Odin is called Allfather, because he is the father of all the gods, and
Valfather (father of the slain), because he chooses for his sons all who
fall in combat. For their abode he has prepared Valhal and Vingolf,
where they are called einherjes (heroes). In Asgard, Odin has twelve
names, but in the Younger Edda forty-nine names are enumerated, and if
to these are added all the names by which the poets have called him, the
number will reach nearly two hundred. The reason for his many names,
says the Younger Edda, is the great variety of languages. For the
various nations were obliged to translate his name into their respective
tongues in order that they might supplicate and worship him. Some of his
names, however, are owing to adventures that have happened to him on his
journeys and which are related in old stories. No one can pass for a
wise man who is not able to give an account of these wonderful
adventures.