what does the raven symbolize meaning in norse mythology？

Raven plays an important role in Norse mythology, because crow is closely related to Odin. Raven is the holy bird around Odin. In Norse mythology, Huginn and Muninn are two ravens kept by Odin.The name Huggin means “idea” while Muninn means “memory’. Every morning they fly to the human world at dawn, and report back to Odin in the evening. They always rest at Odin’s shoulders and whisper to him. Therefore, Odin is also refered to as “the god of raven”.

Who are Huggin and Muninn?

In Norse mythology, Huggin and Muninn are two ravens under the lord god Odin. Besides the ravens, there are two wolves named Geri and Freki accompanying Odin. To Odin, these ravens are not only holy birds under him, but also his ears and eyes. At the dawn of every morning, the two ravens fly to the human world. They watch and listen to everything in the world, and talk to other being and the dead.

The whole world is within their reach, and nothing can be concealed from Odin. When the night falls, the ravens return to Odin’s shoulders and whisper in his ears about what they see and hear in the day. Odin learns many stories from the ravens. If Odin knows what is happening in the human world, then it is likely the ravens who tell him about that.

Odin obtained the “wine of wisdom” with the help of Huginn and Muninn

In order to obtain wisdom, two dwarves killed the god of wisdom Kvasir, made his blood into mead and filled three vessels. It is said that the mead imbues the drinker with inspiration to create poems. Later the two dwarves went to the human world and murdered a giant named Gilling, along with his wife. Gilling’s son, Suttungr, captured the two dwarves.

They offered him the magical mead in exchange for sparing their lives. After Suttungr got the mead, he asked his daughter to keep it. But what they did not know is, Odin’s ravens saw everything and reported back to Odin about where the mead was kept. As a result, the mead of widson was finally in the hands of Odin