Truth be told, Merlin, I have never understood the logic of Christ dying on the Cross "for all our sins". But this is just an atheist talking, so I'm not supposed to know!

Odin's ordeal, of course, does not end in death or resurrection, but seems more like the kind of physical self-torture practised by religious mystics all around the world, in differing forms. He goes through some sort of transcendental, near-death experience which allows him, finally, to see some truths that before he did not have access to.

This story, in its starkness and cruelty, has stood out in my mind. The cult of Odin seems to be a little more oriented towards the mystical than that of his fellow gods, it seems to me. I love the fact that Odin has two crows, Memory and Thought, who fly through the world and tell him the news. I always wondered whether these were just names or whether they actually were manifestations of Memory and Thought (like Cupid symolises love and falling in love) but of course, it doesn't really matter. It's just very poetic and very beautiful.