VALKNUT MEADERY AUSTRALIA
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Symbols & Their Meanings
no:12 ~ Huginn & Muninn
On our Ginger Meads we have an image of two little birds sitting in a tree. These birds are actually ravens from the Old Norse belief, in which the God Odinn has 2 ravens named Huginn & Muninn.
These ravens are attested in the Poetic Edda, which was compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources. They are also in the Prose Edda, Heimskringla, the poetry of skalds and the Third Grammatical Treatise compiled in the 13th century by Óláfr Þórðarson.
THESE RAVENS GATHER INFORMATION FOR ODINN
Huginn roughly translates to 'thought', and Muninn translates to 'memory/ mind/ desire'. These two traits are the most important parts of gaining and holding knowledge, which is important as Odinn is predominately known for his wisdom. It is said that the ravens fly across Midgard (the realm of humans) and gather information, bringing it back to Odinn and keeping him updated with the latest information and gossip.
In the Poetic Edda poem Grímnismál, Odinn mentions he is worried that one day Muninn won’t return, which was an indication that he may have been losing his memory/mind in his old age. This was especially bad because Odinn without his wisdom is like a sniper without a rifle.
There are many artefacts of these 2 ravens with Odinn that originated from Scandinavia, Germany and Saxony Britain and date back as far as 300ce. Much like his horse
Sleipnir, the ravens are a way for God to connect to other realms.
THERE ARE MANY ARTEFACTS THAT FEATURE THESE RAVENS
I chose to have this symbol on our Ginger Mead bottles because well, ravens are awesome, and these 2 are significant to our ancestral culture.
Hope you learned something!
Skål.
