The Mead of Poetry (Old Norse skáldskapar mjaðar), also known as Mead of Suttungr is a mythical beverage that whomsoever drinks becomes a skald or scholar, imbued with wisdom, able to recite any poem and answer any question. The drink is a vivid metaphor for poetic inspiration, often associated with Odin the God of 'possession' via berserker rage or poetic inspiration.
A Word On Odin in the context of Poetry;
Odin ; The Old Norse noun Óðr may be the origin of the theonym Óðinn (Anglicized as Odin), and it means "mind", "soul" or "spirit" (so used in stanza 18.1 of the Poetic Edda poem Völuspá). In addition, Óðr can also mean "song", "poetry" and "inspiration", and as noted has connotations of 'possession'.
The Mead of Poetry
Mead Of Poetry all men makes wise.Odin ; The Old Norse noun Óðr may be the origin of the theonym Óðinn (Anglicized as Odin), and it means "mind", "soul" or "spirit" (so used in stanza 18.1 of the Poetic Edda poem Völuspá). In addition, Óðr can also mean "song", "poetry" and "inspiration", and as noted has connotations of 'possession'.
The Mead of Poetry
Mimir's Knowledge harbors secrets.
Odin by Charms calls insights forth.
The Dew of Truth and destiny.
Aesir Vanir abjure their war.
In bond of Gods good Kvasir sired.
Wielding Knowledge he wisdom shares,
Traveling far teaching freely.
Fjalar Galar two ghastly Dwarves.
Resentment grew into darkness...
They killed Kvasir but kept his blood,
With honey brewed poetry's mead.
Fjalar Galar a Giant's bane
His wife they slayed bloodthirsty brood.
Sutting the Giant weregild Dwarves mead,
Three barrels hid beneath mountain.
Without delay departing hence,
To taste the mead inspiration...
Odin he sought Sutting's brother,
Baugi his name mead will bring him.
Odin intent inveigled plan,
Workmen discord will die fighting.
Baugi becalmed Odin burst in,
As Bolverk garbed he was disguised.
Bolverk struck deal Baugi defray,
Harvest he'd take for taste of mead.
Once work was done Bolverk's demand,
Sutting refused mead denied him.
Odin inverse initiate,
The mead to man poetry's gate.
Bolverk with wiles wheedled Baugi,
Into Mountain he drilled a hole.
Odin stole in with stealth of snake,
As quiet as snow heartbeats halted.
Gunnlod asleep as mead she guards,
Sutting's daughter should be watchful.
Odin moon-eyed found magic mead
Then Gunnlod gasped in her waking.
Odin had changed handsome young giant,
Under his charm she was heedless.
Odin thrice kissed three barrels quaff,
And Gunnlod lost the magic mead.
Sutting startled by Gunnlods scream,
As Odin flew with his treasure.
Odin escaped on eagles wing,
Riding the winds to his country.
Sutting he seethed searching he flew,
Chasing Odin into Asgard.
When eagle saw Aesir approached,
Odin's return would bring blessing.
Down Odin flew in flash arrived,
Down Odin flew in flash arrived,
With barrels three he would share them.
On Sutting shone sun rays of dawn,
His eagle fell, to stone transformed.
And Odin spake So Shall It Be,
And Odin spake So Shall It Be,
Sunlight Strike Down Those Darkness Leads!
No silent gold nor silver grasp,
To wisdom voice shall insight see.
To wisdom voice shall insight see.
They then rejoiced themselves to drink,
The magic mead of poetry.
The Mead Of Poetry c Celestial Elf 2012.
A new poetic account of an ancient Norse tale, inspired by Tolkien and written in the old Norse form of Fornyrdislag.
A new poetic account of an ancient Norse tale, inspired by Tolkien and written in the old Norse form of Fornyrdislag.
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Odin with wings, he thinks of things. |
After the Aesir-Vanir War, the Gods sealed their truce by creating a man named Kvasir to share their blessings. He was so wise that there were no questions he could not answer. He traveled around the world to give knowledge to mankind.
![]() The Fellowship of Kvasir |
When Gilling's son Sutting learned what had happened, he went to take his revenge on the dwarves. To save their lives they offered him the magical mead in compensation for his father's death (a compensation payment for death was known at this time as 'weregild' and was employed to reduce socially destructive family feuds that could plague generations). Sutting accepted the mead because he knew of its magical properties and that the Aesir would want it. He kept the three barrels of the precious mead in his halls beneath Hnitbjorg mountain where his daughter Gunnlod was locked in to guard it.
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Mimir's head |
When Odin found out about the existence of the magic mead through the head of Mimir, he set out the next day to obtain it. He came to Sutting's Castle and planned how to recover the mead. First he set Sutting's brother's nine farmers to argue amongst themselves with the result that they killed each other, which left Baugi without enough hands for his harvest. Then Odin disguised himself as 'Bolverk' a wandering workman and offered to do the work in return for a taste of the mead, to which Baugi agreed.
However after the harvest, Sutting did not agree to Baugi's deal with Bolverk and refused to give a taste of the mead to the workman. Bolverk then tricked Baugi into boring a hole through a wall of the treasure chamber where the mead was kept without his brother's knowledge. Once the hole was made, Bolverk turned into a snake and went through the hole. Realizing his mistake Baugi tried to kill the snake but failed.
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Bolverk convinces Baugi to drill a hole |
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Odin drinks the Mead of Poetry with Gunnlod |
Then Odin got her to open the door of the chamber, whereupon he immediately turned into an eagle and flew away. Realizing that she had fallen into his trap, Gunnlod screamed and Sutting hearing her came running. When Suttung discovered the theft, he turned himself into an eagle and chased after Odin.
When the Aesir saw Odin's eagle approaching, they took out three large barrels for him. But Suttung was so close to Odin that he let some mead fall away, which anybody can drink this part is known as the 'rhymester's share'. Odin then landed with a flash and emerged with the three barrels full of the magic Mead Of Poetry. As the rising sun rose its beams touched the wings of Sutting's pursuing eagle, which immediately turned into stone and plummeted down to the ground.
Then Odin said, 'So shall it be with all the Giant kind. If the sun shines upon them in the holy land of Asgard, the evil that is in them shall weigh them down, and they will turn into stone.'
And so the Aesir celebrated as they each took a drink of the magical mead, Odin's gift to the Gods and to men gifted in poetry, the mead of poetry.
This story survives both in fragmentary form in the Havamal,
and in a more complete form in Snorri Sturluson's Skaldskaparmal. The story is old,
picture stones illustrating the story existed more than four centuries before
Snorri wrote the story down.
About Norse Poetry; & The Fornyrdislag Form.
Poetry played an important role in the social and religious world of the Vikings. In Norse mythology, Skáldskaparmál tells the story of how Odin brought the Mead of Poetry to Asgard, which is an indicator of the significance of poetry within the ancient Scandinavian culture.
Old Norse poetry is conventionally split into two types, Eddaic poetry (also known as Eddic poetry) and Skaldic poetry. Eddic and Skaldic poetry are meant for oral delivery and as such, more meaning is contained in the sounds and rhythms of the voice than may be apparent on the page.
Eddic poems are usually mythological, or heroic in content. Most are in the Fornyrðislag form (pronounced FORT-near-this-lahg), while málaháttr ( speech meter ) is a common variation. The rest, about a quarter, are composed in ljóðaháttr. The language of the poems is usually clear and relatively unadorned. While Kennings are employed, they do not rise to the frequency or complexity found in Skaldic poetry. Kennings are a poetic rewrite of a word ( i.e. a corps' sea = blood, wound-wand = sword ). They could be even more complex, with rewrites of rewrites and no limits to the words that were used to describe a single word...
Skaldic verse is usually created as a tribute to a specific Jarl or King, follows very strict rules and employs many Kennings which can make them hard to understand.
By contrast, most English poetry is dominated by a single form, the 'end-rhyme' in which the final word of each line rhymes with one or more other lines; the exact lines in a stanza which are paired or grouped in rhyme differ according to the specific form, giving us such end-rhyme forms as doggerel, limericks, and sonnets.
Fornyrðislag has two stressed syllables per half line, with two or three (sometimes one) unstressed syllables. Its name means 'the metre of ancient word' and it is an old Norse poetic form introduced in Snorre's Old Norse Poetic Eddas. The Norse poets tended to break up their verses into stanzas of from two to eight lines (or more), rather than writing continuous verse after the Old English model and used used Alliteration instead of rhyme (syllables alliterate when they begin with the same sound). The loss of unstressed syllables makes these verses seem denser and more emphatic. The Norse poets, unlike the Old English poets, tended to make each line a complete syntactic unit, avoiding enjambment where a thought begun on one line continues through the following lines; only seldom do they begin a new sentence in the second half-line. Often these poems also use 'Heiti', which is a poetic word (synonym) that was used when other words could not fit into the strict form (some times they also made up new words).
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The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrun |
( Forgotten Ground Regained ©1999, Paul Deane ).
Tolkien's sources of inspiration also included Norse sagas such as the Volsunga saga and the Hervarar saga, the Poetic Edda, the Prose Edda, and numerous other culturally related works.
By Stone and Star
Blessed Be ~
Blessed Be ~
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ReplyDeleteThank you Eddie, apologies for delay on this production been a few set backs. Hope to resume as soon as possible :)
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