August 5, 2025 • 10 mins
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
In the beginning of things, before there was any world
or sun, moon and stars, there were the giants. For
these were the oldest creatures that ever breathed. They lived
in Jottenheim, the land of frost and darkness, and their
hearts were evil. Next came the gods, the good Asya,
who made earth and sky and sea, and who dwelt
in Asgard above the heavens. Then were created the queer
(00:23):
little dwarfs, who lived underground in the caverns of the mountains,
working at their mines of metal and precious stones. The
last of all the gods made men to dwell in midguard,
the good world that we know, between which and the
glorious home of the Aesaa stretched by frost the bridge
of rainbows. In those days, folk say there was a
mighty ash tree named Egressiore, so vast that its branches
(00:47):
shaded the whole earth and stretched up into heaven, where
the Asia dwelt, while its roots sank far down below
the lowest depth. In the branches of the big ash
tree lift a queer family of creatures. First there was
a great eagle, who was wiser than any bird that
ever lived, except the two ravens thought and memory, who
sat upon farther Odin's shoulders and told him the secrets
(01:10):
which they learned in their flight are with a wide world.
Near the great eagle perched a hawk, and four antlered
deer browsed among the buds of Egracil at the foot
of the tree called a huge serpent, who was always
gnawing hungrily at its roots, with the whole colony of
little snakes to keep in company, so many that they
could never be counted. The eagle at the top of
(01:31):
a tree and the serpent at his foot were enemies,
always saying hard things of each other. Between the two
skipped up and down a little squirrel, a tail bearer,
and a gossip, who repeated each unkind remark, and like
the malicious neighbor that he was, kept their quarrel ever
fresh and green. In one place, at the roots of
Egracil was a fair fountain called the Urdarwell, where the
(01:53):
three norn maidens, who knew the past, present and future
dwelt with their pets, the two white swans. This was
magic water in the fountain, which the naunts sprinkled every
day upon the giant tree to keep it green. Water
so sacred that everything which entered it became white as
the film of an eggshell. Close beside this sacred well,
(02:14):
the Asia had their council hawk, to which they galloped
every morning over the rainbow bridge. But Father Odin, the
king of all the Asia, knew of another fountain more
wonderful still. The two ravens whom he sent forth to
bring him news, had told him this also was below
the roots of Igdrassil, in the spot where the sky
and ocean met. Here for centuries and centuries, the great
(02:36):
Mima had sat keeping guard over his hidden well, in
the bottom of which lay such a treasure of wisdom
as was to be found nowhere else in the world.
Every morning Mima dipped his glittering horn giol into the
fountain and drew out a draft of the wondrous water,
which he drank to make him wise. Every day he
grew wiser and wiser. And as this had been going
(02:57):
on ever since the beginning of things, can scarcely imagine
how wise Mima was now. It did not seem right
to Father Odin that a giant should have all this
wisdom to himself, For the giants were the enemies of
the asia and the wisdom, which they had been hoarding
for ages before the gods were made, was generally used
for evil purposes. Moreover, Odin longed and longed to become
(03:20):
the wisest being in the world. So he resolved to
win a draft from Mima's well, if in any way
that could be done. One night, when the sun had
set behind the mountains of Midgard, Odin put on his
broad brimmed hat and his striped cloak, and, taking his
famous staff in his hand, trudged down the long bridge
to where it ended by Mima's secret grotto. Good day, Mima,
(03:43):
said Odin, entering, I have come for a drink from
your well. The giant was sitting with his knees drawn
up to his chin, his long white beard falling over
his folded arms, and his head nodding. For Mima was
very old, and he often fell asleep while watching over
his precious spring. He woke with a frown at Odin's words.
You want to drink from my well, do you? He growled, Hey,
(04:06):
I let no one drink from my well. Nevertheless, you
must let me have a draft from your glittering horn,
insisted Odin, and I will pay you for it. Oh,
you will pay me for it, will you? Echoed Mima,
eyeing his visitor keenly. For now that he was wide awake,
his wisdom taught him that this was no ordinary stranger.
What will you pay for a drink from my well?
(04:27):
And why do you wish it so much? I can
see with my eyes or that goes on in heaven
and upon earth, said Odin. But I cannot see into
the depths of the ocean. I lack the hidden wisdom
of the deep, the wit that lies at the bottom
of your fountain. My ravens tell me many secrets, but
I would know all. And as for payment, ask what
you will, and I will pledge anything in return for
(04:50):
the draft of wisdom. Then Mimer's keen glance grew keener.
You are Odin, of the race of gods, he cried,
We giants are centuries old, and our wisdom, which we
have treasured during these ages when we were the only
creatures in our space, is a precious thing. If I
grant you a draft from my will, you will become
(05:12):
as one of a heart's, a wise and dangerous enemy.
It is a goodly price, Odin which I shall demand
for a boon so great. Now, Odin was growing impatient
for the sparkling water. Ask your price, he frowned. I
have promised that I will pay. What say you then,
to leaving one of those fastying eyes of yours at
(05:33):
the bottom of my will, asked Mima, hoping that he
would refuse to bargain, This is the only payments I
will take. Odin hesitated. It was indeed a heavy price,
and one that he could ill afford, for he was
proud of his noble beauty. But he glanced at the
magic fountain, bubbling mysteriously in the shadow, and he knew
that he must have the draft. Give me the glittering horn,
(05:56):
he answered, I pledge you my eye for a draft.
To the very unwillingly, Mima filled the horn from the
fountain of wisdom and handed it to Odin. Drink, then,
he said, drink and grow wise. This hour is the
beginning of trouble between your race and mine. And wise,
my master foretold the truth. Odin thought merely of the
(06:17):
wisdom which was to be his. He seized the horn
eagerly and emptied it without delay. From that moment he
became wiser than anyone else in the world. Except Mima himself.
Now he had the price to pay, which was not
so pleasant. When he went away from the grotto, he
left at the bottom of the dark pool one of
his fiery eyes, which twinkled and winked up through the
(06:40):
magic depth, like the reflection of a star. This is
how Odin lost his eye, and why from that day
he was careful to pull his gray hat low over
his face when he wanted to pass unnoticed, For by
this oddity folk could easily recognize the Wise Lord of Asgard.
In the bright morning, when the so and rose over
(07:00):
the mountains of Midguard, Old Mima drank from his bubbly
well a draft of the wise water that flowed over
Odin's pledge. Doing so, from his underground grotto, he saw
all that befell in heaven and on earth, so that
he also was wiser by the bargain. Mima seemed to
have secured rather the best of it, for he lost
(07:21):
nothing that he could not spare, while Odin lost what
no man can well part with, one of the good windows,
where through his heart looked out upon the world. But
there was a sequel to these doings which made the
balance swing down in Odin's favor. Not long after this,
the Aesaya quarreled with the Vanyir, wild enemies of Theirs,
(07:42):
and there was a terrible battle. But in the end
the two sides made peace, and to prove that they
meant never to quarrel again, they exchanged hostages. The Vanyir
gave to the Asia Old Niord the Rich, the lord
of the Sea and the ocean Wind, with his two children,
frey and Freyer. This was indeed a gracious gift, for
Freyer was the most beautiful maid in the world, and
(08:04):
a twin brother was almost as fair to the Vanier.
In return, father Odin gave his own brother, Honier, and
with Honier he sent Mima the Wise, whom he took
from his lonely wealth. Now the Vanier made Honier their chief,
thinking that he must be very wise, because he was
the brother of Great Odin, who had lately become famous
for his wisdom. They did not know the secret of
(08:26):
Mima as well. How the hoary old Giant was far
more wise than anyone who had not quaffed of the
magic water. It is true that in the assemblies of
the Vanier, Honier gave excellent counsel but this was because
Mima whispered in Honier's ear all the wisdom that he uttered. Witless,
Honier was quite helpless without his aid, and he did
(08:46):
not know what to do or say. Whenever Mima was absent,
he would look nervous and frightened, and if folk questioned him,
he always answered yes, ah, yes, uh, Now go and
consult someone else. Of course, the Nana soon grew very
angry at such silly answers from their chief, and presently
they began to suspect the truth. Odin has deceived us,
(09:08):
They said, he has sent us his foolish brother with
a witch to tell him what to say. Ah, we
will show him that we understand the trick. So they
cut off poor old Mima's head and sent it to
Odin as a present. The tales do not say what
Odin thought of the gift. Perhaps he was glad that
now there was no one in the whole world who
(09:29):
could be called so wise as himself. Perhaps he was
sorry for the danger into which he had thrust a
poor old giant who had never done him any wrong
except to be a giant of the race which the
Athia hated. Perhaps he was a little ashamed of the
trick which he had played on the Banier. Odin's knew
wisdom showed him how to prepare Mima's head with herbs
(09:49):
and charms, so that it stood up by itself quite
naturally and seemed not dead. Thenceforth Odin kept it near
him and learned from it many useful secrets, which which
it had not forgotten. So in the end Odin fared
better than the unhappy Mima, whose worst fault was that
he knew more than most folk. That is a dangerous fault,
as others have found, though it is not one for
(10:12):
which many of us need fear being punished. End of
How Odin lost his eye
In the beginning of things, before there was any world
or sun, moon and stars, there were the giants. For
these were the oldest creatures that ever breathed. They lived
in Jottenheim, the land of frost and darkness, and their
hearts were evil. Next came the gods, the good Asya,
who made earth and sky and sea, and who dwelt
in Asgard above the heavens. Then were created the queer
(00:23):
little dwarfs, who lived underground in the caverns of the mountains,
working at their mines of metal and precious stones. The
last of all the gods made men to dwell in midguard,
the good world that we know, between which and the
glorious home of the Aesaa stretched by frost the bridge
of rainbows. In those days, folk say there was a
mighty ash tree named Egressiore, so vast that its branches
(00:47):
shaded the whole earth and stretched up into heaven, where
the Asia dwelt, while its roots sank far down below
the lowest depth. In the branches of the big ash
tree lift a queer family of creatures. First there was
a great eagle, who was wiser than any bird that
ever lived, except the two ravens thought and memory, who
sat upon farther Odin's shoulders and told him the secrets
(01:10):
which they learned in their flight are with a wide world.
Near the great eagle perched a hawk, and four antlered
deer browsed among the buds of Egracil at the foot
of the tree called a huge serpent, who was always
gnawing hungrily at its roots, with the whole colony of
little snakes to keep in company, so many that they
could never be counted. The eagle at the top of
(01:31):
a tree and the serpent at his foot were enemies,
always saying hard things of each other. Between the two
skipped up and down a little squirrel, a tail bearer,
and a gossip, who repeated each unkind remark, and like
the malicious neighbor that he was, kept their quarrel ever
fresh and green. In one place, at the roots of
Egracil was a fair fountain called the Urdarwell, where the
(01:53):
three norn maidens, who knew the past, present and future
dwelt with their pets, the two white swans. This was
magic water in the fountain, which the naunts sprinkled every
day upon the giant tree to keep it green. Water
so sacred that everything which entered it became white as
the film of an eggshell. Close beside this sacred well,
(02:14):
the Asia had their council hawk, to which they galloped
every morning over the rainbow bridge. But Father Odin, the
king of all the Asia, knew of another fountain more
wonderful still. The two ravens whom he sent forth to
bring him news, had told him this also was below
the roots of Igdrassil, in the spot where the sky
and ocean met. Here for centuries and centuries, the great
(02:36):
Mima had sat keeping guard over his hidden well, in
the bottom of which lay such a treasure of wisdom
as was to be found nowhere else in the world.
Every morning Mima dipped his glittering horn giol into the
fountain and drew out a draft of the wondrous water,
which he drank to make him wise. Every day he
grew wiser and wiser. And as this had been going
(02:57):
on ever since the beginning of things, can scarcely imagine
how wise Mima was now. It did not seem right
to Father Odin that a giant should have all this
wisdom to himself, For the giants were the enemies of
the asia and the wisdom, which they had been hoarding
for ages before the gods were made, was generally used
for evil purposes. Moreover, Odin longed and longed to become
(03:20):
the wisest being in the world. So he resolved to
win a draft from Mima's well, if in any way
that could be done. One night, when the sun had
set behind the mountains of Midgard, Odin put on his
broad brimmed hat and his striped cloak, and, taking his
famous staff in his hand, trudged down the long bridge
to where it ended by Mima's secret grotto. Good day, Mima,
(03:43):
said Odin, entering, I have come for a drink from
your well. The giant was sitting with his knees drawn
up to his chin, his long white beard falling over
his folded arms, and his head nodding. For Mima was
very old, and he often fell asleep while watching over
his precious spring. He woke with a frown at Odin's words.
You want to drink from my well, do you? He growled, Hey,
(04:06):
I let no one drink from my well. Nevertheless, you
must let me have a draft from your glittering horn,
insisted Odin, and I will pay you for it. Oh,
you will pay me for it, will you? Echoed Mima,
eyeing his visitor keenly. For now that he was wide awake,
his wisdom taught him that this was no ordinary stranger.
What will you pay for a drink from my well?
(04:27):
And why do you wish it so much? I can
see with my eyes or that goes on in heaven
and upon earth, said Odin. But I cannot see into
the depths of the ocean. I lack the hidden wisdom
of the deep, the wit that lies at the bottom
of your fountain. My ravens tell me many secrets, but
I would know all. And as for payment, ask what
you will, and I will pledge anything in return for
(04:50):
the draft of wisdom. Then Mimer's keen glance grew keener.
You are Odin, of the race of gods, he cried,
We giants are centuries old, and our wisdom, which we
have treasured during these ages when we were the only
creatures in our space, is a precious thing. If I
grant you a draft from my will, you will become
(05:12):
as one of a heart's, a wise and dangerous enemy.
It is a goodly price, Odin which I shall demand
for a boon so great. Now, Odin was growing impatient
for the sparkling water. Ask your price, he frowned. I
have promised that I will pay. What say you then,
to leaving one of those fastying eyes of yours at
(05:33):
the bottom of my will, asked Mima, hoping that he
would refuse to bargain, This is the only payments I
will take. Odin hesitated. It was indeed a heavy price,
and one that he could ill afford, for he was
proud of his noble beauty. But he glanced at the
magic fountain, bubbling mysteriously in the shadow, and he knew
that he must have the draft. Give me the glittering horn,
(05:56):
he answered, I pledge you my eye for a draft.
To the very unwillingly, Mima filled the horn from the
fountain of wisdom and handed it to Odin. Drink, then,
he said, drink and grow wise. This hour is the
beginning of trouble between your race and mine. And wise,
my master foretold the truth. Odin thought merely of the
(06:17):
wisdom which was to be his. He seized the horn
eagerly and emptied it without delay. From that moment he
became wiser than anyone else in the world. Except Mima himself.
Now he had the price to pay, which was not
so pleasant. When he went away from the grotto, he
left at the bottom of the dark pool one of
his fiery eyes, which twinkled and winked up through the
(06:40):
magic depth, like the reflection of a star. This is
how Odin lost his eye, and why from that day
he was careful to pull his gray hat low over
his face when he wanted to pass unnoticed, For by
this oddity folk could easily recognize the Wise Lord of Asgard.
In the bright morning, when the so and rose over
(07:00):
the mountains of Midguard, Old Mima drank from his bubbly
well a draft of the wise water that flowed over
Odin's pledge. Doing so, from his underground grotto, he saw
all that befell in heaven and on earth, so that
he also was wiser by the bargain. Mima seemed to
have secured rather the best of it, for he lost
(07:21):
nothing that he could not spare, while Odin lost what
no man can well part with, one of the good windows,
where through his heart looked out upon the world. But
there was a sequel to these doings which made the
balance swing down in Odin's favor. Not long after this,
the Aesaya quarreled with the Vanyir, wild enemies of Theirs,
(07:42):
and there was a terrible battle. But in the end
the two sides made peace, and to prove that they
meant never to quarrel again, they exchanged hostages. The Vanyir
gave to the Asia Old Niord the Rich, the lord
of the Sea and the ocean Wind, with his two children,
frey and Freyer. This was indeed a gracious gift, for
Freyer was the most beautiful maid in the world, and
(08:04):
a twin brother was almost as fair to the Vanier.
In return, father Odin gave his own brother, Honier, and
with Honier he sent Mima the Wise, whom he took
from his lonely wealth. Now the Vanier made Honier their chief,
thinking that he must be very wise, because he was
the brother of Great Odin, who had lately become famous
for his wisdom. They did not know the secret of
(08:26):
Mima as well. How the hoary old Giant was far
more wise than anyone who had not quaffed of the
magic water. It is true that in the assemblies of
the Vanier, Honier gave excellent counsel but this was because
Mima whispered in Honier's ear all the wisdom that he uttered. Witless,
Honier was quite helpless without his aid, and he did
(08:46):
not know what to do or say. Whenever Mima was absent,
he would look nervous and frightened, and if folk questioned him,
he always answered yes, ah, yes, uh, Now go and
consult someone else. Of course, the Nana soon grew very
angry at such silly answers from their chief, and presently
they began to suspect the truth. Odin has deceived us,
(09:08):
They said, he has sent us his foolish brother with
a witch to tell him what to say. Ah, we
will show him that we understand the trick. So they
cut off poor old Mima's head and sent it to
Odin as a present. The tales do not say what
Odin thought of the gift. Perhaps he was glad that
now there was no one in the whole world who
(09:29):
could be called so wise as himself. Perhaps he was
sorry for the danger into which he had thrust a
poor old giant who had never done him any wrong
except to be a giant of the race which the
Athia hated. Perhaps he was a little ashamed of the
trick which he had played on the Banier. Odin's knew
wisdom showed him how to prepare Mima's head with herbs
(09:49):
and charms, so that it stood up by itself quite
naturally and seemed not dead. Thenceforth Odin kept it near
him and learned from it many useful secrets, which which
it had not forgotten. So in the end Odin fared
better than the unhappy Mima, whose worst fault was that
he knew more than most folk. That is a dangerous fault,
as others have found, though it is not one for
(10:12):
which many of us need fear being punished. End of
How Odin lost his eye
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