The Hero of Neil Gaiman's "American Gods" Is Accompanied by a Mysterious Old Man Named Wednesday

The hero of Neil Gaiman's "American Gods" is accompanied by a mysterious old man named Wednesday. Perhaps one ought to have guessed sooner, and the sly old fellow would have ceased to seem so enigmatic, but the text offers no special explanation. As the book unfolds, the reader learns together with the protagonist that Wednesday is the incarnate god Odin.

In the ancient Germanic tradition the days of the week were dedicated to gods, and this left its mark on their English names:

Sunday: the day of the sun, from the goddess Sól,
Monday: the day of the moon, or of Máni, associated with it, the masculine god of the moon; they are brother and sister respectively.
Tuesday: the day of Tyr, or Tiw.
Wednesday: the day of Woden, that is, Odin.
Thursday: the day of Thunor, or Thor.
Friday: the day of the goddess Frigg or Freyja.
Saturday: the day of Saturn.

Of course, the seven-day week was identified with gods even in pre-Germanic times, originally with the heavenly bodies (the Sun, the Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Saturn); the Germanic peoples merely adapted the names to their own realities.