mildness. But his fault was soon
followed by a remorse that was full of shame, when his daughter bore a
child.

But the gods, whose chief seat was then at Byzantium, (Asgard), seeing
that Odin had tarnished the fair name of godhead by divers injuries to
its majesty, thought that he ought to be removed from their society.
And they had him not only ousted from the headship, but outlawed and
stripped of all worship and honour at home; thinking it better that the
power of their infamous president should be overthrown than that public
religion should be profaned; and fearing that they might themselves be
involved in the sin of another, and though guiltless be punished for the
crime of the guilty. For they saw that, now the derision of their great
god was brought to light, those whom they had lured to proffer them
divine honours were exchanging obeisance for scorn and worship for
shame; that holy rites were being accounted sacrilege, and fixed and
regular ceremonies deemed so much childish raving. Fear was in their
souls, death before their eyes, and one would have supposed that the
fault of one was visited upon the heads of all. So, not wishing Odin
to drive public religion into exile, they exiled him and put one Oller
(Wulder?) in his place, to bear the symbols not only Of royalty but also
of godhead, as though it had been as easy a task to create a god as a
king. And though they had appointed him priest for form's sake, they
endowed him actually with full distinction, that he might be seen to be
the lawful heir to the dignity, and no mere deputy doing another's work.
Also, to omit no circumstance of greatness, they further gave his the
name of Odin, trying by the prestige of that title to be rid of the
obloquy of innovation. For nearly ten years Oller held the presidency
of the divine senate; but at last the gods pitied the horrible exile of
Odin, and thought that he had now been punished heavily enough; so he
exchanged his foul and unsightly estate for his ancient splendour; for
the lapse of time had now wiped out the brand of his earlier disgrace.
Yet some were to be found who judged that he was not worthy to approach
and resume his rank, because by his stage-tricks and his assumption of a
woman's work he had brought the foulest scandal on the name of the gods.
Some declare that he bought back the fortune of his lost divinity with
money; flattering some of the gods and mollifying some with bribes;
and that at the cost o