Kvasir Basics

Kvasir is attested to in the Prose Edda and in Heimskringla, as well as in skaldic poetry, in which it is said that he is wisest among the gods. He is not a major deity, however he is an important figure in the lore, in relation to Óðin and skaldic tradition.

Bragi explains to Ægir (a Jötunn god of the sea, and friend to the Æsir) that the gift of poetry came into the world through Kvasir, who was born when the Æsir and the Vanir came to a truce and “spit on it,” sealing their pact with the spit of all the gods of both tribes. Out of this mixture, and the desire for cosmic peace, arose Kvasir.

In an alternate telling, Kvasir is one of the Vanir hostages who is exchanged along with Freyr, Freya and Njörðr, and he brought with him his gifts of eloquence and diplomacy.

Kvasir was renowned for spreading wisdom and spiritual teachings wherever he went. He helped the gods capture Loki after the trickster ran off, having given himself away as the hand behind Baldr’s death. Kvasir helps Thor capture Loki (who had taken the form of a salmon) by recreating a fishing net out of the ashes and charred pattern of Loki’s own fishing net from the giantess Rán.

Kvasir goes on to continue spreading his wisdom until he is slain by two dwarfs, Fajalarr and Galarr. They mix Kvasir’s blood with honey, and a mystical substance is the result: a magical mead called Óðrerir. This divine substance was later fiercely guarded by Óðin, who bestowed it upon the world’s first poets – who in turn passed this gift on to the rest of humankind.

The murderous dwarfs were eventually forced to trade Óðrerir to the jötunn Suttung, after they viciously killed his parents. Realizing the amazing prize he had won, Suttung hid the mead of poetry deep within a mountain, over which his daughter, Gunnlöd kept watch.

Suttung however, bragged and boasted that he had hoarded a treasure beyond measure, and such words came fast enough to the ears of Óðin. Donning the form of a farmer, Óðin set out for Jotunheim, offering his servitude to Suttung’s brother, Buagi.

After a long year of labouring in the fields, the disguised god asked Baugi for a drink of the sacred mead in payment for his work. The hapless giant drilled a small hole through the side of his brother’s mountain where the mead of poetry was hid. Óðin immediately changed himself into a serpent and slithered through the hole, and on the other side, within a cavern deep inside the mountain, he met a giantess.

Suttung’s lonely daughter, Gunnlöd immediately fell in love with Óðin, and he persuaded her to let him take three sips from Óðrerir over their three days and nights together. After three “sips” however, Óðin managed to drink all of the mead. He transformed once more, into the form of an eagle, and returned to Ásgard.

According to folklore, the colour of the mead of poetry was a rich, dark crimson. After Óðin drained the mead, the containers were cast out onto the earth, splashing the dregs upon the ground. Beets were said to have gotten their colour from these drops.

Kvasir seems to have been important to the ancient Norse as a god of peace-making and mead production.

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Suggested Signs and Symbols

Mead, and other festive alcoholic drinks. Toasts, saliva, “spitting on it” truces, poems, skalds and bards. Beetroot, ritual drinking horns, cups and chalices.

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Associated Names

Óðrerir, John Barleycorn