Discover Odin
Encyclopedia
Discover Odin is an album and booklet written by Julian Cope
and released in a limited edition in 2001. It was produced in collaboration with the British Museum
. It comprises a mixture of musical and spoken tracks.
In the first track, "The 18 Charms of Odin", Cope provides musical accompaniment to the text of the epic Norse poem Hávamál
, in Kevin Crossley-Holland
's version, as published in The Norse Myths.
The second track "Discover Odin" is Cope's spoken account of the alleged misinterpretation of the Norse myths by Roman historians and Christians, with comments on the religious traditions of Nordic cultures and their neolithic forebears. Cope suggests that Odin
originated as a weather god and as the shaman Óðr
.
Later tracks mix musical and spoken material on the subject of the Odin stone of Orkney, the neolithic hill of Silbury
and the World Ash Tree, Yggdrasil
.
The final track is a recording of a poem read by its author Vachel Lindsay
(1879-1931).
Julian Cope
Julian Cope is a British rock musician, author, antiquary, musicologist, poet and cultural commentator...
and released in a limited edition in 2001. It was produced in collaboration with the British Museum
British Museum
The British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...
. It comprises a mixture of musical and spoken tracks.
In the first track, "The 18 Charms of Odin", Cope provides musical accompaniment to the text of the epic Norse poem Hávamál
Hávamál
Hávamál is presented as a single poem in the Poetic Edda, a collection of Old Norse poems from the Viking age. The poem, itself a combination of different poems, is largely gnomic, presenting advice for living, proper conduct and wisdom....
, in Kevin Crossley-Holland
Kevin Crossley-Holland
Kevin John William Crossley-Holland is an English translator, children's author and poet.-Life and career:Born in Mursley, north Buckinghamshire, Holland grew up in Whiteleaf, a small village in the Chilterns...
's version, as published in The Norse Myths.
The second track "Discover Odin" is Cope's spoken account of the alleged misinterpretation of the Norse myths by Roman historians and Christians, with comments on the religious traditions of Nordic cultures and their neolithic forebears. Cope suggests that Odin
Odin
Odin is a major god in Norse mythology and the ruler of Asgard. Homologous with the Anglo-Saxon "Wōden" and the Old High German "Wotan", the name is descended from Proto-Germanic "*Wodanaz" or "*Wōđanaz"....
originated as a weather god and as the shaman Óðr
Óðr
In Norse mythology, Óðr or Óð, sometimes angliziced as Odr or Od, is a figure associated with the major goddess Freyja...
.
Later tracks mix musical and spoken material on the subject of the Odin stone of Orkney, the neolithic hill of Silbury
Silbury Hill
Silbury Hill is a prehistoric artificial chalk mound near Avebury in the English county of Wiltshire. It is part of the Stonehenge, Avebury and Associated Sites UNESCO World Heritage Site, and lies at ....
and the World Ash Tree, Yggdrasil
Yggdrasil
In Norse mythology, Yggdrasil is an immense tree that is central in Norse cosmology. It was said to be the world tree around which the nine worlds existed...
.
The final track is a recording of a poem read by its author Vachel Lindsay
Vachel Lindsay
Nicholas Vachel Lindsay was an American poet. He is considered the father of modern singing poetry, as he referred to it, in which verses are meant to be sung or chanted...
(1879-1931).
Tracklisting
- The 18 Charms of Odin
- Discover Odin
- Ode to Wan (Parts 1&2)
- Yggdrasil & the Stone of Odin
- Road to Yggdrasilbury
- I want to go Wandering