The Norse Gods are the Real Deal

[The Grand Nudger]

Probably not, no, later christianization - hanging on a tree, pierced by the spear of destiny, a sacrifice unto himself - that's far too cute.  In a potentially less corrupted (and more nuanced) version of the narrative he gave his eye for the gift of sight (by runes and other means).  He's a deeply flawed character, btw, really dicks people over (even people he loves, even himself) in an unrelenting quest for the greatest sum of all knowledge.  I'd say it's a mix between an aspirational and cautionary tale.  More than any of this his greatest attribute in the narratives seems to be the application of an accord between agrarian gods and wargods (the latter camp he's a member of).  Through clever marriages, adventures, and assimilation he brought together two warring powers to defeat a third, a greater evil - as it were.

Despite all of that, he doesn't seem to be beyond the business of dispensing practical advice, enjoy.....
http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/havamal.html

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89.
Now plainly I speak, since both I have seen;
unfaithful is man to maid;
we speak them fairest when thoughts are falsest
and wile the wisest of hearts.
90.
-- Let him speak soft words and offer wealth
who longs for a woman's love,
praise the shape of the shining maid --
he wins who thus doth woo.

91.
-- Never a whit should one blame another
whom love hath brought into bonds:
oft a witching form will fetch the wise
which holds not the heart of fools.

92.
Never a whit should one blame another
for a folly which many befalls;
the might of love makes sons of men
into fools who once were wise.

93.
The mind knows alone what is nearest the heart
and sees where the soul is turned:
no sickness seems to the wise so sore
as in nought to know content.

-bolded my favorite bit

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