Work Text:
Knowing one, seeing twice
Blood & fire, mead & ice
He himself the sacrifice
Rider of the Tree
Wine his food, words his need
Ice & iron, air & mead
Thrice hath Gunnlodh held his seed
God of Poetry
Treasures four, half the slain
Stone & sorrow, gold & rain
Five-fold knowledge bought with pain
Wounded majesty
Jord and Rind, Frigg enfold
Rain & riddles, stone & gold
Six sons do his promise hold
One-Eye, bound and free
Seven signs mark his own
Rune & ransom, spear & bone
Eight-legged steed and highest throne
Lord of Ecstasy
Nine the Worlds, ever near
Bone & silver, rune & spear
Watch and wander, ward and steer
Cloaked in mystery
On the Tree, in the Well
Ring & water, breath & spell
He is more than words may tell
Wodan, Vili, Ve
Fenris-foe, knowing death
Spell & silence, blood & breath
Work and words inspireth
All-Father is he
Odhinn here we see
Chant: Raven Father, drawing nigh
Raven wings embrace the sky
This world watched with Raven Eye
Mystery with the other
Wonder to discover
Odhinn here we see
Notes:
The overall structure of this piece is that of a counting spell. The song builds from one to nine, each number being used to emphasize the specific aspects and attributes of Odhinn being invoked.
1. One of Odhinn's primary aspects is that of 'knowing', knowledge.
2. 'Seeing twice' Refers both to the two Ravens, Huginn & Muninn, through who's eyes Odhinn sees all that goes on in the Nine Worlds, but also to the two kinds of sight he himself has -- one eye on the world, the other in the Well - insight & outer-sight.
3. Three nights Odhinn spent with Gunnlodh, from which he acquired the Mead of poetry & inspiration. There are too many threes associated with Odhinn to even begin to exhaust them.
4. The four Treasures are Draupnir, Gungnir, the mead again, and Sleipnir.
5. The five-fold knowledge/magics are Wisdom, bought with the sacrifice of one eye; the Runes, bought with sacrificing himself to himself; Seidh, 'woman's magic' bought from Freya; Grief/Healing, bought with experience; and Poetry.
6. The six sons referred to are Thor, Balder, Hod & Hermod, Vidar and Vali. I know there are actually rather more than that.
7. Even though all the runes are in some sense Odhinn's, seven of them seem particularly his/of him; Othala, Dagaz, Ansuz, Nauthiz, Wunjo, Eihwaz and Gebo.
8. Eight-legged Sleipnir is Odhinn's sure-footed steed, and his High Seat, Hlidskjalf, overlooks all eight points of the compass.
9. Nine is probably the most important number in relation to Odhinn, and Norse magical thought. Nine nights & days on the Tree bought the runes, nine verses make up the Havasmal, etc. The Nine Worlds of Norse cosmology are: Asgard, Vanaheim & Alfheim, Midgard, Muspelheim & Niflheim, Svartalfheim, Jotunheim & Hel.