Even today, the archetype he represents can be seen in many of our popular movies and he continues to share his name with one of our calendar days (Wednesday, "Woden's Day).
As is the case with most mythologies of all kind, there are numerous conflicting stories about Odin. Most sources agree on his characteristics and some of his more important accomplishments, however.
Odin represented many things in Norse mythology. Like Zeus, he came to power by overthrowing his ancestors, but unlike Zeus, the Norse believed that Odin had used the bodies of one of those ancestors to create the world and had been one of the gods who helped create man. He was also the father of many of the gods and leader of the the Aesir, one of the two factions to which all Norse gods belonged.
Odin was usually depicted as an older, bearded man although he could transform himself into any shape that he witnessed. He was a skilled warrior, the wisest of the gods, and knowledgeable in the use of magic. Thus, he is largely the bases of the "old wizard" archetype that has been used for characters from Merlin to Gandalf to Obi-Wan Kenobi.
Odin is usually depicted as having only one eye. The story goest that he gave the other one up to Mimir who demanded it as payment for Odin's being allowed to drink of Mimir's well. This well was famed for making those who drank from it was, so Odin became the wisest of all of the gods by drinking of it. Many drawings also show him with a staff, his two ravens, Hugin (memory) and Munin (thought), his two wolves, and his eight legged horse.
The Norse believed that Odin hosted those warrior who fell in battle at his hall of Valhalla. Since the Norse were a warlike people, they considered death in battle the ultimate glory. Therefore, they believed that the souls of those who died would join Odin in his role as the god of war after death. They would then spend their days fighting in battles and their nights drinking and feasting in his halls.
Given the Norse's beliefs about the glories of dying in battle, it is unsurprising that they believed their gods would die in battle. They believed that Odin, those warriors who had joined him at Valhalla, and Aesir would perish in a great apocalyptic battle called Rangnarok. The world itself and the universe would then be destroyed before being reborn.
