Chapters 44-95 - Germanic Mythology

51
GUDMUND'S IDENTITY WITH MIMIR.
The most characteristic figure of all Germanic mythology perhaps is Mimir, the
lord of the fountain which bears his name. The liquid contained in the fountain is the
object of Odin's deepest desire. He has neither authority nor power over it. Nor does he or
anyone else of the gods seek to get control of it by force. Instances are mentioned
showing that Odin, to get a drink from it, must subject himself to great sufferings and
sacrifices (Völuspá 27-28; Hávamál 138-140; Gylfaginning 15), and it is as a gift or a
loan that he afterwards receives from Mimir the invigorating and soul-inspiring drink
(Hávamál 140-141). Over the fountain and its territory Mimir, of course, exercises
unlimited control, an authority which the gods never appear to have disputed. He has a
sphere of power which the gods recognize as inviolable. The domain of his rule belongs
to the lower world; it is situated under one of the roots of the world-tree (Völuspá 27-28;
Gylfaginning 15), and when Odin, from the world-tree, asks for the precious mead of the
fountain, he peers downward into the deep, and from there brings up the runes (nýsta eg
niður, nam eg up rúnar - Hávamál 139). 5 Saxo's account of the adventure of Hotherus
(Hist., Book 3) shows that there was thought to be a descent to Mimir's land in the form
of a mountain cave (specus), and that this descent was, like the one to Gudmund's
domain, to be found in the uttermost North, where terrible cold reigns.
Though a giant, Mimir is the friend of the order of the world and of the gods. He,
like Urd, guards the sacred ash, the world-tree (Völuspá 28), which accordingly also
bears his name and is called Mimir's tree (Mímameiður - Fjölsvinnsmál 20; meiður Míma
- Fjölsvinnsmál 24). The intercourse between the Asa-father and him has been of such a
nature that the expression "Mimir's friend" (Míms vinur - Sonatorrek 23; Skáldskaparmál
3, 9, Hattatal 4) 6 - could be used by the skalds as an epithet of Odin. Of this friendship,
Ynglingasaga 4 has preserved a record. It makes Mimir lose his life in his activity for the
good of the gods, and makes Odin embalm his head, in order that he may always be able
to get wise counsels from its lips. Sigurdrífumál 14 represents Odin as listening to the
words of truth which come from Mimir's head. Völuspá 46 predicts that, when Ragnarok
approaches, Odin shall converse with Mimir's head; and, according to Gylfaginning 51,
he, immediately before the conflagration of the world, rides to Mimir's fountain to get
advice from the deep thinker for himself and his friends. The firm friendship between
All-Father and this strange giant of the lower world was formed in time's morning while
Odin was still young and undeveloped (Hávamál 141), and continued until the end of the
gods and the world.
Mimir is the collector of treasures. According to mythology, the same treasures
that Gorm and his men found in the land which Gudmund let them visit are in the care of
Mimir. The wonderful horn (Völuspá 27), the sword of victory, and the ring (Saxo, Hist.,
Book 3; cp. Nos. 87, 97, 98, 101, 103).
In all these points, the Gudmund of the middle-age sagas and Mimir of the
mythology are identical. There still remains an important point. In Gudmund's domain,
there is a splendid grove, an enclosed place, from which weaknesses, age, and death are
banished - a Paradise of the peculiar kind, that it is not intended for the souls of the dead,
5 "I peered downwards, I took up the runes."
6 Hér er hann kallaður Míms vinur - "here he is called Mím's friend," Skáldskaparmál 9.