"Mimir is based on the figure of the same name in Norse mythology, renowned for his knowledge and wisdom, and who is beheaded during the Æsir–Vanir War.
Afterward, the god Odin carries around Mímir's head, which serves as an oracle and recites secret knowledge and counsel to him.
Jennifer Anderson of the Portland Tribune said the sculpture is a "combination of Norse mythology, gibberish, fish and space creature".
In 2007, Jellum recalled of its origin: "I'm not sure where [the image] came from. It's just at the time I was doing a whole lot of drawings, and it just popped out and sort of appealed to me. It's part fish, part space creature."
Mimir was installed at Northwest 27th Avenue between Northwest Upshur and Thurman Streets in 1980,
after being commissioned by the Portland Development Commission and Tom Walsh of Tom Walsh Construction.
The abstract sculpture measures approximately 24 inches (61 cm) x 15 inches (38 cm) x 13 inches (33 cm), which rests on a concrete and stone base that measures 7 feet (2.1 m) x 30 inches (76 cm) x 30 inches (76 cm).
The Smithsonian Institution described the work as follows: "Decorative obelisk with a mask mounted at the top. The mask has a cone-like nose and tusks. It wears a layered breastplate with shoulder pads."
The base includes a plaque with no legible text."
"You see all these plaques around and they give all this 'important' information.
I thought it was just irrelevant to the piece.
I like the idea of putting something up there that didn't have any information on it."
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"general opinion is that the difference was functional, i.e. the long-branch runes were used for documentation on stone, whereas the short-twig runes were in everyday use for private or official messages on wood."
The long-branch runes are the following rune signs:
ᚠ ᚢ ᚦ ᚬ ᚱ ᚴ ᚼ ᚾ ᛁ ᛅ ᛋ ᛏ ᛒ ᛘ ᛚ ᛦ
f u þ ą r k h n i a s t b m l ʀ
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"runes appear as simplified variants of the long-branch runes, while the remaining seven have identical shapes:
ᚠ ᚢ ᚦ ᚭ ᚱ ᚴ ᚽ ᚿ ᛁ ᛆ ᛌ ᛐ ᛓ ᛙ ᛚ ᛧ
f u þ ą r k h n i a s t b m l ʀ "
***
Hälsinge runes (staveless runes)
Staveless runes
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"rune is a letter in a set of related alphabets known as runic alphabets native to the Germanic peoples. Runes were used to write Germanic languages (with some exceptions) before they adopted the Latin alphabet, and for specialised purposes thereafter. In addition to representing a sound value (a phoneme), runes can be used to represent the concepts after which they are named (ideographs). Scholars refer to instances of the latter as Begriffsrunen ('concept runes'). The Scandinavian variants are also known as fuþark, or futhark, these names derived from
the first six letters of the script, ⟨ᚠ⟩, ⟨ᚢ⟩, ⟨ᚦ⟩, ⟨ᚨ⟩/⟨ᚬ⟩, ⟨ᚱ⟩, and ⟨ᚲ⟩/⟨ᚴ⟩, corresponding to the Latin letters ⟨f⟩, ⟨u⟩, ⟨þ⟩/⟨th⟩, ⟨a⟩, ⟨r⟩, and ⟨k⟩. The Anglo-Saxon variant is futhorc, or fuþorc, due to changes in Old English of the sounds represented by the fourth letter, ⟨ᚨ⟩/⟨ᚩ⟩. "
"Runology forms a specialised branch of Germanic philology.
The earliest secure runic inscriptions date from around AD 150, with a potentially earlier inscription dating to AD 50 and Tacitus's potential description of rune use from around AD 98. The Svingerud Runestone dates from between AD 1 and 250.
Runes were generally replaced by the Latin alphabet as the cultures that had used runes underwent Christianisation,
by approximately AD 700 in central Europe and 1100 in northern Europe. However, the use of runes persisted for specialized purposes beyond this period. Up until the early 20th century, runes were still used in rural Sweden for decorative purposes in Dalarna and on runic calendars. "
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