The gate of the year

Detail of an engraved stele of Viking age (VIII century), discovered in 1844 at Tjängvide, Gotland, Sweden, and now housed in the National History Museum (Historiska Museet), Stockholm. The image shows the god Odin riding his eight-legged horse, called Sleipnir.
Odin (Norse Óðinn, ancient German Wotan) was the chief god of Germanic mythology, and his name seems to have derived from the term óðr (“inspired mental activity”, “intelligence”) and thus signifying “the Inspired One”, “He who knows”, “the Intoxicated One”. This term is associated, through the Indo-European root *-wat with Latin vates, and Old Irish fàith, both with the meaning of “seer” (Rowe 2005). In mythology, Odin is the most powerful of the Æsir, the dominant group of gods, expert of enchantments and custodian of the secret knowledge, master in the rune scripture (an alphabet utilized by Germanic populations), patron of poets, lord of the battles and of warriors, and ruler over the dead.
Odin’s mythical deeds frequently implied a quest for knowledge and power. Most of his wisdom derives from the fact that he had the opportunity to drink a sip from the well guarded by the giant Mimir. In exchange for this privilege, he had to sacrifice one of his eyes: to be one-eyed is a symbol of his super-human knowledge. Furthermore, he owned two ravens, Huginn (“Thought”) and Muninn (“Memory”), which flew over the world and every morning came back to relate to the god all that had occurred. To obtain the knowledge of the runes, Odin remained hanging from the World Tree (Yggdrasil), for nine days and nine nights, an ordeal similar to a shamanic initiation. But the god is above all the warrior par excellence, magically fighting and delighting in battle. Odin was the god of the warrior frenzy, as recorded by Adam of Bremen (an author of the XI century): “Wodan id est furor”. He received the warriors fallen in the fight in his great hall, in the world of the gods, the Valhöll (Valhalla).
Odin’s horse, Sleipnir, with its eight legs, was an animal with magical qualities. It was able, indeed, to travel across the border separating the world of the living from the world of the dead: the horse was ridden by the god Hermóðr, to reach the goddess of the dead, Hel, and ask her the permission to bring back to earth the beautiful god Balder, who had been killed because of Loki’s malevolent cunning. Odin, riding his prodigious mount, manifest himself as the Lord of the dead: “The focus of Odin’s figure is in his continuous relationship with the realm of the dead. From this place, which he visits periodically repeating an initiatory journey, the god draws every power and ability: so everyone who worships him and consecrates himself to him should not fear neither sacrifice nor death” (Chiesa Isnardi 1991, p. 212).

[Image: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Tj%C3%A4ngvide.jpg]




Male Symbols

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Detail of an engraved stele of Viking age (VIII century), discovered in 1844 at Tjängvide, Gotland, Sweden, and now housed in the National History Museum (Historiska Museet), Stockholm. The image shows the god Odin riding his eight-legged horse, called Sleipnir. Odin (Norse Óðinn, ancient German Wotan) was the chief god of Germanic mythology, and his name seems to have derived from the term óðr (“inspired mental activity”, “intelligence”) and thus signifying “the Inspired One”, “He who knows”, “the Intoxicated One”. This term is associated, through the Indo-European root *-wat with Latin vates, and Old Irish fàith, both with the meaning of “seer” (Rowe 2005). In mythology, Odin is the most powerful of the Æsir, the dominant group of gods, expert of enchantments and custodian of the secret knowledge, master in the rune scripture (an alphabet utilized by Germanic populations), patron of poets, lord of the battles and of warriors, and ruler over the dead. Odin’s mythical deeds frequently implied a quest for knowledge and power. Most of his wisdom derives from the fact that he had the opportunity to drink a sip from the well guarded by the giant Mimir. In exchange for this privilege, he had to sacrifice one of his eyes: to be one-eyed is a symbol of his super-human knowledge. Furthermore, he owned two ravens, Huginn (“Thought”) and Muninn (“Memory”), which flew over the world and every morning came back to relate to the god all that had occurred. To obtain the knowledge of the runes, Odin remained hanging from the World Tree (Yggdrasil), for nine days and nine nights, an ordeal similar to a shamanic initiation. But the god is above all the warrior par excellence, magically fighting and delighting in battle. Odin was the god of the warrior frenzy, as recorded by Adam of Bremen (an author of the XI century): “Wodan id est furor”. He received the warriors fallen in the fight in his great hall, in the world of the gods, the Valhöll (Valhalla). Odin’s horse, Sleipnir, with its eight legs, was an animal with magical qualities. It was able, indeed, to travel across the border separating the world of the living from the world of the dead: the horse was ridden by the god Hermóðr, to reach the goddess of the dead, Hel, and ask her the permission to bring back to earth the beautiful god Balder, who had been killed because of Loki’s malevolent cunning. Odin, riding his prodigious mount, manifest himself as the Lord of the dead: “The focus of Odin’s figure is in his continuous relationship with the realm of the dead. From this place, which he visits periodically repeating an initiatory journey, the god draws every power and ability: so everyone who worships him and consecrates himself to him should not fear neither sacrifice nor death” (Chiesa Isnardi 1991, p. 212). [Image: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Tj%C3%A4ngvide.jpg]