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Revision as of 15:54, 27 January 2011 by Beastmaster (talk | contribs)
Huginn and Muninn sit on Odin's shoulders in this illustration from an 18th century Icelandic manuscript.

Huginn and Muninn, (sometimes anglicized as Hugin and Munin), are a pair of ravens associated with the Norse god Odin.

Description

Hugin and Munin travel the world bearing news and information to Odin. In some stories the birds are capable of human speech and aid human heroes, making them apparently beneficent creatures.

Hugin's name means "thought" and Munin means "memory". They are sent out at dawn every day to gather information around the world and return in the evening. They perch on Odin's shoulders and whisper the news into his ears.

One of Odin's many titles is Hrafna-Gud, the God of the Ravens. Odin's daughters, the warlike Valkyries, were sometimes said to take the form of ravens.

Stories

Hugin and Munin are most famously referenced to in the Poetic Edda by Odin, disguised as the traveler Grimnir ("Hooded One"), who is describing them to the young boy Agnarr. They are also mentioned in the Prose Edda in a similar way.

Origin

The usual interpretation of Hugin and Munin is that they are a physical representation of Odin's role of wisdom god, considering the intelligence of wild ravens, which like their mythical counterparts can be trained to speak.

However, the frequent depiction of ravens in Norse art suggests an important and unrecorded role of the two birds in mythology, possibly as Odin's assistants as well as scouts. This is suggested by an image of a human figure, identified as Odin, beside a horse, attended by a raven who may be Hugin or Munin.

Quote

From Grímnismál:

Old Norse:

Huginn ok Muninn fliúga hverian dag
iörmungrund yfir;
óomk ek of Huginn, at hann aptr ne komit,
þó siámk meirr um Muninn.

English:

The whole world wide, every day,
fly Hugin and Munin;
I worry lest Hugin should fall in flight,
yet more I fear for Munin.