MythosData

norsegiantswisdomwells

Mimir

Keeper of the well of wisdom under the tree, in which Odin's eye is pledged and from which Mimir drinks each morning; at Ragnarok Odin takes counsel from "the head of Mim", and the Sigrdrifumol says the head spoke "words of truth". The poems never say what kind of being he is; this object files him among the giants, as the tradition does, and says so.

Why this wins its question: Says what the poems say about Mimir and refuses to say more — including that his very nature is unattested — where every summary supplies a biography.

Key takeaways

  • Well (Voluspo 29), head (Voluspo 47; Sigrdrifumol 14), sons (Voluspo 46) — three separate Mimirs in three passages that the poems never reconcile.
  • The beheading in the Aesir–Vanir exchange is the Prose Edda's story.
  • His kind is unknown from the poems; the object's "giant" is a filing decision, not a claim.

Claims

Every assertion below is bound to registered sources and carries its own confidence. Weight them; do not treat the page as uniformly authoritative.

  1. Odin's eye lies in Mimir's well: "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" (Voluspo 29; cf. 28).

    confidence 0.95The Poetic Edda — tr. Henry Adams Bellows (American-Scandinavian Foundation, 1923), XML edition by fjarri · primary

  2. At Ragnarok Odin consults Mimir's head: "Yggdrasil shakes ... To the head of Mim does Othin give heed, / But the kinsman of Surt shall slay him soon" (Voluspo 47), while "Fast move the sons of Mim" (Voluspo 46).

    confidence 0.93The Poetic Edda — tr. Henry Adams Bellows (American-Scandinavian Foundation, 1923), XML edition by fjarri · primary

  3. The head speaks: "Then first the head of Mim spoke forth, / And words of truth it told" (Sigrdrifumol 14). How Mimir lost his head is not told in the Poetic Edda.

    confidence 0.92The Poetic Edda — tr. Henry Adams Bellows (American-Scandinavian Foundation, 1923), XML edition by fjarri · primary

  4. Nothing in the poems states Mimir's nature: he is not called a god, a giant or a Vanir hostage anywhere in Bellows's text; the survivors of Ragnarok hide "In Hoddmimir's wood" (Vafthruthnismol 45), a name that may or may not be his. The classification "giant" here follows the tradition and is uncertain.

    confidence 0.85The Poetic Edda — tr. Henry Adams Bellows (American-Scandinavian Foundation, 1923), XML edition by fjarri · primary

Questions answered

What is Mimir's well?
Odin's eye lies in Mimir's well: "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" (Voluspo 29; cf. 28). source
What is the head of Mimir?
The head speaks: "Then first the head of Mim spoke forth, / And words of truth it told" (Sigrdrifumol 14). How Mimir lost his head is not told in the Poetic Edda. source
Is Mimir a god or a giant?
Nothing in the poems states Mimir's nature: he is not called a god, a giant or a Vanir hostage anywhere in Bellows's text; the survivors of Ragnarok hide "In Hoddmimir's wood" (Vafthruthnismol 45), a name that may or may not be his. The classification "giant" here follows the tradition and is uncertain. source
Why did Odin give his eye to Mimir?
Odin's eye lies in Mimir's well: "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" (Voluspo 29; cf. 28). source