I'm not sure Zantetsuken has all that much influence. There were several people hanging around it during the Odin Trial quests, and it chose only one to Temper (or, Sever, rather) - and given that we did not see this Tempering occur, that individual might have made the mistake of handling the sword unsupervised (in his defense, if I recall correctly it was during or after that incident that the characters in the questline began to speculate that the sword itself might be the Primal, so his tragic mistake might be forgivable). It could be that it is only able to affect those that touch it, so it may be perfectly safe for the WoL to wield without going all One Ring. I guess it could Temper the folks that the WoL cuts down with it, but fat lot of good that will do. XD

Quote Originally Posted by Balipu View Post
We know that this is not true as Odin IS the sword, but some grain of truth might be in the story.
There may well once have been an Odin apart from the sword who took it from an Au Ra, just as described - and this person could have been a great enough warrior that Zantetsuken honors his memory by transforming its wielders to have Odin's appearance (or, at least his armor).