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to report what they had discovered.
Yggdrasil was also a source of
knowledge for Odin. Key to this was
Odin’s knowledge of runes, gained
through an act of auto-sacrifice: he
hung himself from Yggdrasil for nine
days, impaled on his own spear. Thecruelty, their names both meant
“ravenous” or “greedy.” They
roamed battlefields feeding on
corpses. At feasts, Odin gave his
food to his pet wolves, subsisting
only on wine himself. He was also
accompanied by the Valkyries
(“Choosers of the Slain”), who
conducted the souls of the bravest
men killed in combat to Valhalla to
join his personal band of dead
warriors. In this way, the cosmic
order mirrored the human order:
for the Viking-age Norse, the chief
and his personal retinue were at
the center of society. ■water of Mímir’s Well gave wisdom.
For a single drink from the well,
Odin tore out one of his eyes and left
it in the well as a pledge. His search
for knowledge had one purpose: he
had foreseen his death at Ragnarök
and sought a way to defy fate. From
his ordeal, Odin gained the ability to
use runes, which granted him
powers far beyond the other gods’.Valhalla
Odin became a great warrior who
was known for his “Hall of the
Slain,” Valhalla. The vast hall,
roofed with spears, had 540 doors,
each so wide that 800 warriors
could march abreast through it. It
was a paradise where the einherjar,
fallen warriors, could feast on pork
and mead. The promise of Valhalla
must have been a comfort to a
Viking warrior facing death in
battle, but most preferred to live
and enjoy the spoils of victory. Only
“berserkers” actively sought death
in battle so as to be guaranteed
entry to Valhalla. These animalistic
warriors worked themselves into a
trancelike fury before each battle.
Odin’s bloodlust was immense.
Two wolves, Geri and Freki, were
his companions. Symbols of hisOdin hangs from the branches of the
World Tree. It is possibly from this
episode that Yggdrasil gets its name.
It means “Ygg’s horse,” Ygg being one
of many alternative names for Odin.Runes
Runes were the individual
letters of the runic alphabet,
the indigenous writing system
of the early Germanic peoples.
The Norse believed that Odin
gave runes to the world, but
in reality they were probably
derived from the Latin alphabet.
It is likely that the runic
alphabet, known as the futhark
after its first six letters, was
originally designed to be
inscribed on wood. Runes
avoided curved lines, which
were awkward to carve, andhorizontal lines, which would
have been difficult to distinguish
from the grain of the wood.
Runes were more than just
letters. They were powerful
symbols, each of which had its
own meaningful, magical name.
Norse priests used runes both
to write spells and in their
memorials to the dead. Runes
slowly fell out of use after the
conversion of the Norse to
Christianity in the 10th and 11th
centuries because of their pagan
associations. By the 15th century,
the Latin alphabet had replaced
runes in Scandinavia.These runic letters feature on one
of two 11th-century memorial rune
stones found at Bjärby, on the island
of Öland, Sweden.All those men who have
fallen in battle from the
beginning of the world
are now come to
Odin in Valhalla.
Prose EddaUS_134-139_Odin.indd 139 30/11/17 4:56 pm