Odin's Journey as a Hero

Looking at the mythological tale of Odin's Search for Wisdom, we can see examples of how he moves through many of the stages in the hero's cycle as presented by Joseph Campbell.

Odin realizes that he needs to obtain wisdom in order to be the best God for his people and to compete with the much older giants. He decides to see out knowledge without knowing the price. He travels to the well of wisdom and meets with the giant Mimer. This demonstrates some of the steps in Act One which include awareness of a problem and crossing over to the other land.

While at the well, Odin willingly sacrifices his eye in order to gain wisdom which represents some of the steps in Act Two including overcoming a big ordeal and accepting the consequences.

"I cannot give to all who ask, but only to those who are able and willing to give greatly in return," says Mimer to Odin and his response is "I will give you whatever you ask".

Finally we can see the last steps in the hero's journey when Odin returns home without an eye but with great knowledge. He even goes so far as to test the wisdom he gains against the smartest giant Vafthrudner which results in increasing his understanding of the past and earning the respect of the giant creating a new normal and demonstrates the final components of Act Three and fulfills the hero's journey cycle.

Hero Archetype Example From Carl Jung

Carl Jung developed twelve archetypes. He made clear to state that there is a great deal of overlapping and some characters, especially in mythology can play the role of several of the archetypes. This is true for Odin. He can sometimes be the explorer, ruler, sage, magician or in several cases the hero.

In the story The Binding of the Wolf, Odin is the only one who looks to the future and makes the intuitive leap that Loki's children will bring darkness to the world. He sets out to bring them to heal in order to preserve the safety of the people. He was just but fair and ordered Hel to the land of the dead, cast the snake into the deep sea and allowed Fenrer the wolf to stay in Asgard, the home of Odin and his people.

But Fenrer did not redeem himself and instead who grew more violent and dangerous and Odin decided the have a magical chain that would restrain him and convinced him to show his might by getting locked up and being allowed to try and escape. Fenrer could not break the chain and the threat of his evil was finally contained. 

In the story, The Binding of the Wolf, Odin demonstrates the ability to fight against the odds, a willingness to sacrifice himself, courage and honor in his dealings with people. He did not randomly choose to punish or banish people, the son's of Loki were creating problems that would later devastate the land and he resolved the problem while being willing to sacrifice himself in the process. We see these same traits with Odin time and again. For example, he willingly sacrificed himself for the runes and his eye for greater wisdom.

Odin also demonstrates some of the major flaws of the hero archetype including arrogance, pride and sometimes acting without thinking things through.