This figure could be Odin, who is often known as the god of war and death in Norse cosmology, hanging in the Yggdrasil tree. Odin wanted to know everything so he made a number of sacrifices in order to gain the knowledge and wisdom he desired, including giving up one eye and impaling himself on his own sword. After these acts, he strung himself up in the tree of life for nine days and nine nights over the course of which he learned the secret language of the runes. Through his ordeals, Odin also gained the capacity for both prophecy and shapeshifting. He is often depicted with his two ravens, Thought and Memory (Hugin and Munin), who fly around the world and report back with what they see.