THE TALE OF HOW ODIN DISCOVERED THE SECRETS OF THE RUNES.
A sacrifice from Odin to Odin, pierced by Gungnir.
The story of Odin discovering the runes is an absolutely unhinged example of Odin's dedication in his search for infinite wisdom. This widely known feat is told over just two stanzas of the poem called Hávamál - 138 & 139. My interpretation of stanza 138is as follows:
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This, I know. That I hung for 9 days and 9 nights from that great wind beaten tree, Pierced by the one called Gungnir. A sacrifice was given, from Odin to Odin, on that tree whose roots no man has ever seen.
Odin - Hávamál 138
This interpretation is my own English version based on my reading of a variety of different translations. It seems in this tirual that Odin willingly pushed himself to a near death experience, where he gained the knowledge of the runes, of which he would take and teach to the other gods.
And then I fell, a wiser man than all.
The latter half of this two-stanza story tells us that not only was Odin hanging from Yggdrasil while pierced by his own spear, but he was also malnourished and dehydrated, with not a single bite of food or a single sip of drink being given to him throughout this ritualistic experience.
No doubt towards the end of this, Odin would have been having some crazed hallucinations and visions. It's in this state that he discovered the runes, and we're told all of this in the few lines of Hávamál stanza 139, my english interpretation of which is as follows:
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No one would bring me food, and no one would bring me drink. As I stared down death at the end, I saw them. I took those runes screaming, and then I fell, a wiser man than all.
Odin - Hávamál 139
The story of Odin hanging from Yggdrasil is not the only isntance in which this mad god would undergo some form of self sacrifice in his quest for wisdom. He would also willingly gouge out his own eye and give it to Mimir for a sip from Mímisbrunnr, his well which is said to hold wisdom giving water.
Odin's Insatiable lust for Wisdom.
Funny enough, this isn't the only unhinged act in which Odin sacrifices himself in his pursuit of more wisdom. The second instance of this is when he willingly gouges out and sacrifices his eye to Mímir's well - Mímisbrunnr.
I believe his motivation behind all of this is to alter change his own fate, as he is told by a resurrected Volva of how he will be devoured by Fenrir at Ragnarok. Fate however cannot be altered in the Norse Myths, and Odin will eventually fall to the vengeful wolf, despite gathering a personal army of an ungodly size - The Einherjar.