The Role of Odin’s Ravens

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. He sends them out in the morning to fly around the whole world, and by breakfast they are back again. Thus, he finds out many new things and this is why he is called ‘raven-god’ (hrafnaguð).

Odin’s two ravens, Huginn and Muninn are vital to the Allfather as they act as his eyes in both Midgard (the world of humans) and Asgard (the world of the gods).

During the day, the ravens fly out over the world, and they return to Odin every evening to whisper in this ear. In Sturluson’s writing, you can see that Huginn and Muninn are vital to helping Odin learn about the world as they carry back information to him, keeping him informed of all the happenings that he misses. Warriors when heading out to battle were known to look out for ravens as it could be that Odin’s ravens were watching their battle, waiting to choose the dead to head to Valhalla or gaining information for Odin so he could plan his future interactions with the human world.

In Norse scripture, Odin sacrificed one of his eyes in his quest of knowledge, and this made Huginn and Muninn extremely important in helping him watch over the world. Odin was able to travel freely between Asgard and the Underworld, using Sleipnir, his eight-legged horse. Using Huginn and Muninn to watch over Midgard freed Odin up to concentrate on the celestial worlds.

Whilst Huginn and Muninn resemble the ravens that we are used to, they are much larger, and unlike your common raven, they had divine status. In Old Norse, Huginn’s name refers to ‘thought’ and Muninn’s to ‘memory.’ Whilst they are tied to Odin and are not subject to the limitation of a ‘normal’ raven, they are not infallible, and their fate is linked to the fate of Odin. Should anything befall Odin, the same fate will befall Huginn and Muninn as they are extensions of the Allfather and without him, they would no longer exist.

Although Huginn and Muninn may be seen lurking on the outskirts of battle fields, they are passive observers and they will never interfere with the battle’s outcomes, merely watching and later reporting back to Odin. It could be argued that there are many situations where a more decisive role would have helped, but that is not their role. They are observers and reporters leaving action to others.

So, if you see a raven, you never know it may be one of Odin’s ravens who are watching and taking notes to take back to Odin.