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ODIN'S GAME |
Norse Mythology, Ragnarok, and the Mystery of the Runes |
ODIN
The high value of the set is fittingly reserved for the Allfather himself, Odin, ruler of Asgard.
He is shown riding into battle after Heimdal has blown the blast that announces Ragnarök, the ravens of prophecy perched on Odin's shoulders. Astride the eight-legged horse Sleipner, Odin's valor will come to naught on the final day. The voracious Fenriswolf, having swallowed the sun and the moon, has now fastened his fangs on the lord of Asgard. Known variously as Wotan or Woden, Odin is not the war-loving sky god of popular imagination. His meaning in the Norse pantheon is a complex one. Odin was always associated with individual illumination and insight, a role that is suggested by his sacrifice of an eye to gain knowledge from the sage dwarf Mimir who guards the sacred cauldron of knowledge known as Urd. And it is Odin who hangs on the world tree for nine days and nights until he receives the revelation of the runes*of magic and prophesy, an alphabet whose secret meanings intrigue us to this day. If we would look for a parallel among other spiritual paths, the "Enlightened One" of Buddhist tradition comes to mind. The legend of Faust is a literary expression of the Odin quest. Odin's divinity is a limited one-he is not omniscient and he is not immortal. His tragedy, and the tragedy of Asgard, is that though he knows the end is coming, Odin is caught in an inexorable fate that is more powerful than the gods themselves. The ravens perched on Odin's shoulders are named Huginn (Thought) and Muninn (Memory) and further identify Odin with the quest for enlightenment. Ravens were believed to be messengers who could discover lost and hidden knowledge. As carrion eaters and omens of death, they link Odin with the afterlife. Like the Egyptian Osiris overseeing the sprit world, so Odin presides over Valhalla, the warriors' afterworld, and has the power of necromancy.
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Dr. Highland's StampWhys feature, now in its second year, appears the first of the month in Linn's Stamps News.