Odin’s hat represents the arched vault of heaven, and his blue or
variegated cloak is the blue sky or atmosphere, and both these symbolize
protection.
Odin’s ravens, Hugin (reflection) and Munin (memory), have been
mentioned before. They are perched upon his shoulders and whisper into
his ears what they see and hear. He sends them out at daybreak to fly
over the world, and they come back at eve toward meal-time. Hence it is
that Odin knows so much and is called Rafnagud (raven-god). Most
beautifully does Odin express himself about these ravens in Grimner’s
lay, in the Elder Edda:
Hugin and Munin
Fly each day
Over the spacious earth.
I fear for Hugin
That he come not back,
Yet more anxious am I for Munin.
And in Odin’s Raven-song, Hug (Hugin) goes forth to explore the heavens.
Odin’s mind, then, is the flying raven; he is the spiritual ruler.
Odin has two wolves, Gere and Freke (the greedy one and the voracious
one). Odin gives the meat that is set on his table to these two wolves;
for he himself stands in no need of food. Wine is for him both meat and
drink. Thus the Elder Edda, in Grimner’s lay:
Gere and Freke
Feeds the war-faring,
Triumphant father of hosts;
For ’tis with wine only
That Odin in arms renowned
Is nourished forever.
To meet a wolf is a good omen. Odin amusing himself with his wolves is
an exquisite theme for the sculptor.
Odin had a ring called Draupner. We find its history in the
conversations of Brage, the second part of the Younger Edda. Loke had
once out of malice cut all the hair off Sif, the wife of Thor. But when
Thor found this out he seized Loke and would have crushed every bone in
him if he had not sworn to get the elves of darkness to make golden hair
for Sif, that would grow like other hair. Then went Loke to the dwarfs,
that are called Ivald’s sons, and they made the hair, and Skidbladner
(Frey’s ship), and the spear that Odin owned and is called Gungner. Then
Loke wagered his head with the dwarf, whose name is Brok, that his
brother, Sindre, would not be able to make three more treasures as good
as those three just named. The brothers went to the smithy. Sindre put a
pig-skin in the furnace and bade Brok blow the bellows and not stop
before Sindre took that out of the furnace which he had put into it. A
fly set itself on Brok’s hand and stung him, but still he continued
blowing the bellows, and that which Sindre took out was a boar with
golden bristles. Then Sindre put gold into the furnace. This time the
fly set itself on Brok’s neck, and stung him worse, but he continued
blowing the bellows, and that which the smith took out was the gold ring
Draupner (from the verb meaning _to drop_). The third time Sindre put
iron in the furnace, and bade his brother be sure to continue blowing or
all would be spoiled. Now the fly set itself between his eyes and stung
his eye-lids. The blood ran down into his eyes, so that he could not
see; then Brok let go of the bellows just for a moment to drive the fly
away. That which the smith now took out was a hammer. Sindre gave his
brother these treasures and bade him go to Asgard to fetch the wager. As
now Loke and Brok came each with his treasures, the asas seated
themselves upon their thrones and held consult, and Odin, Thor and Frey
were appointed judges who should render a final decision. Then Loke gave
Odin the spear, which never would miss its mark; Thor he gave the hair,
which immediately grew fast upon Sif’s head; and to Frey he gave the
ship, which always got fair wind as soon as the sails were hoisted, no
matter where its captain was going, and it could also be folded as a
napkin and put into the pocket, if this were desirable. Thereupon Brok
came forward and gave Odin the ring, and said that every ninth night a
ring equally heavy would drop from it. To Frey he gave the boar, and
said that it could run in the air and on the sea, night and day, faster
than any horse, and the night never was so dark, nor the other worlds so
gloomy, but that it would be light where this boar was present, so
bright shone its bristles. To Thor he gave the hammer, and said that
with it he might strike as large an object as he pleased; it would never
fail, and when he threw it he should not be afraid of losing it, for no
matter how far it flew it would always return into his hand, and at his
wish it would become so small that he might conceal it in his bosom, but
it had one fault, and that was that the handle was rather short.
According to the decision of the gods, the hammer was the best of all
the treasures, and especially as a protection against the frost-giants;
they accordingly decided that the dwarf had won the wager. The latter
now wanted Loke’s head. Loke offered to redeem it in some way, but the
dwarf would accept no alternatives. Well take me then, said Loke, and in
a moment he was far away, for he had shoes with which he could run
through the air and over the sea. Then the dwarf asked Thor to seize
him, which was done; but when the dwarf wanted to cut his head off, Loke
said: The head is yours, but not the neck.[35] Then took the dwarf
thread and knife and wanted to pierce Loke’s lips, so as to sew his lips
together, but the knife was not sharp enough. Now it were well, if I had
my brother’s awl, said he, and instantaneously the awl was there, and it
was sharp. Then the dwarf sewed Loke’s lips together. (The dwarfs are
here represented as smiths of the gods.)
The ring Draupner is a symbol of fertility. Odin placed this ring on
Balder’s funeral pile and it was burnt with Balder (the summer), and
when Balder sent this ring back to Odin, his wife, the flower-goddess
Nanna, sent Frigg, the wife of Odin, a carpet (of grass), which
represents the return of vegetation and fruitfulness. Balder sends the
ring back as a memento of the fair time when he and his father (Odin)
worked together, and reminds the father of all, that he must continue to
bless the earth and make it fruitful. But this is not all; this ring
also symbolizes the fertility of the mind, the creative power of the
poet, the evolution of one thought from the other, the wonderful chain
of thought. The rings fell from Draupner as drop falls from drop. Ideas
do not cling fast to their parent, but live an independent life when
they are born; and the idea or thought, when once awakened, does not
slumber, but continues to grow and develop in man after man, in
generation after generation, evolving constantly new ideas until it has
grown into a unique system of thought. If we, as our fathers undoubtedly
did, make this gold ring typify the historical connection between times
and events, a ring constantly multiplying and increasing with ring
interlinked with ring in time’s onward march, what a beautiful golden
chain there has been formed from time’s morning until now!
Odin had a spear called Gungner. The word means producing a violent
shaking or trembling, and it most thoroughly shook whomsoever was hit by
it. As has been seen above, it was made by the sons of Ivald (the
dwarfs), and was presented to Odin by Loke. Odin speeds forth to the
field of battle with golden helmet, resplendent armor, and his spear
Gungner. Oath was taken on the point of Gungner. This spear is
frequently referred to in the semi-mythological Sagas, where spears are
seen flying over the heads of the enemy; they are panic-stricken and
defeated. Spears are sometimes seen as meteorical phenomena, showing
that war is impending. The spear symbolizes Odin’s strength and power.
When Odin’s spear was thrown over anybody, Odin thereby marked him as
his own. Did not Odin wound himself with a spear, and thereby consecrate
himself to heaven? (See pp. 254-261.) When Odin puts the spear into the
hands of the warrior, it means that he awakens and directs his deeds of
valor. When Odin is the god of poetry and eloquence (Anglo-Saxon _wód_),
then the spear Gungner is the keen, stinging satire that can be
expressed in poetry and oratory.
Odin’s horse Sleipner (slippery) was the most excellent horse. Runes
were carved on his teeth. The following myth gives us an account of his
birth: When the gods were constructing their abodes, and had already
finished Midgard and Valhal, a certain artificer came and offered to
build them, in the space of three half years, a residence so well
fortified that they should be perfectly safe from the incursions of the
frost-giants and the giants of the mountains, even though they should
have penetrated within Midgard. But he demanded for his reward the
goddess Freyja, together with the sun and moon. After long deliberation
the gods agreed to his terms, provided he would finish the whole work
himself without any one’s assistance, and all within the space of one
winter; but if anything remained unfinished on the first day of summer,
he should forfeit the recompense agreed on. On being told these terms,
the artificer stipulated that he should be allowed the use of his horse,
called Svadilfare (slippery-farer), and this by the advice of Loke was
granted to him. He accordingly set to work on the first day of winter,
and during the night let his horse draw stone for the building. The
enormous size of the stones struck the gods with astonishment, and they
saw clearly that the horse did one half more of the toilsome work than
his master. Their bargain, however, had been concluded in the presence
of witnesses and confirmed by solemn oaths, for without these
precautions a giant would not have thought himself safe among the gods,
especially when Thor returned from an expedition he had then undertaken
toward the east against evil demons.
As the winter drew to a close, the building was far advanced, and the
bulwarks were sufficiently high and massive to render this residence
impregnable. In short, when it wanted but three days to summer, the only
part that remained to be finished was the gateway. Then sat the gods on
their seats of justice and entered into consultation, inquiring of one
another who among them could have advised to give Freyja away to
Jotunheim or to plunge the heavens in darkness by permitting the giant
to carry away the sun and the moon. They all agreed that none but Loke
Laufeyarson and the author of so many evil deeds could have given such
bad counsel, and that he should be put to a cruel death if he did not
contrive some way or other to prevent the artificer from completing his
task and obtaining the stipulated recompense. They immediately proceeded
to lay hands on Loke, who in his fright promised upon oath, that let it
cost him what it would he would so manage matters that the man should
lose his reward. That very night, when the artificer went with
Svadilfare for building-stone, a mare suddenly ran out of a forest and
began to neigh. The horse being thus excited, broke loose and ran after
the mare into the forest, which obliged the man also to run after his
horse, and thus between one and the other the whole night was lost, so
that at dawn the work had not made the usual progress. The man, seeing
that he had no other means of completing his task, resumed his own
gigantic stature, and the gods now clearly perceived that it was in
reality a mountain giant who had come amongst them. No longer regarding
their oaths, they therefore called on Thor, who immediately ran to their
assistance, and lifting up his mallet Mjolner (the crusher) that the
dwarfs had made, he paid the workman his wages, not with the sun and
moon, and not even by sending him back to Jotunheim, for with the first
blow he shattered the giant’s skull to pieces, and hurled him headlong
into Niflheim. But Loke had run such a race with Svadilfare, that
shortly after the mischief-maker (Loke) bore a gray foal with eight
legs. This is the horse Sleipner, which excels all horses ever possessed
by gods or men. The gods perjured themselves, and in reference to this
says the Elder Edda:
Then went the rulers there,
All gods most holy,
To their seats aloft,
And counsel together took;
Who all the winsome air
With guile had blended,
Or to the giant’s race
Oder’s maiden given.[36]
Then Thor, who was there,
Arose in wrathful mood,
For seldom sits he still
When such things he hears.
Annulled were now all oaths,
And words of promise fair,
And faith not long before
In council plighted.
This riddle is propounded. Who are the two who ride to the Thing? Three
eyes have they together, ten feet and one tail; and thus they travel
through the lands. The answer is Odin, who rides on Sleipner; he has one
eye, the horse two; the horse runs on eight feet, Odin has two; only the
horse has a tail.
Odin’s horse, Sleipner, symbolizes the winds of heaven, that blow from
eight quarters. In Skaane and Bleking, in Sweden, it was customary to
leave a sheaf of grain in the field for Odin’s horse, to keep him from
treading down the grain. Wednesday is named after Odin (Odinsday), and
on this day his horse was most apt to visit the fields. But in a higher
sense Sleipner is a Pegasos. Pegasos flew from the earth to the abodes
of the gods; Sleipner comes from heaven, carries the hero unharmed
through the dangers of life, and lifts the poet, who believes in the
spirit, up to his heavenly home. Grundtvig calls Sleipner the courser of
the poet’s soul; that is to say, of the Icelandic or Old Norse strophe
in poetry, which consisted of eight verses, or four octometers. The most
poetic is the most truthful interpretation of the myths.