Kvasir: Man of Spit, Mead of Poetry Origin

At the conclusion of the war between the Vanir and the Aesir, the gods sealed their truce by each spitting into a shared vessel—a symbolic act of unity. To preserve this powerful sign of peace, the Aesir created a man from the mingled saliva. They named him Kvasir.

Who Was Kvasir?

Kvasir was the wisest being in Norse mythology, and his blood became the mead of poetry. He traveled the world, and his wisdom was known wherever he went. He could solve the most complex riddles and word puzzles, and on his journeys he shared this wisdom freely with humankind.

Other Tales of Kvasir

In one story, from Snorri Sturluson’s Prose Edda, Kvasir was the wisest of the Aesir, and he figured out how to catch Loki with Loki’s own net. In another story, from the Ynglinga saga, he was part of a prisoner exchange between the Aesir and Vanir, like Mimir, whom the Aesir also sent to the Vanir.

Kvasir’s Demise

Then two dwarves, Fjalar (‘Deceiver’) and Galar (‘Screamer’), lured Kvasir into their home and killed him. They drained his blood into two vats, Són and Boðn, and a kettle, Óðrerir, and mixed it with honey. The result was the mead of poetry: whoever drinks it becomes a poet or a sage. That is why skalds called poetry “Kvasir’s blood.” When the gods asked what had happened, the dwarves said Kvasir had choked on his own wisdom, because no one was learned enough to ask him questions.

However, the dwarves did not keep the mead for long. The giant Suttung took it from them as payment for his murdered parents, and Odin later won it from Suttung and carried it home to Asgard. Read how in Fjalarr and Galarr Give Up the Mead of Poetry and Odin Steals the Mead of Poetry.

Kvas and Kvasir

Kvas is a fermented bread drink, generally made from rye, in Slavic countries, and Dr. Jackson Crawford, a scholar and translator of Old Norse, says that Kvasir’s name likely comes from this drink. “Odrerir” means the mover to passion or madness, which Crawford finds appropriate for an alcoholic beverage that creates the ecstatic state that comes when composing poetry.

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