Mead of poetry facts for kids
In Norse mythology, the Poetic Mead or Mead of Poetry, also known as Mead of Suttungr, is a mythical beverage that whoever "drinks becomes a skald or scholar" able to recite any information and solve any question. This myth was reported by Snorri Sturluson in Skáldskaparmál. The drink is a vivid metaphor for poetic inspiration, often associated with Odin the god of 'possession' via berserker rage or poetic inspiration.
Plot
From the dwarfs to Suttungr
Fjalar and Galar invited a jötunn, Gilling, and his wife. They took him to sea and capsized their boat and the jötunn drowned. The dwarfs then came back home and broke the news to Gilling's wife, which plunged her deep in grief. Fjallar proposed showing her the place where her husband had drowned but Galar got tired of her weeping and killed her.
When Gilling's son, Suttungr, learned what had happened, he went to the dwarfs and led them to a reef which was covered with water at high tide. The dwarfs implored him and offered him the mead in compensation for his father's death. Suttungr agreed. When he came back home, he stored the mead in a place called Hnitbjörg where his daughter, Gunnlöd, was in charge of guarding it.
Theft by Odin
Odin met nine slaves who were scything hay and offered to sharpen their scythes. His whetstone worked so well that they all wanted to buy it. Odin threw it up in the air and the slaves struggled for it to death.
Then he spent the night at Baugi's place. Baugi was Suttungr's brother. He complained that business did not go well since his slaves had killed each other and he could not get anybody to stand in for them. Odin, who said his name was Bölverk, proposed to do their work in exchange for a draught of Suttungr's mead. Baugi agreed, saying that he would try to persuade his brother. During summer, Bölverk did the work as agreed and, in winter, asked Baugi for his owing. They both went to Suttungr's, who refused to give a single drop of the beverage.
Bölverk then suggested Baugi use a trick. He gave him the drill Rati and asked him to bore into the mountain Hnitbjörg. After Baugi tried to deceive him, a hole was actually dug and Bölverk slipped into it, having taken the form of a snake. Baugi tried in vain to hit him.
He arrived by Gunnlöd, with whom he spent three nights. Thus he could have three draughts of mead. But with each draught he emptied a whole container. He then transformed into an eagle and flew away. When Suttungr discovered the theft, he too took the shape of an eagle and flew off in hot pursuit. When the Æsir saw Odin coming, they set out vessels in readiness to hold the mead and when, in the nick of time, the god arrived, he spat his loot into them. But Suttungr was so close to him that, in his fear and haste, the god let fall some of the precious liquid. Anybody could drink of this paltry and sullied portion, which was known as the "rhymester's share" ("skáldfífla hlutr"); but the greater portion of the mead of poetry (which had issued from his mouth) Odin gave to the gods and to those truly gifted in poetry.
Adaptations
The comic book The Magic Mead in the Danish comic book series Valhalla, created by Peter Madsen and others, is a retelling of the story of the mead of poetry. Peter Madsen won The SAS Prize for Best Nordic for this comic at the Raptus Festival in Bergen, Norway.
