Mímir: A Head Full of Wisdom

What we read about Mímir (Mimir) in the Prose Edda, Poetic Edda, and Ynglinga Saga.
Jackson Crawford, Ph.D.: Sharing real expertise in Norse language and myth with people hungry to learn, free of both ivory tower elitism and the agendas of self-appointed gurus. Visit jacksonwcrawford.com/ (includes bio and linked list of all videos).
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Jackson Crawford’s translation of The Poetic Edda: www.hackettpublishing.com/the... or www.amazon.com/Poetic-Edda-St...
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Пікірлер: 56

  • @thegiantmimir4664
    @thegiantmimir46644 ай бұрын

    I am very grateful for this deep dive, so to speak, into the well of Mimir.

  • @Phantom86d

    @Phantom86d

    4 ай бұрын

    I know! And we didn't even have to pay an eye!

  • @mochtegerndane7097
    @mochtegerndane70974 ай бұрын

    I am Danish - married to a foreign woman, who was born and raised catholic. Her parents are also devout. Me - I am more in the camp of the old Gods. Anyway: They are visiting us one day and our oldest son, who is in second grade, has some problems with his homework. So he gets up, crosses his arms, and closes his eyes. After some time he sits down again and returns to the homework. Granddad then asks him: "What did you just do". Son: "Oh - I asked Odin for help in understanding this assignment". The look on the faces of the Granddads, when they heard the name of King of Gods and the God of kings was, well, fun.

  • @downinthehole

    @downinthehole

    3 ай бұрын

    And then everybody clapped.

  • @mochtegerndane7097

    @mochtegerndane7097

    3 ай бұрын

    @@downinthehole ????

  • @losthor1zon
    @losthor1zon4 ай бұрын

    Interesting that the idea of "talking heads" is quite old, and we still use it in a way.

  • @Tomas-Odebrant
    @Tomas-Odebrant4 ай бұрын

    I live in Kungälv, north of Gothenburg in Sweden. The name of the town was Kongahälla (or Kungahälla, Konungahälla, Kongehelle) a thousand years ago and is mentioned several times by Snorri in his tales of Sigurd Jorsalafare and other Norwegian kings, up to the 13th century. The community centre here, containing the library, an assembly hall and a large high school is named "Mimers hus (Mimir's House)"!

  • @mochtegerndane7097

    @mochtegerndane7097

    4 ай бұрын

    Cool.

  • @colinst.claire2198
    @colinst.claire21984 ай бұрын

    My grandma’s nickname was Mimi. That explains why she was so wise!

  • @tairneanaich
    @tairneanaichАй бұрын

    „That nobody wants to watch“ would like to say I always love these videos, and often like to just go back through them and listen to them whilst I cook or get ready for work of a morning! I really appreciate the channel and the work you do here, thank you!

  • @ErikHolten
    @ErikHolten4 ай бұрын

    Regarding Mímir probably being one of the jotnar rather than one of the æsir/vanir: In addition to his well lying by the root stretching from the Jotunheimar, it seems there's a morphological name similarity of sorts. Confer: Ymir Skrymir Hymir Gymir (only known as father of Gerd) And indeed Þrymr himself.

  • @einarkristjansson6812
    @einarkristjansson68124 ай бұрын

    Dr. Jackson Crawford, you are the Snorri Sturluson of America. Give us more.

  • @ariadne4720

    @ariadne4720

    4 ай бұрын

    I agree to a point. Jackson Crawford does not make things up, but Snorri, ever the politician, did.

  • @faramund9865
    @faramund98654 ай бұрын

    Mijmeren. :) Thanks for the video, and I’ve noticed the first thing you mentioned too. Very unfortunate.

  • @harryrabbit2870
    @harryrabbit28704 ай бұрын

    Mimir, original member of the Talking Heads. Wish old Mimir was still around. We need more wisdom and fewer wise guys. Thanks, Dr. Crawford. Always enjoy your videos.

  • @CoenM33

    @CoenM33

    4 ай бұрын

    I heard you had a thing for clippin' wiseguys

  • @apocnizmith7541
    @apocnizmith75414 ай бұрын

    Thanks so much for all the knowledge you share!

  • @CptEtgar
    @CptEtgar4 ай бұрын

    Great channel 🎉🎉. I live in Israel and I have Norwegian relatives. Since my spiritual awakening I became friends with crows. I’ve heard they are special for Odin. Thank you for your works.

  • @eladabudi2408

    @eladabudi2408

    4 ай бұрын

    יש פה ישראלים???

  • @lakrids-pibe
    @lakrids-pibe4 ай бұрын

    'Cause I'm the magnificent ♬ Marvelous ♩ Mad Mister Mimr ♪ ♫

  • @losthor1zon

    @losthor1zon

    4 ай бұрын

    If only it was a Talking Heads song!

  • @anthonydevito1298
    @anthonydevito12984 ай бұрын

    I like your Beaker impression from the muppets @3:41

  • @hundwasser9871
    @hundwasser98714 ай бұрын

    Thanks for your work. Greetings from Germany

  • @blainelanders2361
    @blainelanders23614 ай бұрын

    Without anyway to prove this theory, I still would expect that if I could sit down and chat face to face with a person from the times these poems were created, that they would agree that the idea of a head full of wisdom in well could be a true and real thing.

  • @jaydaniels8818

    @jaydaniels8818

    4 ай бұрын

    How dare Jackson Crawford present to us the Old Norse texts as they are without offering unsubstantiated opinions and personal gnosis! How prejudiced of him to give you nothing but the facts! You sound like a buffoon. Nothing of what you said carries any weight. Yes, there is always prejudice on the part of the interpreter, but Jackson is doing his best to be objective and impartial in providing us good knowledge within his expertise.

  • @TheEnigmaticmuse

    @TheEnigmaticmuse

    4 ай бұрын

    R-e.d.d-i.t I Am Heimdall

  • @victor_bueno_br
    @victor_bueno_br4 ай бұрын

    I loved this deep dive. I would love to see more

  • @lukelavigne5474
    @lukelavigne54744 ай бұрын

    I love every single video you bring out, even if I don’t get the opportunity to watch every single one. Thank you so much for all of this!

  • @nikburisson9
    @nikburisson94 ай бұрын

    Skål Doc.

  • @sc0ttiez151
    @sc0ttiez1513 ай бұрын

    Truly grateful for your content. It really gives a sense of connection between time and cultures in a way that I've really only experienced via music or travel. Please keep it up!

  • @abbot29-ji1gq
    @abbot29-ji1gq4 ай бұрын

    Love the good info thanks! ❤

  • @jeffd0721
    @jeffd07214 ай бұрын

    I would love to hear your thoughts on Uppsala, and your thoughts on what Snorri Sturluson wrote about it

  • @treyconner1991
    @treyconner19914 ай бұрын

    Excellent content! Thank you!

  • @weepingscorpion8739
    @weepingscorpion87394 ай бұрын

    Interesting that about Mímir. In Faroese, the masculine -ir words (-ija stem I think) competely merge with the weak nouns, so hirðir > hirði, læknir > lækni etc. (so læknir - lækni - lækni - læknis > lækni - lækna - lækna - lækna), so it is interesting to see that this change seems to have happened or started to happen that early.

  • @patrickmcmanis6683
    @patrickmcmanis66834 ай бұрын

    Is it possible that Mimir’s horn and Heimdallr’s horn came from the same beast?

  • @oneukum

    @oneukum

    4 ай бұрын

    You think they are natural horns as opposed to forged metal horns?

  • @Phantom86d

    @Phantom86d

    4 ай бұрын

    For poetic reasons, my head cannon for the Gjallarhorn is that it came from the end of Auðumla's horn. Because having the horn of the first cow (Auðumla) that freed the first god (Ymir) sound out the Twilight of Gods is a nice circle.

  • @faramund9865

    @faramund9865

    4 ай бұрын

    I think you’re thinking too materialistic about this. The myths, in my experience, are riddles and metaphors. If they say, from someones eye poors the golden mead and it’s lying in a spring. Then I think that’s a riddle and the answer is pretty obvious.

  • @jessephillips1233
    @jessephillips12334 ай бұрын

    As an atheist, I still value and even love these myths and I find your work invaluable. Both in making these things accessible to a general audience but also providing a clear line of what is from the historical record and what is a modern reconstruction or retelling. Anyway, keep up the good work.

  • @downinthehole

    @downinthehole

    3 ай бұрын

    As an atheist, I am compelled to mention this everywhere.

  • @onenof10
    @onenof104 ай бұрын

    Dr. Crawford, I presume you know this, but if not: all your videos get a transcript automatically applied by KZread. They're not perfect but if you need to search old videos you could possibily use them and a ctrl-f to save you some work.

  • @johnbirgernielsen9340
    @johnbirgernielsen93404 ай бұрын

    In danish gidsel means hostage

  • @kaneyoung7439
    @kaneyoung74394 ай бұрын

    Could Heimdall be Mimirs son and we've just lost that story, and that's why they both use the Gjallarhorn? Heimdalls powers of sight and hearing would match with being the son of the wisest being

  • @TheEnigmaticmuse
    @TheEnigmaticmuse4 ай бұрын

    Maybe it's confusing because they were both, human beings (or looking and living like humans) and were gods so it seems like a contradiction but it's just two different aspects to the story. I think the Aztecs had a war god called Votan but he was described as a physical man. Many cultures had descriptions of a god who seemed like Odin.

  • @thomaswillard6267
    @thomaswillard62674 ай бұрын

    Easy way to remember how to remember him; Mimir is a Memer

  • @TheEnigmaticmuse
    @TheEnigmaticmuse4 ай бұрын

    I don't think mimir was Odin's enemy. I thought they traded people after the vanir/aesir as a peace keeping method. Mimir went with the vanir. Freyr and freya were vanir and went to live with the aesir. And i think the vanir dud not like what mimir had to say 😬💀

  • @the_purple_mage
    @the_purple_mage4 ай бұрын

    You know, just your average head in a well.

  • @beepboop204
    @beepboop2044 ай бұрын

  • @AngryRod71
    @AngryRod714 ай бұрын

    Ino very little of Snorri only rhat he was a monk but have you considered that he has written the stories as ha has been told by different people and that his inconsistencies ate a product of this and not his academic ability?

  • @faramund9865

    @faramund9865

    4 ай бұрын

    He was NOT a monk. No one in a christian occupation would have written such works. In fact, I bet we HAD such works on the continent, but were destroyed by zealous priests and bishops.

  • @WasOne2
    @WasOne24 ай бұрын

    Why not develop and offer a simpler course in Mythology. I'm sure that you could get it finished in a short time. Use your own books as reference. Doesn't have to be live: make a video series and put it on one of the teaching platforms.

  • @faramund9865

    @faramund9865

    4 ай бұрын

    This whole channel is that. I think the reason he’s doing a language course is because learning language often requires a more hands on approach, just as with learning maths.

  • @keenanarthur8381
    @keenanarthur83814 ай бұрын

    Scholars frequently make the mistake of acting as though secular materialism is an objective “agenda-free” worldview when it is, in fact, riddled with its own prejudices, biases, and assumptions. E.g. in reading/interpreting Christian-authored Old Norse texts you assume that it’s possible to separate Norse mythology from the mysticism that almost certainly informed that mythology (as mysticism informs all mythologies) with a tone implying disdain for mysticism as a valid way of gathering true knowledge - which is a very culturally specific prejudice that demonstrates ignorance of the nuances and complexities of various forms of mysticism.

  • @patriciashelton511

    @patriciashelton511

    4 ай бұрын

    There be a lot of big words in there. We’re naught but humble pirates.

  • @faramund9865

    @faramund9865

    4 ай бұрын

    Yes, but, if you do try to unwind the riddles it quickly becomes hours of video discussing every angle people take on it and how that fits into their view of it. So I think he does a good job of simply mentioning the plain sourcework so that we may do the unraveling ourselves. And there are other channels out there that try to make sense of the riddles that you can also follow.