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Chapter 7. At the Well of Urð 185
but they are also known in Celtic areas where the link can be found between
an oracle-speaking head and a spring. Therefore, it is not necessary to try
to separate the tales of the speaking head of Mimr and the wise Mímir into
two distinct myths” 22
At least by Snorri’s time, the beings were considered to be the same.
In recent years, this particular myth has received much attention, as has the
tale of Óðínn’s hanging from the Tree to receive the runes. Ralph Metzner’s book
cited in several places in this book, The Well of Remembrance (the name Mímir is
etymologically related to the word “memory”), is even named after the Well. Much of
this speculation comes from a growing interest in the area of shamanism both ancient
and modern (called “neo-shamanism”). Some of these researchers interpret the tale
so that Óðínn has not really lost his eye but keeps it closed so that He can look
constantly inside himself, the eye of self-reflection; others think that the eye allows
him a different perspective of the world, one that is separate from Himself. Neither
psychological nor literary interpretations will serve the purpose here, however. Only
the idea that the Well exists and can be drunk from is important.
Before moving on to the discussion of the Well, the matter of the Whole-maker
needs to be made clear. There are obvious shamanic elements in much of the eddaic
poetry, and with these observations, there are arguments both for and against the
idea that shamanism in any form played a role in the development and maintenance
of the Germanic religious, agricultural, and medical practices. The term sometimes
equated with northern shamanism is seiðr, and many others interpret this to mean
simply a form of divination. Gundarsson, in a lengthy review of both eddaic and
sagaic sources, concludes his position by stating
“It is, thus, fairly clear that the Norse (and probably, as far as we can tell)
the other Germanic peoples did not have their own shamanism [my emphasis].
However, it is also clear that they sporadically incorporated shamanic
elements into their magical practice and a few of these elements may even
have survived from earliest times.” 23
He further goes on to say that any speculation that shamanism’s being a part of
early Teutonic culture is a distortion or a misrepresentation of the belief system of
the Germanic forbears. It should be mentioned that Mr. Gundarsson speaks as
one of the reconstructionists, being the Warder of the Lore for one of the largest
’Ása-faith reconstructionist groups and, as such, has a vested concern in the proper
reconstitution of the beliefs of his ancestors.
1995.
22 Dictionary of Northern Mythology, R. Simek, p. 217, 1993
23 Gundarsson, Kveldulf ”Spæ-craft, Seiðr, and Shamanism” Idunna, vol. #27, Midsummer,