Hugin und Munin

In Norse mythology, Huginn (Old Norse: "thought") and Muninn (Old Norse: "memory" or "mind") are a pair of ravens that fly across the world, Midgard, bringing information to the god Odin. Huginn and Muninn are mentioned in the Poetic Edda, which was compiled in the 13th century from earlier sources, the Prose Edda, and Heimskringla. They are also mentioned in the Third Grammatical Treatise, written by Óláfr Þórðarson in the 13th century, and in the poetry of the skalds. The names of the ravens are sometimes modernized as Hugin and Munin.

In the Poetic Edda, a disguised Odin expresses his fear that they may not return from their daily flights. In the Prose Edda, it is explained that Odin is referred to as Hrafnaguð (Old Norse: [ˈhrɑvnɑˌɡuð]; "Raven god") because of his connection with Huginn and Muninn. In both the Prose Edda and the Third Grammatical Treatise, the two ravens are described as sitting on Odin's shoulders. In Heimskringla, it is described that Odin gave Huginn and Muninn the ability to speak.

Examples of artifacts that may represent Odin with one of the ravens include golden bracteates from the Migration Period, helmet plates from the Vendel Period, a pair of identical bird-shaped fibulae from the Germanic Iron Age, Viking Age objects depicting a bearded man with a helmet, and part of the Thorwald Cross from the 10th or 11th century. Huginn and Muninn's role as Odin's messengers has been linked to shamanic practices, the Nordic raven banner, the general raven symbolism of the Germanic peoples, and the Nordic concepts of fylgja and hamingja.

Attestations

In the poem Grímnismál of the Poetic Edda, the god Odin (disguised as Grímnir) explains to the young Agnarr about Odin's companions. He tells the prince about Odin's wolves, Geri and Freki, and explains in the next stanza of the poem that Huginn and Muninn fly daily over the world, Midgard. Grímnir says that he worries Huginn might not return, but he fears even more for Muninn:

Benjamin Thorpe Translation:
Hugin and Munin fly each day
over the vast earth.
I fear for Hugin, that he may not return,
but even more, I fear for Muninn.

Henry Adams Bellows Translation:
O'er Mithgarth Huginn and Muninn both
set out to fly each day;
For Huginn, I fear that he will not come back,
But for Muninn, my concern is greater.

In the Prose Edda, Gylfaginning (Chapter 38), the high figure of the High One tells Gangleri (King Gylfi in disguise) that two ravens named Huginn and Muninn sit on Odin's shoulders. The ravens tell Odin everything they see and hear. Odin sends Huginn and Muninn out at dawn, and the birds fly over the entire world before returning at mealtime. This way, Odin is kept informed about many events. High adds that Odin is referred to as the "Raven God" because of this connection. The aforementioned stanza from Grímnismál is then quoted.

In the Prose Edda, Skáldskaparmál (Chapter 60), Huginn and Muninn appear in a list of poetic names for ravens. The chapter also includes excerpts from the work of the skald Einarr Skúlason, in which Muninn is mentioned in a common noun for "raven" and Huginn in a term for "carrion."

In Heimskringla, Ynglinga saga provides a brief account of Odin's life. In Chapter 7, it is described that Odin had two ravens to whom he gave the gift of speech. These ravens flew over the land and brought him information, making Odin "very wise in his knowledge."

In the Third Grammatical Treatise, an anonymous verse mentions ravens flying from Odin's shoulders, with Huginn searching for hanged men and Muninn finding slain bodies. The stanza reads:

Two ravens flew from Hnikar's [Odin’s] shoulders;
Huginn to the hanged and Muninn to the slain [literally: corpses].

Archaeological Records

Gold bracteates from the Migration Period (5th and 6th centuries AD) (Types A, B, and C) depict a human figure on horseback holding a spear, flanked by one or often two birds. The presence of these birds has led to the identification of the human figure as the god Odin, flanked by Huginn and Muninn. As in Snorri's description of the ravens in the Prose Edda, sometimes one bird is depicted near the ear of the human or near the horse's ear. Bracteates have been found in Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and, in smaller numbers, in England and areas south of Denmark. The Austrian Germanist Rudolf Simek notes that these bracteates depict Odin and his ravens in the healing of a horse, suggesting that the birds were not only his companions on the battlefield but also "Odin's helpers in his veterinary function."

Helmet plates from the Vendel Period (6th or 7th century), found in a grave in Sweden, depict a helmeted figure holding a spear and shield, riding a horse, flanked by two birds. This plate is interpreted as Odin, accompanied by his ravens.

A pair of identical bird-shaped fibulae from the Germanic Iron Age, found at Bejsebakke in North Denmark, may represent Huginn and Muninn. The back of each bird displays a mask motif, and the birds' feet are shaped like animal heads. The feathers of the birds are also made up of animal heads. Together, the animal heads on the feathers form a mask on the back of the bird. The birds have powerful beaks and fan-shaped tails, indicating that they are ravens. The fibulae would have been worn on each shoulder, in keeping with the fashion of the Germanic Iron Age. Archaeologist Peter Vang Petersen argues that, while the symbolism of the fibulae is debated, the shape of the beaks and tail feathers confirm that these are depictions of ravens. Petersen notes that "raven-shaped ornaments, worn as a pair in the fashion of the time, one on each shoulder, point to the thoughts of Odin’s ravens and the Odin cult in the Germanic Iron Age."

Fragments of the Oseberg tapestry, found in a Viking Age ship burial at Oseberg in Norway, depict a scene with two black birds flying over a horse that may have originally pulled a chariot (as part of a procession of horse-drawn chariots in the tapestry). In her study of the tapestry, scholar Anne Stine Ingstad interprets these birds as Huginn and Muninn flying over a covered wagon containing an image of Odin and draws a comparison to the depictions of Nerthus attested by Tacitus in AD 1.

During excavations in Ribe, Denmark, a Viking Age lead casting mold and 11 identical casting forms were found. These objects depict a bearded man wearing a helmet with two head ornaments. Archaeologist Stig Jensen suggests interpreting these ornaments as Huginn and Muninn, with the wearer as Odin. He notes that "similar depictions are found wherever the Vikings went—from East Anglia to Russia, and of course throughout Scandinavia."

A fragment of the Thorwald Cross (a partially preserved rune stone erected in Kirk Andreas on the Isle of Man) depicts a bearded man holding a spear down at a wolf, his right foot in its mouth, with a large bird on his shoulder. Andy Orchard suggests that this bird could either be Huginn or Muninn. Rundata dates the cross to 940, while Pluskowski dates it to the 11th century. This depiction has been interpreted as Odin with a raven or eagle on his shoulder, which is swallowed by the monstrous wolf Fenrir during the events of Ragnarök.

In November 2009, the Roskilde Museum announced the discovery and subsequent exhibition of a silver figure inlaid with niello, found in Lejre, Denmark, and named "Odin of Lejre." The silver object depicts a person sitting on a throne. The throne is adorned with animal heads and flanked by two birds. The Roskilde Museum identifies the figure as Odin sitting on his throne, Hliðskjálf, flanked by the ravens Huginn and Muninn.

Reception

Scholars have linked Odin's relationship with Huginn and Muninn to shamanic practice. John Lindow connects Odin's ability to send his "thoughts" (Huginn) and "mind" (Muninn) with the trance journeys of shamans. Lindow suggests that the stanza in Grímnismál, where Odin worries about the return of Huginn and Muninn, "corresponds to the danger that the shaman faces while journeying into a trance state."

Rudolf Simek is critical of this approach, noting that "efforts have been made to interpret Odin’s ravens as personifications of the god's spiritual powers, but this can only be inferred from the names Huginn and Muninn themselves, which were likely not coined much earlier than the 9th or 10th century." Instead, Simek connects Huginn and Muninn with broader raven symbolism in the Germanic world, including the raven banner (described in English chronicles and Scandinavian sagas), a banner that was woven in such a way that when it fluttered in the wind, it appeared as though the raven depicted on it was flapping its wings.

Anthony Winterbourne connects Huginn and Muninn with the Nordic concepts of fylgja—a concept with three properties: shape-shifting, luck, and spirit guardian—and hamingja—the ghostly double of a person that may appear in the form of an animal. Winterbourne notes that "the shaman’s journey through the different parts of the cosmos is symbolized by the hamingja concept of the shape-shifting soul and gains another symbolic dimension for the Nordic soul in the narrative of Odin’s ravens Huginn and Muninn." In response to Simek’s critique of attempts to interpret the ravens "philosophically," Winterbourne argues that "such speculations [...] merely amplify the conceptual meaning made plausible by other features of mythology," and that the names Huginn and Muninn "deserve more explanation than is usually given."

The Heliand, a 9th-century Old Saxon adaptation of the New Testament, differs from the New Testament by explicitly referring to a dove sitting on Christ's shoulder. G. Ronald Murphy comments: "By placing the powerful white dove not just over Christ but directly on his shoulder, the author of the Heliand presents Christ not only as the Son of the All-Father but also as the new Woden. This conscious image of Christ riding triumphantly over the land with the majestic bird on his shoulders (the author may be slightly embarrassed that it is a non-warrior dove!) is meant to soothe the fears and desires of those who lament the loss of Woden and wish to return to the symbols and ways of the old religion. With this image, Christ becomes a Germanic god, in whose ears the spirit of the Almighty whispers."

Bernd Heinrich suggests that Huginn and Muninn, along with Odin and his wolves Geri and Freki, reflect a symbiosis observed in nature between ravens, wolves, and humans in hunting:

In a biological symbiosis, one organism typically compensates for the weakness or deficiency of the other. As in such a symbiosis, Odin, the father of all men and gods, though he lived in human form, was himself imperfect. As an independent being, he lacked deep perception (he was one-eyed), and he was apparently uninformed and forgetful. But his weaknesses were compensated by his ravens Huginn (mind) and Muninn (memory), who were a part of him. They sat on his shoulders and explored the ends of the world every day, returning in the evening to report the news. He also had two wolves by his side, and the connection between man/god, raven, and wolf was like a single organism, where the ravens were the eyes, mind, and memory, and the wolves the providers of flesh and food. As a god, Odin was the ethereal part—he drank only wine and spoke only in poems. I wonder if the Odin myth is a metaphor that playfully and poetically encapsulates ancient knowledge of our prehistoric past as hunters, in connection with two allies, into a powerful hunting alliance. It would reflect a past we have long forgotten and whose significance has darkened and frayed as we abandoned our hunting cultures to become shepherds and farmers, for whom ravens function as competitors.