Key Info

- Mythical beverage that turns the drinker into a skald (poet/storyteller) or scholar able to recite any information and solve any question

Brief Bio

The Mead of Poetry is a magical mead from Norse mythology that bestows incredible wisdom and poetic skill upon anyone who drinks it.  

After the Æsir and Vanir gods made a truce, they spat into a vat to create Kvasir, a being so wise he knew no equal. 

The dwarfs Fjalar and Galar killed the wise Kvasir and drained his blood into three vessels named Boðn, Són, and Óðrerir. They mixed Kvasir's blood with honey to create the Mead of Poetry, a potent brew that granted skill in poetry and scholarship. 

Odin, ever in pursuit of wisdom, set out to obtain the mead. Disguised as a farmhand, Odin helped Baugi, the brother of the giant Suttungr, to drill a hole into the mountain where Suttungr kept the mead. Odin then transformed into a snake and entered the mead chamber, where he seduced Suttung's daughter, Gunnlöð, in exchange for three sips of the mead. Odin drank the entire mead in three draughts, transformed into an eagle, and fled to Asgard.

Suttung pursued Odin, who, in his haste to escape, accidentally defecated a portion of the mead. This small, imperfect portion became known as the "rhymester's share" and was given to mortals, leading to the existence of less gifted poets, while the main mead was given to the Æsir.