How Odin Lost His Eye

Whereas so many comic book characters were created completely from the minds of a Stan Lee, a Jack Kirby, a Chris Claremont, a Frank Miller, or a Neil Gaiman, certain heroes and villains have their origins very much rooted in established lore.

Whether that lore is real life or fiction, many a character has pulled inspiration from elsewhere. And in the realms of comic books, few characters have been as influenced by existing material as Thor and his supporting players. The Thunder God is a famed figure of Norse mythology, and so too are a large portion of the people who help make up his world of Asgard and beyond.

One prime example of a character laced in Norse tradition is that of Thor's father, Odin.

Odin is a legendary warrior king who has played a pivotal part in the history of Thor across a variety of mediums, and one of the key traits of Odin is the unmissable fact that this ruler has only one eye. Just how he lost his right eye, that's a question to which the answer has certain caveats to it.

With that in mind, here is the real story behind Odin and his missing eye...

Like so many characters associated with the comic book world of Thor, Odin of course is a character whose roots and origins are based around Norse mythology.

In said mythology, Odin was a wise, battle-hardened warrior and god who was forever on a quest for knowledge and understanding. As part of his ongoing quest to better himself, he at one point ended up at Mimir's Well at the base of the world tree Yggdrasil.

There, Odin's quest was to take a drink from this well. You see, the water in this well had given Mimir the sort cosmic of wisdom that had made him one of the most knowledgeable beings in existence.

To earn a swig of this most sought-after H2O, Mimir needed Odin to make his own personal sacrifice. And in case you hadn't guessed where this was going by now, that sacrifice was one of Odin's eyes.

Ultimately making the decision that an eye wasn't as valuable to him as the knowledge offered up by Mimir's Well, Odin went and gouged out one of his peepers. A man of his word, Mimir swiftly gave Odin a horn full of water in return.

This was just one of many ways in which the Odin of Norse mythology pushed himself to gain understanding of the world around him, with other examples being a nine-day fast from all food and drink, and the eerie idea to be hanged.