ODIN, the "escort of the souls."

ODIN, the name comes from the Old Norse, meaning "the Furious One." He was considered the most important god  in Germanic mythology. In many Norse sources, he is considered the "all father" of the gods and the ruler of the Nine Worlds (Asgard). The Asgard enclosure was considered the home of all gods.
The Bible refers, in Genesis chapter eleven, a time when the whole earth had one language and few words. A time when men migrated from the east, then found a plain of fertile land and settled there.
In the same way Asgard is referred to as the most fertile land blessed with a great abundance of gold and jewels, and the Norse pantheon  named 'Aesirf' is meant to symbolize 'men of Asia'.
Some scholars believe that Asgard was located in the center of the earth. About it were 12 kingdoms and 12 chiefs. They assumed that Troy was that center and Thor was conceived in there by Odin and his consort, the goddess of love, Friijo. The Asgard was surrounded by an incomplete wall, making it vulnerable to the other forces that were active in the ancient world concerning the spiritual realm.
Odin's role, like that of many of the Norse gods is complex. The first symbolic roles was Wisdom, Shamanism, Poetry, Prophecy and Hunt.
One of the sons of Odin was was Yrgvi, founder of the Ynglingar, an early royal family of Sweden.
Roman historians referred to Odin as Mercury, the chief god of the Germanic tribes. The reason is, like Mercury, Odin was regarded as a creature or entity  whose responsibility was  to escort newly deceased souls from earth to the afterlife. His role was not to judge the deceased, but simply provide a safe passage to the land of the dead.
Frequently creatures or entities of this kind have been depicted on funerary art and have been associated at different times in different cultures with horses, birds (will-poor-will, ravens, crows, owls, sparrows, cuckoos, etc.), and a red deers (hart).
In many other cultures, the soul guarding task was done by shamans and it included not only accompanying the soul of the dead but also to help at birth the soul of the newborn child to the world of the living.
Odin's practice involving visionary journeys by its practitioners, his familiar animals (the eight-legged horse, and the pair of ravens named 'memory' and 'mind' that flew all over the world to bring information to Odin), and his connection to ecstatic inspiration, all suggest his role as the "escort of the souls."
As the mind of the society changed from deep spirituality to a materialistic idea of reality, the role of Odin faded transforming his image as a symbolic wise king of the gods and bringer of victory.