Dear Readers and Fans of "American Gods",

I have searched the Internet, Google, my school and local library, even the neilgaiman.com search function, and still not found the myth that I seek; perhaps this is because I do not know the title of the myth itself. So I must ask for your help.

In the novel "American Gods", Shadow had to sacrifice his name on his otherworld/underworld journey. Neil Gaiman is not the first to use this myth; but I have not found its source. What myth did this sacrifice come from? Or where did the idea first begin?

With all respect,
Moeris

Dear Moeris,
I was a bit perplexed by that specific episode. There are no myths that have spryng to mind however there is an obscure reference: Micahel Ende's "Neverending Story", in which Bastian loses his memory by using the power to fulfill wishes.
Unlike the film, the book is quite complex in its structure and there is quite a lot to be said about its messages. Nevertheless, this is the Gaiman board.
I wonder if Neil is paying a tribute to Ende's story, in which the character's loss of name (by his own volition) is one of the loss of identity.
Another thing that springs to mind is the fact that this might explain why we never hear Shadow's real name (I believe his last name is mentioned somewhere, I might be wrong).
Anyway, just a couple of thoughts maybe someone out there has something more grounded?

Hrm. That's interesting. I didn't pick up on that. I would have thought that a person entering the underworld would be required to keep their name, if underworld = Hell type place, which indicates death, which indicates there's a reckoning of sorts and they'd need their name to claim ownership to their deeds. Although if they're already there, such a reckoning would have already taken place. But if it's just a journey, if they're still alive, such a scenario wouldn't be necessary, as they're expected to leave and carry on with their lives. Hrm.

I don't know. I'll poke around and see what I can find.

I thank you for your thouhgts, Melian and Aitapata.

My search has not yet found the origin of the hero's sacrifice of his name.

This sacrifice, though seeming simple, is the ultimate surrender of your Self and Power.

In ancient times, to know the true name of a person or thing gave one complete power over them. Even knowing the secret name of the gods themselves can give you power over them. For example: There is an Egyptian Myth where Isis learns the true name of Ra the Sun God; she gains ultimate magic from it. Also, that is why some gods were called "Baal" (which means "Lord") by their followers because they did not want their enemies to learn the name of their gods.

My search for the original myth/story continues . . .

With all respect,
Moeris

also check out a certain Mr Moore's Promethea - unsure if allowed to discuss other writers here - he discusses the idea of going into different places and power of names in hs graphics...

i think it's faustus. but that's just a guess.

Hmm...I'll have to look into some of those stories...
Basically, the name, in many cultures, represents true magic and center of self. Without a name, a true name, a part of you, that magic, sacred part, dies. I think that the significance of that sacred part dying is what Gaiman was aiming for--like saying that Shadow had seen so much that he no longer really needed to believe he was seeing, he just needed to see what he saw for what it was.
It also represents Shadow's 'rebirth' when he was rescued from the tree. He now could take a new name and start the life that went with it. Or, since he used Shadow as his name, to continue the life that he had with that name without being hindered by the old one that was no longer truely him.

Thank you, Endless_Nights.

Losing the name (and/or one's memories, forgetting one's identity and purpose) is a common situation in folklore also. The only example I can think of right now is the Norwegian tale "East of the sun, west of the moon", but there's plenty of tales in Russian, Celtic and Norse folklore in which the hero(-ine) is on a journey, and as part of the journey he/she comes to a point where they lose their name and/or forget who they are and their purpose. Then at some point something happens (an event, somoene coes to pick them up...) and they remember, they continue their quest and they succeed.

I always took this as a symbol of either the dangers of any quest (that outside forces can make you forget your identity and your purpose) or a necessary part of the individual's growing process (at some point, you need to start caring about little and simpe things before you can fix the big ones). And I imagine in some other cases this will just be a device to make things exciting for the audience and give some extra suspense.


[**MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD!! HIGHLIGHT TO READ**]
I think Gaiman picked on these references, and also Shadow losing his name is important in that we never know his name even before he loses it, no-one calls him by his name. In a way, he's already lost his name long before that. So sacrificing the name is sort of mirroring his real sacrifice -just as he sacrifices his life to prove he's not dead (as Laura accuses him of), he loses his name to somehow reclaim it.
[/SPOILERS]

When I read Shadow’s sacrifice, I took it as an Odinic initiation. I seemed a direct correlation to Odin's sacrifice on Yggdrasil in the Havamal. This poem can be found in the Poetic Edda, stanza 137 of the Ashliman-Bray translation

Here is a link to that translation http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/havamal.html#runes
You may also like to read the more prolific Hollander translation here
http://www.asatru.org/havamal.html

"I trow I hung on that windy Tree
nine whole days and nights,
stabbed with a spear, offered to Odin,
myself to mine own self given,
high on that Tree of which none hath heard
from what roots it rises to heaven. "

“Myself to mine own self given” or in other words to sacrifice your self to yourself, or if you wish to go further to sacrifice your name.

Mr. Neil has used other stanzas of the Havamal within American Gods, on page288-289 of the American standard sized paperback, where Odin is rattling off the charms that he knows. This is Havamal 145-164 of the Ashliman-Bray translation. Mr. Neil uses his own words of course.

I believe the reason Shadow must endure this process is to show once & for all he is a worthy successor to Odin, who knows that he will not survive Ragnarok (the twilight of the gods) and needs to “train his replacement” so to speak.

Not much myth behind it. But much more than expected.. When one sheds his/her name it is sacrificed to an idea. Shadow becomes an idea, ideas like Gods are very hard to kill. That is my view on this question

i more than less agree with spektrim,
i believe in my 'god\s' research it is not your, mortal , thoughts that would take you into and past diety stature.
therefore your mortal name is irrelevent.
it is a mortal's wish to keep his name and punish\award those he left in this mortal world.
but to sweep the mind and lose your name and stand for an 'idea'. this is in man's mind the most fair way to go about opening a post for a new god.
because let's remember that god's are a creation of man.
not to get into too much celestial talk,big bang verses creation through a god, bottom line is man created these ideas and to safeguard them they even made rules for future gods.
believe it or not but the sun shines until a chemical change. and we ( the people of earth are a parasite ) live because the conditions are perfect, for now...hahahaha

and a further note if i may...the depiction of the norse god loki, is far from his true nature.
there,i got that off my chest.

quote:

Originally posted by Moeris:
In ancient times, to know the true name of a person or thing gave one complete power over them. Even knowing the secret name of the gods themselves can give you power over them.

I don't know the myth Gaiman was drawing from, but I find this train of thought very interesting. if Shadow gives up his true name, then no one has or can have power over him anymore, since he has no name.