| Summary: | Both Eddic poetry and saga literature bear witness to the fact that knowledge was held in high regard in Norse culture. In descriptions of characters in the sagas, knowledge and intellectual resources are seen as positive features on a par with physical strength. The life project of Óðinn, the foremost of the Æsir, is to acquire knowledge. He is the main character in the first mythological poems, all of which have knowledge as their central themes. Óðinn collects knowledge, he competes in knowledge and he conveys knowledge. Knowledge is something that exists in the world and that can be located. When Óðinn wants to acquire knowledge, he seeks it where it can be found, or he sends out his informers. He acquires open knowledge by sending out his ravens and by looking out over the world from his high seat, Hliðskjalf. Hidden knowledge he brings out of hiding: from the mountain, from Mimir's well, from the realm of the dead and by asking the seeress, who belongs in hiding and knows everything about the history of the world. The seeress can be seen as a representative of the Fates, a triune figure who, as the Norns Urd, Verdandi, Skuld, knows all aspects of time, past, present and future. The ash tree Yggdrasil stands as an axis mundi at the centre of the universe. The tree is described as a symmetrical organism with the visible part - its branches and foliage - in the open and a hidden part consisting of roots under the ground. Knowledge is closely associated with this tree. It gets its name from the fact that Óðinn hanged himself from it in his pursuit of hidden knowledge (rúnar). There are wells at the roots of the tree that are also associated with hidden knowledge. The wells are channels between the open and the hidden world. This model of open and hidden knowledge provides a useful key to interpreting Norse literature. It explains why Thorgeirr Ljosvetningagodi pulls an ox-hide over his head when he seeks a solution to a question of existential significance for Iceland. In hiding, he sees what is not evident. It also explains why the blind often have special insight into what is hidden for the sighted, as the sagas provide many examples of. Hidden knowledge is also to be found in the realm of the dead, and the dead can communicate this knowledge to the living. It may happen in dreams or by a recently dead person reviving briefly to convey hidden knowledge to those around him. Utterances from the dead are deemed particularly significant. A doomed person may gain insight into hidden knowledge and be able to convey this insight to the living, as Fáfnir does with Sigurd after he has sustained a fatal wound. In Hávamál, we are told that knowledge is highly valued, but that nonetheless one should not be too wise. Hidden knowledge is hard to bear. Happiest is he who is moderately wise. This apparent contradiction can be interpreted as meaning that hidden knowledge makes nobody happy, and should not be striven for. Kunnskap verdsettes høyt innenfor den norrøne litteraturen og i det mytiske universet som blir trukket opp gjennom gudediktene i Edda. Det mytiske universet er dels åpent, dels skjult. Det åpne kan erfares med alminnelige menneskelige sanser, mens det skjulte i utgangspunktet er utilgjengelig for de levende. Kunnskap kan deles inn på samme vis. Åpen kunnskap kan man tilegne seg ved hjelp av alminnelige sanser, mens den skjulte krever noe ekstra. Trolldom og innsikt i framtida er eksempler på skjult kunnskap. I sin jakt på skjult kunnskap besøker Odin de lokalitetene der kunnskapen finnes - i det skjulte, i en brønn, i fjellet, i dødsriket. Verdenstreet Yggdrasil består av en synlig og en skjult halvdel, og fra den åpne virkeligheten leder brønner ned i den skjulte. Brønnene er knyttet til skjult kunnskap. Treet illustrerer tydelig en modell med skjult og åpen kunnskap. Den kan være et nyttig verktøy til å forstå den norrøne litteraturen. Artikkelen viser til slutt eksempler på dette.
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