Odin's Ordeal: A Retelling

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This story is for tree dwellers.

The source of this narrative is the Hávamál, an Old Norse poem that comprises part of the Poetic Edda.

Odin is a relentless and willing to sacrifice almost anything as a seeker after knowledge and wisdom.
He has an unquenchable thirst for understanding the mysteries of life.
He has an unstoppable will.

The runes are the written letters that were used by the Norse and other Germanic peoples.
They were used before the adoption of the Latin alphabet in the later Middle Ages.
The Latin alphabet is a utilitarian script which represents human vocal sounds.
The runes are symbols of some of the most powerful forces in the cosmos.
The letters called “runes” allow one to access, interact with, and influence the world-shaping forces they symbolize.

At the center of the Norse cosmos stands the great tree Yggdrasil. Yggdrasil’s upper branches cradle Asgard, the home and fortress of the Aesir gods and goddesses, of whom Odin is the chief.
Three Norns, known as sagacious maidens, create the fates of all beings. To shape fate, they carve runes into Yggdrasil’s trunk. This then carries the intentions throughout Yggdrasil, affecting everything in the Nine Worlds.
Yggdrasil grows out of the Well of Urd, a pool whose fathomless depths hold many of the most powerful forces and beings in the cosmos
Odin watched the Norns from his seat in Asgard and envied their powers and their wisdom. And he bent his will toward the task of coming to know the runes.
native home is in the Well of Urd
do not reveal themselves to any but those who prove themselves worthy of handling fearful insights and abilities

Odin hung himself from a branch of Yggdrasil
pierced himself with his spear
peered downward into the shadowy waters below
forbade any of the other gods to grant him the slightest aid
stared downward, and stared downward, and called to the runes.
teetered on the precipice that separates the living from the dead, for no less than nine days and nights

At the end of the ninth night, he at last perceived shapes in the depths: the runes!
They had accepted his sacrifice and shown themselves to him, revealing to him not only their forms
the secrets that lie within them.
Having fixed this knowledge in his formidable memory,
Odin ended his ordeal with a scream of exultation.

Having been initiated into the mysteries of the runes, Odin recounted:
Then I was fertilized and became wise;
I truly grew and thrived.
From a word to a word I was led to a word,
From a work to a work I was led to a work.
Equipped with the knowledge of how to wield the runes, he became one of the mightiest and most accomplished beings in the cosmos.
He learned chants that enabled him to heal emotional and bodily wounds, to bind his enemies and render their weapons worthless, to free himself from constraints, to put out fires, to expose and banish practitioners of malevolent magic, to protect his friends in battle, to wake the dead, to win and keep a lover, and to perform many other feats like these.

creative commons license? bc a historical doc?