Who is the father of Odin?

The father of Odin in Norse mythology is Borr, also spelled Burr or Bor.

Borr is described as the son of Búri, the first ancestor of the gods, and the husband of Bestla. With Bestla, he fathered Odin and Odin’s brothers Vili and Vé. This places Borr in the divine genealogy that precedes the creation and ordering of the Norse cosmos.

Borr is less prominent than his son Odin and appears only briefly in the surviving mythological sources. He is mentioned in the Poetic Edda and in Snorri Sturluson’s Prose Edda, but the stories provide little detail about his deeds or personality.

A common mistake is choosing Búri, who was Borr’s father rather than Odin’s. Another source-related wrinkle is spelling: Old Norse manuscripts use forms such as Búrr and Borr, while English references may use Bor or Bur. “Borr” is nevertheless a standard and canonical answer.