But the gift of a dead man also went to Odin, due to his role as the ruler of the dead in Valhalla and the common practice of symbolically sacrificing an enemy host to Odin before a battle.
Countless kennings express this concept: to cite but two, the warrior is the “feeder of the raven” ( hrafngrennir) and the “fattener of the battle-starling” ( folkstara feitir). To slay someone in battle was, in a sense, to give the ravens a gift.
Ravens, as carrion birds, were present when a battle took place, and were some of its prime beneficiaries. Why was there such a longstanding and intense connection between Odin and the raven, of all species? As those kennings suggest, the answer largely has to do with Odin’s roles as a god of war and death. The poets occasionally use Munin’s name in the same way, but Hugin’s is far more common.įurthermore, the sight of ravens immediately following a sacrifice to Odin was taken as a sign that the god had accepted the offering. The warrior in battle is “the reddener of Hugin’s claws” ( fetrjóðr Hugins) or “the reddener of Hugin’s bill” ( munnrjóðr Hugins). Sometimes kennings use “Hugin” as a substitute for “raven.” Blood is designated as “Hugin’s sea” ( Hugins vör) or “Hugin’s drink” ( Hugins drekka). In the same vein, ravens are called “the greedy hawks of Odin” ( átfrekir Óðins haukar), or else his “swan” ( Yggs svanr), his “seagull” ( Yggjar már), or – showing how far the bird equivalencies could be stretched – his “cuckoo” ( Gauts gaukr). (A kenning is a common Old Norse literary device that uses images from a body of traditional lore to refer to something rather than calling it by its everyday name.) Odin is called the “raven-god” ( Hrafnaguð or Hrafnáss), the “raven-tempter” ( Hrafnfreistuðr), or “the priest of the raven sacrifice” ( Hrafnblóts Goði this is surely a poetic way of describing fallen warriors as “sacrifices” to the ravens and other carrion birds, with Odin as a decider of who lives and who dies in battle). The skaldic poetry of the Viking Age often uses kennings involving ravens to refer to Odin, and vice versa. Already in the sixth and seventh centuries AD – well before the beginning of the Viking Age in the late eighth century – visual depictions of Odin on helmets and jewelry frequently picture him accompanied by one or more ravens. The connection between Odin and ravens is very old and very deep. Snorri’s main source for this passage seems to be an evocative stanza in the Eddic poem Grímnismál, in which Odin says: Thus, he finds out many new things and this is why he is called ‘raven-god’ (hrafnaguð). He sends them out in the morning to fly around the whole world, and by breakfast they are back again. Two ravens sit on his (Odin’s) shoulders and whisper all the news which they see and hear into his ear they are called Huginn and Muninn. According to the medieval Icelandic historian Snorri Sturluson, Huginn and Muninn are named after Odin's pet ravens in Norse mythology.Hugin and Munin or Thought and Memory (pronounced “HOO-gin” and “MOO-nin” Old Norse Huginn and Muninn, the meaning of which will be discussed below) are two ravens in Norse mythology who are helping spirits of the god Odin.Huginn's retractable wings enable him to fly. Learning of the Turtles' pursuit of the Oozesquitoes, they alerted Draxum and accompanied him to the battle with Big Mama. They later encountered the Turtles again in Big Mama's sporting lounge, where they were watching the Battle Nexus fights. Despite the destruction of Draxum's home base, both Huginn and Muninn escaped unhurt. He came into conflict with the Turtles and April O'Neil during Baron Draxum's first battle with them. He is capable of sprouting bat-like wings.Ĭompared to Baron Draxum, Huginn and Muninn are relatively dim-witted, though Huginn is slightly more intelligent.
#MUNIN AND HUGIN MEANING SKIN#
Huginn has black skin and a frog-like body (though more slender than Muninn), with a short tail at the end (twice as long as Muninn's) and a head shape similar to a cat.
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