which eye of Odin?


Which eye do you believe Óðinn sacrificed to gain a drink from Mímisbrunnr? And state why you think one way or the other.

 [Detail from Madeline von Foerster's Odin Exchanging His Eye for Wisdom (oil, 2003).]
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Guillermo Maytorena IV knew there was something special in the Norse Lore when he picked up a copy of the d'Aulaires' Norse Gods and Giants at age seven. Since then he's been fascinated by the truthful potency of Norse Mythology, passionately read & studied, embraced Ásatrú, launched the Map of Midgard project, and spearheaded the neologism/brand NorsePlay. If you have employment/opportunities in investigative mythology,  field research, or product development to offer, do contact him.

Comments

  1. Guillermo the IVthSeptember 2, 2017 at 2:36 PM

    Odin bronze statuette from Lindby, Svenstorp, Skåne, Sweden shows left eye absent:
    [From The Swedish History Museum in Stockholm.]
    mis.historiska.se - Visa föremål | Sök i samlingarna | Historiska museet

    ReplyDelete
  2. Guillermo the IVthDecember 7, 2017 at 5:30 PM

    Survive the Jive mentions that the Sutton Hoo helmet's left eye's garnet accent isn't gold backed, its darker depth implying a probable association with Odin's absent eye:
    youtube.com - An Eye For Odin

    ReplyDelete
  3. Tom RowsellDecember 8, 2017 at 1:41 AM

    Guillermo the IVth there are also examples where the right eye is missing on allegedly odinic representations. I doubt it mattered.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Guillermo the IVthDecember 8, 2017 at 2:42 PM

    Tom Rowsell: And since Odin could change his form (i.e. Bölverk to snake in Skáldskaparmál), odds are he could easily flip-flop missing eyes if he wanted. Yet, like Heathen Talk and others have pointed out, it seems we keep on asking, which might imply the arch-heathens would've asked the same question. Part of my bringing it up was to see if archaeology has a tally that has a majority result, and thereby get an FAQ-able answer. Would you know if someone's done a survey of Odinic representations that comes down one way or another?

    ReplyDelete

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