Odin’s Discovery of the Runes

Author: Traditional Norse

Time Period: 1001 CE–1500 CE

Country or Culture: Scandinavia

Genre: Myth

PLOT SUMMARY

Odin is one of the most powerful Norse gods, drawing his might from wisdom, poetry, and magic. Along with many of the gods, he lives in Asgard, one of nine realms held in the sprawling branches of Yggdrasil, a magnificent and holy ash tree. The roots of Yggdrasil curl into the earth and the Well of Urd, a bottomless well filled with enchanted water that swirls with the magic of the universe.

The Well of Urd is also home to the Norns, powerful maidens who can control the destiny of gods and humans alike. They have many magical abilities and duties, including tending to the health of Yggdrasil itself, but one of their most significant acts involves carving runes into the trunk of the mighty tree. These runes are ancient symbols that allow one to interact directly with the cosmic forces of existence. When the Norns add a new rune to the bark of the tree, the entire course of history is altered. Time and time again, Odin watches this ritual, and he slowly becomes obsessed with gaining such powerful knowledge for himself.

Odin knows that wisdom as great at that held in the runes cannot be easily gained. Because of this, he goes to great lengths in order to prove himself worthy of this new magic. First, he hangs himself upside down from one of Yggdrasil’s branches and stares directly into the murky waters of the Well of Urd. Then, he takes his spear and pierces it into his side. Finally, he instructs the other gods to leave him there unbothered regardless of how much he seems to be suffering, insisting that they do not even bring him a sip of water. As nine days pass, Odin continually calls out to the runes, his voice growing raspier and raspier as he approaches death.

At long last, the waters begin to swirl, and the runes reveal themselves to Odin. He at once memorizes not only the shapes of the runes but also the ancient and mystical meanings attached to them. The revelation of the knowledge surpasses the pain of his body. Although he is already a formidable god, this new wisdom expands Odin’s power beyond the limits of his own imagination, and with only an incantation, he is now able to raise the dead, heal injured bodies, bind his enemies in battle, and summon love in one he desires.

SIGNIFICANCE

Odin is a recurrent god in the Norse pantheon, present from the creation of the earth and humans onward. Though he is a deity of war and destruction, much of his power comes not from violent battle but from his rich sources of wisdom and magical knowledge. His status as an early deity provides him with some innate mystical abilities, but Norse mythology makes clear that most of his powerful wisdom is attained through self-sacrifice (he even trades an eye for knowledge at one point), situating the acquisition of sacred learning as a holy pursuit.

In the myth of Odin’s discovery of the runes, the god not only sacrifices his body but also goes through a form of death and rebirth. The sacrifice required to obtain the knowledge of the runes is both expected and accepted; Odin does not attempt to learn the runes through any other method, and he clearly tells the other gods that he will appear to be in extreme pain while going through his ritual. Similarly, the myth makes clear that Odin approaches death by the ninth day of his hanging (nine being a holy number in Norse mythology), thus linking the acquisition of the runic knowledge with a symbolic rebirth. Odin craves the information that the runes provide, knowledge that includes the ability to bring people back from death; it is evident to the god, then, that he must put himself through a similar process in order to understand such ancient wisdom.

The history of runes in the Norse world is also significant in understanding this myth. Runic inscriptions were used by people in the region from around the first century CE, although they were replaced by the Latin alphabet with the introduction of Christianity around a millennium later. The myth of Odin’s discovery of the runes is one of many included in the Poetic Edda, a compilation of Norse mythology written after Christianity came to dominate the Norse world. When Odin accesses the secret knowledge of the runes, then, he is also in a way accessing the secret knowledge of the people and spiritual beliefs that existed prior to Christianity. These belief systems, displaced by time, have become in legend even more powerful and mystical, much like the Norns, who are hidden from the universe but still influence the course of history. Odin, then, goes through ancient rites of self-sacrifice and bodily harm in order to gain equally ancient knowledge, thus reviving it into his world.

While Christianity was widespread by the recording of the Poetic Edda in the thirteenth century CE, the worship of Odin and other ancient gods remained common for several centuries, especially in rural areas. The myth of his discovery of the runes manages ultimately to encapsulate this tension; described in the Latin alphabet, Odin hangs from a mystical ash tree, peering into a murky past for a wisdom he trusts is not quite lost yet.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Gard, Carolyn J. “Runes.” Calliope 13.5 (2003): 17. Print.

Krasskova, Galina. Exploring the Northern Tradition: A Guide to the Gods, Lords, Rites, and Celebrations from the Norse, German, and Anglo-Saxon Traditions. Franklin Lakes: Career, 2005. Print.

“Odin’s Discovery of the Runes.” Norse-Mythology.org. Dan McCoy, 2013. Web. 4 June 2013.

Ross, Margaret Clunies. A History of Old Norse Poetry and Poetics. Suffolk: Brewer, 2005. Print.

Starkey, Kathryn. “Imagining an Early Odin.” Scandinavian Studies 71.4 (1999): 373–93. Print.