He forbade any of the other gods to grant him the slightest aid, not even a sip of water. Since the runes’ native home is in the Well of Urd with the Norns, and since the runes do not reveal themselves to any but those who prove themselves worthy of such fearful insights and abilities, Odin hung himself from a branch of Yggdrasil, pierced himself with his spear, and peered downward into the shadowy waters below. And he bent his will toward the task of coming to know the runes. Odin watched the Norns from his seat in Asgard and envied their powers and their wisdom. The symbols then carry these intentions throughout the tree, affecting everything in the Nine Worlds. One of the foremost techniques they use to shape fate is carving runes into Yggdrasil’s trunk. Among these beings are the Norns, three sagacious maidens who create the fates of all beings. Yggdrasil grows out of the Well of Urd, a pool whose fathomless depths hold many of the most powerful forces and beings in the cosmos. Yggdrasil’s upper branches cradle Asgard, the home and fortress of the Aesir gods and goddesses, of whom Odin is the chief. Rather, he was uncovering an extraordinarily potent system of magic.Īt the center of the Norse cosmos stands the great tree Yggdrasil. Thus, when Odin sought the runes, he wasn’t merely attempting to acquire a set of arbitrary representations of human vocal sounds. In fact, the word “rune” and its cognates across past and present Germanic languages mean both “letter” and “secret/mystery.” The letters called “runes” allow one to access, interact with, and influence the world-shaping forces they symbolize. Unlike the Latin alphabet, which is an essentially utilitarian script, the runes are symbols of some of the most powerful forces in the cosmos. The runes are the written letters that were used by the Norse and other Germanic peoples before the adoption of the Latin alphabet in the later Middle Ages. The tale of how he discovered the runes is another example of his unquenchable thirst for understanding the mysteries of life, not to mention his unstoppable will. The most outstanding feature of his appearance, his one eye, attests to this he sacrificed his other eye for more wisdom. The Norse god Odin is a relentless seeker after knowledge and wisdom, and is willing to sacrifice almost anything for this pursuit. The Codex Runicus, a law code written in runes (c. Book Review: Neil Price’s The Viking Way: Magic and Mind in Late Iron Age Scandinavia.Who Were the Indo-Europeans and Why Do They Matter?.The Swastika – Its Ancient Origins and Modern (Mis)use.The Old Norse Language and How to Learn It.The 10 Best Advanced Norse Mythology Books. The Vikings’ Conversion to Christianity.
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