Mímisbrunnr, Mímir’s Well

But under the root that stretches out towards the Frost-giants there is Mimir's well, in which wisdom and wit lie hidden. The owner of this well is called Mimir. He is full of wisdom, because he drinks the waters of the well from the horn Gjoll every morning. One day All-father came and begged a draught of this water, which he obtained, but was obliged to leave one of his eyes as a pledge for it.

In Gylfaginning, Mímisbrunnr (Mímir’s well) lies beneath the root of the tree that stands among the frost giants (the jötnar), where the great void Ginnungagap once was. Its keeper is Mímir. Gylfaginning also tells that Odin gave one of his eyes as a pledge for a drink from the well.

The name means Mímir's wellspring, tying the place to the being Mímir. The sources do not agree in detail. The Völuspá stanza about Odin's eye does not appear in the Hauksbók version of the poem. In the stanza about Heimdall, the word hljóð is rendered as horn by some translators and as hearing by others; on the second reading Heimdall also left an ear in the well. In the Prose Edda Mímir drinks from the horn Gjallarhorn, and Schach suggests Snorri may have confused the two. Schach also calls the Völuspá stanzas deliberately obscure.