There may be random videos that aren’t video essays on here I put by accident
Curated by: A.A (574 videos)
Why did the powerful god Odin hang himself atop a windy tree for nine long nights? Was this a sacrificial ritual, or an initiation into some kind of cult? Was Odin seeking something, or trying to prevent his own Fate? In this video, we try to answer these questions by interpreting stanzas 139-140 of the Hávamál -- we talk of Ragnarök, Yggdrasil, the death of Baldr... and much more, in order to try and pinpoint the ever-elusive Odin! Support my channel: https://patreon.com/Pierrot_48 00:00 - Introduction 03:16 - The Hanging God 09:19 - Odin, the Seeker 20:13 - The World Tree 33:19 - Sacrifice, Martyrdom, Initiation 40:54 - The Many Cults of Odin 45:32 - Riding the Gallows 01:02:36 - Remember, Remember 01:12:34 - Final Words Bibliography: The Poetic and Prose Eddas "An Encapsulation of Óðinn: Religious belief and ritual practice among the Viking Age elite with particular focus upon the practice of ritual hanging" by Douglas Robert Dutton "Gods and Myths of Northern Europe" by Hilda Ellis Davidson "Norse Mythology: A Guide to the Gods, Heroes, Rituals, and Beliefs" by John Lindow (very good reference book, highly recommend) "The Hanging, the Nine Nights and the 'Precious Knowledge' in Hávamál 138–145: The Cultic Context" by Olof Sundqvist "The Cult of Othin: An Essay in the Ancient Religion of the North" by H. M. Chadwick "Myself to Myself: The Norse Odin and Divine Autosacrifice" by Kimberley Christine Patton (Chapter 7 of the wider "Religion of the Gods: Ritual, Paradox, and Reflexivity") "Initiation Between Two Worlds: Structure and Symbolism in Pre-Christian Scandinavian Religion", "The Relation between the two Phenomenological Categories Initiation and Sacrifice as exemplified by the Norse Myth of Óðinn on the Tree" by Jens Peter Schjødt