Evidence suggests that the cult of Odin is very old. By the time of the Romans the Germans already had a protective deity, Wotan, who was invoked for success in battle, and also exhibited Odin’s mystical and battle nature. In pagan England, Wotan named Woden was patron of kings and princes and the god of war and magic.
The first-century Roman writer Tacitus describes a German god Wotan, whom he identifies with the Roman god Mercury. He places him as the chief god of the Germanic peoples to whom human sacrifices were made. There has been little evidence found to differentiate this Wotan from the later Odin — he was god of the dead and of battles, and was associated with the spear, the wolf and raven. Understood to inspire his followers with a battle frenzy, Wotan rendered them immune to fear or pain. He was also regarded as the primogenitor of kings, and received monarchs and nobles into his halls after death. Wotan was connected to trade and economy: he was referred to in inscriptions as “Mercator” or “Negotiator”, just as Odin was sometimes described as “god of cargoes”.
In pagan England the Anglo-Saxons worshiped Wotan but called him Woden. The Anglo-Saxon royal dynasties looked upon Woden as their divine ancestor and traced their lineage to him. In certain genealogies Woden has a son named Baeldaeg, who has been identified as another version of Wotan’s son Baldur.
English place names with the meaning “Woden’s barrow” suggest that Wotan was originally associated with burial sites or mounds. Influenced later by the Scandinavian invaders.
via Ron McVan