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Chapter 7. At the Well of Urð 184
so that informed decisions can be made, and the utilization of charms encourages
one to act in such a way that interactions between lineages can be accomplished in
a fashion that benefits all sometimes even seeming to defy the laws of probability.
But, for those so compelled, there is a method for gaining direct access to knowledge,
and this path has to do with the Drinking of Water from Mímir’s Well. It is the
path of the Whole-maker or the Cunning Man mentioned in Chapter 2.
The story of the drink from Mímir’s Well is short.
Óðínn, the chief of the Æsir, approached Mímir, the wisest of giants and
the Keeper of the Well, to ask if He too could drink from the Well of Knowledge.
Mímir was agreeable but told the Allfather that it was necessary to
leave a sacrifice. For a single draught of the Water, Óðínn left His eye in the
Well, but from the draught, He received immense knowledge and an almost
unquenchable thirst for more.
Because of the events in the tale and in spite of its shortness, Óðínn had always
been known to the ancient Germanic peoples as the “One-Eyed God.” The tale was
of common enough knowledge that most graphic or plastic representations depict
Him with only one eye, but why there is only small mention of it in the eddaic or
sagaic literature is not known. Perhaps, originally, there was a more complete tale
that has since been lost or, maybe, the tale of the draught was part of a larger tale.
No one knows for certain.
There is another tale involving Óðínn and one called Mímir. Although some
have debated whether this is the same Mímir, 20 Snorri Sturluson demonstrates no
doubt in the Ynglingasaga. After the war between the Æsir and the Vanir was over,
hostages were exchanged. One of the hostages sent by the Æsir was one called Mímir
(Mimr), and the Vanir were not completely satisfied with the trade-off. So, as a sign
of contempt
“they seized Mímir and beheaded Him and sent the head to the Æsir.
Odhin [sic] took it and embalmed it with herbs so that it would not rot, and
spoke charms over it, giving it magic power so that it would answer Him and
tell Him many occult things.” 21
Simek summarized the debate as to whether there were originally two beings or one.
“In the sagas of the Icelanders speaking heads are known but written of in
different contexts. They are particularly well known from shamanic practices,
20 A discussion of this debate and its proponents can be found in Simek’s Dictionary of
Northern Mythology (D. S. Brewer; Cambridge, UK) 1993, pp. 216-217.
21 Sturluson, Snorri Heimskringla, Lee Hollander, tr. (University of Texas Press; Austin, TX)
1964, p. 8.