly, that not only Odin himself but several 

 other Azeses' having been elevated to the rank of gods, justifies the 

 supposition I make that they enjoyed a religious veneration during 

 their existence. Odin was probably, as Buddha, placed at first 

 among the inferior gods, and subsequently among the superior gods, 

 until at last he was recognized as their chief. That which evidently 

 proves that a long time passed before Odin attained the supreme 

 rank is the fact, remarked by Adam of Bremen, that in the temple 

 of Upsala the image of Thor occupied the place of honor in the 

 centre between Odin and Fey."f 



as suggested by Grimm, from the Old German Watan or Norwegian Vada " go 

 and walk." 



* Foe Koue Ki p. 12. The biographer of Hiouen Thsang likewise speaks frequent- 

 ly of warlike Buddhists ; thus at page 278, after mentioning that the people of 

 Khoten profess a great respect for the law of Buddha, he adds : "The king is brave, 

 prudent, ivarlike, and full of respect and affection for virtuous men." Again at 

 page 382, it is said of the king of Ho-tan (Khoten) : " The king is very ivarlike, 

 and bears a profound respect for the law of Buddha." 



t Grimm. Deutsch Mythologie 2te Augs. 146. 



