The Mead of Poetry (Odrerir) and Odin’s Labor

Suttungr knew everyone would want the mead of poetry. He hid it deep inside a mountain called Hnitbjörg and set his daughter Gunnlöð to guard it day and night.

Odin’s Thirst for Knowledge

No one in Norse myth craved knowledge like Odin. He hung himself on Yggdrasil for nine nights to win the runes, and he gave up an eye at Mímir’s well. When he heard about the mead of poetry, he had to have it. Disguising himself as Bölverkr (‘Evil-Doer’), he set out for Suttungr’s lands.

Odin and the Nine Slaves

While traveling, Odin-Bolverkr saw nine slaves, owned by Suttungr’s brother Baugi, harvesting hay with scythes. He remarked that they looked weary and that their blades were dull. The slaves welcomed his help.

Odin-Bolverkr sharpened their scythes with his whetstone until the blades were keener than they had ever been. The slaves begged him for the whetstone. Odin-Bolverkr told them that whoever caught it could have it as a gift—and tossed it high into the air.

In their desperation to claim it, the slaves swung their scythes at one another. By sundown, every one of them lay dead, reaped by their own greed. Odin retrieved his whetstone and continued on his way.

Odin and Baugi

Odin-Bolverkr arrived at Baugi’s home and told him that his nine slaves were dead. Baugi now needed workers, and Odin-Bolverkr offered to do the work of all nine men for the summer. In return, Baugi would help him obtain a drink of the Mead of Poetry from Baugi’s brother, Suttungr. Baugi agreed, and Odin-Bolverkr kept his promise.

When the summer’s work was done, Baugi went with Bölverkr to ask Suttungr for a drink of the mead. Suttungr flatly refused. So Bölverkr suggested they try a trick, and Baugi, having given his word, reluctantly agreed. [Next time: how Odin got into the mountain and out again.]