How did the Norse first thought of the Gods like Odin?

Answer 1

There is no contemporary document (or even any rock carving) that gives a clear answer to that question. But generally speaking, religion in the early days of mankind developed everywhere to provide answers to the many things that early civilizations could not understand. People saw around them an often hostile and unpredictable environment that (it's the one thing that separates us from the other animal species) they wanted to understand and control. "A god does it' was an acceptable answer to everything from "what makes the corn grow or the thunder roll" to 'what makes me win a fight with a neighboring tribe". Man early on reasoned that control then could be achieved by recognizing and pacifying the gods who were responsible for all those natural phenomena or by getting their support in man's peaceful or warlike endeavors.

The Normans - living as they did in an often grim environment and who as seafarers risked their life with every voyage - made sure that they had a god to support them in every eventuality. They also had a tendency to see life as a continuous struggle between forces of good and evil. This, combined with a long tradition of Norse storytelling, led to a great body of Norse myths, songs and sagas in which all those gods, trolls and giants were given names, characteristics and ways in which they controlled the natural world.