06/08/2025
THE GREAT ODIN🖤⚓️
The Vikings Wisdom💯
Odin was chosen as the leader of the Aesir, and they began to call him the Father of Gods and Men, or even the Allfather, because he and his brothers created the very first Men, and many of the Gods were his children or younger relatives, and according to custom they called their eldest father.
The Gods imparted much knowledge to the human race; but before they could teach, they themselves had to learn everything, and there was no science in which Odin did not surpass all the others. Only his brothers, Vili and Ve, knew him when he was young. All the others remembered Odin as a gray-bearded and one-eyed man. And they thought that it was his diligence in learning and wisdom that had aged him, and not his years at all.
But Odin still thought that his knowledge was incomplete. How can one teach Men without knowing suffering and pain? How can one take and give life without knowing what death means? How can one finally gain unprecedented, supreme wisdom, comprehend the secrets of magic spells, learn to look into the future, the past and into all nine worlds? Will it not be necessary to die and be reborn again to another life – in full power?
Odin left Asgard and went northeast, to Utgard, to the Land of Giants. There, where under the root of the World Tree, the wisdom-giving spring eternally bubbles. Odin wanted to scoop from it and drink, but it was not to be. The guards of the spring did not let the Father of the Gods near the shore and did not let him taste a drop, demanding payment. Odin argued with them for a long time, and finally it was decided that he would give them his eye. And so they did. Odin's eye died, and the leader of the Aesir immediately acquired spiritual vision, the ability to see not only the living, but also the dead: after all, it is known that the dead and the living are sighted only in their own worlds, only he who is half blind sees everyone at once, for he has a living eye and a dead eye. And, indeed, Odin would not have preferred his old vision to the new one. But the People think that the wisdom-giving drink did not seem sweet to him, since he had to taste cruel pain along with wisdom. And so it is with People now.
But the wounded eye socket began to heal, and Odin realized that this was not enough, that the full divine power had not yet come to him. He thought for a long time and finally decided that he had to go through death. He made a loop, fixed it on the World Tree... And before throwing himself down, he asked his spear to deliver the fatal blow:
- You have never let me down. Do not let me down now.
The spear shook, but did not dare to disobey - and for nine days, according to the number of worlds, the leader of the Gods hung on a branch, swaying under the gusts of an unprecedented wind. The noose tightened around his throat, and blood from the wound oozed in drops onto the ground. Visions flashed and flashed, revealing secret after secret... Thus Odin sacrificed himself to himself. Since then, they say, People have adopted the custom of choosing a leader, putting a noose around his neck and touching his body with a spear, dedicating him to Odin. And it happens that the noose suddenly tightens, and the spear pierces the new leader by itself, if the Allfather has decided to call him to his banquet halls. And Odin is sometimes called the God of the Hanged. After all, he too hung without food and without water, accepting mortal torment and looking at the Earth and Heavens now with a living gaze, now with a dead one...
His Initiation, a secret ascent to the highest knowledge, lasted eight nights, and only on the ninth morning did Odin receive a reward: he noticed rune letters beneath him, inscribed on the stones. And immediately the rope broke, and Odin fell to the ground, barely managing to catch the magic signs.
That is when the World Tree received its name - Yggdrasil, that is, the Horse of Ygg, because Ygg - "Terrible" - is one of the many names that Odin called himself. And the gallows is sometimes called a "horse"...
The resurrected Odin lay powerless on the ground, clutching the runes in his hands, and the wise Giant Bolthorn, his mother's father, approached him. He gave his grandson mead to drink and sang him nine songs of wisdom that he had never heard before. Odin taught the Gods and People to cut and paint the runes, and he who learns to at least draw them in order, one after another, all twenty-four, gains considerable strength. But one should know that a mistake in drawing the runes can cause terrible harm instead of benefit: great knowledge requires great caution, and this should be remembered.
And so it is that a word gives birth to a word, and a deed gives birth to a deed - he who generously shares his wisdom never ends up at a loss. No matter how much Odin taught the Gods and People, his knowledge only increased from this. He knew how to help a person overcome with grief, healing his soul. He knew how to heal the wounds of the body and bring life back to the murdered. He could dull enemy swords in battle and divert arrows from their path, protecting friends. He could put out a fire in a house and reconcile warriors who had quarreled with each other. He could make a girl's heart beat faster and turn witches who brought misfortune into stone...
He taught People to call the Gods by name and to seek their advice, to pray and to make sacrifices in the sanctuaries. He taught them to know their limits in everything:
- It is better not to pray at all than to pray endlessly. It is better not to sacrifice at all than to sacrifice without number.
Odin knew a lot, but he did not reveal everything if he thought that secret knowledge could bring trouble. And he kept remembering the honey that his grandfather had given him to drink under the ash tree Yggdrasil. Never before had he tasted such honey: it had a special beauty that inspired him, the desire to compose beautiful songs. And Odin felt that without this honey his wisdom would remain imperfect...
