Mimir

Template:Infobox gods

“	They call me… Mimir! —smartest man alive, and I have the answer to your every question.	”
–Mimir, introducing himself to Kratos

Mimir is the Norse God of Knowledge and Wisdom and an ally of Kratos and Atreus. He was Odin's advisor and the ambassador of the Aesir Gods until Odin imprisoned him 109 years ago. He is the tritagonist in God of War.

Norse Mythology

Mímir, meaning "the rememberer" or "the wise one" in Old Norse, is a figure in Norse Mythology who is renowned for his knowledge and wisdom. He is beheaded during the Æsir-Vanir War. Afterward, Odin carries around Mímir's head and it recites secret knowledge to him.

In the God of War Series

God of War (2018)

Mimir was imprisoned by Odin due to his belief that Mimir collaborated with the Giants to hide their realm. Prior to this, Mimir was Odin's primary adviser and ambassador to all the other realms. Unlike the Aesir, Mimir sought to establish peace between the realms, as he believed it was the best plan to avert Ragnarök. However, Odin rarely listened to such advice and often led many wars, particularly with the Vanir and the Giants. When the war with the Vanir caused unprecedented devastation and left both sides weary, Mimir suggested a truce: Odin would marry his deadliest enemy, the leader of the Vanir, the Goddess Freya. After much convincing, Odin and Freya agreed to the terms, thus ending the war.

However, Mimir's efforts to preserve peace would be stymied by Odin's paranoia, his obsessions with prophecies and allowing his son, Thor, to go on a killing spree on the Giants. Thus, much like with Tyr, Odin confronted Mimir, suspecting that he aided the Giants. As punishment, Odin imprisoned him on Midgard's highest peak, bound to a tree made indestructible even to Thor's hammer. As additional punishment, Odin removed the horned god's bejeweled left eye and hid it. Until he met Kratos, Mimir was tortured by Odin himself on a near-daily basis.

Baldur, along with his nephews, Magni and Modi, confronted him and attempted to bribe him with freedom in exchange for revealing Kratos and the boy's whereabouts (who were, ironically, just below them at that very moment). Despite their pleas, Mimir refused to aid them: not only was the bound god unable to locate the pair due to a concealing rune placed on them by a witch, but he also knew that Odin would not allow anyone to either release or harm his former advisor. As such, Mimir bitterly stated that they had nothing to offer him and spitefully demanded the trio to leave.

Almost immediately after the trio left, Kratos and Atreus reveal themselves to him. Mimir introduced himself to the two, and secretly admits to Kratos that he knows he is a god. When Atreus describes their journey to the tallest peak in all the Nine Realms, Mimir clarifies that Atreus is mistaken about choosing Midgard's tallest peak, as the tallest peak in all of the realms is in Jötunheim, the inaccessible realm of the Giants. With his remaining right eye, Mimir projects a magical picture of the tallest peak of Jötunheim through the stone pillars behind them, the last known gate to said realm. He further explains that, among all the living, he is the only one who knows how to gain entrance as only him can talk to the only giant left who knows that.

In return for aiding the duo, Mimir asks Kratos to cut off his head, explaining that after over 109 years of torture, his current state is not living at all. Kratos agrees to do so but Atreus cannot bear to watch and leaves, and when he does so, Mimir tells Kratos he must reveal his past to Atreus and the longer he waits, the more likely Atreus will grow resentful of him. Kratos then cuts off his head, temporarily killing him.

His lifeless head is brought over to the Witch of the Wood's home, where she reanimates him using the Old Magic. It is quickly revealed that the two have a bad relationship, culminating with Mimir's face being spat on by the Witch. Mimir also reveals her identity as the Vanir goddess Freya, and in return learns that she never revealed it to Atreus and Kratos. An infuriated Kratos admonishes her keeping her godhood a secret from them. However, Freya berates Kratos with the irony that he was also keeping his secret from his son, and warns Kratos that Odin's wrath will be coming quickly now that he has freed Mimir. Growling, Kratos storms out of Freya's home without thanking her.

Mimir then becomes part of the traveling company of the Spartan and his son, lending his considerable knowledge of the realms, insight on the depraved, violent nature of the Aesir gods and of the tragedies caused by wars throughout the ages. He also tries to mend the strained relationship between the father and the son.

Arriving back at the Lake of the Nine, Mimir has Kratos hold him up to the horn to summon Jörmungandr. Speaking to the World Serpent in his native tongue, Mimir got Jörmungandr to recognize him, but mistakenly identified Kratos and Atreus as friends of Thor before correcting himself, explaining their intent. Thus, Jörmungandr realigned the bridge and causing the water level in the lake to drop even further.

Mimir explained to father and son that they required both a special travel rune to carve into the gate at the summit and a magical chisel to activate it. Choosing to go for the latter first, Mimir guided his companions to the corpse of the giant Thamur, where they had a violent confrontation with Magni and Modi, ending with Kratos killing Magni, forcing his half-brother to retreat. Mimir became concerned when Atreus displaying symptoms of a sickness, and insisted they take him to Freya, but the boy dismissed both his and Kratos' concerns. Kratos then broke off a piece of Thamur's chisel.

When the party arrived back at Tyr's temple to access his vault, Kratos was ambushed by Modi, who proceeded to torture him. Atreus falls dangerously ill after unlocking his Spartan Rage for the first time, before Kratos overpowered Modi and forced him to retreat once more. Kratos then followed Mimir's advice to take the boy to Freya, who told him that Atreus' godly nature is conflicting with his mistaken belief of being a mortal. Mimir accompanies Kratos to Helheim in search for a cure. When Kratos spots the troll Máttugr Helson, Mimir advised him to cause trouble to gain the gatekeeper's attention, as they needed his heart to heal Atreus. After Kratos killed Helson, he had a vision of Zeus and called him father, surprising Mimir. Kratos then asked Mimir about the other side of the bridge, to which he gravely warns him to never go there under any circumstances.

On the way back to Midgard, Mimir told Kratos that he was surprised Zeus was his father. After piecing together the relation Kratos had with Athena, Zeus, his fire blades as well as his ash-white skin, Mimir realized that Kratos was none other than the Ghost of Sparta himself. Although Kratos reprimanded him for recalling his title, Mimir stated that he believed Kratos' actions in ending the Greek pantheon were justified. In concern for Atreus, Mimir then reasons to Kratos that he would have to reveal the truth of Atreus's true nature soon, but soon dropped the matter when Kratos told him to.

After successfully curing Atreus and as they were leaving Freya's hut, Kratos chose to divulge the truth of his godhood to the boy. As Atreus was intrigued by the revelation that he was a god too, wondering what kind of abilities he possessed, to which Mimir stated that every god is unique.

Returning to Tyr's vault, as they descended further into the temple, Mimir explained to his companions how Tyr sought understand with the pantheons of other lands. Subsequently, they circumvent the various puzzles and traps Tyr placed around the Black Rune. Once they had their prize in hand, it briefly showed the Jotunheim in Atreus' hands before they crumbled.

As they made their way back to the summit, Mimir began to share Kratos' concerns for Atreus slowly reveling in his newfound godhood to the point where the boy seemingly executed a defenseless Modi. During the ascent, Mimir warned his companions that he spotted signs of a dragon in the caverns, only to be told that they had already dealt with the dragon.

Just as they reactivated the Jotunheim gate, they were ambushed by Baldur. Mimir desperately tried to bargain with the painless Aesir to leave his companions alone but Baldur merely kicked him in the face. In the ensuing struggle, the Jotunheim portal was destroyed and Baldur kidnapped Atreus. Kratos fought against him on his dragon but chasing his foe into Realm Travel Room, where Baldur had set a course for Asgard, planning on bringing the full wrath of the Aesir down upon him. Left with no other choice, Kratos used the Bifröst to stop the bridge at Helheim, causing everyone to be violently thrown into the Land of the Dead, far past the Bridge of the Damned.

Mimir criticized Kratos for his choice, as they had landed in the worst place in Hel. He then spotted a ship, which he guessed would take them halfway to Tyr's Temple. They soon encountered Baldur, who was experiencing an vision of himself and Freya, whom is revealed to Mimir's companions as his mother, who placed a spell on Baldur that left him unable to feel anything. Once out of earshot, Kratos demanded to know why Mimir never told them the identity of Baldur's mother, to which the head expressed surprise.

Subsequently, they raised the ship to fly them straight to the temple. Amidst attacks by Hel-Walkers, Revenant and Draugr, the ship was about to crash just above the temple. As Kratos was distracted by an illusion of himself killing Zeus, Atreus had him jump right off the temple, landing them in a previous inaccessible section of the temple; Mimir commented they were both insane. Exploring the chamber, Mimir commented they were in Odin's library, where they found the missing panel from the shrine in Tyr's vault. Mimir asked to see it himself, in which he observed it depicting Tyr traveling through the realms. Suddenly, the panel changed, revealing plans for a key to another part of the temple; Mimir remarked that he would able to fulfill his promise to take his companions to Jotunheim.

Kratos then questioned Mimir on Baldur's weakness, to which the Mimir once again denied he had any. The Ghost of Sparta then suspected that Freya had bewitched Mimir to keep him from speaking of what he knows.

After assembling the key with the aid of Brok and Sindri and gaining access to the secret room, Kratos get the idea to flip the Realm Travel Room, where they find what Mimir identified as the Unity Stone, which they used in the Realm between Realms by purposely falling off the path, where they find the missing Jotunheim Tower. After bringing the tower back to the Lake of Nine, they soon discovered that the travel crystal for Jotunheim was missing. Atreus reminded that Mimir had a Bifrost crystal for an eye, but the latter insisted he required his missing one to act as a substitute. Recalling Brok and Sindri were always nearby whenever Odin came to visit Mimir during his imprisonment and suggested asking them. When asked, Brok mentioned Odin had him build a secret compartment for the statue of Thor that Jörmungandr devoured, which was likely hiding place for Mimir's lost eye.

Summoning the World Serpent via the bridge horn once more, Mimir explained their objective, in which Jörmungandr allowed them to enter his belly. Once they acquire Mimir's eye and reinsert it into its socket, they were suddenly expelled from the giant's belly onto the icy shores near Thamur's corpse, where they were approached by both Freya and Baldur, the latter being responsible for Jörmungandr's regurgitation. A fight soon broke out as a result of Kratos intervening against Baldur's attempts to murder his mother, during which Baldur gets stabbed with a piece of mistletoe Atreus used to fasten his quiver strap, resulting in his invulnerability to be lifted. As Freya reanimates Thamur in an attempt to break up the fight, the spell on Mimir had also lifted, allowing him to confirm that Baldur was indeed vulnerable.

After Kratos kills Baldur, Mimir remarks how they are the "bad guys" now but also defends Kratos' actions by stating that the world would be a better place with Freya, and explains to them how she just needed time and soon she would come around.

When Kratos and Atreus go to Jötunheim, Kratos leaves Mimir behind, at the request of the latter (as he did not want to "ruin the moment" for them), but was left with the dwarves Brok and Sindri to his displeasure. After they return from scattering Faye's ashes, Mimir reveals that they were gone longer than expected and that during their absence, Freya visited him and asked him where Odin had hidden her Valkyrie wings. Mimir gave her what little information he had on them, ending with the statement "The cycle of vengeance is not so easily broken." In addition and worse, Mimir informs Kratos and Atreus that Baldur's death has caused the start of the three year long winter, Fimbulwinter, the precursor to Ragnarök, something that wasn't prophesied to happen for another few hundred years.

Mimir would then join Kratos and Atreus on the journey home, apparently now living with them.

Upon finding a Valkyrie, Mimir would express great surprise on the Valkyries's state of being imprisoned and warns Kratos and Atreus to be careful as a Valkyrie in physical form is a highly formidable opponent. After winning, Mimir would convince Kratos and Atreus to save the other Valkyries but expresses that he doesn't know what happened to them and feebly avoids Kratos's question of his history with the Valkyries. Meeting a second Valkyrie will cause Mimir to sarcastically say that he agrees if saving her is by brutally ripping her wings off and after besting and saving her, Mimir will attempt to avoid another question by saying that he did not want to speculate. However, Kratos sees through it and although Mimir boasts that he is the smartest man alive, eventually resigningly tells Kratos and Atreus that Sigrun, the Queen of the Valkyries, would have the power to trap the Valkyries and supports this by saying that he saw her last time when she was corporeal. Although Kratos wanted to abandon the quest, Atreus and Mimir convinced him that they need to save the Valkyries as they are the ones who keep the dead from overrunning Midgard. Defeating the third Valkyrie will cause Mimir to say that the Valkyries used their meeting chamber to hide from Odin and tells them that they will certainly find something there. After defeating the fourth Valkyrie, Mimir's suspicions of Sigrun being the one behind this are confirmed, much to his distraught, and confirms that the last time they met she was more volatile and in physical form and had just come to say goodbye despite his best efforts to talk to her about it. Resignedly, Mimir says that she will have to be stopped as the Valkyries must be freed. Meeting the fifth Valkyrie will cause Mimir to sarcastically guess that a Valkyrie is trapped and when Atreus confirms it with an equally humorous tone, Mimir will sarcastically question Kratos whether they are going to fight her as there is a trapped spirit there, at which Kratos silences Mimir and says that he will decide the best course of action. After besting her, Mimir expressed disbelief that Sigrun would do all this just to get back at Odin but nevertheless asked Atreus not to be sorry that they have to stop her as she brought it on herself. However, Mimir unfortunately does not know where Sigrun is as she can be anywhere, in any realm. Meeting the sixth Valkyrie will cause Mimir to plead to Kratos when he seemed to contemplate whether to take her on that they cannot just leave her like this but Kratos tells Mimir to not rush him and upon being prepared he will attack. After winning, Mimir will attempt to comfort the Valkyrie by saying that he did not want to believe that Sigrun is responsible but she is and must be stopped. Learning that only if all the eight Valkyrie helmets were to be placed on their meeting chamber would Sigrun appear, Mimir will say that although there are more Valkyries that must be hunted, at least they knew where they can fight Sigrun. Upon finally saving all eight Valkyries, Mimir will warn Kratos that Sigrun is not to be underestimated as she is much stronger than all the other Valkyries and they may need to prepare before they could face her and win. After finally defeating Sigrun, the two would express joy at each other now having freedom but lament the price of it.

Upon entering Niflheim, Mimir will warn Kratos and Atreus that the cursed mist that surrounds the realm will eventually kill them if they linger. Should Kratos stay for long, Mimir will began advising Kratos to retreat from the mist infected areas as he begins to lose strength.

Description

When he is first found, Mimir is shown to be embedded within a tree. He has two small horns on his head and a growing, grey beard and the crown of his head is covered in runic tattoos. He is missing one of his glowing, golden eyes. He eventually is decapitated by Kratos and brought back to life, though he still looks the same. Later, Kratos and Atreus retrieve Mimir's other eye, and put it back in his head, and find that it still works.

During battles, Mimir serves as a second pair of eyes for Kratos, normally alarming the Spartan that an enemy is attacking from one of his blind spots.

Personality

“	Some people value their privacy. Best not to judge, brother.	”
–Mimir to Kratos

Mimir is well-mannered, kind and possesses a cheery if not sarcastic and witty sense of humor. Even in his beheaded state, Mimir tries to make the most of the situation, finding it better than imprisonment and as such he tries to be helpful in any way he can. Mimir often has a wealth of information regarding the deities, monsters, civilizations, the Nine Realms and famous figures of the Norse mythology. Mimir also uses to end most of his phrases with the word "brother", possibly as a form of camaraderie to Kratos and his son Atreus, whom he sometimes calls "little brother".

Being a part of the traveling company of Kratos and his son, Mimir becomes something of a balancing force between them, teaching Atreus to use his abilities for good and often advising Kratos to be more open about the truth of his past. To that end, Mimir demonstrates that he is emotionally sensitive and insightful to the potential impact that Kratos's distant attitude towards Atreus could have but respects Kratos's wishes and doesn't inform Atreus himself. He also was the first to notice the dark change in Atreus's behavior once he finally learned of his godly heritage and thus tried to instill the ideals that figures like Tyr stood for, using one's powers with wisdom and for good. When this shift in behavior began to fracture the already tense bond between Atreus and Kratos, Mimir did his best to address the issue carefully.

Quickly, Mimir proved to be a loyal ally and friend to Kratos and his son, helping them find the realm of the giants all the way. Mimir also expressed great concern and worry for Atreus when he began to grow ill after the battles with Magni and Modi. He even begged Baldur to stop attacking Kratos and Atreus, offering to do whatever he wanted but of course, his pleas fell on deaf ears.

Despite his bright personality, Mimir possesses a great deal of anger and resentment towards the Aesir Gods, Odin and Thor in particular. He finds a great majority of them to be hedonistic, paranoid, arrogant, warmongering and the ones to blame for the tragedies the Nine Realms have endured. Before his imprisonment, Mimir did his best to try to bring and make peace between the Realms wherever he could, such as advising Odin to marry Freya to end the conflict between the Aesir and Vanir Gods.

Mimir also blames himself for never managing to do any actual lasting peace when he was Odin's advisor. Whenever he would tell tales of the time he was Odin's advisor, Mimir displays visible remorse and openly admits that he feels guilty. One of the examples was when he openly professed that he deserved Freya's anger and showed visible remorse for what his convincing Freya to marry Odin caused her. He also apologized to Sigrun for being so helpless to save her and the Valkyries.

In contrast to the Aesir Gods, Mimir held Tyr in the highest esteem, believing him to be a great leader who fought for peace, knowledge, and understanding, not for power and control.

Even though he is part of the Norse mythology, Mimir is aware of other mythologies and their pantheons, mentioning in Tyr's vault about the Egyptian gods and of the Greek pantheon in Helheim. With the Greek Gods, he also knows of their demise, which he claimed was deserved. However, he did not know who had dismantled the pantheon until he accompanied Kratos.

Mimir has proven himself to be quite humble, an oddity for a god, as while he takes pride in being the Smartest man alive, he admits when there are "gaps" in his knowledge or when dealing with something he has never seen before. He has also shown great respect to Kratos and Atreus's journey to Jotunheim, and asked to be left behind in Tyr's Temple as this moment was important for Kratos and Atreus, thus he didn't want to ruin the moment. The Spartan and his son would come to be fond of Mimir, in that they took him home with them once their journey was over.

Mimir also has a drinking history, having fallen off a mountain in a drunken stupor and suffered severe enough wounds that Eir had to heal him, which he was visibly ashamed of, and noted to have been at least intoxicated when in the presence of giants, implied when he said he never spoke their language while sober.

Quotes

(Mimir introducing himself to Kratos): "Me? I'm the greatest ambassador to the gods, the Giants, and all the creatures of the Nine Realms. I know every corner of these lands, every language spoken, every war waged, every deal struck. They call me... Mimir! —smartest man alive, and I have the answer to your every question."

"But today the winds of fate have kicked up a vortex of strange coincidence..."

(Mimir's revelation of Kratos' true identity): "—Your father was Zeus? I finally understand! I'm dangling from the hip of the bloody Ghost of Sparta!"

Kratos: "Do NOT call me that."

Mimir: "Don't mistake me, brother. From what I heard, the pantheon had it coming. But it's still a bit to take in. I knew you hate gods, but you really can't stay away from them, can you?"

Kratos: "You must say nothing to the boy. He must never know."

Mimir: "Bollocks, brother, respectfully, bollocks. He has to know. He'll never be whole without the truth. Look, I get it. You hate the gods. All gods. It's no accident that includes yourself. And it includes your boy, don't you see that? He feels that! He can't help what he is. He can't begin to help it, because you haven't even told him. It's all connected, man!"

Kratos: "You... will tell him nothing."

Mimir: "Very well."

Powers and Abilities

Being a god, Mimir is stronger than a mortal, but now his body is left in the place Odin imprisoned him. Only his head is reanimated and has to rely on Kratos and others to move and see.

Nigh Omniscience: As the God of Knowledge and Wisdom, Mimir knows almost everything in Norse mythology: he claims to be aware of every deal, war, and corner of all Nine Realms, even calling himself the smartest man alive. Mimir can also speak and read many language, even dead tongues like Jörmungandr's. Mimir is well aware of other cultures and pantheons, able to recognize that Kratos is divine and not from any of the Nine Realms. Using context clues, he was able to discern that Kratos is the Ghost of Sparta, as well as the demigod son of Zeus. Despite all that, there are some things he does not know, such as to why Odin wants Kratos and his son. The only exception is Baldur's weakness: Mimir knows about it (the mistletoe), but Freya makes him unable to remember or forces him to not speak about it to anyone due to her magic, until the final battle when Baldur is stabbed by the mistletoe, Mimir claims that he now remembers.

Magic Eyes: Mimir has magic eyes made of jewels that are capable of revealing secrets in places like Tyr's storeroom and project images. Originally having two eyes, he loses his left eye to Odin, with the Allfather placing it in a Thor's statue which Jormungandur happens to eat, but later in the game, Kratos and his son finds and returns it to him in order to use both eyes as a Travel Crystal to open the gate to Jötunheim.

Trivia

• Mimir is the first non-Greek god killed by Kratos, and the first god who was killed by Kratos under his own request.
• Despite being a Norse God, Mimir is actually Celtic. While in Tyr's secret room, Atreus finds a Sgian-dubh, a Celtic knife. Mimir then says that the knife comes from his homeland, and that he had one similar. In addition, his notorious Scottish accent further reinforces this.
  • Mimir mentions that "there comes a time in every man's life when he changes his name and heads North to make a new start", implying that "Mimir" is not his original name.
  • Mimir mentions prior to his own position as councilor to Odin, he served under the figure of a faerie king; at a time when he was little older than Atreus. His statement that he was a jester of sorts, and got up to all trouble with the "local mortals" resembles the figure of Puck from Shakespeare's a Midsummer Night's Dream. This information is further established by Mimir's characteristic head horns, a common depiction of the Satyr-trickster of Shakespeare's comedy. This could mean that Mimir wasn't even originally a God, but a faerie.
• While functioning and conscious, Mimir clarifies that he is reanimated, not resurrected. Thus he is still considered deceased.

• Mimir and Helios were the only gods that Kratos decapitated. Also, both of their heads had a use for him.

• Mimir's imprisonment and initial death are similar to Prometheus's situation, as both were imprisoned by the ruling god of their land for a supposed crime, and both were mercy killed.

• Mimir was stated to be a very close friend if not a lover to the Valkyrie Queen Sigrun.

• Mimir is one of the few individuals who knows and can speak the language of the giants. Thus, he is one of the few who can speak with the World Serpent.
  • However, after speaking to the Serpent for the first time, he states that he has never spoken the ancient tongue sober before.

• Mimir figured out Kratos was Greek due to him saying Athena's name. Later on, Mimir finds out that Kratos was the son of Zeus which explained a lot to him and soon causing him to exclaim that Kratos is the Ghost of Sparta.

• Mimir is the only god who genuinely helps Kratos in his journeys without even trying to use him for some selfish purpose, which would eventually lead to some kind of betrayal as well as the only god who never turned on him due to external circumstances, and even going as far as to call him "brother." Ares, Athena, and the Olympians, on the other hand, merely used him as a killing vessel for their own personal gain while Hephaestus and Freya are initially helpful until they turn against Kratos due to incidents relating to their child.
• Before Mimir has joined the party, Atreus will try to explain the story of each discoverable shrine and rune stone. After Mimir joins, he will not only provide the same information that Atreus provides, but will also elaborate with a further level of knowledge. .

• His Greek equivalent is Athena and Mnemosyne. He replaced Athena as Kratos' personal ally in wisdom and knowledge from this point onward.

• Mimir greatly resembles Shennong, a deity in Chinese religion, a mythical sage ruler of prehistoric China.

• When the Giants gave Mimir his gold eyes, he drank alcohol to sooth the pain. While drunk, he almost convinced them to put the golden eyes on the base of his nipples.

• Mimir mentions that before his imprisonment, he got very drunk once and fell off a mountain. His wounds were then healed by the Valkyrie, Eir. He admits that falling off that mountain was not one of his proudest moments.
• Mimir mentions that when Thor was trapped under the stone giant everyone was speaking to each other, he witnessed Thor's sons, Magni and Modi, lift the giant off, but because of Magni being blonder he was given most of the credit, the real reason why the brothers are rivals.
• When Atreus mentions of how the Giant race was born, that they had a lot of kids, Mimir says that was an understatement.

Gallery

Mimir

Mimir speaks to the World Serpent.

Sindri holds Mimir's head.

Freya meets Mimir.

Mimir (Codex)