Odin’s animal companions Geri, Freki, Huginn and Muninn and Sleipnir. If we look at what their names mean, we can get a better understanding of their purpose. When we look at the
kennings used for these animals, we can see that his relationship to these animals is largely due to Odin’s roles as a god of war and death. One of these kennings is, the greedy hawks of Odin. Kennings for fallen warriors are, “feeders of the raven”, (hrafngrennir) and the “fattener of the battle-starling” (folkstara feitir) Ravens, as carrion birds, were almost always present when a battle took place, and were some of its prime beneficiaries. Odin’s wolves serve a similar purpose, one kenning for Geri is "blood" (Skaldslaparmal) in another skaldic poem a kenning for Freki is "carrion."
1. Geri means ravenous one or the greedy one.
2. Freki means greedy, gluttonous, or the hungry one.
3. Huginn means thought.
4. Muninn means memory or mind.
5. Sleipnir means the Sliding One.
Odin and his animal companions.
Geri and Freki:
Geri Freki
In the Prose Edda book Gylfaginning (chapter 38), the one known simply as High explains that Odin gives all of the food on his table to his wolves Geri and Freki and that Odin requires no food, for mead is to him both meat and drink. A darker meaning to their names can be seen in Helgakviða Hundingsbana I, verse 13, where it states that Vidrir’s, one of many different names for Odin, hounds roam the field of battle greedy for the corpses of those who have fallen in battle.
“Geri and Freki
The war-wont sates,
But on wine only
The famed in arms
Odin, ever lives.”
Lay of Grimnir
Huginn and Muninn
Huginn and Muninn
Huginn (thought) and Muninn (memory) are the two ravens that Odin sends out to fly all over Midgard each day. At the end of the day, they would return to him and share all the information that they gathered, (Hrafnagud). An interesting fact to ponder can be found in the poem Grímnismál. In the poem Odin disguised as Grimnir tells Agnarr that Odin worries that Huginn may not come back but he worries more about Muninn not returning. It appears that even Odin is concerned about losing memory/mind.
Muninn is only mentioned in the Edda, Grímnismál 20, but Huginn is mentioned considerably more. Huginn’s name occurs in the Edda, Grimnismal 20, Helgakvida Hundingsbana 1 54, Reginsmal 18 and 26, Fafnismal 35, and Gudrunarkvida 11 29. Huginn is also mentioned in skaldic poetry where it is mostly found denoting the generic term for a raven.
· Snorri also refers to both ravens in Gylfaginning 37.
· Ravens are also known as birds of the battlefield.
· The fallen warriors that come to Odin in Valhol are also known as food for the ravens.
“Hugin and Munin
Fly each day,
Over the spacious earth.
I fear for Hugin,
That he come not back
Yet more anxious am I for Munin.”
Norse Mythology by R. B. Anderson
Sleipnir
Sleipnir (Odin’s eight-legged horse.)
Sleipnir, “The Sliding One”, is the eight-legged horse given to Odin from his blood brother Loki. (Sleipnir does not exist in the Germanic stories because, as mentioned previously, Loki does not exist in Germanic lore.) Now Sleipnir is not just any gift, this horse that was conceived and birthed by Loki while he was in the form of a mare. While in the form a female horse Loki was trying to distract the stallion of a Jotun that was building the great wall around Asgard, as recounted in the story of, The Fortification of Asgard. You may ask why and how this happened; well as usual, he was trying to dig his way out of the trouble that he started.
Odin rides Sleipnir to travel the World Tree and visit the different worlds in his never-ending search for knowledge. He rides his horse into the Underworld to talk to a dead Volva to see a future that is beyond his ability to see. On occasion he will lend Sleipnir to other Gods so they can travel to the Underworld and return safely.
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