Snorri’s main source for this passage seems to be an evocative stanza in the Eddic poem Grímnismál, in which Odin says: Thus, he finds out many new things and this is why he is called ‘raven-god’ (hrafnaguð). He sends them out in the morning to fly around the whole world, and by breakfast they are back again. Two ravens sit on his (Odin’s) shoulders and whisper all the news which they see and hear into his ear they are called Huginn and Muninn. According to the medieval Icelandic historian Snorri Sturluson, Pursue your dreams before it’s too late, but do so while keeping both ravens on your shoulders.īe on the lookout for more blog posts by Bjørn Andreas here on Grimfrost.Hugin and Munin or Thought and Memory (pronounced “HOO-gin” and “MOO-nin” Old Norse Huginn and Muninn, the meaning of which will be discussed below) are two ravens in Norse mythology who are helping spirits of the god Odin. So while we should never live each day as if it were our last, we should realize that life does not go on forever. But we should not always choose the logical, safe and sensible option, that would make Munin fly away. We can’t rush towards whatever looks tempting to us at the moment, this would mean acting without listening to Hugin. Both Hugin and Munin whisper in our ears, and we need to listen to them both. This means that while we need to stay sensible and thoughtful of our life choices, we also need passion, desire and dreams for the future. If one of them starves, it will fly away. And it is our duty to keep them both well fed and healthy. I like to think that we all have two invisible ravens, one on each shoulder. Could the stanca above be about Odin worrying that the humans would forget him and that the Norsemen and their Viking spirit with them would be tamed? Keep in mind that what we call Ásatru and the Norsemens’ way of life was threatened by Christian hordes like the Franks for a long time before Scandinavian kings finally managed to suppress their own people, the local democracies and the old faith with them. But Odin is even more afraid of sad or disheartening news from the human world, news that could make him lose his desire, his passion and his hopes for a brighter future that his munr, Munin, will not return. I personally believe Odin here says that he is worried about being isolated from the world, which would be the result if Hugin didn’t return. In the poetic Edda (Benjamin Thorpe’s translation), Odin says: That being said, depression is not necessarily linked to our industrialized society – even our ancestors struggled. I believe that’s what often happens to people who depend too much on the so-called modern society, and we tend to call it depression. If you lose your munr, you lose your «drive», your desire. So while the húg or hugr (thought) is the more objective, sensible part of your mind, it is pretty useless without a good portion of munr. Munr is plans and ambitions, wishes and hopes. It embodies desire, will, passion and enthusiasm. And while many like to translate munr into desire, the truth is that we don’t really have a word for munr today. However, we have good reason to believe that Munin is derived from munr rather than minni (memory). Traditionally, Hugin symbolizes the thought while Munin represents memory.
But did you know that they actually symbolize the human mind? They do, and as it often is with Norse mythology, there is wisdom here that is more relevant than ever. We have all heard of Odin’s two ravens, Hugin and Munin. Here is his fourth blog post exclusively written for Grimfrost and there will be more exclusive content to come. We’re glad to have Bjørn Andreas Bull-Hansen join us as a guest blogger! He is a Norwegian novelist, screenwriter and blogger, as well as a skilled craftsman and wilderness survivalist who builds bridges between the Viking Age and today.
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