I found this odd relationship, $x^2 = \sum_\limits{k = 0}^{x-1} (2k + 1)$. I stumbled across this relationship while I was messing around. What's the proof, and how do I understand it intuitively? It doesn't really make sense to me that the sum of odd numbers up to $2x + 1$ should equal $x^2$.

The standard proof without words is as follows:
1   12    123    1234    ...
    22    223    2234
          333    3334
                 4444

