Kunnskap i det mytiske universet

• Main Author: Jørgensen, Jon Gunnar
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: Norwegian
• Published: 2021
• Subjects: Dent; Dødsriket; Finnes; Gunnar; Skuld; Urd; Util; Iceland
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10852/82703; http://urn.nb.no/URN:NBN:no-85545

Kunnskap verdsettes høyt innenfor den norrøne litteraturen og i det my-tiske universet som blir trukket opp gjennom gudediktene i Edda. Det my-tiske universet er dels åpent, dels skjult. Det åpne kan erfares medalminnelige menneskelige sanser, mens det skjulte i utgangspunktet er util-gjengelig for de levende. Kunnskap kan deles inn på samme vis. Åpen kunn-skap kan man tilegne seg ved hjelp av alminnelige sanser, mens den skjultekrever noe ekstra. Trolldom og innsikt i framtida er eksempler på skjultkunnskap. I sin jakt på skjult kunnskap besøker Odin de lokalitetene derkunnskapen finnes – i det skjulte, i en brønn, i fjellet, i dødsriket. Verdens-treet Yggdrasil består av en synlig og en skjult halvdel, og fra den åpne vir-keligheten leder brønner ned i den skjulte. Brønnene er knyttet til skjultkunnskap. Treet illustrerer tydelig en modell med skjult og åpen kunnskap.Den kan være et nyttig verktøy til å forstå den norrøne litteraturen. Artik-kelen viser til slutt eksempler på dette. Both Eddic poetry and saga literature bear witness to the fact that know-ledge was held in high regard in Norse culture. In descriptions of cha-racters in the sagas, knowledge and intellectual resources are seen aspositive features on a par with physical strength. The life project ofÓðinn, the foremost of the Æsir, is to acquire knowledge. He is the maincharacter in the first mythological poems, all of which have knowledgeas their central themes. Óðinn collects knowledge, he competes in know-ledge and he conveys knowledge.Knowledge is something that exists in the world and that can be lo-cated. When Óðinn wants to acquire knowledge, he seeks it where it canbe found, or he sends out his informers. He acquires open knowledgeby sending out his ravens and by looking out over the world from hishigh seat, Hliðskjalf. Hidden knowledge he brings out of hiding: fromthe mountain, from Mimir’s well, from the realm of the dead and by ask-ing the seeress, who belongs in hiding and knows everything about thehistory of the world. The seeress can be seen as a representative of theFates, a triune figure who, as the Norns Urd, Verdandi, Skuld, knowsall aspects of time, past, present and future.The ash tree Yggdrasil stands as an axis mundi at the centre of theuniverse. The tree is described as a symmetrical organism with the visiblepart – its branches and foliage – in the open and a hidden part consistingof 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 hispursuit of hidden knowledge (rúnar). There are wells at the roots of thetree that are also associated with hidden knowledge. The wells are chan-nels between the open and the hidden world.This model of open and hidden knowledge provides a useful key tointerpreting Norse literature. It explains why Thorgeirr Ljosvetninga-godi pulls an ox-hide over his head when he seeks a solution to a questionJon Gunnar Jørgensen94MOM 2020-2 materie11.qxp_Layout 1 14.12.2020 11:51 Side 94 of existential significance for Iceland. In hiding, he sees what is not evi-dent. It also explains why the blind often have special insight into whatis hidden for the sighted, as the sagas provide many examples of.Hidden knowledge is also to be found in the realm of the dead, andthe dead can communicate this knowledge to the living. It may happenin dreams or by a recently dead person reviving briefly to convey hiddenknowledge to those around him. Utterances from the dead are deemedparticularly significant. A doomed person may gain insight into hiddenknowledge and be able to convey this insight to the living, as Fáfnir doeswith Sigurd after he has sustained a fatal wound.In Hávamál, we are told that knowledge is highly valued, but thatnonetheless one should not be too wise. Hidden knowledge is hard tobear. Happiest is he who is moderately wise. This apparent contradictioncan be interpreted as meaning that hidden knowledge makes nobodyhappy, and should not be striven for.