I’ll tell you a story of what Odin did
And of the cosmic ash tree, Yggdrasid.
It was before there was any time to mind,
And legend and myth was all you’d find.

The tree did on three awesome roots depend.
And each of these roots in a special place did end.
They nourished the tree so it would never fall.
For the cosmic tree was the tree of all.

One of the roots grew to Giantland,
To the place where the wisdom well did stand.
To drink the water would make you wise,
So you’d always know the truth from the lies.
And the guardian Mimir decided the price,
For a glass of that water you must sacrifice.

The second root through the heaven’s spread,
Supporting both the living and the dead.
And that root grew to a place no further
Than a point above the well of Urdr.
It was the sacred well where all must pay.
There the Gods would sit on judgment day.

The third root wound around the well of might,
Called the Roaring Cauldron full of fury and fight.
And the dragon Nidhoggr, with its dreaded bite,
Gnawed the root from below, thru the endless night.

As you can see, this was no ordinary tree.
In fact it was as vast as totality.
It’s trunk was bigger than our galaxy.
And a branch was more than reality.

Then came the time near the well, Mimir,
When the three Wyrd did appear,
Urdr, Verdandi and Skuld were here,
And the mists of the myths were cleared.
The past, the present, the future, the fates,
To touch all moving thru their appointed dates.
And the Wyrd foretold, for all to behold
How on the Vigrid plain, Ragnarok would unfold.
The fight between the Giants and Gods and men,
The twilight of the Gods meant the universe‘s end.

This story concerns one I hold in regard,
Who ruled the fabled kingdom of Asgard,
And lived in the golden palace called Gladsheim,
And ruled the Gods until the end of time.

Odin, the one eyed father of the Gods and men
Gave himself in every way to delay the end.
He was cunning and tricky and swift in deceit,
He was brave, he would never kneel before defeat.
God of magic and inspiration for those slain,
Odin, wild and furious means his name.

Odin, wide in wisdom, destined to rule
Till Ragnarok and the end so cruel
Took him to his certain doom,
His fate woven by the cosmic loom.

The Twilight of the Gods, was it near or late,
Described by the Wyrd without a date,
So Odin bore the heavy weight
Of postponing that awful fate.

In Valhalla at the evening meal
At Odin’s feet, two wolves did kneel
And while others enjoyed the splendid feasts
Odin gave all his food to his two pet beasts.
On Odin’s shoulders two ravens perched
Named thought and memory, each day they searched
Over all the world to see what all men do
Then returned to Odin to whisper what they knew
While others ate, Odin pondered each clue.

He had no need for food or drink.
He wanted only wisdom to help him think.
Odin, father of the Gods and all things known,
Bore his responsibility of how to postpone
That final battle where all would die,
Even though predestined, he had to try.
You may call it folly, but I call it wise,
To do less is to surrender to evil and lies.

Odin took risks to understand every clue
He would pay the cost to obtain what’s true.

He had heard that a drink from the well Mimir
Would make all wisdom to him be clear.
So Odin journeyed to the wisdom well
To obtain the wisdom Mimir would tell.
But the guardian of the well said Odin must pay
With a part of himself for that was the way.
For the price of wisdom is very high.
And that glass of water would cost him one eye.
So he tossed his eye into the water below
And he drank that drink so he would know
What was the truth and what were the lies,
That’s how Odin, the one eyed God, became wise.

Now there is more to being, than being wise.
And Odin had more heights, to which he would rise.
For the nectar of the Giants, that they called mead,
He knew that both the Gods and men had need.
So he risked dying and failure, this liquor to free.
For all who tasted one sip, forever, a poet would be.

But he knew these gains were not enough.
That he needed to be more than merely tough.
That the end foretold would be very rough.
He sought how to make himself of sterner stuff.

All that remained for Odin to gain
Was freedom from suffering, fear and pain.
And for that Odin knew that he had to die.
For there lies the answer to the question why.

So Odin sacrificed himself on the cosmic tree.
And he hung himself so from himself he‘d be free.
For nine long days in the wind and the pain,
Upside down and bleeding, he gave to gain.
He died to himself, to be reborn in the end.
Only those like Odin can comprehend
The loss that’s a gain, when one takes the chance.
For in that death he became a leaf and then a branch
And finally the tree of which no man knows,
The cosmic tree, by which everything grows.

He returned to himself with what he sought.
The knowledge that freedom can’t be bought.
And the wisdom that comes as truth in the heart.
Once gained, one becomes it, to never depart.
The truth that is wise and clever and sure.
The truth full of feeling that’s always pure.
The truth that never can be forced to kneel.
The truth that’s eternal, full of power and real.

Odin knew that there were ways he’d never be free.
That Yggdrasid and the universe would cease to be.
That in the Twilight of the Gods all would bleed.
And he would die in the battle that he would lead.

But Odin sacrificed himself. to himself to see.
That nothing could defeat him. not death or need.
Cause while he was hanging on that cosmic tree,
He asked himself where came its seed?