Muninn is one of the two ravens of Odin in Norse mythology, the bird whose name means "memory." Each dawn he flies out from the Allfather's shoulder across the nine worlds, and by evening he returns to whisper all that he has learned into Odin's ear.
Who is Muninn?
Muninn — Old Norse for "memory," from munr, the mind or its desire — is one of a pair of ravens who go everywhere with Odin. His companion is Huginn, whose name means "thought." In the Poetic Edda poem Grímnismál, Odin tells how both birds range over the whole earth each day, and he adds a striking confession: he fears that Huginn may not return, but he dreads still more the loss of Muninn. Where Huginn is the mind sent questing outward, Muninn is the faculty that keeps and carries what has been seen — the memory without which even a god's hard-won wisdom would slip away. It is because of these two ravens that Snorri Sturluson says Odin is called Hrafnaguð, the "raven-god."
Symbols and legacy
Muninn embodies memory: the holding-fast of knowledge, the lore that a wanderer after wisdom must never let escape. His pairing with Huginn makes the two ravens a single image of the working mind — perception and recollection together — and they belong to Odin as naturally as the rune Ansuz, the rune of the word and the mind that preserves it. Ravens fill Migration-era and Viking-age art, on helmet plates, brooches, and coins, and warriors bore raven banners into battle. From those standards to modern retellings of the myths, Muninn endures as the emblem of memory kept and lore carried home.
Frequently asked questions
What does Muninn mean in Norse mythology?
Muninn is Old Norse for 'memory', from munr, meaning mind or desire. He is one of Odin's two ravens, the embodiment of memory and what is held fast in the mind.
Why does Odin fear more for Muninn?
In the poem Grímnismál, Odin says he fears both ravens may not return, but he dreads the loss of Muninn most. Interpreters read this as the fear of losing memory itself, the deeper of the two faculties.
What is the difference between Huginn and Muninn?
Huginn is thought and Muninn is memory. They are Odin's paired ravens and fly the worlds together, but Huginn stands for perception sent outward while Muninn stands for what is remembered and kept.