Untitled - Awaken Video

Chapter 7. At the Well of Urð 193
stage hands “behind the scenes” manipulating and rearranging the unseen. To be
able to do so, however, they had to leave the stageof culture and society placing
themselves in the same position as the outlaw or the “vargr.” They worked by a
different set of rules than their communities of origin (which may have, incidently,
included the phenomenon of the “berdache”). They worked unseen by normal eyes,
in the world of dreams and visions, and, because of this they were not to be trusted.
Óðínn, although chief of the Æsir, kept company with wolves–the most despised
of animals, was an oath-breaker, was unfaithful to those who trusted in Him (including
his wife), was a thief, a necromancer, traveled in disguise (a perverse behavior in
a society where lineage and knowledge of lineage was important), was a liar, was able
to murder by magic, and, generally, was not overly trusted by even those who put
their faith in Him as a patron God. His behavior was often sociopathic and erratic
not unlike descriptions of circumpolar shamans or Germanic or Celtic visionaries
and saints. In spite of this, He was tolerated and revered, and even feared because
of His knowledge and power to manipulate events. Such seemed to be the role of
the northern wizard.
“Drinking at Mímir’s Well,” if this position can be accepted, had to have been a
loathsome choice of lifestyle for the Germanic peoples, requiring a sacrifice not many
were willing to give: the sanctuary of community for the freedom of the outlaw, the
love of relatives and friends for their fear and derision. The knowledge to which they
had access, if Óðínn’s behaviors can be used as the prime example, often required
the sacrifice of lives or engaging in behaviors which were often counter to those
commonly deemed acceptable so to attain or strive for goals which were far beyond
the scope of understanding for the average man. In Óðínn’s case, all odd behaviors
such as those mentioned above, and, including the one which Loki accused Him of
in “The Insolence of Loki,”
“Be quiet, Óðínn! You never could
decide a fight fairly.
I know how often you have allowed
the weaker man to win!” 36
were all towards a single end: the staving off of the Ragnarök. He acted in such a way
to prevent the early demise the Tree, and in so doing, there were necessary sacrifices
along the way including His own son and His own eye. It almost seems that He was
compelled or being driven by a force outside Himself towards the preservation of the
76.
36 Terry, Patricia The Poems of the Elder Edda (University of Pennsylvania Press) 1990, p.