Hide Post I'll accept that Neil "confirmed" Koanju's suggestion for Shadow's name, but what I can't accept is that the name really describes his identity. I see at least three different mythological identities surfacing in Shadow.



1. Baldur - sure, the mistletoe references, the fact that he's Odin's son, the fact that he's always described as having a "good heart," and the "new spring" at the end seem to point to Baldur. But it's just not enough. It also bothers me that the only important legend about Baldur is the legend of his death, and Shadow doesn't die the way Baldur does.



2. Thor - 1932 suicide or no 1932 suicide, some of the elements just point too strongly to Thor to completely discount his presence. First Shadow calls an enormous winter storm, later on the tree he first feels "fully alive" in the midst of the storm, and the description of his ride on the thunderbird implies a major affinity with the beast and the natural force it represented.



3. The Fisher King - while the stories of Odin on the tree, Prometheus on the rock, etc. are numerous and old, I don't think that the notion of the "death and rebirth of the king leads to the rebirth of the land" is part of all of them. Odin's "vigil" seems to have been about personal growth and insight, not revitalization of the land. The connection suggested by the fact that "The Land" speaks to Shadow in his dreams indicates that he has a deeper spiritual connection to this particular area than "Baldur the Norse god" would.



In short, I think that whatever it may have read on Shadow's birth certificate, his actual IDENTITY is far more complex than one simple name. I think he's a new, American God, one with native blood and the strengths and affinities of his father's other sons. What do others think?