The Well of Mimir

                As my first post, I thought it would be useful to explain a bit about the name of this blog.

                In the Germanic myths, Mimir is a deity associated with otherworldly wisdom, who gives council to Odin/Woden. Mimir, in the days of the war between the Vanir gods and the Aesir gods, was beheaded. Woden, wishing to preserve Mimir’s knowledge, sprinkled herbs and recited spells over the god’s head, and placed him at the bottom of a well. This well was located at the root of the world tree Yggdrasil in Jotunheim, land of the giants.

                The well in which Mimir resides has the power to grant vast amounts of knowledge to whoever drinks of its waters. But all must pay a price to taste it. Even the Allfather Woden himself had to sacrifice one of his eyes to drink from it. In return, he gained knowledge of the universe few had.

    Verse 28 of Lee M. Hollander’s translation of the Eddaic poem Voluspá, or The Prophercy of the Seeress, states:

                “Alone she sat out           when the lord of gods,

                Óthin the old,                    her eye did seek:

                ‘What seekest to know,       why summon me?

                Well know I, Ygg,              where thy eye is hidden:

                In the wondrous              well of Mimir;

                Each morn Mimir              his mead doth drink

                Out of Fjolnir’s pledge’”*

    This theme of suffering and receiving wisdom in return is a prominent theme in the stories of Woden. I will likely return to this theme in a future post, when my thoughts are organized enough to grant it the proper attention.

                I chose this name for the blog because I try to emulate Woden in my life. I do this for many reasons that are too numerous to name here. But, I will say that Woden, by his very nature, is a sufferer. But it is by this suffering that he obtains his wisdom. Just like him, I seek the Well of Mimir so that I may obtain the knowledge for the betterment of my own life.

    The things I will write about in this blog include, but are not limited to, literature and Germanic culture and myth. Occasionally I will throw in a random musing here and there.

                My next post will be about the short story, The Tower of the Elephant by Robert E. Howard.

*I understand the language in this verse can be confusing to the uninitiated. I will try to clarify a few things. This poem is being told by a seeress, hence the name.  The poem is switched back and forth between being told from first to third person, which can make some things confusing. In the first line, "she sat out" is a reference to the seeress communing with various spirits of the dead to gain information. She then says that she knows Ygg (a name of Odin, meaning "the terrible one") has hidden his eyein the well of Mimir, where he drinks to obtain knowledge. Fjolnir is another name of Odin, meaning "the wise one" or "the concealer." Fjlonir's pledge is a skaldic term which refer's to Odin's sacrifice.