Study › Runes & Norse › Odin Wins the Runes
Odin won the runes by hanging nine nights on the World Tree, Yggdrasil, pierced by his own spear, a sacrifice of himself to himself. Then, screaming, he took them up.
A sacrifice of himself
The runes were not merely letters but vessels of hidden power, and Odin did not receive them as a gift — he seized them through an ordeal of self-sacrifice, offering himself to himself.
Nine nights on the tree
As the poem Havamal tells in the verses known as the Runatal, Odin hung upon the wind-tossed world-tree Yggdrasil for nine whole nights, pierced by his own spear, given neither bread nor drink from the horn. Alone he peered down into the darkness below, straining toward the depths.
The runes and their spells
At the last, screaming, he snatched up the runes — and fell back from the tree. From that agony he took not only the runes themselves but the mighty songs and spells they carry: charms to heal wounds, to blunt an enemy's blade, to quench fire, to calm the sea, and to raise the dead to speak. So the wisest of the gods won his deepest wisdom through suffering, and it is he who first carved and coloured the runes for gods, elves, dwarves and men alike.
Read about Odin, Yggdrasil and the Elder Futhark.
Questions
How long did Odin hang on Yggdrasil?
Nine nights.
Where is the story told?
In the Rúnatal verses of the Hávamál.