Wotan is the German name for the chief god of the old Germanic peoples — the same god the Norse called Odin. He is the king of the gods: a one-eyed wanderer in a wide hat and cloak, god of war and death, but also of poetry, magic and wisdom. The story goes that he gave up one eye in exchange for knowledge, and hung on a tree for nine nights to win the secret of runes. So he is not a simple 'strong god' — he is the god who pays a price for knowing things. The name has three faces you may meet. In English, 'Odin' is the usual name, borrowed from Norse. 'Woden' is the Old English form, and it is hiding in plain sight in our calendar: Wednesday is 'Woden's day'. 'Wotan' is the German form, and in English it appears above all in connection with Wagner's opera cycle 'The Ring of the Nibelung', where Wotan is a central character. If you see 'Wotan' rather than 'Odin' in an English text, the writer is usually pointing at the German or the operatic tradition on purpose. It is a proper name, so it takes a capital letter and no 'the'. English speakers most often say it VOH-tan, closer to the German. Outside myth, opera, fantasy fiction and games, you will not need this word — but knowing the Wednesday connection makes an ordinary word suddenly interesting.

沃坦（德語稱呼的北歐主神，即北歐語的 Odin 奧丁）。獨眼、戴寬帽披斗篷，掌戰爭與死亡，也掌智慧、詩與魔法；為了換取知識而捨去一隻眼。英文一般說 Odin，寫 Wotan 通常是在講德國傳說或華格納《尼伯龍指環》歌劇。古英文形式 Woden 就藏在 Wednesday（Woden 之日）裡。