Library reference · Creatures
Huginn & Muninn
/ˈhuɣɪn ok ˈmunɪn/Old Norse; Huginn 'thought' + Muninn 'memory', the two ravens of Odin
The short answer
The two ravens of Odin, Huginn ('thought') and Muninn ('memory'), who fly over the whole world each day and return to whisper what they have seen into the god's ears. Named in the Poetic Edda and Snorri's Prose Edda, they personify the far-reaching mind of Odin.
Every dawn, says the Prose Edda, Odin sends Huginn and Muninn out over the world, and they return at breakfast to tell him all they have seen, which is why he is called Hrafnaguð, the 'raven-god'. In Grímnismál Odin voices a striking fear: 'Huginn and Muninn fly each day over the wide world; I fear for Huginn, that he come not back, yet more do I fear for Muninn.' Thought he can risk losing; memory he cannot.
That is the key to the pair: they are not pets but a picture of the mind. Huginn is thought, Muninn is memory, and together they are Odin's intelligence gathered from everywhere, a fitting emblem for a god of wisdom, poetry and knowledge won at a price.
Odin's link to ravens is older than the names. Ravens were battlefield birds, feeding on the slain, and Migration- and Vendel-Age art already shows a horned figure flanked by two birds. So the association is genuinely ancient; the specific names Huginn and Muninn, however, come to us only through 13th-century Icelandic texts. The ancient raven-god is archaeological; the named pair is literary.
That is the key to the pair: they are not pets but a picture of the mind. Huginn is thought, Muninn is memory, and together they are Odin's intelligence gathered from everywhere, a fitting emblem for a god of wisdom, poetry and knowledge won at a price.
Odin's link to ravens is older than the names. Ravens were battlefield birds, feeding on the slain, and Migration- and Vendel-Age art already shows a horned figure flanked by two birds. So the association is genuinely ancient; the specific names Huginn and Muninn, however, come to us only through 13th-century Icelandic texts. The ancient raven-god is archaeological; the named pair is literary.
Primary source Verbatim
Huginn ok Muninn fljúga hverjan dag jörmungrund yfir.
Huginn and Muninn fly each day over the wide earth.
GRÍMNISMÁL, st. 20 · translation editorial ↗
Etymology
Huginn (hugr)
Old Norse
'thought', mind, intent
Muninn (munr / muna)
Old Norse
'memory' / 'to remember'
A matched pair: thought and memory, the two faculties of Odin's roaming mind.
Common misconceptions
Common claim
What the record says
“The named pair appears in Viking-Age art”
Huginn and Muninn are named only in 13th-century texts (Grímnismál, Snorri). Viking-Age and earlier art shows Odin WITH ravens (on Vendel-era helmet plates and pendants), but never a labelled pair; the specific names are literary.
“They are just Odin's pet birds”
They personify his mind. In Grímnismál Odin says he fears Huginn (thought) may not return, and fears more for Muninn (memory), a line usually read as the god's anxiety about losing his own reason. They are a cognitive image, not companions.
“Any two ravens mean Huginn & Muninn”
Ravens in Norse art carry several meanings: battle and carrion, the 'raven banner', Odinic power in general. Reading every raven pair as Huginn and Muninn projects the named literary pair onto images that need not intend it.
Frequently asked questions
What do Huginn and Muninn mean?
Thought and memory. They are not pets but a picture of Odin's mind: intelligence gathered from everywhere and returned to a god of wisdom and poetry.
Which raven does Odin fear losing more?
Muninn. In Grimnismal he says he fears for Huginn that he come not back, yet more does he fear for Muninn - thought he can risk losing, memory he cannot.
Are Odin's ravens a genuine Viking-Age motif?
The raven-Odin link is genuinely ancient: Migration- and Vendel-Age art already shows a horned figure flanked by two birds, and ravens were battlefield birds that fed on the slain. The specific names Huginn and Muninn, however, reach us only through 13th-century Icelandic texts.
Why is Odin called the raven-god?
Hrafnagud, raven-god, is one of his bynames. The Prose Edda says he sends the two ravens out at dawn over the whole world and they return at breakfast to tell him everything they have seen.
What is the difference between Odin's ravens and his wolves?
The ravens Huginn and Muninn carry knowledge; the wolves Geri and Freki are fed at his table. The most famous wolf of the myths is covered in our Fenrir guide.
Bibliography
- 1. Grímnismál, st. 20, in the Poetic Edda. Codex Regius, GKS 2365 4to, c. 1270. heimskringla.no ↗
- 2. Snorri Sturluson, Prose Edda: Gylfaginning, ch. 38 (Óðinn sends the ravens each dawn). Iceland, c. 1220. heimskringla.no ↗
- 3. Vendel-period helmet plates depicting a horned figure with two birds (e.g. Torslunda dies, Öland). Swedish History Museum, Stockholm. samlingar.shm.se ↗
Cite this entry
VikingsBrand. “Huginn & Muninn.” VikingsBrand Library, reviewed 26 July 2026, vikingsbrand.co/de/pages/library/huginn-and-muninn.