Jorge Borges gives this story a timeless quality by setting it in medieval times and framing it like a fairy-tale. A traveler arrives at an isolated woodcutter’s hut claiming to be an exiled king descended from Odin, the Norse king of the gods. He supports this by showing the woodcutter what he believes to be the disk of Odin, the only one-dimensional object in the universe. Ironically, the woodcutter answers: I do not worship Odin, I worship Christ… and then kills him to possess Odin’s disk. Theme: the desire to own something that holds power over the world around us.
Original Text / PDF (866 words)
Good