Lots of other patriarchal, weather-based gods have the same linguistic and mythological origins in some hypothesised antecedent culture or cluster of cultures, those are just two well known examples.

April 11, 2026 - 09:41 UTC

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Interestingly, the Norse equivalent is Tyr (once probably something like 'Twz' iirc) who was once the most senior member of the pantheon. Odin seems to be a later addition from another tradition.
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One of my time traveling wishes is to see the moment the story of Deus Pater was first told. Like, is it just a campfire story that everyone thought was really good, was some guy hit by lightning and survived? There has to be *something* and it's irretrievably lost to time.
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Also iirc Tyr/Zeus/Deus all have the same Proto-Germanic root. So based on that and all the place names in Norse Scandinavian with "Tyr" as an element, Tyr might have been much more important than Snorri implied.
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It should always be borne in mind that much of our perception of Norse Gods is from Snorri Sturlason, an aristocratic poet, and that may have influenced why Odin, the patron god of poets and aristocrats, featured so heavily on his treatise on aristocratic poetry and gods.
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My favourite of these is the connection between Perkūnas, the Baltic god of thunder and perkele, the much loved Finnish swearword.
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