InNorse mythology,Mímisbrunnr (Old Norse "Mímir's wellspring"[1]) is aspring orwell associated with the beingMímir, located beneath the world treeYggdrasil. Mímisbrunnr is attested in thePoetic Edda, compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources, and theProse Edda, written in the 13th century bySnorri Sturluson. The wellspring is located beneath one ofthree roots of the world treeYggdrasil, a root that passes into theJötunheimr where the primordial plane ofGinnungagap once existed. In addition, theProse Edda relates that the water of the wellspring contains much wisdom, and thatOdin sacrificed one of his eyes to the wellspring in exchange for a drink. In theProse Edda, Mímisbrunnr is mentioned as one of three wellsprings existing beneath three roots of Yggdrasil, the other two beingHvergelmir, located beneath a root inNiflheim, andUrðarbrunnr.
In thePoetic Edda poemVöluspá, avölva recounts toOdin that she knows that Odin once placed one of his eyes in Mímisbrunnr as a pledge, and that Mímir drinks from the wellspring every morning:
- Benjamin Thorpe translation:
- "Of what wouldst thou ask me?
- Why temptest thou me?
- Odin! I know all,
- where thou thine eye didst sink
- in the pure well of Mim."
- Mim drinks frommead each morn
- fromValfather's pledge.[2]
- Henry Adams Bellows translation:
- I know where Othin's eye is hidden,
- Deep in the wide-famed well of Mimir;
- Mead from the pledge of Othin each morn
- Does Mimir drink: would you know yet more?[3]
The above stanza is absent from theHauksbók manuscript version of the poem.[3] Elsewhere in the poem, the völva mentions a scenario involving the hearing orhorn (depending on translation of theOld Norse nounhljóð—bolded for the purpose of illustration) of the godHeimdallr:
- Benjamin Thorpe translation:
- She knows thatHeimdall's horn is hidden
- under theheaven-bright holy tree.
- A river she sees flow, with foamy fall,
- fromValfather's pledge.
- Understand ye yet, or what?[4]
- Henry Adams Bellows translation:
- I know of thehorn of Heimdall, hidden
- Under the high-reaching holy tree;
- On it there pours from Valfather's pledge
- A mighty stream: would you know yet more?[5]
- Carolyne Larrington translation:
- She knows thatHeimdall's hearing is hidden
- under the radiant, sacred tree;
- she sees, pouring down, the muddy torrent
- from the wager of Father of the Slain; do you
- understand yet, or what more?[6]
Scholar Paul Schach comments that the stanzas in this section of Voluspa are "all very mysterious and obscure, as it was perhaps meant to be". Schach details that "Heimdallar hljóð has aroused much speculation. Snorri seems to have confused this word withgjallarhorn, but there is otherwise no attestation of the use ofhljóð in the sense of 'horn' in Icelandic. Various scholars have read this as "hearing" rather than "horn".[7]
ScholarCarolyne Larrington comments that if "hearing" rather than "horn" is understood to appear in this stanza, the stanza indicates that Heimdall, like Odin, has left a body part in the well; his ear. Larrington says that "Odin exchanged one of his eyes for wisdom from Mimir, guardian of the well, while Heimdall seems to have forfeited his ear."[8]
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In chapter 15 of theProse Edda bookGylfaginning, the enthroned figureHigh tellsGangleri (described as kingGylfi in disguise) about Yggdrasil. High details that Yggdrasil has three roots. One of these roots reaches to where the primordial space ofGinnungagap once existed and where now the frost jötnar live. High explains that, beneath this root is Mímisbrunnr and that the well contains "wisdom and intelligence" and "the master of the well is called Mimir. He is full of learning because he drinks of the well from the hornGiallarhorn.All-father went there and asked for a single drink from the well, but he did not get one until he placed his eye as a pledge." After his explanation, High quotes the stanza involving Odin and the well fromVöluspá.[9]
The cosmological treeYggdrasil and its inhabitants inNorse mythology | |||||||
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