“Madame Sosostris, famous clairvoyante,
Had a bad cold, nevertheless
Is known to be the wisest woman in Europe,
With a wicked pack of cards. Here, said she,
Is your card, the drowned Phoenician Sailor,
(Those are pearls that were his eyes. Look!)
Here is the Balladonna, the Lady of the Rocks,
The lady of situations.
Here is the man with the three staves, and here the Wheel,
And here is the one-eyed merchant, and this card,
Which is blank, is something he carries on his back,
Which I am forbidden to see.”
…from T. S. Elliot’s “The Waste Land”
Odin is the main god of Norse mythology – also named “Wodan” (for whom the fourth day of the week -- Wednesday – is named). Odin has one eye; he traded the other for a drink from the Well of Wisdom…and became wise.
Brian M. Carney – the deputy editorial page editor of The Wall Street Journal Europe -- wrote of an alternative version to this story in the article “Watch With Both Eyes” -- about Spain’s recent election (on the web site -- Tech Central Station of 3/24/04):
“In his book, ‘On Moral Fiction,’ John Gardner recounts the tale of how Odin lost his eye. In a battle to the finish with the Demon King, Odin gets his opponent in a headlock and demands to know the secret to defending Asgard from the Demon King's armies. ‘Give me your right eye,’ hissed the demon, ‘and I'll tell you.’ Odin did so, whereupon the Demon King gave him his answer – ‘Watch with both eyes.’
“Giving up an eye -- American or Spanish -- will not save Europe now.”